Chapter XI

ADAPTED OR PALIMPSEST PLATES (_continued_).

In the last chapter I claim to have introduced the reader to a phase of print-collecting which has in it a sporting element of a peculiarly enticing character. The pursuit of what I have called palimpsest copperplates offers entertainment of the very best to one who would make it a speciality, and, perhaps, the most alluring thing about this curious quarry is that the hunter will never be satisfied after running it to earth until he has secured and coupled it in his portfolio with its necessary and enchanting fellow.

I propose in this chapter to give a few more specimens of these curious adapted plates.

Many examples of reheaded statues and adapted portraits lie around us. Mr. Augustus Hare tells of a representation of Lady Georgina Fane in Brympton Church, which consists of the head of {227} that ready-witted lady “added to the body of an ancestress who was headless,” whilst any visitor to Yarmouth Church, Isle of Wight, may see the imposing marble effigy of Admiral Sir Robert Holmes, which consists of the head of that gallant sailor surmounting the body of Louis XIV. It appears that Sir Robert, having captured the vessel in which the Italian-made torso of the Grand Monarque was being conveyed to France for the modelling of the head, retained the unfinished work and crowned it with his own august features—a good example of the resourcefulness of the English character.

Again, Macaulay, enlarging upon the popularity of Frederick the Great in England, tells how at one time enthusiasm reached such a height that the sign-painters were everywhere employed in touching up the portraits of Admiral Vernon, which hung outside innumerable public-houses, into the likeness of the King of Prussia, a curious commentary, by the way, on the family motto, “Ver non semper virit.”[43] Further, it is on record {228} that after Trafalgar such was Nelson’s popularity, that Daniel Orme, engraver to George III., bought a plate of Napoleon at the sale of a Ludgate Hill printseller’s effects, and altered it into a portrait of our national hero.

[43] The following extract from a recent newspaper shows that the practice has not yet altogether died out:—

“In the action of Tussaud _v._ Stiff, heard in the Chancery Division by Mr. Justice Buckley yesterday, the plaintiff, Mr. Louis Tussaud, sought to restrain defendant by injunction from carrying on his business of exhibiting models in such a way as to induce the public to believe that the models he showed were the work of the plaintiff. It was stated by the plaintiff’s counsel that, in consequence of an injunction granted some years ago, it became necessary for the plaintiff to carry on his exhibition as Louis Tussaud’s New Exhibition in Regent Street. It was afterwards turned into a limited liability company, and removed to the Alexandra Palace. Some of the models were sold to the defendant, but no goodwill of the business was sold. The defendant had since opened several exhibitions of waxworks, other models had been added to those sold by the plaintiff, and the models of the plaintiff had been split into a considerable number of pieces, while models made by other persons than the plaintiff were exhibited as Louis Tussaud’s waxworks. Counsel informed the Court that _in one case the head of the Archbishop of Canterbury had been put on the body of Charles Peace, and in another instance Napoleon was represented as taking part in the execution of Mary Queen of Scots_. The defendant’s present exhibition was a penny show in the Edgware Road. _In another instance the head of Mr. Ritchie, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, was put upon a dying soldier._”

The Mr. Louis Tussaud here mentioned must not be confused with Mr. John Tussaud of the Marylebone Road Exhibition.

Examples such as these might be multiplied, but here are enough for our purpose. They show that the systematic practice of copperplate adaptation has its counterpart in other departments of art.

We will now consider a curious broadside {230} published about the year 1688, the copperplate heading of which was destined to be seized upon and adapted to other purposes nearly twenty years later by the piratical publisher referred to in the last chapter.

As will be seen from our reproduction, its letterpress is addressed, “Aan der Meester Tonge-Slyper” (“To the Master Tongue Grinder”). The engraver’s name does not appear, but the work is easily distinguished as that of Jean Bollard, by comparing it with other signed engravings of the same series of pictorial satires.

Two men at a grindstone sharpen a tongue, Another tongue lies on the anvil. Two labourers empty a large hamper of tongues into a basket, which is steadied by a woman. Point is given to the picture by the gossiping groups seen through the door and window, and especially by the two Xantippes who, with arms akimbo, are slanging each other in good earnest.

The doggerel letterpress refers to the birth of the Old Pretender, and the mendacious tongues of the conspirators are being delivered to the smith to be coerced into speaking the truth. {231}

Here is a free translation of the passage, beginning “Heden zyn my over London”:—

“To-day I received from London a cargo of those goods which you have to take in hand; I have some of the biggest size, _The Admiral of the First Flag_, which has been used so much and has become black from lying, and which, after all appearances, seems to have had his end bitten off; scrape thoroughly his thick skin or he will be up to anything; swearing oaths, breaking bonds, falsely protecting the Church is his daily work.”

And so on, until it ends with the moral:—

“Nothing more useful than whetting the tongue
When its aim is to speak the truth.
But when it is given to lying,
It must be pierced, flayed, and scraped.”

So much for the plate in its first state. In its second we find it published seventeen years later, and somewhat ingeniously adapted to the new exigencies. It now takes its place in the armoury of the anti-Jesuits, and is published without any acknowledgment in the pamphlet, entitled _Roma Pertubata Ofte’t Beroerde Romen, etc., etc._, referred to in the last chapter. This pamphlet, which is a very warren of palimpsest plates (it has at least four, and possibly there are others), may {232} be seen in the print-room of the British Museum. It may, too, as I have myself proved, be discovered at rare intervals in the shops of the old printsellers in Holland. Mine is in a parti-coloured paper wrapper, whether as issued or added later I cannot say. It consists of title-page, table of contents, and eleven full-page copperplate engravings of extraordinary interest. Curiously enough, the table of contents makes no reference to the eleventh and last. Our palimpsest is number 9.[44]

[44] Grateful acknowledgments are here due to the splendid _Catalogue of Prints and Drawings in the British Museum_, 5 vols., which should be in the library of every collector of satirical prints.

In its new surroundings it has (_vide_ reproduction) been divorced from its letterpress, and been cut away at the bottom. A descriptive panel has been engraved over the doorway, and other lettering added here and there. The publication line, “tot Tongeren by J: la Langue,” apparently a bogus one, playing on the words of the original, “à Langres chez Tongelel,” now appears within the border of the design.

The tongue which lies on the anvil is now pierced by the seven heraldic arrows of the Dutch Provinces, and words are engraved below to the {233} effect that “There is no worse evil than that a Pope’s tongue dares slander the State,” and on the base of the anvil, “He has given way to slander. You must forge him before you grind him.”

Below the quarrelling women are the words: “These maids are quarrelling for de Kok,” referring to scandals which were afloat concerning the morality of the Pope’s vicar-general, and a Latin chronograph appears at the feet of the chief smith.

The inscription over the door gives directions to “The Romish Dutch Grinder of Tongues,” and, amongst other things, says of the tongue on the anvil, “That is de Kok’s tongue, wounded by seven arrows, because he has slandered the State by his speech,” which statement hardly tallies with the inscription on the anvil, unless the vicar-general may be regarded as the very mouthpiece of the Pope.

This is no place, as I have said, to enlarge upon the Jansenist propagandum, but it will well repay the enthusiastic historian to follow out the above allusions to their original source.

So much for our adapted broadside.

{234}

{235}

I would ask you now to look at the two prints entitled respectively “The Stature of a Great Man, or the English Colossus,” and “The Stature of a Great Man, or the SCOTCH Colossus.”

{236}

The first, dated 1740, represents Sir Robert Walpole, then in the plenitude of his power. He stands on two woolpacks. Between his legs is seen the British fleet lying inactive. He is flanked by Marines on the left crying “Let us fight,” and sailors with drawn swords on the right declaring their readiness to die “Pro Patriâ.” The plate teems with allusions to his reluctance to go to war, by which he was subjecting his country to the insults and aggressions of Spain and France.

Twenty-two years later the plate was resurrected and altered to its second state, in which it is made to represent Lord Bute. The lower part of the plate, bearing the quotation from Shakespeare and the “Description,” has been now cut away, and “Scotch” inserted in the place of “English” in the title. The chief alterations are the reduction of the full-bottomed wig and the addition of a wig-tie of black ribbon, the addition {237} of a star on the breast, and a new and abusive inscription on the right-hand document. In this case the adapter has shown but little ingenuity.

We will now turn to a far more elaborate example, which, in its first state, as will be seen in the reproduction, represents Queen Anne presiding in state over the House of Lords. The plate is etched by Romeyn de Hooghe.

At the top of the picture, between female figures representing Plenty and War, is suspended a cloth, on which the Queen is shown presiding over the House of Commons. At her side sits Prince George of Denmark. The whole is surmounted by the words, “Het Hoog en Lager Huys van Engeland.” Left and right of the cloth are scrolls bearing the legends, “Hinc gloria regni” and “Hinc felicitas publica.”

At the base of the plate are two small self-contained etchings. That on the left shows the heralds proclaiming the Queen; that on the right shows Her Majesty sitting in Council. Between these are inscribed the following words:—

“Annæ D. G.
Magnæ Britanniæ Reginæ,” etc., etc.

{238}

The main design is crowded with details and figures of the utmost interest, any description of which is forbidden by the space at my disposal. The artist’s signature is to be seen on the floor of the Hall.

Thirteen years were now to elapse before it was transformed into the glorification of George I. The King now takes the place of the late Queen in the House of Lords. The throne in the House of Commons is vacant. The inscription on the cloth has been re-engraved, and “Engeland” changed to “Engelandt.” The title and the panels at the bottom of the plate have been cut away, and the index numbers on the main design and the index letters on the cloth have been altered. The designer’s name has been removed from the floor of the House, and engraved on the right-hand corner of the plate.

These are the main differences. The curious reader may occupy himself in discovering others.

The next example here reproduced I give because of the peculiarly drastic changes which have been made by the pirate into whose hands the plate has fallen. {239}

In its original state it bears the punning title, “The Races of the Europeans with their Keys.” The line of publication runs:—“Geo. Bickham, jun^{r.,} inv^{t.} et sculp. According to the late Act, 1740. Price 1s. Sold at ye Black Moors Head against Surry Street in y^e Strand.” The composite design is made up of variorum copies of four separate prints recently published. These are enclosed in the four quarters of an elaborate design, surmounted by a crouching wolf. At the point where the four corners meet is a grotesque horned head. At the foot are a mask and a poniard. Each panel is differently dated, and surmounts its own set of explanatory notes. The allusions to contemporary politics are most ingeniously conceived, but are so numerous that space forbids even their barest description.

In its second state the plate is entitled “A Skit on Britain.” The line of publication runs the same as before, saving the name of the artist, which has been changed into “Ged Bilchham.” A line of script has also been added on this copy, which states that “This plate is upon the same copper as ‘The Races of the Europeans,’ much of the {240} allusions not having been obliterated,” which seems considerably to understate the case. The enclosing design is certainly much the same as before, though in this there are many alterations in detail, but of the four engravings by far the greater portion has been removed. The aerial parts are practically untouched, but of the crowds of figures only a few unimportant groups remain. All the tables of reference have been burnished out, and are replaced by doggerel verses. The dates have been removed from the four compartments, and in the places of three of them appear “Porto Bello, Nov. 1739,” “Cartagena,” and “The Havana,” while the fourth is left blank. The main part of the satire is directed against the policy of Sir Robert Walpole, but is of too elaborate a nature to be entered upon here.

Before concluding this account of palimpsest plates I shall reproduce three very curious prints in which the substitution of one head for another is more than usually outrageous.[45] The original {241} engraving was by Pierre Lombart after a made-up portrait of Charles I., on horseback, professing to be by Vandyck.

[45] The earliest example of the artist as Headsman that I have come across is a very rare portrait of Queen Elizabeth, full length, seated on a throne, dressed in a robe of state, holding globe and sceptre, engraved about 1590. The Queen’s figure was subsequently burnished out, and that of James I. substituted. This, unfortunately, I do not possess.

The plate was executed before the execution (save the mark!) of the Martyr King. After his death the head of Cromwell was substituted, no doubt for commercial purposes. Finally, Charles the First’s head was restored (again save the mark!) after the Restoration. Our reproductions are from what would seem to be the second, third, and fourth states of the plate though a first state is not known. It will be observed that, in the earliest—namely, that in which the head has been removed altogether—the scarf is brought across the left shoulder, and tied under the right arm, whilst the page-boy has bands and frills to his breeches. In the next, or third state, in which Cromwell’s head has been inserted, the scarf has been removed from the shoulder, and is tied round the waist, whilst the bands and frills have been removed from the page-boy’s nether garments. In the next, or fourth stage of the plate, in which {242} Charles’s head has been re-inserted, there are, besides the substitution of one head for the other, a few minor alterations, such as the addition of the Cavalier moustache to the face of the page-boy, the restoration of the frills to his breeches, the alteration of the pattern of the rider’s collar, the addition of the order of St. George to the rider’s breast, and the substitution of the royal coat of arms for those of the Protector at the bottom of the engraving. There are also other known states of the plate, reproductions of which may be seen in Mr. Alfred Whitman’s _Print-Collector’s Handbook_. These were unknown to me when I wrote the above description.[46]

[46] Since writing this I paid a visit to the Hall of the Middle Temple, when the very intelligent custodian told me that Cromwell ordered the great Vandyck, which hangs over the high table, to be taken down, and his own somewhat repellent countenance painted in in the place of that of Charles I. Fortunately for posterity this outrageous order was not carried out. The whole affair reminds one of the unconsciously grim entry in a certain bookseller’s catalogue which ran, “Memoirs of Charles the First with a head _capitally executed_.”

So much for historical instances of putting new heads on old shoulders. But, if I am not mistaken, the very modern restoration of the west front of one of our great cathedrals shows a late Dean’s head surmounting the body of a saint or king, {243} which had been mutilated by Cromwell. It would be cruel, perhaps, to be more specific, as vanity is not the most pleasing of the Christian virtues.

Again, there was lately a good deal of laughter caused by one of the whims of the German Emperor. It appears that his artistic eye had been offended by the incompleteness of a fine headless torso which was brought to the fatherland some years since. Everything, he was aware, could be _made in Germany_, so what more natural than to offer a prize for the best completion of the work of a Phidias or a Praxiteles? _Finis coronat opus_, and the sculptors of Germany were called upon to compete. None of the results, however, satisfied His Imperial Majesty, and two of the artists have been commissioned to try again. Would it be _lese-majestie_ to suggest that there is only one head in Germany that would prove quite acceptable? I present the idea to the competitors.

Enough has been written to show that the pursuit of the palimpsest plate is sport of the very finest for the collector, for it is a sport which does not cease with the running of the quarry to earth. {244}

I have reproduced, without comment, opposite pages 244 and 246, and on pages 245, 247, and 249, a few more of these adapted copperplates for the sake of any one who may be fortunate enough to possess either the original or the palimpsest. He will find it no bad sport to go hunting for its fellow.

{245}

{247}

{249}

{251}

INDEX

“Aan den Experten Hollandschen Hoofd-Smith,” 216, 243

“Aan der Meester Tonge-Slyper,” 216, 230–233

ADAPTED COPPER PLATES, 192–247

Ainsworth, Harrison, 3

Alken, Henry, 157–160

Allen, Archdeacon, 10

_American Notes_, 2

Anne, Queen, 237, 238

_Antiquities of Westminster_, 150–153

_A Pop-Gun fired off by George Cruikshank_, 79

“A Skit on Britain,” 239, 240

“A Trifling Mistake,” 70–73

_Ballad of Beau Brocade, The_, 3

“Becky Sharp,” 10

_Bentley’s Miscellany_, 43–52

Bewick’s _Birds_, 68

_Book of Snobs_, 9

“Breeches” Bible, Barker’s, 2

Brougham, Lord, 62

Browne, H. K., 27, 28, 29, 31, 33, 54–56

Bruton, Mr. H. W. 48, 49, 69, 75, 81

Buffon, M., 5

Bunn, Alfred, 10

Burlington, Earl of, 98–107

“Burlington Gate,” 108

Burns, Robert, 2

Buss, Miss F. M., 34

Buss, R. W., 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34

Bute, Lord, 235, 236

Calcraft, Captain Granby, 9

Capel, Monsignor, 2

“Captain Granby Tiptoff,” 9

“Captain Shindy,” 9

Carteret, Lord, 112 _et seq._

_Catalogue of Prints and Drawings in the British Museum_, 92 _et passim_, 198 _et passim_

Chandos, Duke of, 101

Chapman and Hall, Messrs., 33, 55

Charles I., 241–242

_Charles Dickens, The Story of his Life_, 27

Churchill, Charles, 107–111

_Clarissa Harlowe_, 5

_Coaching Days and Coaching Ways_, 175–178

Cochrane, Lord, 65

_Coningsby_, 12, 13, 20

Cowell, Professor, 184–186

Crawhall, Joseph, 135–138

“Credulity, Superstition, and Fanaticism: a Medley,” 88 _et seq._

Croker, J. W., 12

Cromek, R. H., 5

Cromwell, Oliver, 241, 242

Cruikshank, George, 42, 45–54, 59–81, 161

_Cruikshank’s Portraits of Himself_, 80

Cumberland, Duke of, 60–69

Cumberland, Princess Olive of, 62

“Danaë in the Brazen Chamber,” 140–148

_Death in London_, 154–158

Dexter, Mr. J. P., 41

_D’Horsay; or the Follies of the Day, by a Man of Fashion_, 13

_Dickens and his Illustrators_, 40, 41

Dickens, Charles, 2, 26 _et seq._ his _American Notes_, 2 his suppressed portrait, 27, 28

_Dickens Memento_, 47

_Dictionary of National Biography_, 61, 62

Dighton, Richard, 25

Disraeli, Benjamin, 2, 10, 12, 131–134

Dobson, Mr. Austin, 3, 82 _et passim_, 174

_Don Quixote_, 113 _et seq._

“Don Quixote releases the Galley Slaves,” 118, 122

“Don Quixote seizes the Barber’s Basin,” 118, 120

“Drop it!”, 78

Du Maurier, George, 162–173

Edwards, Edwin, 179–191

Elizabeth, Queen, 240

“Enthusiasm Delineated,” 83 _et seq._

_Essay on the Genius of George Cruikshank_, 77

Fane, Lady Georgina, 226

Fanus i Khiyal, 185–191

_Figaro in London_, 63, 64

“Financial Survey of Cumberland or the Beggar’s Petition,” 60

FitzGerald, Edward, 40, 179–191

Frederick the Great, 227

Garrick Club, The, 8, 9

George I., 238

George IV., 11

“George Garbage,” 9

Gray, J. M., 148

_Grimm’s Fairy Tales_, 42

“Harry Foker,” 9

Hertford, Marchioness of, 75

Hertford, Marquis of, 10 _et seq._

_History of Pickwick_, 29

Hobhouse, John Cam, 70–73

_Hogarth Illustrated_, 84

Hogarth, William, 82 _et seq._

Holmes, Sir Robert, 227

Hook, Theodore, 9, 10

Ireland, John, 84 _et seq._, 113 _et seq._

Irving, Washington, 2

_Italian Tales_, 74

_Italy_, 3

James I., 241

Jansenists, the, 221 _et seq._

Jesuits, The, 221 _et seq._

“Joe Sibley,” 163–173

Jones, W. N., 68

_Jorrocks’s Jaunts and Jollities_, 158

Keene, Charles, 127–139

Kitton, F. G., 40

“Lady Kew,” 10, 22

Langford, Lady, 10

Lawrence, Sir Thomas, 19

Leech, John, 33, 36–38, 40, 41

“L’Europe alarmée pour le Fils d’un Meunier,” 202–216

_Life of Dickens_, 37, 46

_Lippincott’s Magazine_, 10

“Lord Walham,” 23

_Lothair_, 2

“Marquis of Hereford,” 14

_Martin Chuzzlewit_, 26, 53

“Monsignor Catesby,” 2

“Mr. Dolphin,” 10

“Mr. John Jorrocks,” 158–161

“Mr. Pickwick at the Review,” 33

“Mr.” Pitt Crawley, 15

_Mr. Thackeray, Mr. Yates, and the Garrick Club_, 8

“Mr. Wardle and his Friends under the Influence of the Salmon,” 33

“Mr. Winkle’s First Shot,” 33

Napoleon, Emperor, 228

Nelson, Lord, 228

_Oliver Twist_, 26, 43–52

_Once a Week_, 127, 140–148

Orange, William of, 217 _et seq._

Pailthorpe, Mr. F. W., 56

_Pall Mall Gazette_, 166–169

Palmer, Samuel, 56

_Pendennis_, 9

_Penelope’s English Experiences_, 38

Phillimore, Mr. F., 47

“Philoprogenitiveness,” 77, 78

_Pickwick_, 26, 28 _et seq._, 43

_Pictures from Italy_, 56

Pine’s Horace, 54

_Poems_, Burns’s, 2

Pope, Alexander, 98–107

Price, Stephen, 9

Prideaux, Colonel, 190–191

_Punch_, 127 _et seq._

Queensberry, Duke of, 23

Reid’s _Catalogue of George Cruikshank’s Works_, 45, 62, 69

Ritchie, Mrs., 10

Robertson, J. C., 154–158

Rogers, Samuel, 3

“Roma Perturbata, Ofte’t Beroerde Romen, etc.,” 216 _et seq._

“Rose Maylie and Oliver at Agnes’s Tomb,” 45 _et seq._

Roxborough, Duke of, 2

“Royal Hobbys of the Hertfordshire Cock Horse,” 75

Ruskin, John, 3, 4

Sala, G. A., 30, 40

Sandys, Frederick, 127, 139–148

Scott, Sir Walter, 2

Seymour, Robert, 29, 31

“Sholto Percy,” 154–158

_Sketch Book_, Washington Irving’s, 2

_Sketches by Boz_, 55, 57, 58

Smith, J. T., 150

Smith, Wyndham, 9

Spielmann, Mr. M. H., 128 _et passim_

_Sporting Snobs_, 9

Stanislaus Hoax, 10

Stephens, F. G., 88

Stothard, T., 5

Stuart, James Francis Edward, 198 _et seq._

SUPPRESSED PLATES, 1–191

Surtees, R., 158

Swain, Mr. Joseph, 140–148

_Talpa_, 78

Tenniel, Sir John, 133

Thackeray, W. M., 7 _et seq._

_The Artist_, 145

_The Battle of Life_, 26, 34–40

_The Battle of London Life;_ or _Boz and his Secretary_, 39

“The Bruiser,” 110, 111

_The Builder_, 107

_The Chimes_, 36, 41

_The Christmas Carol_, 36

“The Cricket Match,” 29, 32

“The Curate and the Barber,” 121, 125

“The Dead Rider,” 74

“The Fireside Scene,” 26, 44 _et seq._

“The First Interview,” 121, 123

“The Free and Easy,” 57

“The Funeral of Chrysostom,” 116

_The History of Punch_, 128 _et seq._

_The Hobby Horse_, 144

“The Innkeeper,” 114

“The Innkeeper’s Wife and Daughter,” 118

“The Last Song,” 42

“The Man of Taste,” 98–107

“The Marquis of Steyne,” 7 _et seq._

_The Memoirs of Joseph Grimaldi_, 41, 42

_The Newcomes_, 22

“The Painted Chamber,” 150–153

“The Races of the Europeans with their Keys,” 239

_The Ruba’iyat_ of Omar Khayyam, 179–191

_The Speaker_, 21

“The Stature of a Great Man, or The English Colossus,” 236

“The Stature of a Great Man, or The Scotch Colossus,” 236

_The Strange Gentleman_, 54, 55

“The Street of the Tombs, Pompeii,” 56

_The Times_, 109

_The Tower of London_, 3

“The Two Apprentices,” 163–173

_The Two Paths_, 3

_The Vicar of Wakefield_, 171–175

_The Virginians_, 9

“The Worship of Wealth,” 53, 54

Thomson, Mr. Hugh, 3, 171–178

Thornhill, Sir James, 111, 112

“Tom Smart and the Chair,” 33

_Town Talk_, 8, 9

_Trilby_, 162–173

Tristram, Mr. Outram, 175

Truman, Edwin, 69

“Tupman and Rachel,” 29, 32

Van der Banck, Johan, 112, 113

_Vanity Fair_, 7 _et seq._

Vernon, Admiral, 227

_Vivian Grey_, 10

Wallace, Sir Richard, 20, 22

Walpole, Horace, 25

Walpole, Sir Robert, 234, 236

_Westminster Review_, 78

Whistler, James M’N., 163–173

Wilde, Oscar, 168

Wilkes, John, 109–111

Yates, Edmund, 8, 9

THE END

_Printed by_ R. & R. CLARK, LIMITED, _Edinburgh_.

ADVERTISEMENTS

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BY

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GEORGE MORLAND

By Sir WALTER GILBEY, Bart.

AUTHOR OF “THE LIFE OF GEORGE STUBBS, R.A.”

Containing 60 full-page reproductions in colour of the artist’s best work. Square demy 8vo, cloth, gilt top, price 20s. net.

There will also be an Édition de Luxe, with letterpress printed on handmade paper, containing the earliest impressions of the illustrations, and limited to 250 signed and numbered copies, price £2: 2s. net.

There is plenty of room for another Morland book, especially when written by the greatest living authority upon the works of the artist, and where the illustrations are reproduced, with most excellent results, from masterpieces loaned from private collections hitherto mostly unknown to the artistic public, and of which only a few have either been engraved or gravured—at all events, not before reproduced in colour.

George Morland’s work is characterised by its great strength and beauty of colouring. To reproduce so many of his choicest pictures, and bring the book into this series, is no easy matter, but to ensure success the publishers have spared no efforts to make their reproductions worthy of the artist’s work and entirely satisfying to the collector and student.

The collection of pictures reproduced in this volume is thoroughly representative, and each illustration is a gem; they show the several phases of Morland’s charming scenes of English life in the renowned Academician’s time.

The student and all collectors and admirers of Morland will also rejoice to have the appreciative text by Sir Walter Gilbey.

A. & C. BLACK, SOHO SQUARE, LONDON, W.

TRANSCRIBER’S NOTE

Original spelling and grammar have been generally retained, with some exceptions noted below. Original printed page numbers are shown like this: {52}. Original small caps are now uppercase, except that on page 223 the small caps phrase is rendered thus: “hos heros MonaChos apprenDe bata Ve rebeLLes”, in the simple text edition. Italics look _like this_. Footnotes have been relabeled 1–46, and moved from within paragraphs to nearby locations between paragraphs. The transcriber produced the cover image and hereby assigns it to the public domain. Original page images are available from archive.org—search for “suppressedplates00laya”.

The List of Illustrations contains two divisions, those that were printed upon numbered pages, and those that were printed on unnumbered pages. Most illustrations originally printed inside paragraphs of text have been moved to nearby locations between paragraphs, and the corresponding page numbers have been removed as necessary to maintain proper order of the remaining page numbers. Captions of Illustrations were sometimes altered to conform more closely—in substance or in typography—to the titles in the List of Illustrations (LOI). In such cases, the original captions (if any) are nevertheless retained as part of the image. On page 172, a caption was inserted where none had been printed, to match the LOI.

Page 10. “protoype” to “prototype”.

Page 212. “fireband” to “firebrand”.

Page 254. “Whistler, James M‘N” to “Whistler, James M’N”.