“Hogarthian” England – a superlative folio with brilliant impressions of these ever-fascinating images 25 HOGARTH, William. Works. London: Jane Hogarth, before 1789 £50,000 [ 154487 ]
ancestor of, the Swiss engineer George de Mestral (1907–1990), the inventor of Velcro, who inherited the chateau on his father’s death in 1966. The term “Hogarthian” has become a byword for our vision of 18th-century England; as the distinguished historian Robert Hughes remarked in The Fatal Shore , “modern squalor is squalid but Georgian squalor is ‘Hogarthian,’ an art form in itself”. One of Britain’s leading satirical graphic artists, Martin Rowson, who has himself produced a highly acclaimed “Hogarthian” graphic novelization of Laurence Sterne’s Tristram Shandy , has commented: “without quite knowing why, we all recognise what it implies: an earthy, vicious yet also rather jolly rumbustiousness, neatly summing up all we think we understand by the 18th century England” (quoted in Brant & Rousseau, p. 10). Viewing these oft- reproduced images in this quite stunning folio is like seeing them afresh.
A highly desirable and genuinely rare folio as sold by Hogarth’s widow, Jane, with 85 engravings and etchings by and after Hogarth, issued sometime between Hogarth’s death in 1764 and Jane’s death in 1789, comprising all of the prints which Hogarth himself included in his oeuvre. All are exceptional contemporary impressions, beautifully inked, on French heavy laid paper. This set consists of all the prints executed by Hogarth to market himself, and includes all the major series and single plates, before any posthumous rework and changes, and before many prices were removed. The small plates are mounted, as always with the early folios. The plates for A Harlot’s Progress are in the second state, with the “black Latin cross” below the image, added by Hogarth during his lifetime to distinguish them from the original issue for subscribers, as noted by Stephens and Hawkins. This copy has fine impressions of the plates throughout and is in a contemporary binding. On the rare occasions when this collection appears on the market, it is almost invariably found incomplete or in a later binding. Collections earlier than the Boydells’ printing of 1790 have no title or letterpress and no precise collation. This collection should not be confused with the inferior restrikes and “improved” plates later marketed by Boydell, Heath, and others. A Harlot’s Progress , A Rake’s Progress , Marriage-a-la-Mode , the Four Times of Day , Industry and Idleness , Gin Lane and Beer Street , the Four Stages of Cruelty , and the Election series are all present here, as well as Before and After , based on the second painted version and both in fine dark impressions with the original prices marked on the plates. “Hogarth made additions to the print versions of Before and After . For example, a cherub can be seen lighting the fuse of a rocket in Before , denoting male sexual excitement. In After , the laughing cupid gestures at the same rocket, now spent” (Tate online). On Hogarth’s death, “Jane took control of the print business and opted, like William, to sell the prints at their dwelling house in Leicester Fields. Reinforcing the sense that it was business ‘as usual’, she emulated the wording style and format of Hogarth’s ads and handled the transition with ease. Jane dispensed orders promptly and efficiently and continued to attract a refined and affluent clientele that included Henry Cecil, first marquess of Exeter, the prominent Scottish physician and anatomist William Hunter, and the merchant and collector Ingham Foster. In the midst of a contemporary boom in the print trade, Jane assiduously worked to maintain a thriving business: advertising, selling and producing catalogues of William’s works. Her proficiency at running the family business attests to an earlier acquaintance and involvement during William’s life” ( ODNB ). Provenance: the armorial bookplate is that of the owners of Mestral Castle, also known as Château de Saint Saphorin-sur-Morges, Vaud, Switzerland; with the ownership inscription of George de Mestral, perhaps identical with, or an
Elephant folio (approx. 580 × 470 mm). Contemporary quarter sheep, corners added during the late 19th century, spine lettered gilt inside dogtooth roll in one compartment, Papier Tourniquet pattern marbled paper boards. With 85 etched and engraved plates by William Hogarth (55 full-page, 30 of them smaller and mounted two, three or four to the page), interleaved with contemporary paper guards. Binding professionally refurbished, a little stripping to spine, inner hinges restored with linen, free endpapers sometime renewed, vertical crease to left margin of the portrait; the contents clean and crisp throughout with superb dark impressions of the plates; overall an exceptional copy. ¶ Clare Brant & George Rousseau, eds., Fame and Fortune: Sir John Hill and London Life in the 1750s , 2018; Ronald Paulson, Hogarth’s Graphic Works , revised edition, 1970.; Frederick George Stephens & Edward Hawkins, Catalogue of Prints and Drawings in the British Museum , Vol. III, Part I, 1877.
SIXTY FINE ITEMS
All items are fully described and photographed at peterharrington.co.uk
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