Shakespeare sacrificed, or, the offering to avarice [graphic] / James Gillray design et fecit.
1789
Items
Linked e-resources
Linked Resource
Reproduction of an original in the Folger Shakespeare Library
Details
Title
Shakespeare sacrificed, or, the offering to avarice [graphic] / James Gillray design et fecit.
Created/published
[London, England] : H. Humphrey, no. 18 Old Bond Street, 1789.
Description
1 print : hand-colored etching and aquatint ; plate mark 504 x 384 mm
Associated name
Gillray, James, 1756-1815, printmaker.
Gillray, James, 1756-1815, artist.
Gillray, James, 1756-1815, printer.
Humphrey, Hannah, active 1774-1817, publisher.
Gillray, James, 1756-1815, artist.
Gillray, James, 1756-1815, printer.
Humphrey, Hannah, active 1774-1817, publisher.
Material base
paper
Summary
Caricature of John Boydell, the man behind the Boydell Shakespeare Gallery. Boydell stands within a magic circle, directing a sacrifice of Shakespeare's plays; these are burning at his feet; the dense smoke which rises from the fire obscures a monument to Shakespeare, concealing the head and shoulders of a figure of Shakespeare. To the viewer's right of the fire, a huge volume inscribed 'List of Subscribers to the Sacrifice' stands on end with an aged gnome-like creature with a large head, symbolizing Avarice, sitting on top. The rising smoke supports various characters from Shakespeare, more or less travestied from the pictures commissioned by Boydell for his Shakespeare Gallery.
Note
An earlier state lists the pseudonymous statement of responsibility "Andrew Ferrara" and publisher J. Aitken (see Folger ART File S527.6 no.3b).
Exhibited
Copy 1. Washington, D.C., Folger Shakespeare Library, 2007. Marketing Shakespeare.
Cited/described in
British Museum. Dept. of Prints and Drawings. Catalogue of prints and drawings in the British Museum (1870-1954) (George) 7584
Linked resources
Reproduction of an original in the Folger Shakespeare Library
Genre/form
Prints.
Caricatures
Caricatures
Place of creation/publication
Great Britain -- England -- London.
Item Details
Call number
ART File S527.6 no.3a copy 1
Folger accession
cs301
Call number
ART File S527.6 no.3a copy 2
Folger accession
cs301
Call number
ART Flat a5 no.5