Illuminations and Epiphanies

Book Collecting

This link will take you to the prints that are available. James Gillray (1756-1815) was the pre-eminent caricaturist of the late 18th and early 19th centuries and is considered by many to be the father of the political cartoon.  His colorful political and social satires were wildly popular in his own time for their cruel and scurrilous content, which was often directed at George III, his family, and other leading political figures.  Just as popular were his military caricatures of Napoleon and both French and British forces during the Napoleonic Wars. A contemporary guide, (Historical and Descriptive Account of the Caricatures of James Gillray) to identifying the characters, events, customs, and hidden humor in the prints is viewable on-line through Google Books.  An in-print guide to the prints (The Satirical Etchings of James Gillray) is available through Amazon.com. Most of Gillray’s etchings were published by Mrs. H. Humphrey of London, and one of his most sought after prints, Slippery Weather, shows a man slipping on the pavement in front of her shop as a crowd gathers to look at Gillray prints in the window.  Upon Mrs. Humphrey's death, the executors of her estate were in the process of selling Gillray’s copper plates to a scrap dealer when a publisher, H.B. Bohn, purchased the lot and made final set of printings, which he published in a very large elephant folio edition in 1851. Bohn strikes of Gillray’s prints were only issued without color and are also distinguished from the first printings by the inclusion of a small print number (in most, but not all cases) and printing on both sides of the paper.  Be very careful when purchasing a colored Gillray print; most are not originals; instead they are usually modern lithographs or Bohn issues that have been recently colorized, often quite poorly or in shades that do not match the original aquatints.  Original strike aquatints by Gillray usually sell for $1,500 to $10,000, while the Bohn strikes retail at $100-200 for a single quarter-leaf print or $300-$600 for a full-size elephant folio leaf containing two to eight different prints.  Bohn strikes of Gillray’s more popular prints sell for considerably more.  I recently purchased a large number of Bohn printings.  Although some of the most popular have already been sold, I have many more that are still available.  Although most of these prints have some minor foxing and their margins were apparently trimmed when they were removed from the folio binding, they are all quite suitable for framing. This link will take you to the prints that are available. Send me an email if you’d like to purchase any of these prints. (I don’t have most of them assigned a stock number, so they can’t be ordered on-line.)  I offer discounts if you buy more than one at a time.  Buy two and receive a 20% discount.  Buy three and receive a 25% discount.  Buy four or more and receive a 30% discount.  Buy ten or more and receive a 40% discount.