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BUNBURY, Henry (ills.)
Shakespeare; Twenty-two Plates, Illustrative of Various Interesting Scenes, in the Plays of Shakespeare.
Around the end of the eighteenth century, the most successful London print shop was the Shakespeare Gallery, run by John Boydell. Their most famous project was a series of over one hundred extravagantly large engravings illustrating well-known scenes from Shakespeare’s plays. Boydell’s success led to many imitations, such as the Woodmason’s Shakespeare Gallery and the Irish Shakespeare Gallery. The most ambitious was the Poet’s Gallery, managed by Thomas Macklin. Macklin hired the popular caricaturist Henry Bunbury to create a similar series of pen and ink and watercolor drawings to illustrate Shakespeare’s plays. Bunbury chose comic, often obscure scenes, emphasizing the outlandish and the ridiculous. His designs were engraved over five year by Francesco Bartolozzi (1727-1815), Peltro William Tomkins (1760-1840), Thomas Cheeseman (active 1780-1790), and Robert Mitchell Meadows (died 1812). The artists only finished twenty-two prints, which in the end was no real competition for Boydell.
- Published
- London: T. Macklin c1810.
- Plates
- 22
- Binding/Size
- L=FOLIO
- Value
- 0-5000
- Published
- London: T. Macklin c1810.
- Ref
- 1024
Beautifully coloured stipple or mezzotint engravings watermarked 1792 or 1793. The engravings by: Bartolozzi, Tomkins, Cheeseman, Meadows, and others from the designs by Henry Bunbury (1750 - 1811). Each plate is 563 x 470 mm, or 22 x 19 inches. A colourful and highly irreverent collection featuring Falstaff, Prospero, Romeo and Juliet, Macbeth, Rosalind, and other memorable characters. Bunbury concentrated on comic, generally obscure scenes, and the accent is on the outlandish and absurd. This work contributed to his reputation as a top satirist of his time. The stipple engravings contained in the work are regarded as among the finest of the process. Title in red and black. Colour engraved frontis. Full red morocco ruled with a crest in gilt. Spine lettered in gilt, with two raised bands and gilt inner dentelles. Bound by Stikeman. Some foxing to plate margins, reasonably heavy in some corners. A faint damp stain affects the upper right margins of many of the plates. Small closed tears to end-papers and chipping and minor loss to title page tissue guard. Abrading to extremities and spine with small losses. The back cover is scratched. Corners have fraying. Pictorials of plates are magnificent and bright. Overall, good or better. Coloured plates in order: 1. Frontis. Falstaff Playing the Prince, the Prince Playing the King. 2. Romeo and Juliet in Friar Lawrence's Cell. 3. Macbeth and The Murderers. 4. Falstaff at Hern's Oak. 5. Jacques discovered by the Duke. 6. Rosalind, Celia & Touchstone. 7. Falstaff's Escape. 8. Taming the Shrew. 9. Falstaff Reproved by King Henry. 10. Helena in The Dress of A Pilgrim. 11. Prospero Disarming Ferdinand. 12. Dick the Butcher & Smith the Weaver seizing the Clerk of Chatham. 13. Fluellen making Pistol eat the leek. 14. Florizel & Autolicus, Exchange Garments. 15. [no caption] **proof copy?** 16. Falstaff with Hotspur on his Back. 17. The Supposed Death of Imogen. 18. Launce teaching his Dog crab to behave as a Dog in all things. 19. Falstaff at Justice Swallow's Mustering his Recruits. 20. Sir Andrew Aguecheek, Sir Toby Belch, & The Clown. 21. [no caption] **proof copy?** 22. Dogberry and Verges with the watch.
