Published by Thos. McLean, 26 Haymarket

Sketches numbered 201 - 411

And

This book is in fair condition for its size and age. The spine is broken front and back and the edges are a bit ragged. The inside of the volume is in better shape than the outside. Some, though not all, of the images have foxing. Most of the images have the football shaped “Subscribers Copy” stamp, and some have a round stamp that say “Thos McLean” and some have no stamp at all. Some of the images have the names of the individuals portrayed written in pencil under them. The prints are glued back to back in order, 201 glued to the back of 301, etc. Most of them are still glued together, though some are starting to come loose, none are totally detached.

One volume from probably the largest and certainly one of the most important series of political cartoons published in the nineteenth century. Doyle turned his attention to lithography, and having in 1827 and 1828 produced some lithographed portraits with great success, was gradually led to begin the series known popularly as the caricatures of H.B. (a signature contrived by the junction of two J"s and two D"s). These came out in batches of four or five at a time, at irregular intervals, but during the session at least once a month, and for many years were complimented by a semi-lead article in the Times explaining their meaning. The utmost pains were taken to preserve Doyle"s anonymity, and with such success that almost to the last his identity was never revealed. Their popularity continued through 1851, when the last of them appeared, and the presentments of Wellington and Cumberland, Russell and Brougham, Disraeli, O"Connell, Eldon, Palmerston, Melbourne- "all the men of note who took part in political affairs from before the passing of the Catholic Relief Bill until after the repeal of the Corn Law", along with many others, became familiar through Doyle"s excellent likenesses and gently satiric pencil. In its absence of animosity and exaggeration, his work was far removed from the style of Rowlandson and Gillray, and steadfast, even in its greatest severities, to the standard of good taste. "You never hear any laughing at H.B.," wrote Thackeray in 1840, "his pictures are a great deal too genteel for that- polite points of wit, which strike one as exceedingly clever and pretty, and cause one to smile in a quiet, gentlemanlike kind of way." Other contemporaries strike a more enthusiastic note. Macaulay, writing to his sister in 1831, describes the delight he had derived from "the caricatures of that remarkably able artist who calls himself H.B." Wordsworth and Haydon were also warm in commending his work. "He has," said the latter, "an instinct for expression and power of drawing, without academical cant, I never saw before" (Journal, 29 Oct. 1831). Prince Metternich possessed his entire collection, and regarded them as most valuable records. Wilkie, Rogers, and Moore also thought very highly of them. It is certain that during their epoch Doyle"s designs led English satiric art into a path of reticence and good breeding which it had never trodden before; and for English graphic political history between 1830 and 1845 one must go chiefly to the drawings of "H.B." His plates number 917, and of these, either in the form of original designs, rough sketches, or transfers for the stone, there are more than six hundred examples in the print room of the British Museum.

An interesting and historic overview of the political atmosphere of the time.

The book is 14“ wide x 21 1/2“ high.

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BIO ON ARTIST

John Doyle was born into an impoverished Roman Catholic family in Dublin in 1797. Doyle arrived in London in 1821 where he hoped to establish himself as a portrait painter. Although he occasionally exhibited at the Royal Academy he failed to sell enough pictures and by 1827 had turned to lithography.

Over the next few years he revolutionized the art of caricature and his work differed greatly from previous cartoonists such as Thomas Rowlandson and James Gillray who attempted to make their subjects look ugly and ridiculous. John Doyle concentrated on politicians, and although he favoured the Whigs, mainly because of their views on Catholic Emancipation, he was never too harsh on the Tories.

Doyle's pictures appeared in The Times between 1829 and 1851. His drawings were always signed H.B. and at the time very few people knew his real name. Doyle's cartoons were daily commentaries of political events and were sometimes accompanied by an article explaining their meaning. John Doyle died on 2nd January 1868. One of his sons, Richard Doyle, was also a cartoonist. His other son, Charles, was the father of the writer, Arthur Conan Doyle.

Born in Dublin, Ireland, 1797; died in London, 2 January, 1868; English portrait-painter and caricaturist. This clever artist studied under Gabrielli, and Comerford, the miniature-painter. He came to London in 1821 and started as a portrait-painter, but gave his attention to drawing caricatures in 1827 or 1828, and developed his well-known signature, "H.B.", by means of two sets of initials "J.D." placed one above the other. In 1829 he commenced his famous series of drawings which he continued to produced until 1851, caricaturing in brilliant style all the political movements of the day. His drawings differ completely from the caricatures which preceded them, notably those of Rowlandson and Gillray, inasmuch as they are marked by reticence, courtesy, and a sense of good breeding. They are extraordinarily clever and at times stinging in their bitter epigrammatic quality; but Thackeray under-estimated their power when he spoke of them as "genteel" and said that they would "only produce a smile and never a laugh". There are some six hundred of them in the British Museum, and taken altogether they form a most interesting and graphic representation of the political history of England of the time. Doyle retired from professional work seventeen years before his death. He preserved his incognito to the very last and few people were aware of the fact that the initials on the caricatures formed his signature. He produced several pencil sketches of well-known personages and made use of the sketches themselves constitute in several instances the most life-like representations of the person in question which exist.