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Details

POLITICAL SATIRE 1820

Synopsis

A national toy, with fourteen step scenes; and illustrations in verse, with eighteen other cuts. by the author of 'the political house that jack built.' fourth edition. all the drawings for this publication are by mr. george cruikshank.

Item Description

8vo. 5.75 x 9 inches. [24] pp., including [2] pp. publisher's advertisements at end.

Illustrations

Illustrated by 18 wood engravings by George Cruikshank, including title page and 2 endpiece vignettes. Lacking the inset toy.

Notes

This satire in verse and caricature was published at the height of the Queen Caroline Affair, estranged wife of George IV, who had just succeeded his father. It tells the story of their marriage, his treatment of her, her exile and return to popular acclaim ('And the shouts of the nation salute her at Dover!') and final rejection and humiliation by her husband. The King tried unsuccessfully to divorce her on the grounds of her adultery and strip her of her titles, but the bill was passed only in the House of Lords. The following year Caroline attempted to attend the coronation but was turned away by slammed doors and point of bayonet. She died a few weeks later. The satire is notable for its vituperative treatment of the much despised monarch, shown here being trundled off in a wheelbarrow as 'Cat's Meat.' One of the most successful political satires of the writer and bookseller, William Hone (1780-1842), who frequently collaborated with the illustrator, George Cruikshank, the title appeared in forty four editions in its year of publication.