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GILLRAY LAMPOONS THE UNIVERSITY

Synopsis

A suite of 4 engraved caricatures satirising the pitfalls awaiting the hapless undergraduate.

Item Description

A suite of four original etchings, plate 9.75 x 13.75 inches, with margins overall size 12 x 16.75 inches. Printed on J. Whatman paper watermarked 1811.

Notes

James Gillray (c.1756-1815), was a British caricaturist and printmaker famous for his etched political and social satires. Born in Chelsea, Gillray studied letter-engraving, and was later admitted to the Royal Academy where he was influenced by the work of Hogarth. The publisher of these prints, Hannah Humphrey was the sister of engraver William Humphrey. She began to publish prints in the 1770s and she established a print shop in London in around 1779, from where she initially sold history and portrait plates and caricatures. In 1791, the renowned satirist, James Gillray, began to work exclusively for Humphrey, making her London's leading seller of caricature prints. Gillray lived with Humphrey for the next twenty years.

Print No. 1
Two portly Fellows dressed in cap and gown, standing to the left under a stone arcade, look with shocked disapproval at a dismayed undergraduate emerging from a door giving on to the arcade. He is slim and fashionably dressed and is doing up the fastenings of his trousers. Another undergraduate standing on the right with gold-embroidered gown, and the gold tassel denoting a peer, watches the encounter with amused delight. After the title: 'Ah me! what perils doth that Youth encounter, Who dares within the Fellow's Bog to enter.'
Print No 2.
The undergraduate walks diagonally across the grass of a College court; under his arm is a book: 'Advice to Freshmen'. Behind him on the right the obese Master stands in a Gothic doorway leading from a staircase, pointing angrily at the culprit. A college servant with a broom stands obsequiously beside the doorway, looking over his shoulder apprehensively at the oblivious undergraduate, who leaves a trail of conspicuous footprints on the turf. A Fellow in a mullioned window next the doorway scowls at the young man through a glass. After the title:
'Ah me! - that thou the Freshman's-Guide should'st read, Yet venture on the hallowed grass to tread'.
Print No.3.
The undergraduate finds himself face to face with the Master who is walking with a Fellow across the College quadrangle. He stops, putting his hand to his cap, while his dog tries to take cover behind his legs and gown. A college servant behind him raises a broom to smite the intruding dog. After the title: 'The Master's Wig the guilty wight appals, Who brings his Dog within the College walls.'
Print No. 4.
The undergraduate advances dejectedly, raising his cap to a Fellow wearing cap and gown and gaiters, who walks with another wearing clerical wig and bands with a cocked hat, long coat to the ankles, and gold headed cane. The former points angrily at the gaiters which the undergraduate (like himself) is wearing. After the title: 'Expulsion waits that Son of Alma Mater, Who dares to shew his face in Boot or Gaiter'.
The publisher of these prints, Hannah Humphrey was the sister of engraver William Humphrey. She began to publish prints in the 1770s and she established a print shop in London in around 1779, from where she initially sold history and portrait plates and caricatures. In 1791, the renowned satirist, James Gillray, began to work exclusively for Humphrey, making her London's leading seller of caricature prints. Gillray lived with Humphrey for the next twenty years.