The Last of the Boroughbridges. 11" x 13" Hand-Colored Lithograph
The Rotten Boroughs Doyle, John [1797-1868]. The Last of the Boroughbridges. [London]: Published by Thomas McLean, March 7, 1831. 11" x 13" Hand-colored lithograph. Some toning to margins, a few miniscule spots to image, colors vivid. $350. * Doyle moved English caricature from the ridiculous, grotesque and sometimes bawdy style of Thomas Rowlandson and James Gillray to the more witty and genteel manner developed further by later cartoonists, such as those associated with Vanity Fair. Doyle's pictures appeared anonymously in the London Times and a series of books, Political Sketches, between 1830 and 1851 under the signature H.B. They were commentaries on recent events and were sometimes accompanied by explanatory essays. This image is a commentary on Parliamentary efforts to eradicate the last of the "rotten boroughs." Also called "pocket boroughs," these were small towns with tiny (and easy to bribe) electorates that were used by a patron to gain undue influence within the House of Commons. Stephens and George, Catalogue of Political and Personal Satires Preserved in the Department of Prints and Drawings in the British Museum 16602.
Price: $350.00
Book number 51757