Book #52020
Item #52020 Empire Makers and Breakers: A Scene at the South Africa Committee. Stuff, Henry Charles Seppings-Wright.
Empire Makers and Breakers: A Scene at the South Africa Committee.

Empire Makers and Breakers: A Scene at the South Africa Committee.

Masters of Rhodesia and South Africa Stuff (Assumed to be Pseudonym of Henry Charles Seppings-Wright [1850-1937]). Empire Makers and Breakers: A Scene at the South Africa Committee, 1897. Supplement to Vanity Fair, November 25, 1897. 13-1/2" x 19-1/2" Color lithograph, attractively matted and glazed in recent wood frame with gilt inside border and black outside edge. Photocopy of accompanying Vanity Fair essay and Certificate of Authenticity affixed to rear. Image vivid, clean and free of creases and tears. A well-preserved copy of a scarce item in a handsome frame. $450. * A superb portrayal of British pride when the Empire was at its zenith, this image relates to the deliberations of the South African Committee at the close of the Second Matabele War, 1896-1897, which consolidated British control of Rhodesia (present-day Zimbabwe). The most notable figure in this image is Cecil Rhodes, the Prime Minister of the Cape Colony and an ardent imperialist, who stands in the center of the image with a glass. The other men are, from left to right, Sir Richard Webster, Henry Labouchere, Sir William Harcourt and Joseph Chamberlain. As the map in the background indicates, the committee is discussing its plan to push into the Boer states, most notably Transvaal and Orange. This action triggered the Second Boer War, 1899-1902, which introduced the concentration camp and scorched-earth tactics and ended with British domination of South Africa. Vanity Fair was published weekly from 1869 to 1914. It is best-known today for its caricatures of notable people and satirical depictions of current events. With few exceptions these were produced by a series of artists under pseudonyms, most notably "Spy" and "Ape." Approximately 2,400 caricatures were published in all, mostly as single pages. Vanity Fair also published 21 special numbers with double-page prints. "Empire Makers and Breakers" was originally issued in one of these. The prints were also issued individually. The absence of a central vertical crease indicates that our copy is one of these. The identity of "Stuff" has never been determined, but he is generally believed to be Henry Charles Seppings-Wright.

Price: $450.00

Book number 52020

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