A RAKE'S PROGRESS
A Rake's Progress was etched and engraved from a series of eight paintings completed in 1734. The progress, delayed so that it might be protected from pirates by the Engravers Act, was issued on June 25, 1735, the day after the Act took effect. A little less popular than A Harlot's Progress, this series provoked the same types of explanations, interpretations, piracies and independent works of art.
While both the harlot's and the rake's progresses tell of parallel fatal attempts by young people to rise out of their social classes or circumstances, these stories have interesting differences. Moll's tale is about her attempt to make her livelihood in an alien, hostile environment; her struggle against a predatory society is a struggle for both social advancement and survival. The rake's fortune is already secure at the opening of his story. Deluded by the glitter of aristocratic life styles, he rejects a life of work and virtue and uses his own and another's wealth in follies and dissipations which lead to his ruin. Less the victim of circumstances, more self-destructive than destroyed, he is still preyed upon by many of the same institutions and types as Moll—the aristocracy, the businessman, the jail, and the madhouse.
A Rake's Progress is a work of broader scope and greater complexity than A Harlot's Progress. It treats such topics as the rake's schooling and his father; and it embraces a range of experience and conduct that is much wider than what we see in Hogarth's earlier progress; it explores more involved, sustained relationships between characters. It has a fully developed subplot which chronicles the life of Sarah Young. The picture of a loyal, supportive female, Sarah is a sentimental and implausible creation. She is an important part of the series primarily because she represents many of the middle-class virtues (work, thrift, loyalty, Christian benevolence) that correspond to the rake's aristocrative vices. As a result she serves both as a contrast to Tom and a positive embodiment of some aspects of the life which Hogarth means to recommend to his viewer. The same rigorous moral purpose imbues this work as does A Harlot's Progress.
[Excerpts this page are from Engravings by Hogarth, edited by Sean Shesgreen (Dover, 1973).] |
(click image to see entire plate enlarged)
The Rake's Progress
Plate I
Invented, Painted and Engraved by William Hogarth
(Heath edition, 1822)
Sheet size: approx. 25 1/4 inches x 19 1/4 inches
Plate size: approx. 15 1/2 x 12 1/2 inches
Condition: Excellent. A couple of tiny fox marks in margin.
A very nice, dark impression.
One of Hogarth's most sought-after series!
[For sale in a complete set of 8 full page engravings, see below for details]
PLATE I
In Plate I, Hogarth explains Tom Rakewell in terms of a rejection of his father and contrasts the two very different characters. The plate depicts the rake spurning the middle-class values (duty, marriage, thrift) that his father has lived by. The miser has died suddenly, and the cracked, bare walls of his office—it has no home comforts—are being covered by black cloth for the wake. Funeral escutcheons, the motto and arms of old Rakewell, already hang on the wall, showing three vises (= vices) with motto "Beware" (particularly appropriate advice for the unheeding son).
To assuage his curiosity about the extent of his newly acquired wealth, Tom has opened the closets, strongboxes and documents of the elder Rakewell (a name suited equally to father and son). The father's diary records with equal value his only son's homecoming and cheating someone with a fake coin ("Memordums 1721 May 3 my Son Tom came from Oxford 4th/Dine at ye French Ordinary 5th put of my Bad Shilling"). Scattered carelessly around Tom's feet lies the miser's paper wealth; "India Bonds," "Mortgages," "Fines & Recovery's," "Lease & Release," "and "This Indenture." A strongbox with a triple lock holds silver plate and money; it contains three sacks labeled "1000," "2000,"
3000." A famished, snarling cat (the place is without food and therefore mice) guards the chest.
The last prophetic act of the miser has been to cut a sole for his shoe from a Bible cover; he has died before sewing the leather completely. Beside the mutilated Bible, a chest and a closet contain worthless trivia accumulated compulsively over the years; they include a broken lantern, a shovel, a pair of shoes, an odd boot, two swords, a broken jug, a bowl and wigs. Having long ceased to entertain, the miser has stored away a spit and jack in an inaccessible wall compartment. The old man's stick and crutch rest against the mantle, and his glasses (without lenses) hang near them.
The room is without decoration except for a picture of the miser himself who sits with a pair of scales in his hand (a comic reference to the scales of justice) counting money. Even in his portrait he wears his overcoat to avoid burning a fire. Money fearfully secreted in the ceiling spills down on his portrait. Three of the miser's former employees attend the rake. An old servant prepares to light a blazing fire; a lawyer (identified by his baize bag used to carry documents) interrupts his inventory-taking to claim his fee surreptitiously; and an ill-dressed, economical tailor measures Tom for a mourning suit.
Already Tom's past is troubling him. Sarah Young, a sentimental representative of middle-class good nature, patience and loyalty—everything that Tom is not—has been seduced at the university, in part by promises of marriage; in her drooping hand she holds a ring; and her mother carries love letters from Tom ("To Mrs. Sarah Young" and "Dearest Life...& marry you"). Pregnant, she come to Tom with her mother who confronts Tom with an animal fierceness (she resembles in expression the cat by the strongbox). Tom, a childish-faced person, callously tries to buy the mother off with his newly acquired wealth as he postures to permit the tailor to continue his work without interruption. He shows no signs of grief at his father's death.
|
(click image to see entire plate enlarged)
The Rake's Progress
Plate II
Invented, Painted and Engraved by William Hogarth
(Heath edition, 1822)
Sheet size: approx. 25 1/4 inches x 19 1/4 inches
Plate size: approx. 15 1/2 x 12 1/2 inches
Condition: Excellent. A couple of tiny fox marks in margin.
A very nice, dark impression.
One of Hogarth's most sought-after series!
[For sale in a complete set of 8 full page engravings, see below for details]
PLATE II
Tom's transition from a bourgeois life style to an aristocratic one, prodigal and inappropriate, is complete. The miser's dreary room hasa been replaced by a grand house, bright, spacious and fully appointed; here, at his morning reception, Tom receives—not his noblemen peers—but commercial people, each representing a separate aristocratic vice, affectation or entertainment.
In the center of these tradesmen stands Tom, dressed in a fashionable morning gown, giving his attention to a professional assassin; in his hand he holds a letter reading, "Sr. the Capt. is a Man of Honour. his Sword may Serve you yrs. Wm. Stab." The grim-faced mercenary stands with one hand on his weapon and the other over his heart in an affectedly earnest profession of honor. Beside him a huntsman, one hand wearily in his pocket, sounds his horn impatiently. Below the rake a jockey displays a trophy won by his master's horse inscribe, "Won at Epsom/ Silly Tom."
On the left a French dancing instructor and a fencing master perform ostentatiously before their employer. In contrast to their artificial vivacity two stolid Englishmen stand in the background; both wear defeated looks on their faces that signal a consciousness of the disadvantages of their position in the presence of voguish foreign competition. At the harpsichord a figure (perhaps Handel) plays "The Rape of the Sabines. a New Opera." The "Performers" are famous contemporary foreigners. "Romulos Sen: Fari[nel]i 1 Ravisher Sen: Sen[esi]no no2 Ravisher Sen: Car[esto]ne 3 Ravisher Sen: Coz-n Sabine Women Senra: Str-dr. Senra: Ne-gr Senra: Ber[tol]le." Hogarth's title, The Rape of the Sabines, is a hit at the paradoxical combination of castrati and promiscuous women in the cast.
Behind the harpsichordist's chair another testament to the rake's tast for the foreign reads, "A List of the rich Presents Signor Farinelli the Italian Singer Condescended to Accept of ye English Nobility & Gentry for one Nights Performance in the Opera Artaxerse s — a pair of Diamond Knee Buckles Presented by — a Diamond Ring by — A Bank Note enclosed in a Rich Gold case by — A Gold Snuff box Chace'd with the Story of Orpheus Charming ye Brutes by T: Rakewell Esq: 100[£] 20[o£] 100[£]." On the floor at the dancing master's feet lies a title page inscribed "A Poem dedicated to T. Rakewell Esq"; it pictures Farinelli on a pedestal before a group of women crying in homage, "One G-d, one Farinelli"; two hearts burn below the singer.
In the wing, another passel of tradesmen wait; they include a milliner, tailor, wigmaker and a poet (who tries to separate himself from the commercial people). The Judgment of Paris, a technically inept picture of foreign manufacture passed off on the rake as a masterpiece, is surrounded tastelessly by pictures of the rake's gamecocks.
|
(click image to enlarge)
The Rake's Progress
Plate III
Invented, Painted and Engraved by William Hogarth
(Heath edition, 1822)
Sheet size: approx. 25 1/4 inches x 19 1/4 inches
Plate size: approx. 15 1/2 x 12 1/2 inches
Condition: Excellent. A couple of tiny fox marks in margin.
A very nice, dark impression.
One of Hogarth's most sought-after series!
[For sale in a complete set of 8 full page engravings, see below for details]
PLATE III
Plate II illustrates Tom's morning entertainments; Plate III depicts his evening pleasures, exposing both Tom himself and the aristocratic model upon which he forms himself.He has ordered an extravagant orgy for himself and a single acquaintance. The affair takes place in a shabby room that may once have had pretentions to grandeur; the inscription on the large plate held by the servant with the infantile grin on his face reads "John Bonvine at the Rose Tavern Drury Lane."
Tom and his companion seem to have played a substantial part in the pointless destruction that been visited on the place. The backs of the chairs have been broken, the room's mirror shattered and portraits of "Augustus," "Titus," "Otho," "Vitelius," and "Vespatianus" have been slashed. Only the portraits of "Nero" and "Pontac," a person after whom a well-known London restaurant was named, have survived. Surrounded again by commercial people and besotted by alcohol but still drinking, the rake reclines close to a bed, his clothes unbuttoned, on the bosom of a solicitous harlot.
With typical aristocratic disregard for the law, his unsheathed sword has been drawn in a cowardly attack upon an unarmed watchman. The watchman's battered lantern and staff lie at the rake's feet along with a broken glass, some scattered pills and part of a portrait of an emperor ("Iulius"). The innocent-looking (and very sober) harlot fondles Tom as she passes his watch to an accomplice.
At the table an angry woman spews a stream of gin at another who threatens her with a knife. A mischief maker sets fire symbolically to a map of the world. Below her the rake's drunken acquaintance and a stupefied harlot fondle mechanically. A very sober Black woman smiles at a half-conscious figure who spills the contents of the large punchbowl over herself in an attempt to consume it; she is restrained by a more delicate companion who drinks from a glass and bottle.
Behind them the "posture woman," wearing stockings bearing an incongruous coronet, undresses sleepily. She will perform on the large dish in the center of the table with the candle as her prop. Her underclothes lie piled on top of the emperor's face. Her index finger points to the stuck chicken although she herself does not seem to see the parallels between her own condition and the bird's. By the door stands a ragged ballad singer advertising the "Black Joke"; her pregnant, desolate state is a warning to the harlots about the hazards of their occupation. In the corner a trumpeter and harpist provide the music for the girl's act. It is morning; daylight shines through the window and is reflected on the bottles on the table.
|
(click image to enlarge)
The Rake's Progress
Plate IV
Invented, Painted and Engraved by William Hogarth
(Heath edition, 1822)
Sheet size: approx. 25 1/4 inches x 19 1/4 inches
Plate size: approx. 15 1/2 x 12 1/2 inches
Condition: Excellent. A couple of tiny fox marks in margin.
A very nice, dark impression.
One of Hogarth's most sought-after series!
[For sale in a complete set of 8 full page engravings, see below for details]
PLATE IV
In Plate IV the first inevitable consequences of Tom's new life style appear; his money runs short. The leek on the Welshman's hat identifies the date as March 1, the feast of St. David. Tom, dressed as a beau to assure his credit, seems to be on his way to White's to recover by gambling what he has squandered by excess. Despite the half-drawn curtain on his chair, he has been surprised with an "Arrest" notice. The bailiff is accompanied by a threatening assistant who does not disguise his interest in Sarah Young.
Rakewell is rescued not by his aristocratic acquaintances whose carriages and chairs stand outside White's gambling den in fromt of St. James's Palace, but by the plainly dressed girl from Oxford who has preserved the middle-class values of work, thrift and compassion. In a pointed reversal of Tom's cynical attempt to buy her off in Plate I, she offers her earnings as a milliner to the bailiff. Above Tom an inattentive lamplighter by a saddlemaker's sign ("Hods[on] Sadle") spills oil from a vessel.
An outdoor gambling school operates beside a post labeled "Blacks." Here mere children, corrupted by city life, ape the vices of the fashionable adults at places like White's. One steals Rakewell's handkerchief; another tiny, ragged figure smokes a pipe and bends like an old man over a newspaper (The Farthing Post). Two bootblacks in the foreground cast dice; both wager their means of livelihood in a thro. The figure with the star tattoo has lost all his clothes to his companion except for his cap and pants. The loser has a liquor glass and measure beside him, the winner three thimbles and a pea (another gambling device). Behind them a news vendor (the trumpet at his side) and election canvasser (the sign on his cap reads "Your Vote & Interest — Libertys") plays cards with an ape-like sweep. Behind the former a third boy signals the contents of his perplexed neighbor's cards to the sweep.
|
(click image to enlarge)
The Rake's Progress
Plate V
Invented, Painted and Engraved by William Hogarth
(Heath edition, 1822)
Sheet size: approx. 25 1/4 inches x 19 1/4 inches
Plate size: approx. 15 1/2 x 12 1/2 inches
Condition: Excellent. A couple of tiny fox marks in margin.
A very nice, dark impression.
One of Hogarth's most sought-after series!
[For sale in a complete set of 8 full page engravings, see below for details]
PLATE V
Unreclaimed to bourgeois life by Sarah Young and determined to pursue his career as a gentleman, the rake repairs his fortune by cynical alliance with an aged, ugly partner who trades her wealth for sexual fulfillment and class advancement. The scene of this mock religious ceremony is the decayed churck of St. Mary-le-Bone, famous for clandestine marriages (the gallery holds a plaque reading "This Church of St. Mary le Bone was Beautified in the year 1725, Tho Sice Tho Horn Church Wardens").
The condition of the church mirrors the nature of teh act and actors in the scene; plaster has fallen from the walls; the creed on the right wall has rotted away, leaving only the words "I Believe"; and the tablet with the commandments is cracked. The sounding board behind the pulpit bears the outline of the preacher's hat. The pew at the left, like clergyman and the church, belongs to those who can buy it. The inscription reads: "These: pewes vnscrvd: and: tan: in. svnd[r]/In. stone: thers: graven: wahat: is: vnder/ To wit: a : valt: for: bvrial: there: is/ Which: Edward: Forset: made: for: him: and: his." "The poor" box is covered with a cobweb.
The rake, a stately, attractive figure, is in the act of prostituting himself in much the same way as the harlot did in Plate II. As he slips the ring on his wife's finger, he glances calculatingly at her young maid. At the feet of these richly dressed figures, a ragged urchin with his toes peeping through his righ shoe positions a kneeler for the bride. The wife, and overdressed, one-eyed, hunchbacked creature, leers and seems to wink at the clergyman, a figure much more her match in age and looks. The small crucifix on her breast and the halo-like "IHS" above her head cast her satirically as a saint. A large, aggressive dog and a smaller one-eyed bitch mirror the alliance taking place at the right. In the background a churchwarden battles with Sarah Young and her clawing mother, who have come with the rake's child to prevent the marriage.
|
(click image to enlarge)
The Rake's Progress
Plate VI
Invented, Painted and Engraved by William Hogarth
(Heath edition, 1822)
Sheet size: approx. 25 1/4 inches x 19 1/4 inches
Plate size: approx. 15 1/2 x 12 1/2 inches
Condition: Very good to Excellent. A couple of tiny fox marks in margin. Dog-ear crease lower left corner, well away from image area.
A very nice, dark impression.
One of Hogarth's most sought-after series!
[For sale in a complete set of 8 full page engravings, see below for details]
PLATE VI
Drawn into gambling again, one of the most popular and fatal vices of his new social circle, the rake has lost a second fortune. The center of interest in the previous scene, that stately figure is now half mad. His clothes unbuttoned, his wig ripped off, he is alone in the midst of his companions. His fists clenched, teeth gritted and eyes bulging, he seems to curse heaven and fate. A mad dog (with a collar inscribed "Covent Gar[den]," the location of the gambling house) mirrors the rake's frenzy.
Too absorbed to notice the fire, those in the room (most are gentlemen) exhibit variously the effects of gambling in their conduct. By the fireside, an oblivious highwayman (a mask and gun protrude from his pocket), depressed and preoccupied by his losses, seeks consolation in a large gin. Completely withdrawn, the man behind him bites his nails in torment. To the left, two figures with satisfied countenances share the fruits of their collusion. Only the croupier and another man notice the fire. Behind them three figures are involved in a violent dispute. To his left, a gentleman expresses surprise at the entrance of the watch, who has seen the blaze from outside. Another casual and richly dressed fellow borrows money from a plainly clothed figure (reminiscent of the rake's father) who sits at a table covered with a rotting cloth and detachedly enters in his ledger "Lent to Ld. Cogg 500."
Above the fireplace hangs an advertisement reading "R Justian Card Maker to his Maj...Royal Family," suggesting that even the king and queen indulge in this viscious amusement. Behind the usurer a figure dressed in mourning convulses, perhaps over the loss of a newly acquired legacy.
|
(click image to enlarge)
The Rake's Progress
Plate VII
Invented, Painted and Engraved by William Hogarth
(Heath edition, 1822)
Sheet size: approx. 25 1/4 inches x 19 1/4 inches
Plate size: approx. 15 1/2 x 12 1/2 inches
Condition: Very good to Excellent. A couple of tiny fox marks in margin. Stabilized 1-inch tear upper left margin, well away from image area.
A very nice, dark impression.
One of Hogarth's most sought-after series!
[For sale in a complete set of 8 full page engravings, see below for details]
PLATE VII
The promise of Plate IV is here fulfilled and the rake, like the harlot before him, is jailed (for debt). The scene is the crude stone interior of the Fleet, a debtors' prison. The rake, slumped listlessly forward, his face filled with despair and anomie, besieged on all sides, gestures helplessly with his hands and feet. His last desparate attempt to earn money by writing a play has failed; beside him lies a curt rejection, "Sr. I have read your Play & find it will not doe yrs. J.R. . h." The mispelled "doe" seems to be a hit at the theater manager and pantomimist John Rich. Rakewell is now so destitute that he cannot give the turnkey the "garnish money" or pay the perturbed youth for a mug of beer. While his shrewish wife assaults him, Sarah Young faints in compassion at his plight. A companion shoves her head toward a bottle of smelling salts; another slaps her hand, while her daughter seems to rebuke the mother for her conduct.
The rake's two cellmates forecast his impending fate; both are, to some degree, mad. The unkempt fellow with the ragged wig and heavy beard who supports Sarah is a projector; though he cannot pay his own debts he has just invented a "Scheme for paying ye Debts of ye Nation." The fellow in the corner with the nightcap (who has been there a long tim if we are to judge by his elaborate still and chimney) is a mad alchemist. He is too absorbed in his furnace project (probably attempting to turn metal into gold) to notice what transpires around him. His telescope sticks out through the prison bars; three mixing pots stand beside his meager library; a paper inscribed "Philosophical" protrudes from one volume. Above his canopy rests a pair of wings. Like the rake, his plans to soar beyond his natural realm have brought him only imprisonment and insanity.
|
(click image to enlarge)
The Rake's Progress
Plate VIII
Invented, Painted and Engraved by William Hogarth
(Heath edition, 1822)
Sheet size: approx. 25 1/4 inches x 19 1/4 inches
Plate size: approx. 15 1/2 x 12 1/2 inches
Condition: Excellent. A couple of tiny fox marks in margin.
A very nice, dark impression.
One of Hogarth's most sought-after series!
[For sale in a complete set of 8 full page engravings, see below for details]
PLATE VIII
The rake's life of excesses has finally driven him completely mad. Committed to Bethlehem Hospital (Bedlam), he is being chained to prevent him from injuring himself (the patch below his breast suggests he may have knifed himself). Half-naked, grinning and tearing his flesh fiercely, he is attended to the end only by the weeping Sarah Young. Two men restrain him, though one is more interested in Sarah than in the patient.
In the hospital science has claimed two victims. The fellow peering at the ceiling through a roll of paper which he imagines to be a telescope is an astronomer. Behind him the fellow who has drawn the ship, mortar and shot, earth, moon and various geometric patterns is attempting to discover a scheme for calculating longitude. Religion has two adherents here. The man in the first cell sitting on straw chained to a rock is a fanatic; he keeps a crucifix and icons of three saints ("St. Lawrance, St. Athanatius [C]lemen[t]") beside him. His body is contorted in prayer and his adoring face is screwed up into the likeness of a wild animal. The person on the stairs with the cone-shaped hat and triple cross who seems to sing imagines himself the pope.
In cell 55 a naked man with a crown of straw and a stick as scepter believes he is king. He urinates. Two elegantly dressed court ladies come in curiosity not charity as Sarah has, smile at his exposed condition. In front of them a wretchedly dressed tailor with a wig of straw, patterns on his hat and tape in his hands, gestures vacantly. To his right a mad musician with sheet music on his head saws a violin with a stick; his fingers are covered with rings. Beside him sits a figure who suffers from depression over the loss of his love; he has carved her name ("Charming Betty Careless" [the name of a particularly beautiful and well-known prostitute of the period]) on the banister and wears her picture. The collar around his neck suggests he has attempted to hang himself.
On the wall stands the image of a halfpenny portraying Britannia with her hair flying madly behind her. It is chained to cell 54. Added in a late revision of the plate, it suggests that in 1763 Hogarth questioned the sanity of the British nation.
|
The Rake's Progress
Original Copperplate Engravings and Etchings from:
The Works of William Hogarth from the Original Plates Restored by James Heath, Esq., R.A.; With the Addition of Many Subjects Not Before Collected: To Which is Prefixed, a Biographical Essay on the Genius and Productions of Hogarth, and Explanations on the Subjects of the Plates by John Nichols, Esq., F.S.A.
London. Printed for Baldwin, Cradock & Joy, Paternoster Row
by Nichols and Son, Parliament Street
1822
To Mr. B. H.
|
|
| |
PLATES FROM THE COOK EDITION (1796-1803) BELOW |
PLATES FROM THE HEATH EDITION (1822) BELOW |
| |
Plate 1 is not available from the Cook edition |
(click image for enlargement)
The Rake's Progress, plate I
(The Young Heir Taking Possession)
Edition: Heath (1822)
Size: approx. 25 1/2 x 18 1/4 inches
Condition: Very good; unrepaired inch long tear in extreme left edge of paper, well outside of plate mark and easily covered by a mat.
$499.95
|
| |
(click image for enlargement)
The Rake's Progress, plate II
(Rakewell Surrounded by Artists and Professors)
Edition: Cook (1796-1803)
Size: approx. 23 1/2 x 16 3/4 inches
Condition: Excellent
$599.95
|
(click image for enlargement)
The Rake's Progress, plate 2
(Rakewell Surrounded by Artists and Professors)
Edition: Heath (1822)
Size: approx. 25 1/2 x 18 1/4 inches
Condition: Excellent
$499.95
|
| |
Plate 3 is not available from the Cook edition |
(click image for enlargement)
The Rake's Progress, plate 3
(The Tavern Scene)
Edition: Heath (1822)
Size: approx. 25 1/2 x 18 1/4 inches
Condition: Excellent—extremely light foxing in margins only; short nicks/tears in extreme edges of right margin, not affecting image.
|
| |
(click image for enlargement)
The Rake's Progress, plate IV
(Near-Arrest for Debt)
Edition: Cook (1796-1803)
Size: approx. 23 1/2 x 16 3/4 inches
Condition: Excellent
$599.95
|
(click image for enlargement)
The Rake's Progress, plate 4
(Near-Arrest for Debt)
Edition: Heath (1822)
Size: approx. 25 1/4 x 18 7/8 inches
Condition: Excellent. Scattered foxing in outer margins; very fain crease in lower left corner, well away from the image area; mild edge/corner wear.
$549.95
|
| |
(click image for enlargement)
The Rake's Progress, plate V
(Rakewell marries an Old Maid)
Edition: Cook (1796-1803)
Size: approx. 23 1/2 x 16 3/4 inches
Condition: Excellent
$599.95
|
(click image for enlargement)
The Rake's Progress, plate 5
(Rakewell marries an Old Maid)
Edition: Heath (1822)
Size: approx. 25 1/2 x 18 1/4 inches
Condition: Excellent.
$499.95
|
| |
(click image for enlargement)
The Rake's Progress, plate VI
(Scene in a Gaming House)
Edition: Cook (1796-1803)
Size: approx. 23 1/2 x 16 3/4 inches
Condition: Excellent
$679.95
|
(click image for enlargement)
The Rake's Progress, plate 6
(Scene in a Gaming House)
Edition: Heath (1822)
Size: approx. 25 1/2 x 18 1/4 inches
Condition: Very Good to Excellent. Minor plate rubbing and small splotch in margin, easily covered by mat.
$579.95
|
| |
(click image for enlargement)
The Rake's Progress, plate VII
(the Prison Scene)
Edition: Cook (1796-1803)
Size: approx. 23 1/2 x 16 3/4 inches
Condition: Excellent
$849.95
|
(click image for enlargement)
The Rake's Progress, plate 7
(the Prison Scene)
Edition: Heath (1822)
Size: approx. 25 1/2 x 18 1/4 inches
Condition: Fair; extensive amateur taping in lower margin, extending just into title area.
|
| |
Plate 8 is unavailable from either edition
except as part of the whole set (see above). |
Plate 8 is unavailable from either edition
except as part of the whole set (see above). |
LIFETIME HOGARTH PRINTS BELOW |
The plates below are likely more than 270 years old and show varying degrees of time-appropriate browning, soiling, foxing, tears, etc. We endeavour to describe the "flaws" as completely and accurately as possible, but please expect that most prints below could benefit from professional cleaning and/or restoration if such age-related matters are bothersome. |
(click to enlarge)
The Rake's Progress, plate I
(The Young Heir Taking Possession)
Lifetime Hogarth impression:
Inscribed: "Invented Painted Engraved & Publishd by Wm Hogarth June ye 25 1735. According to Act of Parliament."
Size: approx. 17 1/4 x 15 1/2 inches on heavy French laid paper,
with "SPERO" crest/seal lower right corner
Condition: Good/Very good
Most significant is the unrepaired tear in the top center, which just extends (¼ inch) into image. A couple of other minor tears to extreme outer edge of paper with old acidic tape residue on the back of the paper for two of the short tears. Typical overall age-toning, edgewear, and grubbiness in margins.
|
(click to enlarge)
The Rake's Progress, plate 2d
(Rakewell Surrounded by Artists and Professors)
Lifetime Hogarth impression:
Inscribed: "Invented &c by Wm Hogarth & Publish'd According to Act of Parliament June ye 25, 1735."
Size: approx. 17 1/4 x 15 1/2 inches on heavy French laid paper,
with "SPERO" crest/seal lower right corner
Condition: Very good/Excellent
Most significant is the natural paper "wrinkle" (not crease) running horizontally through lower portion of print—not terribly noticeable nor distracting. Otherwise, mild soiling to extreme outer margins.
|
(click to enlarge)
The Rake's Progress, plate 3
(The Tavern Scene)
Lifetime Hogarth impression:
Inscribed: "Invented, Painted, Engrav'd, & Publish'd by Wm Hogarth June ye 25, 1735. According to Act of Parliment [sic]."
Size: approx. 17 1/4 x 15 1/2 inches on heavy French laid paper,
with "SPERO" crest/seal lower right corner
Condition: Very good/Excellent
Most significant is the stain in right margin and the fox mark at "Parliment [sic]" in title area. Also a repaired one inch tear in lower left corner, just barely extending beyond plate mark. Another short tear (unrepaired) to right margin outside of plate mark. Soft "dog ear" crease in lower right corner. Otherwise, mild soiling to extreme outer margins, per usual.
|
(click to enlarge)
The Rake's Progress, plate 5
(Rakewell marries an Old Maid)
Lifetime Hogarth impression:
Inscribed: "Invented Painted & Engrav'd by Wm Hogarth & Publish'd June ye 25, 1735. According to Act of Parliament."
Size: approx. 17 1/4 x 15 1/2 inches on heavy French laid paper,
with "SPERO" crest/seal lower right corner
Condition: Very good/Excellent
Most significant is the fox mark/stain in the upper middle portion of image. Otherwise, mild soiling, nicks and short tears to extreme outer margins, per usual.
|
(click to enlarge)
The Rake's Progress, plate 6
(Scene in a Gaming House)
Lifetime Hogarth impression:
Inscribed: "Invented Painted & Engrav'd by Wm Hogarth, & Publish'd June ye 25, 1735. According to Act of Parliament
Sold at ye Golden Head in Leicester Fields London."
Size: approx. 17 1/4 x 15 1/2 inches on heavy French laid paper,
with "SPERO" crest/seal lower right corner
Condition: Fair
Four significant tears which were "repaired" with acidic tape many years ago, causing acid burn. A competent conservator can restore this print for a fairly reasonable cost. Typical edge/corner wear along with the extreme right edge of paper having been taped with acidic tape. This is one of Hogarth's most famous scenes.
$1,149.95
|
(click to enlarge)
The Rake's Progress, plate 7
(The Prison Scene)
Lifetime Hogarth impression:
Inscribed: "Invented &c. by Wm Hogarth & Publish'd According to Act of Parliament June ye 25, 1735."
Size: approx. 17 1/4 x 15 1/2 inches on heavy French laid paper,
with "SPERO" crest/seal lower right corner
Condition: Very Good/Excellent
Natural paper "wrinkle" (not a crease) through lower portion of print horizontally, with non-acidic reinforcement at the edges of the paper on the back to prevent splitting. Otherwise very clean with only minimal edge/corner wear.
|
From The Complete Works of William Hogarth
Published by Wm. Mackenzie, London, 1870 |
(click image to enlarge)
The Rake's Progress, Plate 1
(The young heir takes possession of the miser's effects)
"The Complete Works of William Hogarth"
(Wm. Mackenzie, London, 1870)
Sheet size: 8 3/4 x 12 1/4 inches
(steel engraving)
Condition: Very Good, some mild soiling in lower margin, a couple of unobtrusive, light fox marks in margins.
(note: entire sheet is too large to scan)
$49.95
|
(click image to enlarge)
The Rake's Progress, Plate 4
(Arrested for Debt as going to Court)
"The Complete Works of William Hogarth"
(Wm. Mackenzie, London, 1870)
Sheet size: 8 3/4 x 12 1/4 inches
(steel engraving)
Condition: Excellent
(note: entire sheet is too large to scan)
$69.95
|
(click image to enlarge)
The Rake's Progress, Plate 6
(Gaming House Scene)
"The Complete Works of William Hogarth"
(Wm. Mackenzie, London, 1870)
Sheet size: 8 3/4 x 12 1/4 inches
(steel engraving)
Condition: Very Good/Excellent—slight grubbiness at bottom
(note: entire sheet is too large to scan)
$49.95
|
(click image to enlarge)
The Rake's Progress, Plate 7
(The Prison Scene)
"The Complete Works of William Hogarth"
(Wm. Mackenzie, London, 1870)
Sheet size: 8 3/4 x 12 1/4 inches
(steel engraving)
Condition: Very Good/Excellent—slight grubbiness at bottom
(note: entire sheet is too large to scan)
$49.95
|
|
