“ A poor devil who has been detained
because he cannot pay
shall pay for being detained ”
( Lichtenberg )
Hogarth, William (1697 London 1764). Prison Scene. The new inevitable station in Rakewell’s life. The boy will have to take back the foaming jug of porter as he cannot even pay his footing to the also entering jailer. In the background the fully functional laboratory of an alchemist who searches unperturbed for gold. On the left the faithful Sarah Young with her little daughter. A smelling-bottle shall give new courage to the faint first, offered by a helpful guy who also endeavours elsewhere as the
memorial for the national procurement of money
slipped from hands proves. Engraving by Thomas Cook (c. 1744 – London 1818). Inscribed: Designed by Wm. Hogarth / Engraved by T. Cook / Published Aprl. 1st. 1797, by G. G. & J. Robinson, Pater-noster Row, London. / Pl. VII. 35.8 x 42 cm.
The Rake’s Progress VII. – With multi-verse subtext. – Cook “made his mark as Hogarth engraver, too” (Thieme-Becker) whose original folio size he kept contrary to all later Hogarth editions. Worth mentioning fine the chiaroscuro of his sheet here.
Hogarth’s grandiose depiction of the execution of a sentence at insolvents
full of charming details. It is
a beerless , a horrible time .
And experienced by the master himself indirectly or directly. Since according to Meyers Konversations-Lexikon, 4th ed., VIII, 624, his landlady brought him into the notorious Fleet prison for unpaid debts – and received her appropriate memorial in due time. The catalogue Zurich of 1983 nevertheless just mentions the imprisonment of the father.
Offer no. 7,518 / EUR 496. / export price EUR 471. (c. US$ 657.) + shipping
– – – The same in the smaller repetition Cook worked together with his son without the subtext here replaced by the series title. Inscribed: Pl. VIII. / Hogarth pinxt. / T. Cook & Son sc. / Published by Longman, Hurst, Rees, & Orme, Septr. 1st. 1808. Subject size 14.5 x 17.2 cm. – Trimmed within the wide white platemark.
Offer no. 8,729 / EUR 84. (c. US$ 117.) + shipping
– – – The same in steel engraving about 1840. 12.8 x 15.1 cm. – With the title in German.
Offer no. 5,804 / EUR 43. (c. US$ 60.) + shipping
Complete copies of the set and further single plates available .
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