“ Evidently suggested
by Colley Cibber’s production of
Henry VIII
at Drury Lane on 26 October 1727. ”
Hogarth, William (1697 London 1764). King Henry the Eigth & Anna Bullen (Anne Boleyn). Henry confesses the lady-in-waiting of his (1st) wife, Catharine of Aragon, this set back on the throne, his feelings. To the right the almighty cardinal + archbishop Thomas Wolsey. Engraving by Thomas Cook (c. 1744 – London 1818). Inscribed: Design’d by Wm. Hogarth. / Engrav’d by T. Cook. / London Published by G & J Robinson Paternoster Row October 1 1801., title as above. 48 x 37.9 cm.
See Hogarth’s own engraving from c. 1728/29 in the first state (with caption) in the Hogarth catalogue of the Tate Gallery, 1971/72, 21 with ills.
The work owes its creation to Cibber’s 1727 Shakespeare performance in the Drury Lane “although the print does not show any scene in the play” (Cat. Tate Gallery). Thieme-Becker’s assumption the engraving represents the lost painting of a third is considered as dated as quite contrarily that painting is regarded as a copy of the engraving known to Hogarth. It hang in Vauxhall Gardens till into those ’40s and was seen, what Horace Walpole denied, as a representation of the Prince of Wales with Harriet Vane. A satire on their marriage in 1763 had recourse to Hogarth’s composition.
Marvelous impression full of contrast of the also optically effective large sheet. Cook “made his mark as Hogarth engraver, too” (Thieme-Becker). And as the only one of the later Hogarth editions he maintained his original format. – Two weak brown stripes in the wide white upper margin. The feeble foxing on the back not getting through to the picture. Only the outer edges of two, limitedly three, sides slightly browned. Pinhead-thin spot invisible within the upper wall ornaments.
Offer no. 7,586 / EUR 271. / export price EUR 257. (c. US$ 346.) + shipping
– – – The same in Cook’s smaller repetition engraved together with his son. Inscribed: Hogarth pinxt. / T. Cook & Son sc. / Published by Longman, Hurst, Rees, & Orme, May 1st. 1806., title as above. 18.7 x 15.3 cm.
Reverse to Cook’s large first version which corresponds with Hogarth’s engraving. – Trimmed within the wide white platemark. This weakly brownspotted on three sides.
Offer no. 8,918 / EUR 95. (c. US$ 128.) + shipping
– – – The same in Hogarth’s own engraving in an impression on strong paper from the plate retouched by the royal engraver James Heath (1757 London 1834) about 1822, here „Republished March 18th. 1828, by R. & E. Williamson, Engravers, & Printers, 14. Moore Place, New Bethlem, Lambeth, London“. Inscribed: King Henry the Eigth, & Anna Bullen. / Design’d & Engrav’d by Wm. Hogarth. / London, Printed for Robert Wilkinson, Cornhil, Carington Bowles in St. Pauls Church Yard & R. Sayer, in Fleet Street., otherwise as above. 48.5 x 38.5 cm.
Nagler 58. – “Even these impressions have become relatively rare today though”, Art Gallery Esslingen 1970; and Meyers Konv.-Lex., 4th ed., VIII (1888), 625: “A fine edition”, esteemed also already by contemporary collectors of the rank of for instance an A. T. Stewart (Catalog of the Stewart Collection, New York 1887, 1221, “fine plates”).
Offer no. 7,860 / EUR 215. (c. US$ 289.) + shipping
“ Hello again! It arrived this morning – everything fine and ready for framing! Thank you for your kind assistance. Best regards ”
(Mr. J. R. L., May 25, 2005)