LEECH, John (1817-1864). A collection of 36 original pencil and watercolour caricatures, captioned in pencil, some heightened in gold, a number signed in ink, undated [but 1837-1838?], average size 120 x 145mm, each window-mounted. (Occasional spots.) Preserved in buckram box with morocco label (hinges frayed). Provenance: purchased from the Smith sale, Anderson Galleries, 1938. A remarkable collection of Leech caricatures, possibly executed for Spooner and Soffe in 1837-1838. The artist travelled to France in 1836, and his studies there led to 'a shift from the savage caricature of the Regency towards the new satire of the comédie humaine exemplified by Honoré Daumier and Paul Gavarni. This is at once apparent in the single-caricature lithographs issued by Spooner and Soffe in 1837–8, notably Droll Doings and Funny Characters, which are more domestic in subject' (Simon House in ODNB).