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Elements of Bacchus; toasts and sentiments, given by distinguished characters. London: William Holland, 1792.
Details
WOODWARD, George Murgatroyd [‘Moutard’] (1760-1809)
Elements of Bacchus; toasts and sentiments, given by distinguished characters. London: William Holland, 1792.
Rare first edition on the consumption of alcoholic beverages. A satirical exposé of those who drink, mostly to excess, featuring a range of characters, from the Royal family and politicians, to peasants and women of easy virtue. An example being the character of Tom Terrible, plate 7, an inebriated man wearing French cockade, described as a miserable character. The tone of George Woodward’s even-handed critique is set by a poem featured on the title page, which warns of the loss of social graces in drink.
Thirty-eight of the plates show the enthusiasts drinking wine with a glass; two depict drinking beer with a stein. Each hand-coloured plate is followed by a leaf of text describing the subject, often in ribald terms. Coloured copies were desired, and at the foot of the title pages is printed 'Price one guinea in boards, or a guinea and an half, with the prints coloured.' Only five copies are listed in OCLC: New York Public Library; Yale; and the Huntington Library (the latter speculating, 'The plates possibly engraved by Richard Newton' with no mention of colour). Bobins V, 1618; Graesse VI/2 p.473.
Quarto (263 x 203mm). Letterpress title and 40 aquatint plates by George Woodward and coloured by a contemporary hand (some faint finger-soiling, occasional spotting confined to margins, small tear to edge of plate 5, plate number written in pencil top left of plates). 20th-century straight-grain red morocco by Bayntun-Riviere, spine lettered in gilt, all edges gilt; marbled endpapers and silk book ribbons (extremities lightly rubbed, silk bookmark ribbons slight fraying at ends).
Elements of Bacchus; toasts and sentiments, given by distinguished characters. London: William Holland, 1792.
Rare first edition on the consumption of alcoholic beverages. A satirical exposé of those who drink, mostly to excess, featuring a range of characters, from the Royal family and politicians, to peasants and women of easy virtue. An example being the character of Tom Terrible, plate 7, an inebriated man wearing French cockade, described as a miserable character. The tone of George Woodward’s even-handed critique is set by a poem featured on the title page, which warns of the loss of social graces in drink.
Thirty-eight of the plates show the enthusiasts drinking wine with a glass; two depict drinking beer with a stein. Each hand-coloured plate is followed by a leaf of text describing the subject, often in ribald terms. Coloured copies were desired, and at the foot of the title pages is printed 'Price one guinea in boards, or a guinea and an half, with the prints coloured.' Only five copies are listed in OCLC: New York Public Library; Yale; and the Huntington Library (the latter speculating, 'The plates possibly engraved by Richard Newton' with no mention of colour). Bobins V, 1618; Graesse VI/2 p.473.
Quarto (263 x 203mm). Letterpress title and 40 aquatint plates by George Woodward and coloured by a contemporary hand (some faint finger-soiling, occasional spotting confined to margins, small tear to edge of plate 5, plate number written in pencil top left of plates). 20th-century straight-grain red morocco by Bayntun-Riviere, spine lettered in gilt, all edges gilt; marbled endpapers and silk book ribbons (extremities lightly rubbed, silk bookmark ribbons slight fraying at ends).
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