Piercy Roberts was an English publisher, printmaker, and caricaturist active between 1785 and 1824. Most of his prints are caricatures, some after his own designs and some after others such as George Moutard Woodward. He collaborated with Thomas Rowlandson on several prints, most notably a pair of portraits of Josephine Beauharnais (in the Royal Collection) and Napoleon (in the British Museum).
Between 1801 and 1806, Roberts ran a print shop at 28 Middle Row Holborn and published political caricatures, as well as social caricatures. [1] He depicts himself standing in the doorway of his print shop, with a crowd of onlookers examining his window in an 1801 print Caricature Shop, one of the best depictions of a print shop. [2] In 1801 he acquired bankrupt stock from James Aitken but eventually himself sold up to Thomas Tegg in 1806. He made a series of anti-Napoleon prints between 1800 and 1815 and subsequently made a portrait engravings for several other publishers.
His name appears among the subscribers for The Comic works in Prose and Poetry of G.M.Woodward a memorial collection for Woodward published by Thomas Tegg in 1808.
A political cartoon, a type of editorial cartoon, is a cartoon graphic with caricatures of public figures, expressing the artist's opinion. An artist who writes and draws such images is known as an editorial cartoonist. They typically combine artistic skill, hyperbole and satire in order to question authority and draw attention to corruption, political violence and other social ills.
A caricature is a rendered image showing the features of its subject in a simplified or exaggerated way through sketching, pencil strokes, or through other artistic drawings. Caricatures can be insulting or complimentary and can serve a political purpose or be drawn solely for entertainment. Caricatures of politicians are commonly used in editorial cartoons, while caricatures of movie stars are often found in entertainment magazines.
James Gillray was a British caricaturist and printmaker famous for his etched political and social satires, mainly published between 1792 and 1810. Many of his works are held at the National Portrait Gallery in London.
Thomas Rowlandson was an English artist and caricaturist of the Georgian Era, noted for his political satire and social observation. A prolific artist and printmaker, Rowlandson produced both individual social and political satires, as well as large number of illustrations for novels, humorous books, and topographical works. Like other caricaturists of his age such as James Gillray, his caricatures are often robust or bawdy. Rowlandson also produced highly explicit erotica for a private clientele; this was never published publicly at the time and is now only found in a small number of collections. His caricatures included those of people in power such as the Duchess of Devonshire, William Pitt the Younger and Napoleon Bonaparte.
Rudolph Ackermann was an Anglo-German bookseller, inventor, lithographer, publisher and businessman.
John Kay was a Scottish caricaturist and engraver.
Isaac Cruikshank (1764–1811), Scottish painter and caricaturist, was born in Edinburgh and spent most of his career in London. Cruikshank is known for his social and political satire. His sons Isaac Robert Cruikshank (1789–1856) and George Cruikshank (1792–1878) also became artists, and the latter in particular achieved fame as an illustrator and caricaturist.
Richard Newton was an English caricaturist, miniaturist and book illustrator.
William Austin was an English artist, drawing-master, engraver and caricaturist. A rival of Matthew Darly, he used a distinctive grainy, woodblock-like style.
George Murgatroyd Woodward (1765–1809) was an English caricaturist and humor writer. He was a friend and drinking companion of Thomas Rowlandson.
Mary and Matthew Darly were English printsellers and caricaturists during the 1770s. Mary Darly was a printseller, caricaturist, artist, engraver, writer, and teacher. She wrote, illustrated, and published the first book on caricature drawing, A Book of Caricaturas [sic], aimed at "young gentlemen and ladies." Mary was the wife of Matthew Darly, also called Matthias, a London printseller, furniture designer, and engraver. Mary was evidently the second wife of Matthew; his first was named Elizabeth Harold.
John Cawse was a British painter and caricaturist.
Robert Dighton was born c.1752 in London and died there in 1814. An English portrait painter, printmaker and caricaturist, he was the founder of a dynasty of artists who followed in his footsteps.
The twelve-volume Catalogue of Political and Personal Satires Preserved in the Department of Prints and Drawings in the British Museum is the primary reference work for the study of British satirical prints of the 18th and 19th century. Most of the content of the catalogue is now available through the British Museum's on-line database.
Benjamin Smith (1754–1833) was a British engraver, printseller and publisher, active from 1786 to 1833. He was born c. 1754 in London. He worked mainly in dot or stipple engraving, producing portraits, illustrations, and allegorical and biblical subjects after prominent artists of the day.
Samuel William Fores, often credited as S. W. Fores was an English illustrator and publisher/printer based in Piccadilly, London. Fores, the son of a cloth merchant, began his career publishing his illustrations in 1783. He operated from premises at No 3 Piccadilly from 1785 and moved to 50 Piccadilly from 1795. He specialised in caricature, typically hand-coloured, singly issued prints. He became successful at marketing his works, which he often sold wholesale. Fores acquired a particularly large collection of caricatures, and at one time was said to have "the completest collection in the kingdom" in his Caricature Museum. He died in February 1838 at the age of 77 and was buried in his family vault at St. James Church in Jermyn Street.
William Holland was a leading London print seller and radical publisher who was fined £100 and imprisoned in 1793 for a year for seditious libel.
Elizabeth Jackson was a London print seller, significant in particular for being the publisher of nearly seventy prints by the young Thomas Rowlandson in the mid 1780s.
The Plumb-pudding in danger, or, State Epicures taking un Petit Souper is an 1805 editorial cartoon by the English artist James Gillray. The popular print depicts caricatures of the British Prime Minister William Pitt the Younger and the newly-crowned Emperor of France Napoleon, both wearing military uniforms, carving up a terrestrial globe into spheres of influence. It was published as a hand-coloured print and has been described by the National Portrait Gallery as "probably Gillray's most famous print" and by the British Library as "one of Gillray’s most famous satires dealing with the Napoleonic wars".
Eleanor Lay, usually styled Mrs Lay was a publisher and print-seller, with a fashionable print shop on The Steine in Brighton. As well as selling prints from London publishers, she designed and published a number of prints herself, including four views of Brighton in 1788, dedicated to Mrs. Fitzherbert. The original watercolours by Lay are in the Brighton Museum. In 1789 she published two prints by the young Thomas Rowlandson and also co-published several others for a drawing book by Rowlandson with the London publishers Samuel William Fores and John Harris.
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