The Life of Napoleon; A Hudibrastic Poem in Fifteen Cantos
London: T. Tegg, 1817. George Cruikshank. First Edition, Second Printing. 8vo, 8 5/8 x 4 3/4 in. (220 x 140 mm), title + 260 pp. 30 full-page one-sided sepia aquatints by George Criukshank. 3/4 bound in red calf with red canvas covered boards, marbled endpapers, 5 raised bands, gilt decorations in compartments and gilt title on black calf label, t.e.g. 1-inch tear to top of first page not affecting the text, internally lightly browned with scattered foxing and offset to pages near plates, conners pumped and hinges a little rubbed, but binding square and tight; penciled notes on flyleaves and last page. With these pages misnumbered: 107 for 109 (penciled-in correction) and 453 for 253.
Armorial bookplate of Richard Holmden.
[Tooley 151; Cohn 153; Rosenbach, Cruikshank/Widener, p. 38].
By 1815, Napoleon was a figure of mockery in England. This vicious satire of Bonaparte (1769-1821) makes its intentions clear with the allegorical title page, which shows the young Corsican as a revolutionary firebrand in a Phrygian cap ascending a ladder whose rungs are Plunder, Bloodshed, and Murder, the last being the blade of a guillotine. At the top he sits in ermine astride the globe, before being cast off, scattering his treasure as he goes, to end huddled in exile. The last plate, bound in as a frontispiece on some copies, shows Napoleon landing in Elba and being met by incredulous locals. The poems itself pairs with the exquisite caricatures by George Cruikshank (1792 – 1878) to strike a whimsical tone.
Condition: Very good +.
Item number: 850
Price: $1,000.00
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