New year election comicalities

[GENERAL ELECTION, 1832]

Published by Printed by William Wood, Birmingham, 1833

About this Item

Seven trimmed (?)woodcut engravings, printed on pink paper, with a further trimmed title and imprint panel on white paper. Browned, and marked. An apparently unknown example of pictorial electoral satire, removed from an album by a previous owner where the items were, by repute, grouped together with the title and imprint panel, albeit printed on different paper - suggesting that these perhaps issued in book form but have since sunk without trace. The seven captioned images are: 'Reading the Riot Act' 'A Crane, two Walkers, and a Barker, or the Political Dis-Union' 'A Fry-er setting a trap for the Consumers of Corn, and longing for a Broil' 'A Maiden Speech, or an Orator and his note book' 'A windfall to the Friars assistant in the shape of a Stoner' 'Cock Robin and Cock Robin's son' 'Negro head, short cut, pigtail, and York returns, or a boat about until the ferry no glee' The issues raised, including radicalism, the corn laws and the riot act all and the reference to a 'new year' election all suggest that these were issued around the time of the 1832/3 General Election; the first conduced after the introduction of the Reform Act, which expanded the electorate, especially in cities like Birmingham (where, in this election, two radicals were elected unopposed). Entirely unrecorded in OCLC; neither the title nor the captions of any of the seven images elicits any locations in institutional collections. Size: Dimensions, at maximum, 100 x 110 mm. Seller Inventory # AQ25008

Bibliographic Details

Title: New year election comicalities

Publisher: Printed by William Wood, Birmingham

Publication Date: 1833