Sold by Rob Zanger Rare Books LLC, Middletown, NY, U.S.A.
AbeBooks Seller since 31 March 2004
Seller rating 5 out of 5 stars
Etching with extensive hand coloring in watercolor on cream wove paper. 8 x 10 3/8 in (200 x 262 mm), full margins. An excellent, well-inked impression of this startling image with fresh colors. Scattered light surface soiling with light handling wear. 1 ½ inch vertical sheet tear from lower margin, well outside of image area. Paper tape remnants from a former mount at top right and left sheet edges, recto. Hand coloring is bright and substantial. This dark image is in reference to an incident which occurred in the winter of 1821. Great Britain, struggling with economic distress after the strain of the Napoleonic Wars, was thrown into a period of intense social unrest. The middle class, who bore the brunt of the cost of the victory against France, was struggling under the newly imposed Corn Laws. Periods of famine ensued, and unemployment soared as soldiers returned from the continent looking for work. One such soldier was Arthur Thistlewood. In January of 1820, King George III died unexpectedly, precipitating a constitutional crisis, and creating the necessity of a general election. Thistlewood, aggrieved by the erratic behavior of the now dead King, and affronted by the lavish lifestyle of the prince regent, took advantage of the wave of national instability, and organized a group of 12 men to overthrow the government. They called themselves The Spenceans Philanthropists, after Thomas Spence, a schoolteacher who had been imprisoned for selling "radical" books. Now known as the Cato Street Conspiracy (named after the address of the conspirator's den), the incident is primarily well known for having gone famously wrong, and it being the last major insurrection in Great Britain. Almost absurdly, the Spenceans planned to murder the entire cabinet, and Prime Minister, Lord Liverpool, while they were all in attendance at a dinner in Grosvenor Square. Unfortunately for Thistlewood, along with his cronies, he was informed upon, and the group was arrested on their way to the Cato Street meeting place. The group was reportedly confronted with bags in their hands, which they had brought to carry the heads of the men they intended to assassinate. Thistlewood, along with co-conspirators Thomas Preston, John Hopper, and James Watson, was convicted of High Treason, and was publicly hanged and beheaded. The other conspirators were sent to Australia. In this ghoulish image by George Cruikshank, an apparition of a demon appears to King George III from the well of a censer, as he sits in his study, reading on the subject of the history of rebellion, and specifically, the etymology of the word "Radical." Growing from a mangled root, the demon holds lances in both hands, one run through the Holy Bible, with the severed head of the Archbishop of Canterbury impaled upon its blade, the other run through the Magna Carta, with the Royal Crown impaled upon its blade. The specter presents King George with a list of his "friends" from hell, including the names of the Spencean Philanthropists; Watson, Thistlewood, Preston, Harrison, and Hunt, among others. The advice to King George, inscribed below the scene, To cure the Constitution of this Evil, the Axe must be laid to the Root, is a reference to a passage in the Book of Matthew; 'And even now the axe lieth at the root of the trees: every tree therefore that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire.' As historian William Thurston Brown observed in 1901, "The time comes when a radical departure must be made, when the axe must be laid unto the root of the trees, when the worthless structure of a false and outgrown civilization must be torn down and burned up as refuse, that a new and better growth may be realized." A sentiment, quite ironically, also embraced deeply, for very different reasons, by Thistlewood, Preston, Watson and Hopper. Humorously signed "Designed by an amateur. G. Cruick." in the plate.
Seller Inventory # 119
Please email for additional photos and with any questions. May be returned for a full refund, less shipping costs, within 7 days of receipt, if not completely satisfied for any reason.
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INFORMATION REGARDING THE RIGHT OF CANCELLATION
Statutory Right to cancel
You have the right to cancel this contract within 14 days without giving any reason.
The cancellation period will expire after 14 days from the day on which you acquire, or a third party other than the carrier and indicated by you acquires, physical possession of the the last good or the last lot or piece.
To exercise the right to cancel, you must inform us, Rob Zanger Bookseller, 357 Pocatello Road, 10940, Middletown, New York, U.S.A., +1 845-342-5920, of your decision to cancel this contract by a clear statement (e.g. a letter sent by post, fax or e-mail). You may use the attached model cancellation form, but it is not obligatory. You can also electronically fill in and submit a clear statement on our website, under "My Purchases" in "My Account". If you use this option, we will communicate to you an acknowledgement of receipt of such a cancellation on a durable medium (e.g. by e-mail) without delay.
To meet the cancellation deadline, it is sufficient for you to send your communication concerning your exercise of the right to cancel before the cancellation period has expired.
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If you cancel this contract, we will reimburse to you all payments received from you, including the costs of delivery (except for the supplementary costs arising if you chose a type of delivery other than the least expensive type of standard delivery offered by us).
We may make a deduction from the reimbursement for loss in value of any goods supplied, if the loss is the result of unnecessary handling by you.
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You shall send back the goods or hand them over to us or Rob Zanger Bookseller, 357 Pocatello Road, 10940, Middletown, New York, U.S.A., +1 845-342-5920, without undue delay and in any event not later than 14 days from the day on which you communicate your cancellation from this contract to us. The deadline is met if you send back the goods before the period of 14 days has expired. You will have to bear the direct cost of returning the goods. You are only liable for any diminished value of the goods resulting from the handling other than what is necessary to establish the nature, characteristics and functioning of the goods.
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To: (Rob Zanger Bookseller, 357 Pocatello Road, 10940, Middletown, New York, U.S.A., +1 845-342-5920)
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