Hogarth Harlot's Progress IV

Background details

Rake's Progress is a set of caricatures drawn by William Hogarth

Published by Hogarth Restored. The Whole Works of William Hogarth. 1806.Copper engraving by T Cooke. Hand coloured. Size: 41.5 x 35 cm. (16½ x 14 inches) Plate VII. A Rake's Progress tells the story of Tom Rakewell, a young man who follows a path of vice and self-destruction after inheriting a fortune from his miserly father. It was Hogarth's second 'modern moral subject', and followed the hugely successful A Harlot's Progress.

Note: That he engravings are the mirror image of the paintings as seen on this wikipage https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Rake%27s_Progress

Condition of Print

Very good condition

Synopsis

Moll is in Bridewell Prison. She beats hemp for hangman's nooses, while the jailer threatens her and points to the task. Fielding would write that Thwackum, one of Tom Jones's sadistic tutors, looked precisely like the jailer (Tom Jones 3:6). The jailer's wife steals clothes from Moll, winking at theft. The prisoners go from left to right in order of decreasing wealth. Moll is standing next to a gentleman, a card-sharp whose extra playing card has fallen out, and who has brought his dog with him. The inmates are in no way being reformed, despite the ironic engraving on the left above the occupied stocks, reading "Better to Work/ than Stand thus." The person suffering in the stocks apparently refused to work.

Next is a woman, a child who may suffer from Down Syndrome (belonging to the sharper, probably), and finally a pregnant African woman who presumably "pleaded her belly" when brought to trial, as pregnant women could not be executed or transported. A prison graffito shows John Gonson hanging from the gallows. Moll's servant smiles as Moll's clothes are stolen, and the servant appears to be wearing Moll's shoes.

Book Details

• Category: Antique Books
• Purchased: 2015
• Price Paid: $150.00
• First Edition?: Yes
• Condition?: Very Good
• Comments: UK first edition