Lot 34
Cruickshank, George, illustrator. The Scourge; or Monthly Expositor, or Imposture and Folly, volumes 1-11 [of 12], first edition, 69 hand-coloured engraved plates after George Cruickshank and others, 66 folding, a few with minor repairs, one detached, modern red buckram, 8vo, London: M. Jones, 1811-1816, sold as a periodical, not subject to return RARE. The Scourge was one of the first publications to feature the work of George Cruickshank, then an emerging caricaturist. The impetus behind the publication was John Mitford (1782-1831), a talented classical scholar who fell prey to alcohol and madness. Now largely forgotten, The Scourge was part of a movement of political dissent in the early nineteenth century within the British press and it shocked the establishment with its comedic treatment of important national figures.
