The  Embarkation  of  the  Pressed  Sluggard

Hogarth, William (1697 London 1764). The Idle ‘Prentice turn’d away and sent to Sea. Accompanied by his weeping mother Tom Idle who lost his apprenticeship is rowed to a men-of-war lying at anchor. While one of the sailors leisurely rows to his pipe, the two other Jack tars show Tom the usual means of those days to keep order among the crews pressed in all dives: the cat-o’-nine-tails and the just occupied gallows at the opposite bank. Thus rope’s end, knout, and fetters in the left image lining, contrasting scepter, sword, and golden chain on the right. Engraving by Thomas Cook (c. 1744 – London 1818). Inscribed: Designed by W^m. Hogarth / Plate 5. / Engraved by T. Cook / Published by T. Cook; Islington; and G. G. & J. Robinsons, Paternoster Row. December 1^st. 1795. 30.1 x 36.4 cm.

Industry & Idleness V. – Marvellously contrast-rich impression on buff paper. In its downright luxuriously wide white margin a few weak foxing spots and upper right slight waterstreak. Beyond that – contrary to all later Hogarth editions – in the original size. – Cook “made a name for himself as Hogarth engraver, too” (Thieme-Becker).

“ The master has torn the indenture and thrown into the water and supposedly delivered him with his belongings to the boat that shall drive him onto a ship. The poor mother escorts him. ‘But now I will do it with a vengeance’! he curses at her! ‘Then you will end there’! says Jack and points at the gallows with the fieldfare. ‘And if you only feel the cat!’ remarks Tar, showing the ship’s whip with the nine little tails … ”

(subtext of a lithograph).

The master’s famous, most popular suite, showing by example of two apprentices in a weaving mill as one of the main branches of industry in his days the chances of their life as well as the temptations detrimental to their career :

Calculated  for  the  use  &  Instruction  of  youth
w(h)erein  every  thing  necessary  to  be  known  was  to  be  made
as  intelligible  as  possible

(Hogarth in his Autobiographical Notes).

“ The scenes should be as easily intelligible as possible for which the engravings had not to be worked in all fineness. It was rather important to keep costs low so that even apprentices could buy these sheets. Hogarth designed a frame-like border around each picture – supposedly he assumed that the boys would pin up these engravings directly at the wall. In this border below of every scene he had added a characteristic verse from the Bible to the idle and (or) industrious apprentice … at top on the one hand a cat-o-’nine-tails, a pair of fetters, and a halter as emblems of the tragic end of the idle apprentice and on the other hand golden chain, sword and mace as hints to the career of the industrious one ”

(Bachofen-Moser, William Hogarth in the Art Gallery Zurich, 1983, p. 98).
Offer no. 7,531 / EUR  176. (c. US$ 257.) + shipping

– – – The same in Hogarth’s own etching in an impression from the plate reworked by the royal engraver James Heath (1757 London 1834, “earned applause early”, Nagler) about 1822 (“Even these impressions became relatively rare today though”, Art Gallery Esslingen 1970; and Meyers Konv.-Lex., 4^th ed., VIII [1888], 625: “A fine edition”). Inscribed: Design’d & Engrav’d by W^m. Hogarth / Plate 5. / Publish’d according to Act of Parliam^t. Sep. 30. 1747. 26.8 x 35 cm.

Illustration Hogarth Catalogue Zurich, 1983, 57. – On wide-margined buff paper.
Offer no. 7,690 / EUR  87. (c. US$ 127.) + shipping

– – – The same in Cook’s smaller repetition, but without verse and marginal emblems and with the series title as subtext. Inscribed: Pl. V. / Hogarth pinx^t. / T. Cook sculp^t. / Published by Longman, Hurst, Rees, & Orme, Sep^r. 1^st. 1807. Subject size 13.2 x 16.2 cm. – Trimmed within the wide white platemark.
Offer no. 8,883 / EUR  42. (c. US$ 61.) + shipping

– – – The same in engraving by Ernst Ludwig Riepenhausen (1765 Göttingen 1840, university engraver there). Inscribed: 31. / W. Hogarth inv. & pinx. / Pl. 5. / Riepenhausen del & s. 22.5 x 27.9 cm. – Early impression. – Riepenhausen’s engravings after Hogarth (“very estimable”, Nagler) belong to his chief work and are partly even preferred to Hogarth’s own engravings. – Illustration
Offer no. 7,691 / EUR  71. (c. US$ 104.) + shipping

– – – The same by Riepenhausen as before, but on slightly toned minor paper and a bit dull.
Offer no. 12,149 / EUR  61. (c. US$ 89.) + shipping

– – – The same by Riepenhausen as before, but on especially buff paper, supposedly about 1850. – Very fine impression.
Offer no. 12,142 / EUR  81. (c. US$ 118.) + shipping

– – – The same in lithography by C. C. Böhme. (1833/36.) Inscribed: 23 / C. C. Böhme lith. 21.5 x 25.6 cm. – Title – Faulhans geht auf die See – and extensive subtext à la Lichtenberg in German.
Offer no. 7,692 / EUR  61. (c. US$ 89.) + shipping

– – – The same in steel engraving about 1840. 13 x 16.2 cm. – With title in German + English, but without verse and marginal emblems.
Offer no. 7,693 / EUR  29. (c. US$ 42.) + shipping

Further single sujets of the set available in several qualities.

“ Thank you so much for The Fashion Etchings by Hollar. I am very nicely surprised and very very impressed … The presentation is very professional and everything look very good … and if you have some more interesting etchings by Hollar … please let me know ”

(Mrs. P. P., July 8, 2004)