The Life of Napoleon; A Hudibrastic Poem in Fifteen Cantos
1817réf. 850London: T. Tegg 1817. First Edition Second Printing. Very good . George Cruikshank. 8vo 8 5/8 x 4 3/4 in. 220 x 140 mm title 260 pp. 30 full-page one-sided sepia aquatints by George Criukshank. 3/4 bound in red calf with red canvas covered boards marbled endpapers 5 raised bands gilt decorations in compartments and gilt title on black calf label t.e.g. 1-inch tear to top of first page not affecting the text internally lightly browned with scattered foxing and offset to pages near plates conners pumped and hinges a little rubbed but binding square and tight; penciled notes on flyleaves and last page. With these pages misnumbered: 107 for 109 penciled-in correction and 453 for 253. Armorial bookplate of Richard Holmden. Tooley 151; Cohn 153; Rosenbach Cruikshank/Widener p. 38. By 1815 Napoleon was a figure of mockery in England. This vicious satire of Bonaparte 1769-1821 makes its intentions clear with the allegorical title page which shows the young Corsican as a revolutionary firebrand in a Phrygian cap ascending a ladder whose rungs are Plunder Bloodshed and Murder the last being the blade of a guillotine. At the top he sits in ermine astride the globe before being cast off scattering his treasure as he goes to end huddled in exile. The last plate bound in as a frontispiece on some copies shows Napoleon landing in Elba and being met by incredulous locals. The poems itself pairs with the exquisite caricatures by George Cruikshank 1792 - 1878 to strike a whimsical tone. T. Tegg unknown
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