Editoras

ref. 05692 — London No. 39 Strand: M. Darly 1771. The Birth of the English Fashion Caricature Ninety-Six Superb Hand-Colored Etchings of Macaronis Fashionable Ladies and Georgian Eccentrics An Exceptionally Rare Complete Set of Mary and Matthew Darly's Celebrated Caricatures 1771-1773 From the Library of Prince Henry Duke of Gloucester in a Magnificent Rivière Binding DARLY Mary and Matthew. 24 Caricatures by Several Ladies Gentlemen Artists &c. 1771. And Vol. II of Caricatures Macaronies & Characters by Sundry Ladies Gentlemen Artists &c. London: M. Darly 1772. And Vol. III of Macaronies Characters Caricatures &c. Design'd by the Greatest Personages Artists &c. London: M. Darly 1772. And Vol. IV of Macaronies Characters Caricatures &c. By M. Darly. London: M. Darly 1773. First editions. Four octavo volumes bound in two 8 3/4 x 5 1/2 inches; 222 x 140 mm. Four finely hand-colored decorative engraved titles one leaf of engraved introductory text in Volume I and ninety-six superb contemporary hand-colored etched plates twenty-four in each volume. All plates mounted on stubs and interleaved. Some very occasional mainly marginal spotting; a light stain in the lower blank margin of plate 12 in Volume I; plates 2 and 3 in Volume II and plate 8 in Volume III with expertly repaired marginal tears. The plates generally exceptionally fresh with brilliant contemporary coloring. An extraordinarily fine and complete set certainly the finest example we have encountered. Early twentieth-century dark brown morocco by Rivière & Son. Covers elaborately paneled in gilt enclosing a richly gilt central lozenge; spines with five raised bands elaborately decorated and lettered in gilt in compartments; gilt-ruled board edges and richly gilt turn-ins; all edges gilt; marbled endpapers. The armorial bookplate of Prince Henry Duke of Gloucester on the front pastedown of each volume. A magnificent set. An exceptionally rare complete set of the four original volumes of caricatures published by Mary and Matthew Darly between 1771 and 1773 comprising ninety-six brilliantly hand-colored etchings that constitute one of the most important early collections of English social and fashion satire. The present collection represents a landmark in the development of British caricature. Published at the height of the extraordinary macaroni craze of the 1770s these spirited and frequently outrageous portraits ridicule the fashions affectations pretensions and eccentricities of Georgian society. Their subjects include extravagantly dressed young men fashionable ladies military officers clergymen lawyers tradesmen and a remarkable assortment of recognizable London characters. The figures are generally presented individually against deliberately minimal backgrounds their identities and personalities established through exaggerated physiognomy extravagant costume distinctive gestures and carefully selected accessories. This deceptively simple formula was ideally suited to the satirical portrayal of the fashionable world and helped establish a visual language that would be developed to extraordinary effect by the succeeding generation of British caricaturists. The term macaroni originally referred to a fashionable young Englishman who had returned from the Grand Tour with an excessive enthusiasm for Continental manners dress and sophistication. By the early 1770s however it had acquired a distinctly satirical meaning describing a man whose devotion to fashion and personal ornament had supposedly carried him beyond the bounds of conventional masculinity and good taste. Enormous powdered hairstyles miniature hats elaborately embroidered coats slender swords and affected postures became the identifying characteristics of the macaroni. The Darlys seized upon this phenomenon with remarkable commercial and artistic success. Their caricatures transformed the extravagances of contemporary dress into a form of popular entertainment appealing both to those who recognized the individuals portrayed and to a wider public delighted by the absurdities of fashionable society. Although many of the plates depict the familiar macaroni figure the scope of the collection extends considerably further. Among the numerous subjects represented are The City Tonsor The Turf-Macaroni The Oxford-Macaroni The Female Connoisseur The Macaroni Auctioneer The Macaroni Chimney Sweep and The Macaroni Preacher. Such images provide an extraordinary pictorial record of Georgian occupations social distinctions and public amusements filtered through the exuberant imagination of the eighteenth-century satirist. Particularly noteworthy is the prominent participation of women in the production of these prints. Mary Darly was not merely the wife of a successful print-seller but an artist engraver publisher and entrepreneur in her own right. Her work represents an important early contribution by a woman to the development of British graphic satire and the title of the first volume expressly acknowledges the participation of both ladies and gentlemen in the creation of its designs. Mary Darly fl. 1756-1779 sometimes described as the mother of English pictorial satire occupied a central position in the flourishing London print trade of the mid-eighteenth century. Working with her husband Matthew Darly fl. 1741-1778 a designer engraver and print-seller she helped establish caricature as a distinct and commercially successful branch of British printmaking. Matthew Darly had already acquired considerable prominence through his publications on ornament and decorative design including his association with Robert Manwaring's The Chair-Maker's Guide and George Edwards's A New Book of Chinese Designs. His involvement with satirical prints extended back at least to 1749 when he was questioned by the authorities concerning the distribution of caricatures directed against the Duke of Cumberland. By the 1760s Mary Darly had emerged as a publisher of satirical prints and the couple's establishment at 39 Strand became an important center for the production and sale of fashionable caricatures. The Darlys encouraged designs from both professional artists and talented amateurs including members of fashionable society itself an approach reflected in the deliberately inclusive wording of their engraved title-pages. Among artists associated with the Darly publications were Henry William Bunbury James Sayers Edward Topham Sir Edward Newenham Elizabeth Bridgetta Gulston and others. The contributions of aristocratic and amateur designers gave these caricatures a particularly intimate relationship with the fashionable society they mocked. The popularity of the Darly caricatures was such that the series was subsequently reissued including in 1776. Mary Darly's advertisements promoted the collection with characteristic confidence as "the most entertaining Work ever published in Europe." Despite their considerable contemporary popularity complete collections of these early Darly caricatures are now exceptionally scarce. The prints were intended to be enjoyed circulated and collected and individual examples have survived far more frequently than intact volumes. Their vulnerability to dispersal together with the frequent removal of particularly desirable images makes the survival of all ninety-six plates in their original four-volume sequence especially remarkable. The present set is further distinguished by its remarkably vivid contemporary hand-coloring the freshness of its impressions its handsome early twentieth-century Rivière binding and its distinguished royal provenance. Provenance: Prince Henry Duke of Gloucester 1900-1974 third son of King George V and Queen Mary and younger brother of Kings Edward VIII and George VI; his crowned armorial bookplate lettered "GLOUCESTER" on the front pastedown of each volume. Rarity: Exceptionally scarce particularly complete in all four volumes. Earlier bibliographical research located only three institutional examples of Volume I Yale University the Harry Ransom Center at the University of Texas and the University of Virginia and three of Volume II Los Angeles County Museum of Art Harvard University and Princeton University. These holdings should be reconfirmed against current institutional catalogues; they are not evidence of a complete census of surviving sets. [London] No. 39 Strand: M. Darly, 1771 unknown books