Élection

1807 · réf. 42326 — London: Pubd May 1807 by Walker No. 7 Cornhill 1807. Broadside 9-5/8" x 13-1/2". Hand-colored satirical etching. Minimal edgewear with the bottom left blank corner chipped minor toning and dustsoiling. Very Good. The scene is Covent Garden a satire of the 1807 Westminster election. A rowdy political gathering with crowds of spectators and in the foreground the "Wimbledon Showman" stands to the right holding a stilt with his right hand representing John Horne Tooke a radical British politician and philologist who lived in Wimbledon. The "Puppet" to the left balancing on the stilt inscribed "Divisions of Purley" is Sir Francis Burdett a wealthy radical politician running for Parliament. Burdett shouts "Huzza - Liberty and Independence!!!" Tooke acts as the puppet master steering the election and looks sideways towards the spectator saying "The finest puppet in the world Gentlemen - entirely of my own formation I have only to say the word and he'll do anything." He holds his hat in his left hand and a letter sticking out of his coat pocket reads "To the Editor of the Times" a reference to his actual letter to the Times in 1807 which went on to be printed in London by Wood and Innes highlighting the heavy media manipulation surrounding the early 19th-century British elections. Burdett balancing atop the stilt symbolizes that his political platform is precarious and supported entirely by Tooke's orchestration. The print satirizes the 1807 Westminster election. George M. Dorothy: CATALOGUE OF PRINTS AND DRAWINGS IN THE BRITISH MUSEUM: DIVISION I. POLITICAL AND PERSONAL SATIRES VOLUME VIII British Museum: 1947 No. 10733; Grego Joseph: A HISTORY OF PARLIAMENTARY ELECTIONS AND ELECTIONEERING IN THE OLD DAYS. . . 1886 pp. 322-323. Sir Francis Burdett 5th Baronet 1770-1844 was an English politician and Member of Parliament who gained notoriety as a proponent of universal male suffrage equal electoral districts vote by ballot and annual parliaments. His commitment to reform resulted in legal proceedings and brief confinement to the Tower of London. John Horne Tooke 1736-1812 known as John Horne until 1782 when he added the surname of his friend William Tooke to his own was an English clergyman politician and philologist. Associated with radical proponents of parliamentary reform he stood trial for treason in 1794. Wikipedia website accessed July 2026. "The general election ran from 4 May until 9 June 1807. Of the 380 constituencies 102 27 per cent were contested. The slogan of 'No Popery' was widely used by supporters of the Portland ministry against the friends of the late government who failed to find an effective riposte. The most eye-catching election occurred in Westminster where the patrician radical Sir Francis Burdett backed by local tradesmen activists under the direction of the Charing Cross tailor Francis Place was returned at the head of the poll on a 'purity of election' platform." "The 4th Parliament of the United Kingdom" The History of Parliament Online website accessed July 2026. Two days before the general election on 2 May 1807 a bitter duel took place between Burdett and James Paull his opponent who was up for reelection. Paull won the duel but neither man was fatally injured and Burdett went on to win with 5134 votes to Paull's 269. Tooke's letter to the Times had set out the events before the duel and condemned the men's public behavior. British Museum retains two copies. Pubd May, 1807 by Walker No. 7 Cornhill unknown books