Shakspeare. Tempest. Act IV. Scene I.Prospero's cell . _ Propsero, Miranda, &c. &c.
Painted by Joseph Wright. Engraved by Robert Thew.
Pub. June 4. 1800, by J. & J. Boydell, at the Shakspeare Gallery, Pall Mall, & No 90 Cheapside, London.
Engraving with etching, 18th century watermark, open letter proof before quote from play. 510 x 640mm (20 x 25¼"), with large margins. Tears in bottom margin repaired, faint damp stains on left.
Ferdinand and Miranda watch amazed as Prospero controlls a circle of female spirits above their heads. Outside the cave Caliban stans on the sea shore. John Boydell (1720-1804), publisher and Lord Mayor of London in 1790, began his Shakespeare Gallery to encourage British historical painting by commissioning paintings on the theme of Shakeapeare's plays from leading artists and reproducing them as high quality prints. When his gallery in Pall Mall opened in 1789 it contained 34 paintings; by the end it has nearly 170, by artists including Kauffman, Richard Westall, Thomas Stothard, George Romney, Henry Fuseli, Benjamin West, Robert Smirke, John Opie & Francesco Bartolozzi. 96 were engraved, published separately until the bound edition, ''A Collection of Prints, From Pictures Painted for the Purpose of Illustrating the Dramatic Works of Shakspeare, by the Artists of Great-Britain'' was issued in 1805. The project was over-ambitious and the cost caused the firm to go bankrupt.
See Ref: 59329 for normal state.
[Ref: 59327] £320.00
Pub. June 4. 1800, by J. & J. Boydell, at the Shakspeare Gallery, Pall Mall, & No 90 Cheapside, London.
Engraving with etching, 18th century watermark, open letter proof before quote from play. 510 x 640mm (20 x 25¼"), with large margins. Tears in bottom margin repaired, faint damp stains on left.
Ferdinand and Miranda watch amazed as Prospero controlls a circle of female spirits above their heads. Outside the cave Caliban stans on the sea shore. John Boydell (1720-1804), publisher and Lord Mayor of London in 1790, began his Shakespeare Gallery to encourage British historical painting by commissioning paintings on the theme of Shakeapeare's plays from leading artists and reproducing them as high quality prints. When his gallery in Pall Mall opened in 1789 it contained 34 paintings; by the end it has nearly 170, by artists including Kauffman, Richard Westall, Thomas Stothard, George Romney, Henry Fuseli, Benjamin West, Robert Smirke, John Opie & Francesco Bartolozzi. 96 were engraved, published separately until the bound edition, ''A Collection of Prints, From Pictures Painted for the Purpose of Illustrating the Dramatic Works of Shakspeare, by the Artists of Great-Britain'' was issued in 1805. The project was over-ambitious and the cost caused the firm to go bankrupt.
See Ref: 59329 for normal state.
[Ref: 59327] £320.00