Asset number
793183001
Description
Above the design as alternative title: Microcosm, dedicated to the London Water Companies, Brought Forth All Monstrous, All Prodigious Thigs [sic], Hydras, and Gorgons, and Chimeras Dire. Vide Milton. ['Paradise Lost', ii.] An elderly, spinsterish, and ugly woman, T.Q.L., holds in her left hand a spy-glass (or microscope) which touches the circumference of a large circle, representing a magnified drop of water, filled with grotesque and horrifying aquatic creatures, from the quasi-whale to mere specks. She turns aside in disgust, looking towards the picture-plane, and dropping a full tea-cup. The P. P. of the signature raises his hat to a tiny pump, saying, Glad to see you hope to meet you in every Parish through London. c. 1828 Hand-coloured etching
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