print;
book-illustration
- Museum number
- 1878,0713.4434
- Title
- Object: King Henry IV. / Part I.
- Description
-
A head-piece to 'Henry IV, Part I' (Act V, Scene 4): King Henry standing over Hotspur, about to strike him with his sword, Falstaff hiding at left; illustration to 'The Dramatic Works of William Shakespeare' (London: 1826); proof.
Wood-engraving with letterpress on India paper
- Production date
- 1826
- Dimensions
-
Height: 37 millimetres (image)
-
Width: 71 millimetres
- $Inscriptions
-
- Curator's comments
- One of the illustrations to 'The Dramatic Works of William Shakespeare' (Chiswick: Charles Whittingham, 1826). There is a set of 34 head-pieces in the British Museum. They are all wood-engravings, deigned by Thurston and cut by Thompson. Each sheet contains an oblong scene from the play, with the title printed above, and a line from the play explaining the scene in the wood-engraving; along the bottom is printed 'From the Chiswick Press. 1826'. A few have the name of John Thompson as the block-cutter; none has the name of Thurston.
The set may be missing 2 sheets from the publication, since there are 36 plays in the Shakespearean canon. The line at the bottom suggests that this is a set of proofs printed on India paper for collectors. The Chiswick Press was owned by Charles Whittingham who was heavily involved in many fine illustrated editions of the period.
The sheets were registered in random order, and have been rearranged in the post-binder in the canonical order of the plays. At the time of registration, some wood-engravings by Branston after Thurston (1878,0713.4431-3, and 4437) were thought to be by Thompson for the same publication and registered together, but these have been identified to be from another source since then.
- Location
- Not on display
- Associated titles
-
Associated Title: The Dramatic Works of William Shakespeare
-
Associated Title: Henry IV (part 1, V, iv)
- Acquisition date
- 1878
- Department
- Prints and Drawings
- Registration number
- 1878,0713.4434