Not currently on display at the V&A

H Beard Print Collection

Print
20th June 1789 (published)
Artist/Maker
H. Humphrey (publisher)
Gillray, James (artist)
Place of origin
London (published)

Print entitled 'Shakespeare - Sacrificed; - or - The Offering to Avarice'. Published in London by Hannah Humphrey. The print depicts the print seller and publisher John Boydell summoning flames from a sacrificial pyre of Shakespeare's work. It satirises Boydell's grand project to produce and illustrated edition of Shakespeare's plays and to establish a Shakespeare Gallery which would ultimately lead him to near bankruptcy.


Object details

Categories
Entertainment & Leisure
Prints
Object type
Print
TitleH Beard Print Collection (named collection)
Materials and techniques
hand coloured etching and aquatint, ink and paint on paper
Paper
Printing Ink
Paint
Print-Making
Etching (Corroding)
Aquatint
Painting
Hand-Colouring
Brief description
Print entitled 'Shakespeare - Sacrificed; - or - The Offering to Avarice'. Published in London by Hannah Humphrey on 20th June 1789, Harry Beard Collection.
Physical description
Hand coloured etched and aquatinted print entitled 'Shakespeare - Sacrificed; - or - The Offering to Avarice'.
Dimensions
  • Print size height: 51.5cm
  • Print size width: 39.1cm
Subjects depicted
Caricature
Satire
John Boydell
Summary
Print entitled 'Shakespeare - Sacrificed; - or - The Offering to Avarice'. Published in London by Hannah Humphrey. The print depicts the print seller and publisher John Boydell summoning flames from a sacrificial pyre of Shakespeare's work. It satirises Boydell's grand project to produce and illustrated edition of Shakespeare's plays and to establish a Shakespeare Gallery which would ultimately lead him to near bankruptcy.
Other number
F.157-88 - H Beard collection numbering
Collection
Theatre and Performance Collection
Accession number
S.3794-2009

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Record createdJanuary 14, 2010
Record URL
https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O1153341/h-beard-print-collection-print-gillray-james/
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