1726.

1. Frontispiece to Terræ-filius. W. Hogarth fec. This work was printed in two volumes 12°, at Oxford, and is a satire on the Tory principles of that University. It was written by Nicholas Amherst, author of The Craftsman, and was originally published in one volume.

2. Twelve prints for Hudibras; the large set. W. Hogarth inv. pinx. et sculp. Under the head of Butler: "The basso relievo of the pedestal represents the general design of Mr. Butler, in his incomparable poem of Hudibras; viz. Butler's Genious in a Car lashing around Mount Parnassus, in the persons of Hudibras and Ralpho, Rebellion, Hypocrisy, and Ignorance, the reigning vices of his time." This set of prints was published by subscription, by P. Overton and J. Cooper. Mr. S. Ireland has seven of the original drawings; three others are known to be preserved in Holland; and two more were lately existing in this kingdom. The plates, as has been mentioned already in p. [11], are now the property of Mr. Sayer, whose name, as publisher, is subjoined. The Rev. Mr. Bowle, F. A. S. had a set with the list of the subscribers, which he purchased at the Duke of Beaufort's sale in Wiltshire. The printed title to them is, "Twelve excellent and most diverting Prints; taken from the celebrated Poem of Hudibras, wrote by Mr. Samuel Butler. Exposing the Villany and Hypocrisy of the Times. Invented and Engraved on Twelve Copper-plates, by William Hogarth, and are humbly dedicated to William Ward, Esq. of Great Houghton in Northamptonshire; and Mr. Allan Ramsay, of Edinburgh.

"What excellence can Brass or Marble claim!
These Papers better do secure thy Fame:
Thy Verse all Monuments does far surpass,
No Mausoleum's like thy Hudibras.

"Printed and sold by Philip Overton, Print and Map-seller, at the Golden Buck near St. Dunstan's Church in Fleet-street; and John Cooper, in James-street, Covent Garden, 1726."

Allan Ramsay subscribed for 30 sets. The number of subscribers in all amounts to 192. On the print of Hudibras and the Lawyer is W. Hogart delin. et sculp. a proof that our artist had not yet disused the original mode in which he spelt his name. In the scene of the Committee, one of the members has his gloves on his head. I am told this whimsical custom once prevailed among our sanctified fraternity; but it is in vain, I suppose, to ask the reason why. In plate XI. (earliest impressions) the words "Down with the Rumps" are wanting on the scroll.—Memorandum. At the top of the proposals for this set of Prints, is a small one representing Hudibras and Ralpho, engraved by Pine. The original drawing for it by Hogarth is in the possession of Mr. Betew, Silversmith, in Compton-street, Soho.

3. Seventeen small prints for Hudibras, with Butler's head. There certainly must have been some mistake concerning this portrait. It never could have been designed for the author of Hudibras; but more strongly resembles John Baptist Monnoyer, the flower-painter. There is a print of him by White, from a picture of Sir Godfrey Kneller. This I suppose to have been the original of Hogarth's small Butler.

The same designs engraved on a larger scale, and with some slight variations, by J. Mynde, for Grey's edition of Hudibras, published in 1744.

Previous, however, to both, appeared another set of plates, eighteen in number, for an edition in eighteens of this celebrated poem. To these it is manifest that Hogarth was indebted for his ideas of several of the scenes and personages both in his larger and smaller performances on the same subject. That the collector may know the book when he meets with it, the following is a transcript of the title-page. "Hudibras. In three Parts. Written in the time of the late Wars. Corrected and amended, with Additions. To which is added, Annotations to the third Part, with an exact Index to the whole; never before printed. Adorned with cuts. London. Printed for R. Chiswel, J. Tonson, T. Horne, and R. Willington, 1710."

Copies from the smaller plates are likewise inserted in Townly's translation of Hudibras into French, with the English on the opposite page. He was, I believe, an officer in the Irish brigade. The following is the title-page to his work. "Hudibras, Poeme ecrit dans les tems des troubles d'Angleterre; et traduit en vers François, avec des remarques et des figures. 3 tom. 12mo. A Londres, 1757." It seems rather to have been printed at Paris. The plates have no name subscribed to them.

4. Cunicularii, or the Wise Men of Godliman in Consultation.

"They held their talents most adroit
For any mystical exploit." Hudib.

This print was published in the year 1726, i. e. about the same time that Lord Onslow wrote the following letter:

"To the Hon^ble. Sir Hans Sloane. To be left at the Grecian Coffe House, in Devereux Court near Temple Bar London.

"Sir, The report of a woman's breeding of rabbits has almost alarmed England, and in a manner persuaded several people of sound judg^t of that truth. I have been at some pains to discover the affair, and think I have conquerd my poynt, as you will se by the Depotition taken before me, which shall be published in a day or two. I am

"Y^r humble Servant,

"Onslow.

"Clandon, Dec. 4th, 1726."

Soon after, Mr. St. André also addressed this note to Sir Hans Sloane:

"Sir, I have brought the woman from Guilford to y^e Bagnio in Leicester-fields, where you may if you please have the opportunity of seeing her deliver'd. I am S^r Your Hum Serv^t

"St. André.[1]

"To Sir Hans Sloane in Bloomsbury Square."

In the plate already mentioned, figure A represents St. André. [He has a kitt under his arm, having been at first designed by his family for a fencing and dancing-master, though he afterwards attached himself to music of a higher order than that necessary for one of the professions already mentioned.] B is Sir Richard Manningham, C Mr. Sainthill a celebrated surgeon here in London, D is Howard the surgeon at Guildford, who was supposed to have had a chief hand in the imposture. The rest of the characters explain themselves.

Perhaps my readers may excuse me, if I add a short account of another design for a print on the same subject; especially as some collectors have been willing to receive it as a work of Hogarth.

In Mist's Weekly Journal, Saturday, Jan. 11th, 1726-7, was the following advertisement:

"The Rabbit affair made clear in a full account of the whole matter; with the pictures engraved of the pretended Rabbit-breeder herself, Mary Tofts, and of the Rabbits, and of the persons who attended her during her pretended deliveries, shewing who were and who were not imposed on by her. 'Tis given gratis no where, but only up one pair of stairs at the sign of the celebrated Anodyne Necklace recommended by Doctor Chamberlen for Children's teeth, &c."

The original drawing from which the plate promised in Mist's Journal was taken, remained in the possession of Mr. James Vertue, and was probably designed by his brother George. It was sold in 1781 in the collection of George Scott, Esq. of Chigwell in Essex, together with eight tracts relative to the same imposture, for three guineas, and is now in the collection of Mr. Gough.

St. André's Miscarriage, a ballad, published in 1727, has the following stanza on this subject:

"He dissected, compar'd, and distinguish'd likewise
The make of these rabbits, their growth and their size.
He preserv'd them in spirits, and—a little too late
Preserv'd (Vertue sculpsit) a neat copper plate."

There is also a copper-plate, consisting of twelve compartments, on the same story. It exhibits every stage throughout this celebrated fraud. St. André appears in the habit of a Merry-Andrew. The general title of it is, "The Doctors in Labour; or a new Whim-wham from Guilford. Being a representation of the frauds by which the Godliman woman carried on her pretended Rabbit breeding; also of the simplicity of our Doctors, by which they assisted to carry on that imposture, discovered their skill, and contributed to the mirth of his Majesty's liege subjects."

In Mist's Journal for Saturday, Dec. 17, 1726, is also the following paragraph, which shews that the playhouse joined in the general ridicule of St. André. "Last week the entertainment called The Necromancer was performed at the Theatre in Lincoln's-Inn Fields, wherein a new Rabbit-scene was introduced by way of episode; by which the Public may understand as much of that affair, as by the present controversy among the Gentlemen of the faculty, who are flinging their bitter pills at one another, to convince the world that none of them understand any thing of the matter." I am told by one of the spectators still alive, that in this new scene, Harlequin, being converted into a woman, pretended to be in labour, and was first delivered of a large pig, then of a sooterkin, &c. &c.

From the same paper of Saturday, Jan. 21, 1727, we learn, that "The pretended Rabbit-breeder, in order to perpetuate her fame, has had her picture done in a curious mezzotinto print by an able hand." It was painted by Laguerre, and scraped by Faber. She has a rabbit on her lap, and displays a countenance expressive of the utmost vulgarity. In Hogarth's comic representation, the remarkable turn-up of the nose is preserved. This, perhaps, was the only feature in her face that could not be altered by the convulsions of her pretended agony, or our artist would have given her resemblance with greater exactness.

Mr. Dillingham, an apothecary in Red-Lion-Square, laid a wager of ten guineas with St. André, that in a limited time the cheat would be detected. The money was paid him, and he expended it on a piece of plate, with three rabbits engraved by way of arms.

I learn from The Weekly Miscellany, for April 19, 1740, that a few days before, "The celebrated Rabbit-woman of Godalmin in Surry was committed to Guildford Gaol, for receiving stolen goods."

In The Gazetteer, or Daily London Advertiser, Jan. 21, 1763, was this paragraph, which closes the story of our heroine: "Last week died at Godalming in Surry, Mary Tofts, formerly noted for an imposition of breeding Rabbits."

[1] Both these letters are in The British Museum. See MS. Sloan. 3312. XXVI. G. and MS. Sloan. 3316. XXVI. G.