H.G. Bohn (1847 - 1851)
After the failure of McLean’s attempt to posthumously revive
Gillray’s career, the copperplates carrying his designs were
returned to Humphrey’s shop where they remained until the
business was wound-up in 1835. The Humphreys family put most of
the contents of the shop up for auction but the popularity of
Georgian satire had reached such a nadir by the mid-1830s that
the Gillray’s copperplates failed to meet their reserve price
and were returned to the family, who eventually sold them at
scrap value to the publishing house of H.G. Bohn. Bohn published
all 610 designs in two massive volumes entitled The Works of
James Gillray from the Original Plates between 1847 and 1851. In
deference to the prudishness of Victorian Britain he also
published a third volume, the so-called ‘Suppressed Plates’,
that contained some of Gillray’s racier designs which Bohn made
available for sale to male customers only.
The most noticeable feature of the Bohn editions is the presence
of a number which was etched into the copperplate at the right
hand corner of each of the images. Sometimes this will be within
the image itself but in some examples it can be found between
the border of the image and the platemark. If the print has been
trimmed, or framed, then it is possible that this serial number
may have been lost and unfortunately you also occasionally see
examples where the number appears to have been deliberately
abraded from the print in order to disguise the fact that it is
a later copy. Bohn prints taken from the bound volumes will also
have a second design printed on the reverse of the same piece of
paper. However, Bohn also produced a number of single sheet
Gillray designs which it appears were sold as separate items and
so the absence of a second caricature on the verso of a print
should not be taken as definitive proof that the item is not a
Bohn edition. The colouring used in The Works of James
Gillray... is also distinctive, being much brighter and richer
in tone than the original Humphrey's colouring. The paper on
which the Bohn designs were produced is also much thicker and
heavier than that which would have been used in Gillray’s day.
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