Tom Paine's Nightly Pest

James Gillray|Hannah Humphrey|Thomas Paine

December 10, 1792 · Etching and aquatint · Drawings and Prints

This satire comments on the British prosecution of Thomas Paine, who was then in France. On December 8, 1792 he was found guilty in absentia for libel in passages published in his "Rights of Man." Here, Paine sleeps wearing a cap of liberty, near a curtain decorated with fleur-de-lys. His headboard supports images of guardian angels Charles James Fox and Dr. Priestly, and the pillow is inscribed "Vive l'America." The author dreams of judicial wigs, a dungeon and a gibbet, and his coat pocket, lying across the bed, contains a copy of "Common Sense."

Artist

James Gillray|Hannah Humphrey|Thomas Paine

Date

December 10, 1792

Medium

Etching and aquatint

Department

Drawings and Prints

Credit line

Gift of William H. Huntington, 1883