The Genius of Caricature, and his Friends, celebrating the completion of the Second Volume of the Caricature Magazine in the Temple of Mirth

Thomas Tegg|Thomas Rowlandson|George Murgatroyd Woodward

July 2, 1808 · Hand-colored etching · Drawings and Prints

At a celebratory dinner, the "Genius of Caricature" sits at the head wearing a harlequin suit and offering a toast, with "Lilliputians" around the table. An arch at the back is lettered: "Mirth Admit Me of Thy Crew" (a quote from Milton's L'Allegro) and the walls are hung with images from the magazine, each titled below. A toast master holds a lettered banner that reads: "Mr Tegg, M' Tegg,! You're at home to a peg, Volume two is now fairly completed Then to Cheapside repair, Ye who spurn at dull care, And with, Wit, Fun, & Frolic be treated With Woodward we'll laugh, And with Rowlandson quaff, And drown every Folly absurd, Here's a toast to the brim My gay children of Whim, Success to their Volume the Third"

Artist

Thomas Tegg|Thomas Rowlandson|George Murgatroyd Woodward

Date

July 2, 1808

Medium

Hand-colored etching

Department

Drawings and Prints

Credit line

The Elisha Whittelsey Collection, The Elisha Whittelsey Fund and Harris Brisbane Dick Fund, by Exchange, 1970