The Project Gutenberg eBook ofBiographical Anecdotes of William Hogarth, With a Catalogue of His Works

The Project Gutenberg eBook ofBiographical Anecdotes of William Hogarth, With a Catalogue of His WorksThis ebook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this ebook or online atwww.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you will have to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this eBook.Title: Biographical Anecdotes of William Hogarth, With a Catalogue of His WorksAuthor: John NicholsRelease date: August 21, 2016 [eBook #52862]Most recently updated: October 23, 2024Language: EnglishCredits: Produced by Clare Graham and Marc D'Hooghe (FreeLitOrgonline gains some more weight, incl. free educationworldwide: moocs, educational resources, online soon.)(Images generously made available by the Internet Archive.)*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK BIOGRAPHICAL ANECDOTES OF WILLIAM HOGARTH, WITH A CATALOGUE OF HIS WORKS ***

This ebook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this ebook or online atwww.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you will have to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this eBook.

Title: Biographical Anecdotes of William Hogarth, With a Catalogue of His WorksAuthor: John NicholsRelease date: August 21, 2016 [eBook #52862]Most recently updated: October 23, 2024Language: EnglishCredits: Produced by Clare Graham and Marc D'Hooghe (FreeLitOrgonline gains some more weight, incl. free educationworldwide: moocs, educational resources, online soon.)(Images generously made available by the Internet Archive.)

Title: Biographical Anecdotes of William Hogarth, With a Catalogue of His Works

Author: John Nichols

Release date: August 21, 2016 [eBook #52862]Most recently updated: October 23, 2024

Language: English

Credits: Produced by Clare Graham and Marc D'Hooghe (FreeLitOrgonline gains some more weight, incl. free educationworldwide: moocs, educational resources, online soon.)(Images generously made available by the Internet Archive.)

*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK BIOGRAPHICAL ANECDOTES OF WILLIAM HOGARTH, WITH A CATALOGUE OF HIS WORKS ***

titlepage

MEMORANDUM.iiiADVERTISEMENT TO THE SECOND EDITION.vADVERTISEMENT TO THE FIRST EDITION.viiDETAILS OF MR. CRAYEN'S GERMAN EDITION.viiiINDIVIDUALS CONSULTED BY THE AUTHOR.xvCOLLECTORS OF HOGARTH.xviCONCERNING HOGARTH'S ORIGINAL WORKS.xviiBIOGRAPHICAL ANECDOTES OF HOGARTH.1CATALOGUE OF HOGARTH'S PRINTS.120POSTSCRIPT.455ADDITION.460APPENDIX NO. 1.461NO. 2.492NO. 3.502GENERAL INDEX TO HOGARTH'S PLATES.527NEW BOOKS PUBLISHED BY J. NICHOLS.

Respect and gratitude having engaged me to compile a memoir of my deceased Master and Patron Mr.Bowyer, in the same performance I included anecdotes of all the eminent persons any way connected with him. A note of about a page's length was allotted toHogarth. While it was printing, Mr.Walpole'sFourth Volume on the subject of English Painters came out, and was followed by an immediate rage for collecting every scrap of our Artist's designs. Persevering in my enquiries among my friends, I had now amassed so much intelligence relative to these engravings, that it could no longer be crowded into the situation originally meant for it. I was therefore advised to publish it in the form of a sixpenny pamphlet. This intended publication, however, grew up by degrees into a three-shilling book, and, within a yearand a half afterwards, was swelled into almost its present bulk, at the price of six shillings. Such was the origin and progress of the following sheets, which, with many corrections, &c. have now reached a Third Edition.

J. N.

Nov.10, 1785.

The author of these imperfect sheets cannot present them a second time to the world, before he has expressed his gratitude for the extreme candour with which they have been treated by theMonthly Reviewers. IfJ. N.has not availed himself of all the corrections designed for his service, it is because the able critic who proposes them has been deluded by intelligence manifestly erroneous.J. N.received each particular he has mentioned, in respect to the assistance bestowed onHogarthwhile hisAnalysiswas preparing, from Dr.Morell, a gentleman who on that subject could not easily mistake. Implicit confidence ought rather to be reposed in a literary coadjutor to the deceased, than in any consistory of females that ever "mumbled their wisdom over a gossip's bowl." Authors rarely acquaint domestic women with the progress of their writings, or the proportion of aid they solicit from their friends. If it were needful that Dr.Morellshould translate aGreekpassage[1]forHogarth, how chanced it that our artist should want to apply what he did not previously understand? I must add, that the sentiments, published by theReviewerconcerning theseAnecdotes, bear no resemblance to the opinion circulated by the cavillers with whom he appears to have had a remote connection. The parties who furnished every circumstance on which he founds his reiterated charges of error and misinformation, are not unknown. Ever since this little work was edited, the people about Mrs.Hogarthhave paid their court to her by decrying it as "low, stupid, or false," without the slightest acknowledgement for the sums of money it has conducted toThe Golden HeadinLeicester Fields. While the talents of the writer alone were questioned by such inadequate judges of literary merit, a defence on his part was quite unnecessary. He has waited, however, with impatience for an opportunity of making some reply to their groundless reflections on his veracity. This purpose he flatters himself will have been completely executed after he has observed that all credentials relative to his disputed assertion shall be ready (as they are at this moment) for the Reviewer's inspection.J. N.cannot indeed dismiss his present advertisement without observing, that though the amiable partialities of a wife may apologize for any contradiction suggested by Mrs.Hogarthherself, theEnglishlanguage is not strong enough to express the contempt he feels in regard to the accumulated censure both of her male and her female Parasites.

J. N.

Nov.1, 1782.

[1]Whereabouts is this translation of aGreekpassage to be found in the Analysis? It may have escaped my hasty researches.

When this pamphlet was undertaken, the Author had no thought of swelling it to it's present bulk; but communicating his design to his friends, they favoured him with various particulars of information. Some of these accommodated themselves to his original plan, if he can be supposed to have had any, but others were more intractable. Still aware of the value even of disjointed materials, which his profession would not afford him leisure to compact into a regular narrative, and conscious that these sheets, rude and imperfect as they are, may serve to promote a publication less unworthy of its subject, he dismisses his present work without any laboured apology for the errors that may be detected in it; claiming, indeed, some merit on account of intelligence, but not the least on the score of arrangement or composition. He takes the same opportunity to observe, that many curious anecdotes of extraordinary persons have been unfortunately lost, because the possessors of those fugitive particulars had not the power of communicating them in proper form, or polished language, and were unwilling to expose them in such a state as these are offered to the world.

May9, 1781.

having translated the First Edition of these Anecdotes, &c. into theGermanLanguage, dispatched a copy of his work toJ. N.attended by the obliging letter here subjoined:

SIR,Though I have not the honour of being acquainted with you, I hope your goodness will excuse the liberty I take of sending you aGermantranslation of theBiographical Anecdotes of Mr. Hogarthyou published. Being convinced of the merits of your production, and its usefulness to such collectors of prints and connoisseurs in our country as don't understand theEnglishlanguage, I undertook this translation, and flatter myself you will be pleased to accept of it as a proof of my real esteem for you.You will find, that I did not always adhere literally to the original, but made some abridgments, alterations, notes, &c. &c. But I hope you will do me the justice to consider, that I wrote for my countrymen, and therefore left out such passages, poems,anecdotes, &c. &c. as would have been entirely uninteresting to them, and have swelled the volume to no purpose.As to the typographical performance, I think you will be tolerably satisfied of it. Though the noble art of printing is ofGermanorigin, your nation has improved and brought it to the highest pitch of perfection in point of neatness, elegance, and correctness.I remain, with all possible esteem,Sir,Your most obedientand most humble servant,A. CRAYEN.LeipziginSaxony,the 29thJan.1783.The following are Translations, by a Friend,from theDedicationandPrefacetoMr.Crayen'sperformance.DEDICATION.To Mr.Gottfried Winkler, inLeipzig;HonouredandWorthy Friend,Pardon my presumption in offering you the slender fruit of a few leisure hours. Receive it with your wonted kindness, and judge of it not by the trifling value of the work, but by the intention of its Author, whose most zealous wish has long been to find an opportunity of publickly offering you, however small, a memorial of his respect and friendship.If my labour in adding a mite towards the diffusion of the knowledge of the Arts, is honoured with the approbation of so enlightened a Connoisseur, I shall feel myself completely rewarded.Receive at the same time my sincerest thanks for the obliging communication of your Copy ofHogarth'sprints, of which, in my translation, I have more than once availed myself.Live, honoured Sir, many days; happy in the bosom of your worthy family, in the circle of your friends, and in the enjoyment of those treasures of the Arts you have collected with such distinguished taste. Remain also a friend ofYours, &c.The Translator.

SIR,

Though I have not the honour of being acquainted with you, I hope your goodness will excuse the liberty I take of sending you aGermantranslation of theBiographical Anecdotes of Mr. Hogarthyou published. Being convinced of the merits of your production, and its usefulness to such collectors of prints and connoisseurs in our country as don't understand theEnglishlanguage, I undertook this translation, and flatter myself you will be pleased to accept of it as a proof of my real esteem for you.

You will find, that I did not always adhere literally to the original, but made some abridgments, alterations, notes, &c. &c. But I hope you will do me the justice to consider, that I wrote for my countrymen, and therefore left out such passages, poems,anecdotes, &c. &c. as would have been entirely uninteresting to them, and have swelled the volume to no purpose.

As to the typographical performance, I think you will be tolerably satisfied of it. Though the noble art of printing is ofGermanorigin, your nation has improved and brought it to the highest pitch of perfection in point of neatness, elegance, and correctness.

I remain, with all possible esteem,

Sir,

Your most obedient

and most humble servant,

A. CRAYEN.

LeipziginSaxony,the 29thJan.1783.

The following are Translations, by a Friend,from theDedicationandPrefacetoMr.Crayen'sperformance.

To Mr.Gottfried Winkler, inLeipzig;

HonouredandWorthy Friend,

Pardon my presumption in offering you the slender fruit of a few leisure hours. Receive it with your wonted kindness, and judge of it not by the trifling value of the work, but by the intention of its Author, whose most zealous wish has long been to find an opportunity of publickly offering you, however small, a memorial of his respect and friendship.

If my labour in adding a mite towards the diffusion of the knowledge of the Arts, is honoured with the approbation of so enlightened a Connoisseur, I shall feel myself completely rewarded.

Receive at the same time my sincerest thanks for the obliging communication of your Copy ofHogarth'sprints, of which, in my translation, I have more than once availed myself.

Live, honoured Sir, many days; happy in the bosom of your worthy family, in the circle of your friends, and in the enjoyment of those treasures of the Arts you have collected with such distinguished taste. Remain also a friend of

Yours, &c.

The Translator.

Collectors of the Fine Arts were already possessed ofCataloguesandMemoires Raisonnéesof the engravings of many great masters, for which their acknowledgements are due to the industry of aGersaint, aJombert, aHecquet, aVertue, ade Winter, &c. &c.

But a similar illustration ofHogarth'scopper-plates was still wanting; though it may be asked what works have a juster claim to a distinguished place in a compleat collection, than those of this instructive moral painter, this creative genius?

On this account, it is presumed that theGermanLover of the Arts will deem himself indebted to the Translator, for giving him, in his own tongue, a concise and faithful version of a book that has lately made its appearance inLondon, under the title of "Biographical Anecdotes ofW. Hogarth, and a Catalogue of his Works chronologically arranged."

The Compiler as well as Editor of this work is Mr.John Nichols, aPrinterandBooksellerinLondon, who, by much reading, and an intimate acquaintance with the Arts and Literature of his Country, has honourably distinguished himself among his professional brethren. How modestly he himself judges of this his useful performance, appears from his preface to the work.

It is true, Mr.Horace Walpole, who possesses perhaps the compleatest collection of the prints of this Master, some years ago published a Catalogue of them; but this is only to be found in his work, intituled, "Anecdotes of Painting in England collected by G. Vertue, and published by H. Walpole," a performance consisting of four volumes in 4to, too costly for many collectors, and inconvenient for others. Moreover all that is to be found there relative toHogarth, is not only included in Mr.Nichols'spublication, but is also improved by considerable additions, so that the curious reader hasWalpole'sCatalogue incorporated with the present work.

The liberty of abridgement, as mentioned in the title, is ventured only in regard to such diffuse illustrations, repetitions, anecdotes, and local stories, as would be alone interesting to anEnglishman; in a word, in such parts as do not immediately contribute to the illustration ofHogarth'splates, and would have tired the patience of theGermanreader. Of the verses affixed to each copper-plate the first and last words only are given, as those afford sufficient indicationfor a collector who wishes to become acquainted with any particular print. How far some remarks of the Translator are useful, or otherwise, is left to the indulgent decision of Judges in the Arts.

He must not however forget it is his duty to acknowledge the goodness of old Mr.HansenofLeipsig. This gentleman's readiness in permitting him to examine his excellent collection of the engravings ofBritishartists, for the purpose of comparing and illustrating several passages in the original of this work, claims his warmest thanks, and a public acknowledgement.

Leipsig, February1783.

The Translator.

Mr.Ashby.Mr.Basire.Mr.Baynes.Mr.Belchier—dead.Mr.Bindley.Mr.Birch.Mr.Bowle.Mr.Braithwaite.Mr.Browning.LordCharlemont.Mr.Charlton.Mr.Cole—dead.Mr.Colman.Mr.Coxe.Mr.Dodsley.Dr.Ducarel—dead.Mr.Duncombe.Mr.Edwards.Mr.Forrest—dead.Mr.Foster—dead.MrGoodison.Mrs.Gostling.Mr.Gough.Mr.Hall.SirJohn Hawkins.Mr.Henderson.Mrs.Hogarth.Dr.Hunter—dead.Mr.S. Ireland.Dr.Johnson—dead.Mr.Keate.Bishop ofKilala.Mr.Lane.Mrs.Lewis.Mr.Livesay.Dr.Lort.Mr.Lyon.Mr.Major.Mr.Malone.Dr.Monkhouse.Dr.Morell—dead.Mr.Morrison.Mr.Pinkerton.Mr.Rayner.Mr.Reed.SirJoshua Reynolds.Mr.Richards.Mr.Rogers—dead.Mr.Rumsey.Mr.Steevens.Mr.Thane.Mr.Thomas.Mr.Tyers.Mr.Waldron.Mr.Walker.Mr.J. C. Walker.Mr.Walpole.Dr.Warton.Mr.Way.Mr.Welch—dead.Mr.Whately.Mr.B. White.Mr.H. White.Mr.Wilkes.Mr.Williams.Dr.Wright.

Mr.Ayton.[1]Mr.Bedford.Mr.Bellamy.Mr.Clare.Mr.Crickitt.Dr.Ducarel.[2]LordExeter.Mr.Foster.[3]Mr.Goodison.Mr.Gulston.SirJohn Hawkins, Kt.Mr.Henderson.[4]Mr.Ireland.Dr.Lort.Mr.Morrison.Mr.Rogers.[5]Mr.Steevens.Mr.Walpole.Mr.Windham.[6]

[1]His collection was cut up, and sold atDickinson's, New Bond Street.

[2]DiedMay29, 1785. His collection devolves to his Nephew and Heir, Mr.Ducarel, lately returned fromThe East Indies.

[3]DiedOct.3, 1782. His improved collection sold atBarford'sauction rooms, lateLangford's, March4, 1783, for £.105. Mr.Crickittwas the Purchaser.

[4]Mr.Hendersonsold his collection to SirJohn Elliotfor £.126 inApril1785.

[5]DiedJanuary2, 1784. His collection remains with his Nephew and Heir, Mr.Cotton, F. S. A.

[6]The Right Hon.William Windham, M. P. forNorwich.

"As an opinion generally prevails, that the genuine impressions ofHogarth'sworks are very bad, and the plates retouched; Mrs.Hogarthis under the necessity of acquainting the public in general, and the admirers of her deceased husband's works in particular, that it has been owing to a want of proper attention in the conducting this work for some years past, that the impressions in general have not done justice to the condition of the plates; and she has requested some gentlemen most eminent in the art of engraving, to inspect the plates, who have given the following opinion:

"London, Jan.21, 1783.

"We, whose names are underwritten, having carefully examined the copper-plates published by the late Mr.Hogarth, are fully convinced that they have not been retouched since his death.

"FRANCIS BARTOLOZZI.WM. WOOLLET.[1]WM. WYNNE RYLAND.[2]

"N. B. All[3]the original works are now properly and well printed, and to be had of Mrs.Hogarth, at her house atThe Golden Head, inLeicester-Fields."

This is one of the most extraordinary testimonials ever laid before the public.Hogarthdied in 1764. Since that time his plates have been injudiciously and unmercifully worked, so as to leave no means of ascertaining, through any observation or process of art, the exact period when they were last repaired. Notwithstanding this difficulty, in the year 1783, we find several engravers of eminence declaring their full conviction on the subject. All we can do is, to suppose their confidence was grounded on the veracity of Mrs.Hogarth. I believe the parties as to the fact; and yet it was impossible for MessieursB. W.andR.to be adequate judges of the truth to which they have set their names as witnesses.

[1]DiedMay23, 1785.

[2]ExecutedAug.29, 1783.

[3]By "allthe original works," Mrs.Hogarthmeans only such plates as are in her possession. See pagexx, where a great number of others, equally original, are found.

Size of the plates in inchesl.s.d.16 by 14Frontispiece03015½ by 12½Harlot's Progress, six prints11016 by 14Rake's Progress, eight prints22018 by 15Marriage a-la-mode, six prints111619 by 15½Four Times of the Day, four prints10016½ by 13Before and After, two prints05018½ by 13½Midnight Conversation05016 by 14Distress'd Poet03016 by 14Enraged Musician03018 by 14SouthwarkFair05020¾ by 16½Garrickin KingRichardIII.07618 by 12Calais, or the Roast Beef ofOld England05020½ by 16PaulbeforeFelix076Ditto,Ditto, with Alterations06020½ by 16½Mosesbrought toPharaoh'sDaughter07622 by 17March toFinchley0106Ditto,Strolling Actresses dressing in a Barn050Ditto,Four Prints of an Election22019½ by 12Bishop ofWinchester03014 by 10½Idleness and Industry, 12 prints012014 by 9LordLovat01010½ by 8½Sleeping Congregation01012 by 8½Country-Inn Yard01014 by 10½PaulbeforeFelix, Rembrant0509 by 8Various Characters of Heads0266½ by 7½Columbusbreaking the Egg01012 by 8½The Bench01615 by 13Beer StreetandGin Lane, two prints030Ditto,Four Stages of Cruelty, four prints06015 by 12½Two Prints of an Invasion020Ditto,A Cock Match0309 by 8The Five Orders of Periwigs01017 by 13The Medley05012 by 9½The Times02012¾ by 9Wilkes01010 by 11Bruiser0169 by 7½Finis026

N. B.Any person purchasing the whole together may have them delivered bound, at the Price of Thirteen Guineas; a sufficient Margin will be left for framing.—TheAnalysisofBeauty, in Quarto, may also be had, with two explanatory Prints, Price 15 Shillings.

[1]Genuineimpressions—Query, the meaning of such an epithet in this place?

In the years 1781, 1782, &c. the following Pieces ofHogarthare known to have been sold at the prices annexed.

LordBoyne.550Charmers of the Age.550Booth, Wilks,&c.550Discovery.330Altar-piece.1116Rich'sGlory.440Beaver'sMilitary Pun.330Blackwell'sFigures.1166Boys peeping, &c.110Apuleius.1166Cassandra.1116Beer Streetwith Variat.110LargeHudibras.550March toFinchleyAq. F. Proof.220Do. finished, without letters.550Festoon. RtforRich.III.110Power of Atty.F. Hosp.1169OratorHenley.110Huggins.330Witch.330Jacobite's Journal.2116JudithandHolophernes.110Sarah Malcolm.220Large Masquerade.220Small, first impression.1166ScotsOpera.0150Woman swearing, &c.110LadyByron.110Hogarthwith Dog.220Do. Serjeant Painter.220Do. scratched over.220PerseusandAndromeda.220First Distrest Poet.110Do. Enraged Musician.110Motraye.220Bench, first impression.110Burlington Gate.110Sanchoat Dinner.110First Election.330Fair.110Farmer's Return.0106Gulliver.0106Hen.VIII. andA. Bullen110Herring, proof impression.110Hogarth, Engr, Shop Bill.110Morell.0106Pine.0106Coat of Arms, SirG. Page,&c.220Times, first impression.110Master of the Vineyard.220Turk'sHead.220Harlot's Progress, first impression, red.10100Marriage Alamode.330Rake's Progress.660Four Times.220Prentices, 1st impression.440Elections, 1st impression.660GarrickinRich.III.110Gate ofCalais.0150Paulburlesqued.110Strolling Actresses.1126Three additional Prints toBeaver, &c.229Milward'sTicket.440Music introduced toApollo.1116Martin Folkes, mezzotinto0106Spiller'sTicket.550Two plates toMilton.220Frontispiece toLeveridge'sSongs.1126Concert. St.Mary'sChapel.550

This great and original Genius is said by Dr.Burnto have been the descendant of a family originally fromKirkby Thore,[1]inWestmoreland: and I am assured that his grandfather was a plain yeoman, who possessed a small tenement in the vale ofBampton, a village about 15 miles North ofKendal, in that county. He had three sons. The eldest assisted his father in farming, and succeeded to his little freehold. The second settled inTroutbeck, a village eight miles North West ofKendal, and was remarkable for his talent at provincial poetry.[2]Thethird, educated atSt. Bee's, who had kept a school in the same county, and appears to have a man ofsome learning, went early toLondon, where he resumed his original occupation of a school-master inShip CourtinThe Old Bailey, and was occasionally employed as a corrector of the press. ALatinletter, from Mr.Richard Hogarth, in 1697 (preserved among the MSS. inThe British Museum, N° 4277. 50.) relates to a book which had been printed with great expedition. But the letter shall speak for itself.[3]

A Dictionary inLatinandEnglish, which he composed for the use of schools,[4]still exists in MS. He married inLondon; and our Hero, and his sistersMaryandAnne, are believed to have been the only product of the marriage.

William Hogarth[5]it said (under the articleThornhillin theBiographia Britannica) to havebeen born in 1698, in the parish ofSt. Bartholomew,[6]London, to which parish, it is added, he was afterwards a benefactor. The outset of his life, however, was unpromising. "He was bound," says Mr.Walpole, "to a mean engraver of arms on plate."Hogarthprobably chose this occupation, as it required some skill in drawing, to which his genius was particularly turned, and which he contrived assiduously to cultivate. His master, it since appears, was Mr.Ellis Gamble, a silversmith of eminence, who resided inCranbourn-street, Leicester-fields. In this profession it is not unusual to bind apprentices to the single branch of engraving arms and cyphers on every species of metal; and in that particular department of the business youngHogarthwas placed;[7]"but, before his time was expired,he felt the impulse of genius, and that it directed him to painting."

During his apprenticeship, he set out oneSunday, with two or three companions, on an excursion toHighgate. The weather being hot, they went into a public-house, where they had not been long, before a quarrel arose between some persons in the same room. One of the disputants struck the other on the head with a quart pot, and cut him very much. The blood running down the man's face, together with the agony of the wound, which had distorted his features into a most hideous grin, presentedHogarth, who shewed himself thus early "apprised of the mode Nature had intended he should pursue," with too laughable a subject to be overlooked. He drew out his pencil, and produced on the spot one of the most ludicrous figures that ever was seen. What rendered this piece the more valuable was, that it exhibited an exact likeness of the man, with the portrait of his antagonist, and the figures in caricature of the principal persons gathered round him. This anecdote was furnished by one of his fellow apprentices then present, a person of indisputable character, and who continued his intimacy withHogarthlong after they both grew up into manhood.

"His apprenticeship was no sooner expired," says Mr.Walpole, "than he entered into the academy inSt. Martin's Lane, and studied drawing from the life, in which he never attained to great excellence.It was character, the passions, the soul, that his genius was given him to copy. In colouring he proved no greater a master: his force lay in expression, not in tints and chiaro scuro."

To a man who by indefatigable industry and uncommon strength of genius has been the artificer of his own fame and fortune, it can be no reproach to have it said that at one period he was not rich. It has been asserted, and we believe with good foundation, that the skill and assiduity ofHogarthwere, even in his servitude, a singular assistance to his own family, and to that of his master. It happened, however, that when he was first out of his time, he certainly was poor. The ambition of indigence is ever productive of distress. So it fared withHogarth, who, while he was furnishing himself with materials for subsequent perfection, felt all the contempt which penury could produce. Being one day distressed to raise so trifling a sum as twenty shillings, in order to be revenged of his landlady, who strove to compel him to payment, he drew her as ugly as possible, and in that single portrait gave marks of the dawn of superior genius.[8]This story I had once supposed to be founded on certainty; but since, on other authority, have been assured, that had such an accident ever happened to him, he would not have failed to talk of it afterwards, as he was alwaysfond of contrasting the necessities of his youth with the affluence of his maturer age. He has been heard to say of himself, "I remember the time when I have gone moping into the city with scarce a shilling in my pocket; but as soon as I had received ten guineas there for a plate, I have returned home, put on my sword, and sallied out again, with all the confidence of a man who had ten thousand pounds in his pocket." Let me add, that my first authority may be to the full as good as my second.

How long he continued in obscurity we cannot exactly learn; but the first piece in which he distinguished himself as a painter, is supposed to have been a representation ofWanstead Assembly.[9]In this are introduced portraits of the first earlTylney, his lady, their children, tenants, &c. The faces were said to be extremely like, and the colouring is rather better than in some of his late and more highly finished performances.

From the date of the earliest plate that can be ascertained to be the work ofHogarth, it may be presumedthat he began business, on his own account, at least as early as the year 1720.

His first employment seems to have been the engraving of arms and shop-bills. The next step was to design and furnish plates for booksellers; and here we are fortunately supplied with dates.[10]Thirteen folio prints, with his name to each, appeared in "Aubry de la Motraye'sTravels," in 1723; seven smaller prints for "Apuleius'Golden Ass" in 1724; fifteen head-pieces to "Beaver'sMilitary Punishments of the Ancients," and five frontispieces for the translation ofCassandra, in five volumes, 12°, 1725; seventeen cuts for a duodecimo edition ofHudibras(withButler'shead) in 1726; two for "PerseusandAndromeda," in 1730; two forMilton[the date uncertain]; and a variety of others between 1726 and 1733.

"No symptom of genius," says Mr.Walpole, "dawned in those plates. HisHudibraswas the first of his works that marked him as a man above the common; yet, what made him then noticed, now surprises us, to find so little humour in an undertaking so congenial to his talents."—It is certain that he often lamented to his friends the having parted with his property in the prints of the largeHudibras, without ever having had an opportunity to improve them. They were purchased by Mr.Philip Overton,[11]at theGolden Buck, nearSt. Dunstan's ChurchinFleet-Street; and still remain in the possession of his successor Mr.Sayer.

Mr.Bowlesat theBlack HorseinCornhillwas one of his earliest patrons. I had been told that he bought many a plate fromHogarthby the weight of the copper; but am only certain that this occurrence happened in a single instance, when the elder Mr.BowlesofSt. Paul's Church-yardoffered, over a bottle, half a crown a pound for a plate just then completed. This circumstance was within the knowledge of Dr.Ducarel.—Our artist's next friend in that line was Mr.Philip Overton, who paid him a somewhat better price for his labour and ingenuity.

When Mr.Walpolespeaks ofHogarth'searly performances, he observes, that they rose not above the labours of the people who are generally employed by booksellers. Lest any reader should inadvertently suppose this candid writer designed the minutest reflection on those artists to whom the decoration of modern volumes is confided, it is necessary to observe, that his account ofHogarth, &c. was printed off above ten years ago, before the names ofCipriani, Angelica, Bartolozzi, Sherwin,andMortimerwere found at the bottom of any plates designed for the ornament of poems, or dramatic pieces.

"On the success, however, of those plates," Mr.Walpolesays, "he commenced painter, a painter ofportraits; the most ill-suited employment imaginable to a man whose turn certainly was not flattery, nor his talent adapted to look on vanity without a sneer. Yet his facility in catching a likeness, and the method he chose of painting families and conversations in small, then a novelty, drew him prodigious business for some time. It did not last, either from his applying to the real bent of his disposition, or from his customers apprehending that a satirist was too formidable a confessor for the devotees of self-love." There are still many family pictures by Mr.Hogarthexisting, in the style of serious conversation-pieces. He was not however lucky in all his resemblances, and has sometimes failed where a crowd of other artists have succeeded. The whole-length of Mr.Garricksitting at a table, with his wife behind him taking the pen out of his hand,[12]confers no honour on the painter or the persons represented.[13]He has certainly missed the character of our lateRoscius'scountenance while undisturbed by passion; but was more lucky in seizing his features when aggravated by terror, as in the tent scene of KingRichardIII. It is by no means astonishing, that the elegant symmetry of Mrs.Garrick'sform should have evaded the effortsof one to whose ideasla basse naturewas more familiar than the grace inseparable from those who have been educated in higher life. His talents, therefore, could do little justice to a pupil of LadyBurlington.

What the prices of his portraits were, I have strove in vain to discover; but suspect they were originally very low, as the people who are best acquainted with them chuse to be silent on that subject.

In the Bee, vol. V. p. 552. and also in the Gentleman's Magazine, vol. IV. p. 269. are the following verses to Mr.Hogarth, on MissF.'spicture, 1734.

"ToChloe'spicture you such likeness give,The animated canvas seems to live;The tender breasts with wanton heavings move,And the soft sparkling eyes inspire with love:While I survey each feature o'er and o'er,I turnIdolater, and paint adore:Fondly I here can gaze without a fear,That,Chloe, to my love you'd grow severe;That in yourPicture, as inLife, you'd turnYour eyes away, and kill me with your scorn:No, here at least with transport I can seeYour eyes with softness languishing on me.While,Chloe, this I boast, with scornful heartNor rashly censureHogarth, or hisart,Who all yourCharmsin strongestLighthas laid,And kindly thrown yourPrideandScorninShade."

AtRivenhall, inEssex, the seat of Mr.Western, is a family picture, byHogarthof Mr.Westernand his mother (who was a daughter of SirAnthonyShirley), ChancellorHoadly, ArchdeaconCharles Plumptre, the Rev. Mr.ColeofMiltonnearCambridge, and Mr.Henry Taylorthe Curate there,[14]1736.

In the gallery of the late Mr.ColeofMilton, was also a small whole-length picture of Mr.Western,[15]byHogarth, a striking resemblance. He is drawn sitting in his Fellow-Commoner's habit, and square cap with a gold tassel, in his chamber atClare Hall, over the arch towards the river; and our artist, as the chimney could not be expressed, has drawn a cat sitting near it, agreeable to his humour, to shew the situation.

"When I sat to him," says Mr.Cole, "near fifty years ago, the custom of giving vails to servants was not discontinued. On my taking leave of our painter at the door, and his servant's opening it or the coach door, I cannot tell which, I offered him a small gratuity; but the man very politely refused it, telling me it would be as much as the loss of his place, if his master knew it. This was so uncommon, and so liberal in a man of Mr.Hogarth'sprofession at that time of day, that it much struck me, as nothing of the sort had happened to me before."

It was likewise Mr.Hogarth'scustom to sketch out on the spot any remarkable face which particularly struck him, and of which he wished to preserve the remembrance. A gentleman still living informs me, that being once with our painter at theBedford Coffee-house, he observed him to draw something with a pencil on his nail. Enquiring what had been his employment, he was shewn the countenance (a whimsical one) of a person who was then at a small distance.

It happened in the early part ofHogarth'slife, that a nobleman, who was uncommonly ugly and deformed, came to sit to him for his picture. It was executed with a skill that did honour to the artist's abilities; but the likeness was rigidly observed, without even the necessary attention to compliment or flattery. The peer, disgusted at this counterpart of his dear self, never once thought of paying for a reflector that would only insult him with his deformities. Some time was suffered to elapse before the artist applied for his money; but afterwards many applications were made by him (who had then no need of a banker) for payment, without success. The painter, however, at last hit upon an expedient, which he knew must alarm the nobleman's pride, and by that means answer his purpose. It was couched in the following card:

"Mr.Hogarth'sdutiful respects to Lord ——; finding that he does not mean to have the picture which was drawn for him, is informed again ofMr.H.'snecessity for the money; if, therefore, his lordship does not send for it in three days, it will be disposed of, with the addition of a tail, and some other little appendages, to Mr.Hare, the famous wild-beast man; Mr.H.having given that gentleman a conditional promise of it for an exhibition-picture, on his lordship's refusal."

This intimation had the desired effect. The picture was sent home, and committed to the flames.

To the other anecdotes of this comic Painter may be added the following. Its authenticity must apologize for its want of other merit.

A certain old Nobleman, not remarkably generous, having sent forHogarth, desired he would represent, in one of the compartments on a staircase,Pharaohand his Host drowned in theRed Sea; but at the same time gave our artist to understand, that no great price would be given for his performance.Hogarthagreed. Soon after, he waited on his employer for payment, who seeing that the space allotted for the picture had only been daubed over with red, declared he had no idea of paying a painter when he had proceeded no further than to lay hisground. "Ground!" saidHogarth, "there is nogroundin the case, my lord. The red you perceive, is theRed Sea. Pharaohand his Host are drowned as you desired, and cannot be made objects of sight, for the ocean covers them all."

Mr.Walpolehas remarked, that if our artist "indulged his spirit of ridicule in personalities, it never proceeded beyond sketches and drawings,"and wonders "that he never, without intention, delivered the very features of any identical person." But this elegant writer, who may be said to have received his education in a Court, perhaps had few opportunities of acquaintance among the low popular characters with whichHogarthoccasionally peopled his scenes.[16]The Friend to whom I owe this remark was assured by an ancient gentleman of unquestionable veracity and acuteness of observation, that almost all the personages who attend the levee of the Rake were undoubted portraits; and that, inSouthwark Fairand theModern Midnight Conversation, as many more were discoverable. In the former plate he pointed outEssexthe dancing-master; and in the latter, as well as in the second plate to theRake's Progress, Figgthe prize-fighter.[17]He mentioned several others by name, from his immediate knowledge both of the painter's design and the characters represented; but the rest of the particulars, by which he supported his assertions, have escaped the memory of my informant. I am also assured, that whileHogarthwas painting theRake's Progress, he had a summer residence atIsleworth; and never failed to question the company who came to see these pictures, if they knew for whom one or another figurewas designed. When they guessed wrong, he set them right.

Mr.Walpolehas a sketch in oil, given to him byHogarth, who intended to engrave it. It was done at the time when the House of Commons appointed a committee to inquire into the cruelties exercised on prisoners in theThe Fleet, to extort money from them. "The scene," he says, "is the committee; on the table are the instruments of torture. A prisoner in rags, half-starved, appears before them; the poor man has a good countenance, that adds to the interest. On the other hand is the inhuman gaoler. It is the very figure thatSalvator Rosawould have drawn forIagoin the moment of detection. Villainy, fear, and conscience, are mixed in yellow and livid on his countenance; his lips are contracted by tremor, his face advances as eager to lie, his legs step back as thinking to make his escape; one hand is thrust precipitately into his bosom, the fingers of the other are catching uncertainly at his button-holes. If this was a portrait, it is the most striking that ever was drawn; if it was not, it is still finer." The portrait was that ofBambridge[18]the warden ofTheFleet; and the sketch was taken in the beginning of the year 1729, whenBambridgeandHuggins(his predecessor)[19]were under examination. Both were declared "notoriously guilty of great breaches of trust, extortions, cruelties, and other high crimes and misdemeanors;" both were sent toNewgate; andBambridgewas disqualified by act of parliament.[20]The son[21]ofHugginswas possessed of a valuablepainting from this sketch, and also of a scene in theBeggar's Opera; both of them full of real portraits. On the dispersion of his effects, the latter was purchased by the Rev. Dr.MonkhouseofQueen's College, Oxford. It is in a gilt frame, with a bust ofGayat the top. It's companion, whose present possessor I have not been able to trace out, had, in like manner, that of SirFrancis Page, one of the judges, remarkable for his severity;[22]with a halter round his neck.

The Duke ofLeedshas also an original scene in theBeggar's Opera, painted byHogarth. It is that inwhichLucyandPollyare on their knees, before their respective fathers, to intercede for the life of the hero of the piece. All the figures are either known or supposed to be portraits. If I am not misinformed, the late SirThomas Robinson(as well known by the name ofLong Sir Thomas) is standing in one of the side-boxes.Macheath, unlike his spruce representative on our present stage, is a slouching bully; andPollyappears happily disencumbered of such a hoop as the daughter ofPeachumwithin our younger memories has worn. His Grace gave 35l.for this picture at Mr.Rich'sauction. Another copy of the same scene was bought by the late SirWilliam Saunderson; and is now in the possession of SirHenry Gough. Mr.Walpolehas a painting of a scene in the same piece, whereMacheathis going to execution. In this also the likenesses ofWalker, and MissFentonafterwards Dutchess ofBolton(the originalMacheathandPolly), are preserved.

In the year 1726, when the affair ofMary Tofts, the rabbit-breeder ofGodalming, engaged the public attention, a few of our principal surgeons subscribed their guinea a-piece toHogarth, for an engraving from a ludicrous sketch he had made on that very popular subject. This plate, amongst other portraits, contains that of the notoriousSt. André, the anatomist to the royal household, and in high credit as a surgeon. The additional celebrity of this man arose either from fraud or ignorance, perhaps from a due mixture of both. It was supported, however, afterwards, by the reputation of a dreadful crime. His imaginary wealth, in spite of these disadvantages, to the last insured him a circle of flatterers, even though, at the age of fourscore, his conversation was offensive to modest ears, and his grey hairs were rendered still more irreverend by repeated acts of untimely lewdness.[23]A particular description ofthis plate will be given in the future catalogue ofHogarth'sworks.

In 1727,Hogarthagreed withMorris, an upholsterer, to furnish him with a design on canvas, representing the element of Earth, as a pattern for tapestry. The work not being performed to the satisfaction ofMorris, he refused to pay for it; and our artist sued him for the money. This suit (which was tried before Lord Chief JusticeEyreatWestminster, May28, 1728) was determined in favour ofHogarth. The brief for the defendant in the cause, is preserved below.[24]

In 1730, Mr.Hogarthmarried the only daughter of SirJames Thornhill,[25]by whom he had no child.This union, indeed, was a stolen one, and consequently without the approbation of SirJames, who, considering the youth of his daughter, then barely eighteen, and the slender finances of her husband, as yet an obscure artist,[26]was not easily reconciled to the match. Soon after this period, however, he began hisHarlot's Progress(the coffin in the last plate is inscribedSeptember2, 1731); and was advised by LadyThornhillto have some of the scenes in it placed in the way of his father-in-law. Accordingly, one morning early, Mrs.Hogarthundertook to convey several of them into his dining-room. When he arose, he enquired from whence they came; and being told by whom they were introduced, he cried out, "Very well; the man who can furnish representations like these, can also maintain a wife without a portion." He designed this remark as an excuse for keeping his purse-strings close; but, soon after, became both reconciled and generous to the young couple.

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