Title Page, The Caricature Magazine, or Mirror of Mirth

Title Page, The Caricature Magazine, or Mirror of Mirth

Thomas Rowlandson

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Many heads, grotesque and otherwise, are grouped round an oval space. The latter is blank but, as published, contains the title: "The Caricature Magazine, or Mirror of Mirth, being a collection of Humorous & Satirical Caricatures, Designed & Engraved by Thomas Rowlandson, Esqr." From a publication first issued 1807 in parts (the first 5 containing about 500 plates by Crukshank, Woodward, Rowlandson and others). The title varies slightly between issues.

Drawings and Prints

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Title Page, The Caricature Magazine, or Mirror of MirthTitle Page, The Caricature Magazine, or Mirror of MirthTitle Page, The Caricature Magazine, or Mirror of MirthTitle Page, The Caricature Magazine, or Mirror of MirthTitle Page, The Caricature Magazine, or Mirror of Mirth

The Department’s vast collection of works on paper comprises approximately 21,000 drawings, 1.2 million prints, and 12,000 illustrated books created in Europe and the Americas from about 1400 to the present day. Since its foundation in 1916, the Department has been committed to collecting a wide range of works on paper, which includes both pieces that are incredibly rare and lauded for their aesthetic appeal, as well as material that is more popular, functional, and ephemeral. The broad scope of the department’s collecting encourages questions of connoisseurship as well as those pertaining to function and context, and demonstrates the vital role that prints, drawings, and illustrated books have played throughout history.