The Conclusion of the first Volume of the Caricature Magazine

The Conclusion of the first Volume of the Caricature Magazine

Charles Williams

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

On a stage framed with a curtain, a showman bows and spreads his arms, holding a hat in one hand and giving a speech. An inkwell and plumes are shown at left near an album of drawings, a palette and brushes are shown at right. Six more men and women stand behind smiling or laughing, and rows of prints are hung to either side, decorating the edge of the curtain. Each is titled. The central figure says: "Ladies and Gentlemen having compleated the first volume of the Caricature Magazine I am desired in the names of the Proprietors. Publisher Artists &c. as also from myself and large-long, and small headed Bretheren to return you our sincere thanks for the kind reception we have experienced, in this the commencement of our exertions, and at the same time to assure you that neither pains nor expence shall be spared to merit your future patronage, you are requested to be as early as possible in giving your orders for the first number of the second volume, for the present Ladies and Gentlemen we most respectfully take our Leave."

Drawings and Prints

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The Conclusion of the first Volume of the Caricature MagazineThe Conclusion of the first Volume of the Caricature MagazineThe Conclusion of the first Volume of the Caricature MagazineThe Conclusion of the first Volume of the Caricature MagazineThe Conclusion of the first Volume of the Caricature Magazine

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.