William Hogarth, FRSA, British 1697-1764- Hudibras Catechized; etching and engraving, inscribed...

William Hogarth, FRSA,
British 1697-1764-

Hudibras Catechized;

etching and engraving, inscribed 'W Hogarth Inv et Sculp-t' (within the plate, lower left), 28 x 36.9 cm; together with: 9 engravings of monarchs from Barnard's New Complete and Authentic History of England,1781-83, and the frontispiece to "The Farmer's Return", after Hogarth, etched by James Basire, eleven (11).

Provenance:
Private Collection, UK.

Note:
The present work is Plate 9 from Hogarth's 12 Illustrations for Samuel Butler's Hudibras. Published in three parts in 1663, 1664 and 1678, Hudibras is a satirical poem that tells the story of a knight and colonel in the Parliamentary army being regularly defeated by the skills and courage of women. The poem ends with a witty and detailed declaration that women are superior to men. The 12 plates in the Hudibras series display the early work of Hogarth; they were made before he began publishing on his own. Each plate is accompanied by verses from Butler's poem, and their format foreshadows the “moral progresses” for which Hogarth came to be known. Plate 9, as shown here, illustrates the moment Hudibras is surprised by a group of masked attackers whilst visiting the woman he is wooing. Believing them to be spirits sent by the astrologer Sidrophel, Hudibras confesses his sins and, by extension, the sins of the Puritans as a whole.