Publisher's Synopsis
This work marks the rediscovery, in the bicentenary of his death in 1798, of a master of the burlesque, the caricaturist Richard Newton. From the age of 14 until his early death at 21, this young Londoner etched a stream of hilarious satires of royalty, politicians, greedy churchmen, actresses and courtesans. Some of the funniest caricatures ever made on the battle of the sexes are those by Newton.;At the same time his large "Progresses", often poignant as well as amusing, played an important part in the development of the narrative print, prefiguring today's comic strip; the goggle eyes seen in many of his images might come from a Disney cartoon.;Most of his prints were published by William Holland, a man of literary tastes who wrote the clever dialogues on many of the prints; some of Newton's most fascinating prints are those of Holland and fellow prisoners in Newgate where Holland was imprisoned for his radical activities in 1793-94.;The book contains a checklist of 300 single sheet prints by Newton; 60 are illustrated in colour, together with four of his watercolours.
