Explanation of the arms of Napoleon Bonaparte ... [graphic].

[London] : Published by R. Ackermann at his Repository of Arts, 101 Strand, London, [approximately April 1814]

[London] : Harrison & Leigh, Printers, 373 Strand.

1 print : etching with aquatint ; sheet 34.6 x 26 cm

wove paper

From a collection in fourteen volumes compiled by Francis Harvey and dispersed at auction, Sotheby, London, June 1900. Sold at Sotheby, London, 12 March 1919. Bequest of Hugh Dudley Auchincloss to Yale University Library, 1981. Bound by Riviere & Son in three-quarters red morocco with gold tooling and gold lettering on spine.

"An altered version (like British Museum Satires No. 12205) of British Museum Satires No. 11057, from the original plate. ... The shield, sinister supporter, crest and motto are the same, but the dexter supporter is altered, apparently by Rowlandson, from 'The French Devil' (Talleyrand, now a supporter of Louis XVIII) to Death, a skeleton holding up an hour-glass. This has necessitated the re-drawing of the Gallic cock at his feet, but it pecks at a crucifix as before. The (printed) text is as before (allusions to Jaffa, d'Enghien, &c.) except for the addition to the title and the descriptions of the supporters: '. . . The Gallic Cock, vainly pecking the crucifix, is symbolic of the Corsican's impiety.' The description of 'The Corsican Devil' is altered to 'Satan, wearing an Iron Crown,... cutting down the Cap of Liberty, and accompanied by the Serpent and Hyaena, the attributes of the Corsican Emperor's wily and sanguinary reign'. The inscriptions (now obsolete) hanging from the mouth of the hyena are altered to: 'Cambaceres', 'Davoust', 'Augereau', 'Sebastiani', 'Vandamme', 'Savory'."--British Museum online catalogue.

English

September 23, 2016

Catalogue of prints and drawings in the British Museum, v. 9, no. 12235