William Hogarth (1697 London 1764). Industry and Idleness or

Raise  and  Fall  of  Goodchild  +  Tom  Idle .

Set of 12 sheet. Engravings by Thomas Cook (c. 1744 – London 1818), 2 together with his son. Inscribed: (Pl. I[-XII].) / Hogarth pinx^t. / T. Cook (& Son) sc(ulp^t). / Published by Longman, Hurst, Rees & Orme, March 1^st. 1807 – Aug. 1^st. 1809. Subject 12.4-13.9 x 16.9-18.8 cm.

The master’s famous, most popular suite, showing by example of two apprentices in a weaving mill as one of the main branches of industry in his days the chances of their life as well as the temptations detrimental to their career :

Calculated  for  the  use  &  Instruction  of  youth
w(h)erein  every  thing  necessary  to  be  known  was  to  be  made
as  intelligible  as  possible

(Hogarth in his Autobiographical Notes).

“ The scenes should be as easily intelligible as possible for which the engravings had not to be worked in all fineness. It was rather important to keep costs low so that even apprentices could buy these sheets. Hogarth designed a frame-like border around each picture – supposedly he assumed that the boys would pin up these engravings directly at the wall. In this border below of every scene he had added a characteristic verse from the Bible to the idle and (or) industrious apprentice … at top on the one hand a cat-o-’nine-tails, a pair of fetters, and a halter as emblems of the tragic end of the idle apprentice and on the other hand golden chain, sword and mace as hints to the career of the industrious one ”

(Bachofen-Moser, William Hogarth in the Art Gallery Zurich, 1983, p. 98).

Cook’s smaller version without the device in the lower and the symbols in the lateral margins and here present within the popular edition

The  Works  of  William  Hogarth .

With Descriptions, in which are pointed out many beauties that have hitherto escaped notice, with a Comment of their moral tendency, by the Rev. John Trusler. With

158  copper  plates

(subject size ca. 17-19.5 x 11.5-16.5 cm, upright and oblong) by Thomas Cook (ca. 1744 – London 1818, “made a name for himself as Hogarth engraver, too”, Thieme-Becker), 32 of which together with his son. New, revised and corrected edition. 2 vols. London, J. Goodwin, 1827. 4to. 4 unnumbered ll. title + biography, 151 pp.; title, 158 pp. Dark brown-red long-grained contemp. morocco on 3 ribs with rich gilt back incl. title, gilt linings on boards, standing edges, and inner boards, blindtooled boards, and brown inner boards + fly-leaves Gilt edges.

With engraved coat-of-arms exlibris Anthony Peacock, Esq. / Rauceby, Co. Lincoln., with three peacock heads in light horizontal ribbon plus another peacock head above the helmet holding a flower in its bill, and the motto “Be just and fear not.” – With 24 x 30 cm unusually wide-margined copy with the mostly complete platemargins, trimmed to the platemark on one side at most. – The bindings somewhat timestained and namely at the joints and standing edges rubbed, on the boards light traces of scratches or rubbing. Two leaves of the biography with restored tear of 9 cm caused by the binding. The plates of namely the first volume mostly minimally to a bit foxing though, but even less on the face and ultimately nearly negligible. Only the portrait frontispiece of the 1^st volume more. The printing quality itself marvelous with the already mentioned widemarginess. The text – watermarked Rye Mill 1826 – of generally great freshness.

The comprehensive descriptions of the plates set in fine large typography and in direct neighbourhood of these. Thus both together very comfortably.

The series – with the exception of 5 signed and dated in the plate – was executed from 1806-09 as commented compact edition. The remark on the title to (Samuel) Davenport as co-engraver correct at most in view of the few unsigned plates. One plate with the additional printer’s sign Bishop. This edition had been preceded by the large one in Hogarth’s original size as has never been repeated and was worked by Cook father alone between about 1795 and 1803. His importance as Hogarth-engraver specially stressed by Thieme-Becker. Several works not or not anymore published by Hogarth himself became known through him.

The collection here pretending to be a complete edition – “The Works … containing one hundred and fifty-eight Engravings” – though not with the risk of such daring plates as Before and After or even Charity in the Cellar with its authentic high-ranking philanderers, published only by Baldwin & Cradock in 1837 in the large-sized original edition with the remark “added to our present edition … not to be found in any other of the collected works”. The patron of those plates besides Gustavus, the 2^nd Lord Viscount Boyne, represented with a portrait in this edition. Shortly,

Offer no. 28,358 / EUR  910. / export price EUR  865. (c. US$ 1204.) + shipping

“ I have now fetched the parcel and I am very satisfied. Its a good copy and I think it is telling a lot about Ekeman Alleson … Thank you for good envelope around it and for good service! ”

(Mrs. G. H., March 7, 2005)