Grosvenor Prints

Images which have graced the front cover of literary works published by Penguin and Oxford University Press:  OUP used Quentin Matsys' The Misers for the cover of Five Plays by Ben Jonson . The original is lost but there are many surviving copies, including one in the Royal Collection which was the basis for our print: The Misers. From the celebrated Picture by Quintin Matsys in His Majesty's Collection Windsor Castle. Les Avares. D Apres le celibre tableau par Quintin Matsys de la galerie de sa Majeste au Chatea de Windsor. Dean & Munday Litographer's Threadneedle St. [A. Friedel.] [n.d. c.1830.] Lithograph on india, rare with large margins. 406 x 272mm. 16 x 10¾". Slight foxing bottom right Misers sat at a table logging in a book their worth. Three bulging bags of coins, tied into one, sit on the table in front, with coins spread out to the right; a bird on a perch sits behind on the wall below the shelf. After the 'Blacksmith of...

The idea of pictures being composed in series has been employed by many artists and printmakers, either to illustrate existing narratives or to create new ones. One of the best-known artists to employ this device was Hogarth, whose 'modern moral subjects' such as the Harlot's Progress , Industry and Idleness and Four Stages of Cruelty track the progress (always an ambiguous word in Hogarth's usage) of characters through multiple stages. But while Hogarth was an innovator in many ways, his series also formed part of a well-established tradition of representing narratives in sequence. Many artists and printmakers were involved in elaborate projects to illustrate literary works , as Hogarth himself had been. Sometimes these were small sets, such as these atmospheric illustrations to Tasso's Jerusalem Delivered (to see more images from each series click on the links): Six scenes from 'Jerusalem Delivered' [Various engravers, including Edward Rooker an...

To coincide with the Pre-Raphaelites exhibition (Tate Britain), a short listing of related prints: A portrait of one of the movement's leading lights, John Everett Millais:   [Sir John Everett Millais]. J.E. Millais RA. Waltner RE [scratched letters etched in plate]. 'Waltner' [pencil signature below image to right]. Entered according to Act of Congress in the year 1881 by Knoedler & Co in the Office of the Librarian of Congress at Washington. Published London January 1st. 1881 by The British & Foreign Artists' Association. Etching, signed artist's proof limited to 200 copies. 230 x 320mm. Light foxing and creasing, in margin only. [Ref: 4245]   £280.00   'In 1839 John Everett Millais was a student at the Royal Academy Schools, then located in the same building as the National Gallery, which was designed by William Wilkins and opened in 1838'. This print shows Tra...

In relation to the exhibition 'Shakespeare: staging the world' currently on at the British Museum , we've put together the a brief list of prints from our stock relating to the themes explored in this exhibition:   Shakespeare from the First Folio Edition. J. Swaine sc. [n.d. c.1824.] Etching and engraving. 178 x 114mm. 7 x 4½".  [Ref: 24552]   £50.00   (£60.00 incl.VAT)   A 19th century copy of the first folio portrait, of which the exhibition catalogue states: 'The famous engraved 'portrait' by Martin Droeshout is one of only two verified likenesses of Shakespeare (the other is his tomb monument). Neither is a life portrait: [Ben] Jonson called the engraving a good likeness but exhorted the reader to "look/ Not on his picture, but his book".' To get an idea of what visiting London in Shakespeare's time was ...