Accession number
PML 9313.21
Published
[London? : s.n., 1726]
Credit line
Purchased in the Toovey collection, 1899.
Notes
Caption title at head of sheet continues: Being a Representation of ye Frauds by which ye Godliman Woman, carried on her pretended Rabbit Breeding; also of ye Simplicity of our Doctors, by which they assisted to carry on that Imposture discover'd their own skill, & contributed to ye Mirth, of His Majesties Liege Subjects.'; six lines of verse describing each scene; below the final scene: Rogues cant for beating Hemp.
Caption title.
Library's copy folded and inserted into a bound volume (PML 9313) of collected materials pertaining to the notorious case of "rabbit woman" Mary Toft of Godalming; the contents dated 1726-ca. 1819, and including: 11 printed tracts and specimens of satirical verse and prose, 7 prints, 1 pen and ink portrait of Mary Toft by G.P. Harding, and an original manuscript transcription of the "Predictions of William Whiston". All individual items forming the volume have been cataloged separately.
Library's copy trimmed within plate mark.
Caption title.
Library's copy folded and inserted into a bound volume (PML 9313) of collected materials pertaining to the notorious case of "rabbit woman" Mary Toft of Godalming; the contents dated 1726-ca. 1819, and including: 11 printed tracts and specimens of satirical verse and prose, 7 prints, 1 pen and ink portrait of Mary Toft by G.P. Harding, and an original manuscript transcription of the "Predictions of William Whiston". All individual items forming the volume have been cataloged separately.
Library's copy trimmed within plate mark.
Description
1 print : etching ; 349 x 257 mm
Provenance
From the libraries of George Nassau (sale 16 Feb. 1824); and Thomas Jolley (sale 15 June 1852).
Summary
Print in twelve panels relating to the affair of Mary Toft, "the rabbit breeder": from top left, she is held aloft by two men and a Harlequin or Merry Andrew, she has a rabbit in either hand; she pursues a rabbit while working in a field; she dreams of being impregnated by rabbit, Cupid is shown on a cloud beside her bed holding a rabbit in either hand; she is seated in a chair attended by two women while the two men and Harlequin discuss the monstrous birth; Harlequin demonstrates that he can express milk from her breast; Harlequin feels "the rabbets leapin in her belly" while two men look on; she sits on the edge of a bed and Harlequin kneels to seize a rabbit that emerges from her skirts while a doctor raises his hands in surprise, wishing to anatomize the animal; Harlequin stands behind a table holding a balance in which he weighs dung removed from the rabbit explaining to two men that this will allow him to judge whether the animal had "breath'd in air"; doctors and midwives discuss the phenomenon around a table and Harlequin enters claiming that the birth must be "praeternatural"; a crowd of gentlemen are welcomed to the bagnio in Leicester Square where Toft is housed; two men spy from the door to Toft's room as another hands her a dead rabbit; Toft, weeping, is led away to Bridewell by two constables while Harlequin "sits upon Repenting stool,/Cursing his fate in being made a Fool."
Classification
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