Plan your visit. 225 Madison Avenue at 36th Street, New York, NY 10016.

Plan your visit. 225 Madison Avenue at 36th Street, New York, NY 10016.

The liberty of the subject

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James Gillray
1756-1815

The liberty of the subject

[London] : Publish'd Octr. 15th. 1779 by W. Humphrey ..., [1779]
etching
image: 233 x 345 mm; plate mark: 249 x 355 mm; sheet: 250 x 357 mm
Peel 2302
Notes
Attributed to Gillray by Grego.
Library's copy trimmed within plate mark.
Provenance

Formerly owned by Sir Robert Peel.

Summary

Print shows a press-gang at work in a London street, at the end of which appears the dome of St. Paul's. A sailor strides towards the spectator, a club in his right. hand, dragging along a lean tailor, who holds up his hands in dismay. An infuriated woman (left) has seized the sailor by his hair and the right. ear while she pummels him with her knee. Another sailor behind has seized her wrist and raises a club to strike her. A third sailor (right) holds the tailor by the left. arm. A naval officer walks beside the party with a drawn cutlass. Behind are other sailors. A woman at left, wearing stays or jumps', raises a mop in both hands to smite a sailor as an infant clutches her petticoats. A group of spectators at left includes a woman carrying a baby. A dog barks at the fray.

Associated names
Humphrey, William, approximately 1740-approximately 1810, publisher.
Peel, Robert, 1788-1850, former owner.
Classification
Department