The eight scenes tell the story of Tom Rakewell, a young man who follows a path of vice and self-destruction after inheriting a fortune from his miserly father. It was Hogarth's second 'modern moral subject', and followed the hugely successful A Harlot's Progress (1730).In an advertisement ...

Dimensions (W x H): 64 x 49 / 25 x 19½

A handsome pair of prints, showing before and after scenes of a seduction.‘ ... Said to have been commissioned by "a certain vicious nobleman", the pictures contain an element of moralising in that the man in After looks somewhat dazed and unhappy despite his lustful conquest. Hogarth listened to ...

Dimensions (W x H): 33 x 43 / 13 x 17

Hogarth’s 12 prints illustrating Samuel Butler’s poem Hudibras, were among his favourite works. Although a little more obscure than some of his works, they represent an important stage in his development; Butler’s comic narrative was the perfect subject for Hogarth to develop his gift for social ...

Dimensions (W x H): 36 x 54 / 14 x 21½

'I now offer to the public a short essay, accompanied with two explanatory prints, in which I shall endeavour to shew what the principles are in nature, by which we are directed to call the forms of some bodies beautiful, others ugly'.This is the opening sentence on William Hogarth's essay on ...

Dimensions (W x H): 50 x 38 / 19½ x 15

'I now offer to the public a short essay, accompanied with two explanatory prints, in which I shall endeavour to shew what the principles are in nature, by which we are directed to call the forms of some bodies beautiful, others ugly'.This is the opening sentence on William Hogarth's essay on ...

Dimensions (W x H): 64 x 49 / 25 x 19½

This magnificent print shows the famous actor, David Garrick acting Richard the Third, the role that made him famous. He is pictured here in the famous tent scene before the Battle of Bosworth, haunted by the ghosts of all those he had murdered. His body is sprawled out along a serpentine curve, a ...

Dimensions (W x H): 53 x 40 / 21 x 15½

Thomas Bambridge was a warder at the Fleet prison who was tried for cruelty to prisoners. In this print, a pitiable prisoner kneels in front of a committee of bewigged gentlemen. Bambridge is to the left of the print. Hogarth’s father was imprisoned in the Fleet prison for debt, which made him ...

Dimensions (W x H): 56 x 42 / 22 x 16½

This print shows a pregnant woman pleading with a seated judge for the ‘rich old lecher’ at the centre of the print to provide security for her child. Twelve lines of text below the print explain the scene. The print was not published in Hogarth’s lifetime.

Dimensions (W x H): 36.5 x 30.5 / 14½ x 12

This print shows a despairing writer at his desk in his flat writing for ‘Grub Street’. The print is possibly about Hogarth’s father, who became a hackwriter before being imprisoned for debt. Below the print are four lines from Pope’s Dunciad.

Dimensions (W x H): 41 x 36 / 16 x 14

This magnificent print shows a chaotic street scene with the bleary-eyed King’s Guards being rounded up after nights of debauchery, in September 1745. They are about to defend Londond from Bonnie Prince Charlie.

Dimensions (W x H): 54 x 41 / 21½ x 16

This famous print shows Henry the VIII talking at court to Anne Boleyn, with a slightly despairing Cardinal Wolsey at right of picture. It is thought that the print was Hogarth’s comment on the relationship of the Prince of Wales with Harriet Vane. The painting on which this print is based was ...

Dimensions (W x H): 33 x 48 / 13 x 19

Thomas Bambridge was a warder at the Fleet prison who was tried for cruelty to prisoners. In this print, a pitiable prisoner kneels in front of a committee of bewigged gentlemen. Bambridge is to the left of the print. Hogarth’s father was imprisoned in the Fleet prison for debt, which made him ...

Dimensions (W x H): 64 x 49 / 25 x 19½

This magnificent print shows a troop of actresses preparing for their last performance. The print was Hogarth’s comment on the closing down of all theatres in 1737.

Dimensions (W x H): 53.5 x 40.5 / 21 x 16