"My friend here Mr. Burke is going to trounce you all with a vengeance."

March 31, 2015 12:56 PM

The Georgian Celebrity Map (or, A Peek at the Stars of James Gillray’s Caricatures)

You can select by relationship.

"Want to know who was who in Gillray’s world of Georgian celebrity? - The subjects of his satires often came from a small group of the (mostly) rich and famous. As a rule, everybody in this group knew everybody else: they were linked by a complex web of family ties, marriages, love affairs, alliances, favours, hostilities, and rivalries. These became the subject of gossip, newspaper stories – and caricatures."

One example:

"Edmund Burke (1730-1797)
The story goes that Charles James Fox and Edmund Burke (1730-1797) walked into Mrs. Humphrey's print shop on St James Street where a severe satire on Burke was displayed in the window. 'My friend here, Mr. Burke,' said Fox, 'is going to trounce you all with a vengeance.' 'No, no, my good lady,' protested Burke, 'I intend to do no such thing. Were I to prosecute you, it would be the making of your fortune.' Burke's path to becoming a recognisable figure in caricature by the age of 41 might be described in similar terms."

posted by joseph conrad is fully awesome (10 comments total)

Oh god, these look excellent. I was actually just wondering, having read a few plays from this period, whether there was any contemporarily-constructed index of local celebrities. Little did I know, joseph conrad is fully awesome was peeking into my brain and constructing this post. Thanks a ton.
posted by BlackLeotardFront at 1:21 PM on March 31, 2015

As a Gillray fan, this is right up my street: I only wish it were more extensive. Many thanks for the post.
posted by misteraitch at 1:53 PM on March 31, 2015

BRB, binge watching Blackadder III.
posted by TheWhiteSkull at 2:00 PM on March 31, 2015

"I'm also going to sell a set of satirical etchings, Mr. Blackadder."

"Baldrick, your etchings consist of one portrait of a funny-looking horse you saw in Fulham last week, and two of James the Sleepy Hedgehog, Who Had A Very Big Snout. All three are carved into turnips. A blithering idiot wouldn't buy your etchings."

"I say Bladders, I must find whoever made this simply marvelous etching of a willy!"
posted by TheWhiteSkull at 2:10 PM on March 31, 2015

demanding mefite voice

And now I want one that does the same for the Regency!


Loved this most excellent. Best of Web.
posted by infini at 2:21 PM on March 31, 2015

Big Gillray fan here. This is really just a small sampling of the cast.
Galleries 1779 - 1793
posted by adamvasco at 2:21 PM on March 31, 2015

Didn't Sam Johnson have enough connections to get a place on a connections map? He was at least friends with Burke and enemy of Wilkes.
posted by jfuller at 6:05 PM on March 31, 2015

Or didn't Gillray ever draw Johnson? If that's the only problem, talk to me. I do a wicked fake Rowlandson, I'm sure I could work up an ersatz Gillray Johnson that would pass muster.
posted by jfuller at 6:09 PM on March 31, 2015

I was looking at Gillray's Democracy; or - a Sketch of the Life of Buonaparte the other day, and wondering when the word democracy stopped being mockable.

And of course we can't forget John Bull bombarding the Bum-boats.
posted by TheophileEscargot at 9:36 PM on March 31, 2015

jfuller—There are at least a couple of caricatures of Gillray’s which depict Johnson, but, given that the start of Gillray’s career only overlapped with the end of Johnson’s by a few years, I’d imagine there wouldn’t be that many more of them.
posted by misteraitch at 1:17 AM on April 1, 2015 [1 favorite]