Caricaturist, born in London, UK. A letter engraver by training, from c.1779 he turned to caricature. He issued about 1500 caricatures of political and social subjects, notably of Napoleon, George III, and leading politicians.
Early life
His father, a native of Lanark, had served as a soldier, losing an arm at Fontenoy, and was admitted, first as an inmate, and afterwards as an outdoor pensioner, at Chelsea hospital. Gillray commenced life by learning letter-engraving, at which he soon became an adept.
Adult life
The name of Gillray's publisher and printseller, Miss Hannah Humphrey--whose shop was first at 227 Strand, then in New Bond Street, then in Old Bond Street, and finally in St James's Street--is inextricably associated with that of the caricaturist himself. Gillray lived with Miss (often called Mrs) Humphrey during the entire period of his fame. It is believed that he several times thought of marrying her, and that on one occasion the pair were on their way to the church, when Gillray said: "This is a foolish affair, methinks, Miss Humphrey. Gillray's plates were exposed in Humphrey's shop window, where eager crowds examined them. One of his later prints, "Very Slippy Weather" shows Miss Humphrey's shop in St. James's Street in the background. In the shop window a number of Gillray's previously published prints, such as "Tiddy-Doll the Great French Gingerbread Maker, Drawing Out a New Batch of Kings;
Gillray and the Art of Caricature
A number of his most trenchant satires are directed against George III, who, after examining some of Gillray's sketches, said, with characteristic ignorance and blindness to merit, "I don't understand these caricatures." Gillray revenged himself for this utterance by his splendid caricature entitled, "A Connoisseur Examining a Cooper," which he is doing by means of a candle on a "save-all";
The excesses of the French Revolution made Gillray conservative; and he issued caricature after caricature ridiculing the French and Napoleon (usually using Jacobin) , and glorifying John Bull, He is not, however, to be thought of as a keen political adherent of either the Whig or the Tory party; Gillray died on the 1st of June 1815, and was buried in St James's churchyard, Piccadilly.
The times in which Gillray lived were peculiarly favourable to the growth of a great school of caricature. Gillray's incomparable wit and humour, knowledge of life, fertility of resource, keen sense of the ludicrous, and beauty of execution, at once gave him the first place among caricaturists. The historical value of Gillray's work has been recognized by many discerning students of history. As has been well remarked: "Lord Stanhope has turned Gillray to account as a veracious reporter of speeches, as well as a suggestive illustrator of events." "The Opposition," he writes to Gillray, "are as low as we can wish them. Gillray's extraordinary industry may be inferred from the fact that nearly 1000 caricatures have been attributed to him; The great tact Gillray displays in hitting on the ludicrous side of any subject is only equalled by the exquisite finish of his sketches--the finest of which reach an epic grandeur and Miltonic sublimity of conception.
Gillray's caricatures are generally divided into two classes, the political series and the social, though it is important not to attribute to the term "series" any concept of continuity or completeness. In the political prints, George III, George's wife Queen Charlotte, the Prince of Wales (later Prince Regent, then King George IV), Fox, Pitt the Younger, Burke and Napoleon Bonaparte are the most prominent figures. In 1788 appeared two fine caricatures by Gillray.
Among Gillray's best satires on George III are: "Farmer George and his Wife," two companion plates, in one of which the king is toasting muffins for breakfast, and in the other the queen is frying sprats; Among his other political caricatures may be mentioned: "Britannia between Scylla and Charybdis," a picture in which Pitt, so often Gillray's butt, figures in a favourable light;
As well as being blatant in his observations, Gillray could be incredibly subtle, and puncture vanity with a remarkably deft approach. The outstanding example of this is his print "Fashionable Contrasts - or - the Duchess's little shoe yeilding to the magnitude of the Duke's foot". This print silenced forever the sycophancy of the press regarding the union of the Duke and Duchess (though unfortunately such press toadying was to be revived in the late 20th century with the marriage of the Charles, Prince of Wales to Lady Diana, soon to become Diana, Princess of Wales).
The miscellaneous series of caricatures, although they have scarcely the historical importance of the political series, are more readily intelligible, and are even more amusing.
Famous Editions of Gillray's Works
A selection of Gillray's works appeared in parts in 1818; A somewhat bitter attack, not only on Gillray's character, but even on his genius, appeared in the Athenaeum for October 1, 1831, which was successfully refuted by John Landseer in the Athenaeum a fortnight later.
In 1851 Henry George Bohn put out an edition, from the original plates in a handsome elephant folio, the coarser sketches -- commonly known as the "Suppressed Plates" -- being published in a separate volume. Unfortunately, many copies of the Bohn Edition are broken up into individual sheets and passed off as originals to unsuspecting buyers (see "Collecting Gillray's Work" below). Although the two volumes of the Bohn Edition are often represented as being a complete collection of Gillray's works, this is not the case: for example, "Doublures of character - or - Strikeing resemblances in phisiognomy" is not included in either volume.
The next edition, entitled The Works of James Gillray, the Caricaturist: with the Story of his Life and Times (Chatto & Windus, 1874), was the work of Thomas Wright, and, by its popular exposition and narrative, introduced Gillray to a very large circle formerly ignorant of him. This edition, which is complete in one volume, contains two portraits of Gillray, and upwards of 400 illustrations. Mr JJ Cartwright, in a letter to the Academy (Feb. 28, 1874), drew attention to the existence of a manuscript volume, in the British Museum, containing letters to and from Gillray, and other illustrative documents.
Collecting Gillray's Work
In recent years Gillray's work has become very collectable. Prices had been climbing steadily since the 1970s, but the auction of the Draper Hill Collection at Phillips auctioneers in London in 2001 pushed prices to new highs: several key prints, including "Fashionable Contrasts," fetching more than USD10,000. Three auctions of Caricatures at Bonham's in London, each of which included large selections of Gillray prints, continued this trend. Escalating prices have also meant that good examples of major works by Gillray can be very hard to come by at any price.
This dramatic increase in prices has also led to unscrupulous sellers attempting to pass off prints from the Bohn Edition as originals, and it can be difficult for those unfamiliar with these practices to tell the difference between a restrike (commonly called "a Bohn") and an original. The key indicators of a print coming from the Bohn Edition are (i) the presence of a number in the top, right-hand corner of the print (the number is most commonly in the image itself, but may be outside in the margin); and (iii) the fact that the strikes for the main published volumes of the Bohn Edition were printed on both sides of the paper (the Bohn Edition of the so-called "Suppressed Plates" was, like the originals, printed on one side of the paper only). However, the fact that a print is single-sided does not mean that it is not a Bohn restrike: there are in existence many Bohns (for example, "Light Expelling Darkness") that bear a number, but which are printed on one side of the paper only. These single-sided numbered strikes are almost always printed on much higher quality paper than was used for the bound volumes, and the quality of the printing is usually much superior too, with more care having been taken to ensure a crisp impression. These impressions are believed to have been struck by Henry Bohn with a view to colouring them, and then selling them as high-quality single prints, in much the same way as the prints published in Gillray's lifetime. Since prices for Bohns are usually between one-tenth and one-twentieth of those for originals, unscrupulous sellers will go to great lengths to disguise the fact that a print is a Bohn. (v) laying the print to paper or framing it such that it is difficult to determine whether there is printing on the reverse; In summary, caveat emptor
Later Life and Death
Gillray's eyesight began to fail in 1806. Unable to work to his previous high standards, James Gillray became depressed and started drinking heavily. As a result of his heavy drinking Gillray suffered from gout throughout his later life.
In July 1811 Gillray attempted to kill himself by throwing himself out of an attic window above Humphrey's shop in St James's Street. Gillray lapsed into insanity and was looked after by Hannah Humphrey until his death on 1st June, 1815.
James Gillray is buried in the courtyard of St James's Church, in Piccadilly, London.
Influence of Gillray's Work
Gillray is still revered as one of the most influential political caricaturists of all time, and among the leading cartoonists on the political stage in the United Kingdom today, both Steve Bell and Martin Rowson acknowledge him as probably the most influentual of all their predecessors in that particular arena.
There is a good account of Gillray in Wright's History of Caricature and Grotesque in Literature and Art (1865).
This article incorporates text from the Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition, a publication now in the public domain.
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