Thomas Rowlandson

Doctor Syntax and Bookseller

8 x 5 inches

Aquatint engraving with original hand colour; drawn and etched by Rowlandson and published in London in 1812.

Thomas Rowlandson (1756-1827) was the master of satire during the reign of George III and excelled at etching, engraving, drawing and painting. He was equally accomplished at producing a serious portrait as he was at erotic caricature. There was a huge appetite for his prints and one of the most accessible ways to see and collect his work was through the illustrations he completed for the Tours of Dr. Syntax. The Reverend Doctor Syntax was a fictitious character who travelled the length and breadth of England getting himself into all sorts of scrapes and encountering all manner of people along the way.