'Anecdotes' Vanity Fair caricature of Mr. Abraham Hayward Q.C. c1875

by Carlo Pellegrini (Ape)

Original antique print, lithograph after a watercolour caricature by 'Ape'  for Men of the Day, No. CXVII (118), entitled Anecdotes for Vanity Fair c1875.

The accompanying text stated "... This son, Abraham by name, was not long in ascertaining that Providence and his father had afforded him all that is requisite to success in any department of life. More as a preliminary exercise than with the fixed idea of adhering to it, he worked awhile at the law, went the Western Circuit, obtained some briefs and had some successes, and at three-and-forty found himself a Queen's Counsel. But in the meantime he had essayed Literature and Society, and in both had made such progress that he was induced to leave special pleading for private clients in order to take it up for a Political Party, and to abandon Courts and cases for dining-rooms and anecdotes. In this he has met with the most remarkable success. ...Mr. Hayward is now, at the age of two-and-seventy, recognised as one of the most clever of all our clever men. Satiric by nature, with a fine and delicate sense of sarcasm..."

Vanity Fair was a weekly magazine of social comment, published in London from 1868 to 1914. With each issue only eight to ten pages, Vanity Fair magazine's popularity was guaranteed by the inclusion of an amusing caricature, parodying a newsworthy person. Lithographs by Vincent Brooks were accompanied by witty text by publisher, Thomas Gibson Bowles, who considered the images to be “grim faces made more grim, grotesque figures made more grotesque, and dull people made duller by the genius of our talented collaborator ‘Ape’ (Carlo Pellegrini, 1839-1889). The other major caricaturist was ‘Spy’ (Leslie Ward, 1851-1922).

Page 355 x 240 (14 x 9.5 inches) has been cropped across top printing to fit publication. The base has the Indian ink addition of the subject's name. Soiling in right margin.