"Manchester" Vanity Fair caricature of Sir Thomas Bazley, Bart. c1875.

by Carlo Pellegrini (Ape)

Original lithograph after a watercolour caricature Statesmen. No. CCXII (212). "Manchester" for Vanity Fair August 21 1875.  
The accompanying text stated "The Bazleys have been long a prominent family among those who have promoted and enriched themselves by cotton-spinning. Born at the end of the last century, he took advantage of the flood-tide of trade which rose with his youth, established at Manchester one of its largest manufactories, and soon counted his workpeople by thousands, and his gains more nearly my millions. He was naturally a believer in enlightened selfishness, yet being a man of honest fibre, and therefore with humane sentiments not to be quite extinguished by trade, he tempered his merely commercial dealing with those he employed by a regard for what is called their welfare, to the extent of giving them schools and reading-rooms for the culture of content and virtue in connection with cotton-spinning. ...A staunch liberal in his notions, he has proved a sound partisan in his votes, and the most feeble thing he has in his record is that he has identified himslef with the craze for the prohibition of liquor-drinking by law; for he believes that the law is as able to make men virtuous as literary instruction is able to make them wise, and he looks to the closing of public-houses and the spread of education as very sufficient results of a statesman's work. He is a good, honest, rich man, who has worked well in his day, and who is still popular with all but the publicans of Manchester. It is not without reason, therefore, that he was made a baronet six years ago, or that his retirement friom parliament, even at his age of eight-and -seventy, is still deprecated."

Vanity Fair was a weekly magazine of social comment, published in London from 1868 to 1914. With eight to ten pages each issue, Vanity Fair magazine's popularity was guaranteed by the inclusion of an amusing caricature, parodying newsworthy personages. Lithographs by Vincent Brooks were accompanied by witty text. Over the years of publication it became a mark of honour to be the 'victim' of one of the magazine's caricaturists. The publisher of the magazine, Thomas Gibson Bowles, 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).

The page is the standard size of 355 x 240 (14 x 9.5 inches). In fine condition, with text (previously) separated from page to accompany lithographic caricature. The base has the Indian ink addition of the subject's name which is frequently found for some unknown reason. Both of these would be masked by framing.