From the Old Bailey, Vanity Fair Spy caricature

by Leslie Ward (Spy)

Judge, Sir Hardinge Stanley Giffard, Earl of Hansbury (1823-1921). 

Reproduction print of a Vanity Fair lithograph from the caricature by Leslie Ward (Spy) for Statesmen 575, originally published on November 8, 1890.

In 1868 Thomas Gibson Bowles (1842-1922) founded Vanity Fair magazine with eight to ten pages each issue. Writing most of the regular editorial under various pseudonyms, Bowles's indiscriminate provocative and disarmingly fearless attitude gained a wide audience - and was beneficial to him during his later political career. Vanity Fair became immensely popular from 1869 on, after inclusion each week of one amusing lithographed caricature, parodying any newsworthy personage. While it became a point of pride with some to be the victim of one of the magazine's caricaturists, the caricatures were often responsible for the reputation of these hapless individuals. The most important artists were Carlo Pellegrini and Leslie Ward.

Approximate sizes: Page, 330 x 225mm (12 7/8 x 8 7/8 inches). Image, 235 x 140mm (9 1/4 x 5 1/2 inches).