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Cries of London
London: R. Ackermann, 1799. Item #06359
A Window into London Street Life in 1799
ROWLANDSON, Thomas. Cries of London. London: R. Ackermann's 101 Strand, Pub: Jan: 1st, 1799.
First edition early impressions. Square folio 14 1/4 x 11 3/8 inches; 358 x 289 mm.). Eight superb contemporaneously hand-colored, untrimmed etched aquatint plates by Henri Merke after Thomas Rowlandson.
For individual condition reports see list of plates below.
Twentieth century gray boards, small rectangular paper label on front cover "Cries/of/London". A wonderful example of this great Rowlandson rarity.
Issued individually between January and May 1799 from Ackermann’s Strand shop; offered colored or plain. Complete colored sets on full sheets are distinctly scarcer than trimmed or mixed examples.
Fine early impressions with bright, fresh hand-coloring and original margins preserved. The large, uniform sheet size indicates untrimmed examples, a notable advantage over the more commonly encountered cut-down or later-bound sets.
Rowlandson’s Cries of London is a benchmark of late-Georgian street life: animated figures, comic observation, and humane detail replace the emblematic stiffness of earlier “Cries” traditions. Ackermann’s serial publication model—dated plates, consistent shop coloring, and quality paper—marks a decisive moment in London’s modern print trade.
The Russell 1798 watermark aligns perfectly with the earliest 1799 issue and is a desirable cataloging point, reinforcing the integrity of the set as printed on period paper.
Rowlandson’s Cries of London is a benchmark of late-Georgian street life: animated figures, comic observation, and humane detail replace the emblematic stiffness of earlier “Cries” traditions. Ackermann’s serial publication model - dated plates, consistent shop coloring, and quality paper - marks a decisive moment in London’s modern print trade.
The Russell 1798 watermark aligns perfectly with the earliest 1799 issue and is a desirable cataloging point, reinforcing the integrity of the set as printed on period paper.
The plates (with issue dates):
1. Buy a Trap, a Rat-Trap, buy my Trap. — Jan. 1, 1799 Watermaked Russell 1798. (Professionally strengthened at top blank margin (2 x 3/8 inch) three tiny worm-holes in lower right-hand corner aquatint margin)
2. Buy my Goose, my fat Goose. — Jan. 1, 1799 (Professionally strengthened at top & lower blank margins (2 x 3/8 inch)
3. Last dying speech & Confession — Feb. 20, 1799 (Professionally strengthened at top & lower blank margins (2 x 3/8 inch)
4. Do you want any brick-dust. — Feb. 20, 1799 (Expertly repaired 1 1/2 inch tear to right-hand margin (not affecting image, small expert strengthening to blank margins.
5. Water Cresses, come buy my Water Cresses. — Mar. 1, 1799. (Professionally strengthened at top & lower blank margins (2 x 3/8 inch); three tiny worm-holes in lower right-hand corner and one in lower inner-corner of aquatint margin.
6. All a growing, a growing, here’s Flowers for your Gardens. — Mar. 1, 1799 (Professionally strengthened at top & lower blank margins (2 x 3/8 inch)
7. Old Cloth[e]s any Old Cloth[e]s — May 4, 1799 (Professionally strengthened at top & lower blank margins (2 x 3/8 inch) one tiny worm-hole in top of aquatint margin.
8. Hot cross Bunns two a penny Bunns — Mar. 4, 1799 (Professionally strengthened at top & lower blank margins (2 x 3/8 inch).
Henri Merke was a Swiss-born engraver and aquatint printer, active primarily in London in the late 1790s, and best known today for his close professional association with Rudolph Ackermann and for translating the designs of Thomas Rowlandson into some of the most accomplished popular prints of the period. Merke was not a “name” publisher or designer; his importance lies in execution. He was one of the highly skilled continental craftsmen - many Swiss or German - who underpinned London’s booming late-18th-century print trade. For Cries of London (1799), Merke acted as: Engraver (translating Rowlandson’s drawings to copper) and Printer (pulling the impressions before coloring).
This matters bibliographically. While Rowlandson supplied the genius and Ackermann the commercial vision, Merke ensured that the plates were technically strong enough to support bright, durable hand-coloring on good paper (e.g. Russell 1798).
Rare: Four copies only - located at Princeton, Yale, Harvard and Indiana (Gordon).
Only three examples have appeared at auction over the past one hundred years:
Bloomsbury, Nov. 7th, 2013 £6,840 (no watermarks); the Gordon copy (Sotheby's London, Nov. 1993) and a third at Sotheby's March 1919.
Gordon 1, BC-23; Tooley, 409; Not in Abbey or Prideaux.
Price: $15,000.00