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The Mystery of Masonry brought to light by ye Gormagons. Printed for Rob. Sayer Map & Print Seller at No. 53 in Fleet Street |
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This is an early rare original work of the short lived sect The Gormagons by the great English caricaturist William Hogarth. It is the third of three editions of the original print published in 1750 by Robert Sayer of London, the first edition was published in December 1724.
We know there are three editions editions of this original print which can be identified in edition by the following characteristics:
The first edition does not carry the artist’s name.
The second edition has engraved at the foot of the print Hogarth Inv : et Sculp., and the third edition contains London, Printed for Robt. Sayer, Map & Print Seller at No. 53 in Fleet Street again at the foot of the print.
This is a caricature of the the Gormagons, a short lived 18th century society of whom little is known. They left no records or accomplishments to indicate its true goal and purpose, and from the few published advertisements and notices, it would appear that its sole objective was to hold up Freemasonry to ridicule.
In this print Hogarth has copied several figures from the Don Quixote series by Charles Antoine Coypel (1694-1752), the figure with his head through a ladder may possibly be James Anderson; the figure in armour, Philip, Duke of Wharton; and the figure on the ass is perhaps John Desaguliers.
The Gormogons
Letters appeared in the paper the Plain Dealer for Monday, September 14, 1724 (No. 51) attacking Freemasonry and referring to the Gormogons; and then in the British Journal for December 12, 1724: "We hear that a Peer of the first Rank, a noted Member of the Society of Free-Masons, hath suffered himself to be degraded as a member of that Society, and his Leather Apron and Gloves to be burnt, and thereupon enter'd himself as a Member of the Society of Gormogons, at the Castle-Tavern in Fleet Street." This is presumed to be a reference to Philip, Duke of Wharton.
Little is heard again of the Gormogons until the editions of the Daily Journal for October 26 and 28, 1728: "By command of the Vol-Gi. A General Chapter of the Most August and Ancient Order, GOR-MO-GON, will be held at the Castle Tavern in Fleet Street, on Saturday, the 31st Inst., to commence at 12 o'clock ; of which the several Graduates and Licentiates are to take Notice, and give their Attendance." The same year a letter by Wharton appeared in Mr. Mist’s Journal lampooning the British royal court in a similar Persian style as the Gormogon literature of 1724.
Nichols and Stevens, editors of Hogarth’s Works(1810) claim that the order was frequently advertised between October 1728 and 1730 but no records remain extant. The Weekly Journal or British Gazetteer for April 18, 1730 stated that John Dennis, poet, political writer and critic, had renounced the Gormogons and joined the Freemasons.
Wharton died on May 31, 1731, and the Gormogons were not heard from again. There is no evidence of any other members other than Wharton and Dennis. Dennis was a Whig so his alleged membership was probably a hoax. Unlike the Scald- Miserables4 ., and contrary to Hogarth’s print, the Gorgomons never actually held public processions. The fullest account of the Gormogons is given in the letters of Verus Commodus, published in an appendix to the second edition of The Grand Mystery of the Freemasons Discover'd, (28 October, 1724).
There is some evidence that the Gormogons, in some fashion, lingered on: When exactly the Gormogons died out is not known, but two considerations seem to render untenable Gould's theory that "the Order is said to have become extinct in 1738." In the first place the existence of a Lancashire Gormogon in the person of John Collier, better known as Tim Bobbin (1708-86) was revealed by the chance stumbling upon a poem of his, The Goose, by one of the present authors. The first appearance of the poem known to the authors is in Tim Bobbin's Collected Poems of 1757 and in any case very little of his verse is ascribed to a period before the last forty years of his life. The Goose has a dedication :-
"As I have the honor to be a member of the ancient and venerable order of the Gormogons, I am obliged by the laws of the great Chin-Quaiw-Ki-Po, emperor of China, to read, yearly, some part of the ancient records of that country.
The poem describes, in part, the spinning of a coin to settle a dispute about the payment for a goose :
"No sooner said than done-both parties willing
The Justice twirls aloft a splendid shilling ;
"While she, (ah nature, nature,) calls for tail,
And pity 'tis, poor soul, that she should fail
But chance decrees-up turns great Chin-Quaw-Ki-Po,
Whose very name my belly sore doth gripe-oh ! "
Secondly, Gould's theory is further stultified by the existence of some very rare but undoubtedly Gormogon medals which bear every evidence of having been minted as late as 1799. (Ref: Sean Shesgreen, Engravings by Hogarth, New York, Dover Press,1973; Tooley)
Please note all items auctioned are genuine, we do not sell reproductions. A Certificate of Authenticity (COA) can be issued on request.
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| Condition Report |
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General Description:
Paper thickness and quality: - Heavy and stable
Paper color: - off white
Age of map color: -
Colors used: -
General color appearance: -
Paper size: - 16in x 12in (410mm x 305mm)
Plate size: - 13 3/4in x 10in (350mm x 255mm)
Margins: - Min ½in (12mm)
Imperfections:
Margins: - Very light soiling to margins
Plate area: - None
Verso: - None
Overall Quality (in Bold):
Perfect/Fine/Very Good/Good/Fair/Poor |
| William Hogarth (1697–1764) |
William Hogarth (1697-1764) is considered by many to be the greatest English caricaturist of all time. He was an perceptive observer and his illustrations of the social and political conduct of his day are fascinating historical documents and humorous depictions of human foibles, which have remained much the same over the last two centuries. Hogarth was a painter of considerable accomplishment, but it is for his remarkable prints, which he both composed and engraved, that he is best known.
Originally, Hogarth sold his prints in his own shop, as well as through other print sellers in London. In the mid-1730s he began also to sell his prints in bound form. Hogarth's fame spread and his popularity grew. However, while his prints sold well, Hogarth was constantly bothered by the sale of cheap copies. In response, he was instrumental in the 1735 passage of the Engravers' Copyright Act, often called "Hogarth's Act," which prohibited the unauthorized copying of a print for fourteen years following its publication. Early in his career, a number of Hogarth's plates were acquired by other print sellers, but most he retained in his possession until his death, leaving them in his will to his widow, Jane Hogarth. Jane continued to issue prints from these plates and she was able to secure an extended copyright of 20 years beginning in 1767. Upon Jane's death in 1789, the plates passed into the possession of printmaker, John Boydell. Boydell sold prints taken from these original plates as separate images "suitable for framing," but also in 1790, the year he was Lord Mayor of London, Boydell issued an atlas folio with 103 prints entitled The Original Works of William Hogarth.
Boydell reissued the folio twice, and the plates were later acquired by Baldwin, Cradock & Joy in 1818. They were then reissued after being "restored" by James Heath, and were continued to be run off throughout the nineteenth century. Besides these many reprints of Hogarth's original plates, there were many copies done in different sizes by different engravers from Hogarth's time through the following centuries. The prints from the Boydell folios, which have become quite rare, are the last done from the original plates in the eighteenth century, and these from the 1790 edition, retain the detail and richness of impression which marks them as early strikes. |
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Classical Images was founded 1998 and has built an excellent reputation for supplying high quality original antiquarian works on paper at affordable prices. We carry an extensive inventory of antiquarian collectibles from the 15th to 19th century, a period that produced achievements by some of history’s finest explorers, scientists and artists.
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