A New Map of England & France. The French Invasion; - or - John Bull bombarding the Bum-Boats
- Title:
- A New Map of England & France. The French Invasion; - or - John Bull bombarding the Bum-Boats
- Alternate Title:
- John Bull bombarding the Bum-Boats
- Collection:
- Persuasive Maps: PJ Mode Collection
- Creator:
- Gillray, James
- Date:
- 1793
- Posted Date:
- 2024-04-25
- ID Number:
- 2439.01
- File Name:
- PJM_2439_01.jpg
- Style/Period:
- Before 1800
- Subject:
- Allegorical
Napoleon
Other War & Peace
Pictorial
Politics & Government
Satirical - Measurement:
- 35 x 25 (centimeters, height x width)
- Notes:
- By November of 1793, Britain was at war with revolutionary France and there were widespread fears of an invasion. Gillray responded with this famous cartographic print, patriotic and scatalogical in equal measure. "The distinctive profile of George III, whose portly features transform the nation, not only into a symbol of royal authority but into the irrepressible figure of John Bull, who squats over the north coast of France and repels the French fleet in heroic British style by issuing an unambiguous 'British Declaration' from the Portsmouth area - home of the British Channel Fleet . . . . one of the most enduring images in the history of Anglo-French relations." Davey 2012, 41.
While this portrayal of fecal warfare may be shocking to modern sensibilities, it would have been less so in 18th century England. It reflected not only Gillray's audacious style, but the realities of contemporary urban life. “Gillray marked out . . . the open sewer of satire that ran through the heart of the Enlightenment. . . . Parallel to that open sewer of satire in Georgian London were real open sewers. . . . London was expanding exponentially northwards and westwards, but it was still a city with no flush toilets." Rowson, 2015. Departing from his almost universal practice, Gillray signed this work under an alias, “John Schoebert” (Baynton-Williams 2015, 112), perhaps because of its nature.
James Gillray was "the first master draughtsman to take caricature as a primary occupation. More than any other, [he] lifted his calling from a trade into an art . . . cross-fertilized the framework with parody, fantasy and burlesque, enormously extending its range and depth." Hill 1965, 1. For most of Gillray's adult life, his work was in enormous demand; "Gillray's plates were collector's items from the moment of publication." Following his death, and particularly after the Regency, his work became the target of Victorian moralists who attacked it as crude and depraved. Ibid. 2-6. Gillray is today again regarded, in the words of one critic, as the "king of the cartoon." Rowson 2015.
Cornell University Library is pleased to present this digital collection of Persuasive Maps, the originals of which have been collected and described by the private collector PJ Mode. The descriptive information in the “Collector’s Notes” has been supplied by Mr. Mode and does not necessarily reflect the views of Cornell University. - Source:
- Published by Hannah Humphrey, London, November 5, 1793. This copy is from an edition printed in 1851 from the original plates by Henry George Bohn.
- Format:
- Image
- Rights:
- For important information about copyright and use, see http://persuasivemaps.library.cornell.edu/copyright.