Hogarth's pictures are among the most iconic of the eighteenth
century - his cacophonous crowds, bustling streets, polite or not-sopolite
companies, and all too revealing tales of human folly, vividly
bring the world around him to life. Their fame and popularity rests,
above all, on their widespread circulation as prints, not only in
England but around the globe, from the artist's lifetime to today.
Having first trained as an engraver, this remained an important
aspect of his art and success. It is in print that he is often at
his most creative and original, capturing, in his own words, 'the
perpetual fluctuations in the manners of the times'.
Taking its cue from the portfolio collections Hogarth himself
curated, this book gathers together a selection of his best loved
and most inventive prints.