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Queen Catherine, Cardinal Wolsey and Cardinal Campeius (Shakespeare, King Henry VIII, Act 3, Scene 1)

first published 1796; reissued 1852
Not on view
Peter's work encapsulates a Catherine of Aragon's angry meeting with Cardinal Wolsey in King Henry VIII. It was conceived for John Boydell's Shakespeare Gallery, launched in 1786 as a publishing-cum-exhibition scheme that included a new illustrated edition of the plays, sets of large and small engravings, and a gallery on London's Pall Mall. The latter opened in 1789 with thirty-four paintings and contained about one hundred and seventy works the time Boydell went bankrupt and auctioned the contents in 1805–his print sales plummeted when Napoleon blocaded European ports. This impression belongs to an American reissue of 1852 spearheaded by Shearjashub Spooner, a New York dental surgeon, writer and art scholar who acquired Boydell's heavily worn plates and had them reworked. Printed on thick cream colored paper, the New York edition added small numbers in the lower left margin, this being number 80.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Queen Catherine, Cardinal Wolsey and Cardinal Campeius (Shakespeare, King Henry VIII, Act 3, Scene 1)
  • Series/Portfolio: The American edition of Boydell's Illustrations of the Dramatic Works of Shakespeare
  • Engraver: Robert Thew (British, Patrington 1758–1802 Stevenage)
  • Artist: After Matthew William Peters (British, Freshwater, Isle of Wight 1742–1814 Brasted, Kent)
  • Publisher: Originally published by John & Josiah Boydell (British, 1786–1804)
  • Publisher: Reissued by Shearjashub Spooner (American, Brandon, Vermont 1809–1859 Plainfield, New Jersey)
  • Subject: William Shakespeare (British, Stratford-upon-Avon 1564–1616 Stratford-upon-Avon)
  • Date: first published 1796; reissued 1852
  • Medium: Stipple engraving
  • Dimensions: Plate: 19 1/2 × 25 in. (49.5 × 63.5 cm)
    Sheet: 21 7/8 × 27 15/16 in. (55.5 × 70.9 cm)
  • Classification: Prints
  • Credit Line: Gertrude and Thomas Jefferson Mumford Collection, Gift of Dorothy Quick Mayer, 1942
  • Object Number: 42.119.536
  • Curatorial Department: Drawings and Prints

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Falstaff, Prince Henry and Poins at the Boar's Head Tavern (Shakespeare, King Henry the Fourth, Part 1, Act 2, Scene 4), Robert Thew British, Stipple engraving
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