Dr. G---t. D.D and two different impressions of A Pretty Copy.

£2,800 · Offered by Maggs Bros Ltd

The two prints titled A Pretty Copy are portraits of Isaac Gosset in half-length slightly hunched with his elbows resting on the auction table and with a copy of Samuel Butler’s satirical poem Hudibras open in his hands. In slight profile to the right, he wears a black Jacket and waistcoat. In one print he wears a tricone hat, and in the second this is exchanged for a round one. A “Catalogue of Books to be sold by auction” lies open on the table next to an ink well and quill. The hand of the auctioneer holding a gavel appears ex machina from the left. Behind Dr. Gosset are shelves lined with books. The inscription on one of these prints identifies Gosset as “An Old Friend with a new Beaver Reputed a favourite of Minerva and no puff”. These two versions of the same print show Gosset in the same setting but with a different hat. Apparently, offended by the first caricature produced for the print seller Alexander Benugo, “Gosset considered abandoning auctions altogether, but instead exchanged his tricorn hat for a more fashionable one, and the caricature was altered accordingly” ( ODNB ). Hence the inscription “An old friend with a new beaver” (‘beaver’ referring to Gosset’s new top hat). The third etching gives a full-length portrait Dr. Gosset shown in profile to the left smartly dressed in black tails, waistcoat, breeches (knee-length), stockings, buckled shoes and a three-cornered hat. He carries a red book tucked under his left arm and carries a cane in his right. Isaac Gos

• Binding: Hardcover

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