“Chesterfield Letters” Vanity Fair caricature lithograph. Earl of Desart, c1874.

$80.00

Original lithographic caricature of The Earl of Desart. Men of the Day. No. LXXIX (79). "Yorkshire" for Vanity Fair January 31 1874.

The accompanying text states… "The elder son of a poor titled Irish Family does not always find it an easy thing to make any great practical use of his ancestors; and, as often as not, has to rely upon himself more than upon his nobility to gain success of any kind in life. Lord Desart's family connections were nevertheless of some service to him, for at eleven years of age they made him page of honour to the Queen, in which capacity he distinguished himself according to his years by some escapades calculated to shock those who believe in the personal sanctity of Royalty. At seventeen, his domestic service at Court procured for him the usual reward of a Commission in the Guards, and he was so fortunate as to be sent almost immediately upon service more active than that of Windsor and London, for in the following year he accompanied the Coldstreams to Canada. While there he sleighed, sported, and muffined, much to his own satisfaction, and he further distinguished himself and his regiment in the streets of Montreal by getting up the biggest fight with the police ever known. …He will probably soon be a representative Irish Peer in the British Parliament, and in spite of his mere one-and-thirty years, he is likely to import into that august assembly a liveliness of debate and a novelty of ideas which will do it no harm."

Vanity Fair was a weekly magazine of social comment, published in London from 1868 to 1914. With eight to ten pages each issue, Vanity Fair magazine's popularity was guaranteed by the inclusion of a caricature, parodying newsworthy personages. Lithographs by Vincent Brooks were accompanied by witty text by the editor under the pseudonym Jehu Junior. Over the years of publication it became a mark of honour to be the 'victim' of one of the magazine's caricaturists. ‘Ape’" (Carlo Pellegrini, 1839-1889) and ‘Spy’ (Leslie Ward, 1851-1922) were the major artists employed.

355 x 240 (14 x 9.5 inches). In good condition except for slight soiling in the upper and lower margins.