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A Compendious Treatise on Modern Education

Etcher Related etcher Thomas Rowlandson British
Related artist and author James Brydges Willyams British
Printer Joseph Smeeton British
May 10, 1802
Not on view
This title page introduces a set of prints that Rowlandson etched after drawings by Willyams, a Cornish, university-educated lieutenant-colonel who supplied supporting text using the pseudonym Joel McCringer. Rowlandson's characteristic elegance does not disguise the dark human impulses being satirized. Modern education, it is suggested, does little to teach self-control, wisdom or empathy. Scenes show boys hurting chicks and insects, youths drinking, and young men carousing and gambling. Many of the images respond to themes that Hogarth addressed in his print series "Stages of Cruelty" and "A Modern Midnight Conversation" (1751 and 1733, MMA 32.35(118) and 19.1.77).

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: A Compendious Treatise on Modern Education
  • Series/Portfolio: A Compendious Treatise on Modern Education: Title and 8 plates
  • Etcher: Related etcher Thomas Rowlandson (British, London 1757–1827 London)
  • Artist: Related artist and author James Brydges Willyams (British, Cornwall 1772–1820 Truro, Cornwall)
  • Printer: Joseph Smeeton (British, active from 1794, died 1809 London)
  • Date: May 10, 1802
  • Medium: Hand-colored etching
  • Dimensions: Sheet: 11 5/8 × 14 9/16 in. (29.6 × 37 cm)
  • Classification: Prints
  • Credit Line: The Elisha Whittelsey Collection, The Elisha Whittelsey Fund, 1959
  • Object Number: 59.533.851(1)
  • Curatorial Department: Drawings and Prints

More Artwork

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Migrants, Thomas Rowlandson British, Watercolor
Migrants
Thomas Rowlandson
1780–1827
Going to Ivy Bridge, Thomas Rowlandson British, Watercolor
Going to Ivy Bridge
Thomas Rowlandson
1780–1827
The Sailor's Return from Active Service, Thomas Rowlandson British, Watercolor
The Sailor's Return from Active Service
Thomas Rowlandson
1780–1827
Departure of Blanchard and Jeffries' Balloon from Dover, January 7, 1785, Thomas Rowlandson British, Hand-colored etching
Departure of Blanchard and Jeffries' Balloon from Dover, January 7, 1785
Multiple artists/makers
January 1794
Ships and Sailors, Thomas Rowlandson British, Watercolor
Ships and Sailors
Thomas Rowlandson
late 18th–early 19th century

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