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Before the Duke's Palace–Rosalind, Celia, Orlando, the Duke & Attendants (Shakespeare, As You Like It, Act 1, Scene 2)

first published 1800; reissued 1852
Not on view
Smirke's image centers on Rosalind's first encounter with Orlando in As You Like It. The image 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 print 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 26.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Before the Duke's Palace–Rosalind, Celia, Orlando, the Duke & Attendants (Shakespeare, As You Like It, Act 1, Scene 2)
  • Series/Portfolio: The American edition of Boydell's Illustrations of the Dramatic Works of Shakespeare
  • Engraver: William Satchwell Leney (American (born England), London 1769–1831 Longue Pointe, near Montreal)
  • Artist: After John Downman (British, Eynesbury, Huntingdonshire 1749–1824 Wrexham, Wales)
  • 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 1800; reissued 1852
  • Medium: Stipple engraving
  • Dimensions: image: 17 3/16 x 23 3/8 in. (43.6 x 59.4 cm)
    sheet: 22 1/16 x 28 1/16 in. (56 x 71.3 cm)
  • Classification: Prints
  • Credit Line: Gertrude and Thomas Jefferson Mumford Collection, Gift of Dorothy Quick Mayer, 1942
  • Object Number: 42.119.541
  • Curatorial Department: Drawings and Prints

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