concept

A surgery where all fantasy and follies are purged and good qualities are prescribed. Line engraving by Boulonnois, 16--.

Mary Toft (Tofts), who duped several doctors into believing she had given birth to a litter of rabbits: twelve episodes. Etching.

An English fool acting as spokesman for a Dutch quack doctor; an ornate border composed of the paraphernalia of quackery surrounds his proclamation. Engraving by G. Bickham.

At the Opéra ball, King Louis Philippe (centre) as a clown is confronted by Charles Philipon (right, representing the journal Caricature) and Louis Desnoyers (left, representing the journal Charivari), both dressed as jesters. Lithograph attributed to Korff, 1834.

Fools carved on the finial of the staff of the Compagnie Mère-Folle (Mère-Folie) at Dijon, 1482. Line engraving by or after B. Picart.

Two designs for flags possibly for a theatrical company. Engraving by P. Yver, 1743.

Two actors performing on an open-air stage, perhaps selling medicines (?); St. Pauls cathedral is visible in the background. Engraving by J. van der Gucht.

Sancho Panza (the squire of Don Quixote) , at a banquet, being starved for health reasons by his physician. Engraving by T. Cook after W. Hogarth after M. de Cervantes Saavedra.

Phillips, a clown, known as 'the Merry Andrew'. Line engraving by W.J. Taylor after M. Laroon.

An episode in "Don Quixote" by Miguel Cervantes Saavedra (1547-1616), part II, chapter 47. The physician points to a meat dish with his stick and forbids Sancho Panza to eat a helping of it

1 print : lithograph ; image 21.5 x 30.5 cm

Sancho Panza (the squire of Don Quixote) , at a banquet, being starved for health reasons by his physician. Lithograph by C. Nanteuil after M. de Cervantes Saavedra.

Four fools in a nest are carved on the staff in the print. The company was banned in 1630 on account of debauchery and disorder during the festival of fools at Dijon. The staff was later owned by M. Poissonnier, a master apothecary of Dijon

1 print : etching ; platemark 29.5 x 43.8 cm

The Italian social fabric symbolised by a chain of social types, with all relations of dependence ultimately relating back to the devil. Etching by G.M. Mitelli, 1691.

The top standard shows a company of four holding theatrical masks and scrolls. The lower depicts a fool with three bellows

1 print : engraving ; platemark 32.9 x 21.3 cm