Thomas D. Rice performing the "Jump Jim Crow" song and dance in front of British members of the House of Lords. Lithograph by I.H..

London (47 Piccadilly) : S.W. Fores, [1837?]

1 print : lithograph ; image 30.9 x 24 cm

Jim Crow the American mountebank performing at the Grand Theatre. I come from America a long time ago, ... IH Words of the song as printed on the print: "I come from America a long time ago, / Since which I larn to wheel about and jump Jim Crow. / Him used to study Blackstone ebry morn & arternoon, / Me charm de House where Chatham died & dance in de saloon. / Wheel about & turn about & do jis so, / Ebry time I wheel about I jumpt Jim Crow."

By one of the imitators of John Doyle (1797-1868), known as HB. This imitator uses the monogram IH. "Almost at once the Sketches [of John Doyle] were imitated. HB portraits like those of Gillray and Dighton became much-copied stereotypes of politicians. Seymour in particular became an imitator in the earliest lithographs for The looking glass. The imitators adopt some initials as much like HB as possible. In this volume there is an IB or JB clearly intended to pass as HB, though the draughtsman was unequal to the deception. Henry Heath was another imitator, and signs himself HH. 'We may observe', said The times in November 1836, 'that the extensive and merited success of HB has produced a herd of clumsy imitators.'. Later there were also 'Philo HB', BH (Bob Hamerton), hB. And there were the forgers who produced the spurious copies denounced by McLean"—Dorothy George, loc. cit

M. Dorothy George, Catalogue of political and personal satires … in the British Museum, vol. XI, London 1954, p.xlvii (imitators of HB)

Wellcome Collection 34224i