Later  the  Gambling  House  became  an  Exclusive  Club

Hogarth, William (1697 London 1764). Scene in a Gaming House. Also the money of the old maid is squandered and now Rakewell tried futilely his luck in gambling. Engraving by Thomas Cook (c. 1744 – London 1818). Inscribed: Pl. VI. / Hogarth pinx^t. / T. Cook sculp^t. / Published by Longman, Hurst, Rees, & Orme, March 1^st. 1808. Subject size 14.6 x 17.2 cm.

The Rake’s Progress VI. – Cook’s smaller version without the multi-verse subtext here replaced by the series title. – Cook “made a name for himself as Hogarth engraver, too” (Thieme-Becker). – Trimmed within the wide white platemark.

Hogarth’s  marvellous  detailed  depiction  of  gambling .

Represented the gaming room in White’s coffeehouse – by now about 250 years renown as the exclusive White’s Club – in the moment of May 3^rd, 1733, when the fire broke out. Of which the gamblers at the two tables not yet take notice of. Still the game runs. Win the winners, loose the loosers, continue the profiteers to lend their money. Only “on the right a man turns … his back to luck as he could not stand anymore to look at luck’s back” (Lichtenberg). – Over the fireside advertising for playing cards.
Offer no. 8,871 / EUR  95. (c. US$ 123.) + shipping

– – – The same in engraving by Ernst Ludwig Riepenhausen (1765 Göttingen 1840, university engraver there). Inscribed: 18. / W. Hogarth inv & pinx. Riepenhausen del & sculps. / Pl. 6. 20.3 x 24.3 cm. – Impression on slightly toned minor paper. – Riepenhausen’s engravings after Hogarth (“very estimable”, Nagler) belong to his chief work and are partly even preferred to Hogarth’s own engravings.
Offer no. 7,660 / EUR  135. (c. US$ 175.) + shipping

– – – The same in steel engraving about 1840. 14 x 15.6 cm. – With title in German + English.
Offer no. 7,900 / EUR  60. (c. US$ 78.) + shipping

Complete copies of the set and further single plates available .

Der hiesige Weihnachts-/Neujahrsgruß 2005 endete mit „In diesem Sinne recht schöne Weihnachtstage voll Harmonie und sammlungszugewandter Muße … “ , letzterer Wunsch in einer Grußerwiederung aufgegriffen wurde mit den Worten

„ das Gutwort des Jahres – sammlungszugewandte Muße – wunderbar, hab einigen LBA/Goethefreunden dieses Gutwort genannt. Sie haben in einer verwahrlosten Zeit ein ‚linguistisches Gespür’! “

(Herr R. K., 5. Januar 2006)