[A collection of 31 etchings].

[London]: [C. Bretherton], [1782-84] 31 etchings on thick laid paper, each sheet 170 x 245 mm, bound together in early powder blue limp paper boards. Extremities rubbed, marked, and damp-stained, faint inked inscription to upper board. Etchings damp-stained, all with contemporary marginal inked inscriptions identifying the subject. A collection of 31 early satirical etchings by caricaturist James Sayers (1748-1823), depicting contemporary political figures, including Burke, Fox, and Effingham. Unlike the majority of contemporary caricaturists, Sayers did not take the side of the opposition against the governments of the day, instead devoting his efforts to supporting Pitt and mercilessly lampooning the Fox-North coalition and condemning the French Revolution. A particular favourite subject for his keen satirical eye was Edmund Burke (1729/30-1797). In this collection, Burke is depicted with an awkward gait, thrusting forward a bill, under which is the unflattering caption: 'For Rhetoric he could not ope / His mouth but out there flew a Trope'. With equal malice, the etching of Charles James Fox (1749-1806), dated 1782, is shown with a wry smile, his clothes dishevelled, and fist raised triumphantly, with the caption 'Vox Populi' - likely in reference to his controversial support of the American Revolutionaries. Thomas Howard, third Earl of Effingham (1746-1791) also makes an appearance, straight-backed and staff in hand befitting a military man. In 1782, the year Sayers produced his portrait, Effingham re-joined the army at a time of threatened invasion, having previously resigned his commission in protest over the war in America. He would later serve as Governor of Jamaica. .