[Hand-Colored Satirical Print] Keen-ish Sport in Cox's Court!!, or, Symptoms of Crim.con in Drury Lane. May 1824

London: John Fairburn, 1824. George Cruikshank. Cruikshank is mocking the leading Shakespearean actor of the day, Edmund Kean (1767-1834), whose affair with an alderman's wife, Charlotte Cox, had precipitated a huge scandal in which the cuckolded husband did sue Kean for criminal conversation, and in early 2025, prevailed. As a result Kean's career was shaken, his public turned against him for a time, and his own wife left him. In the print we see Kean and the wife canoodling as the cuckolded husband looks on from outside in horror. 27 by 38 cm. The print is scarce. The V&A has a copy, and probably the British Library does as well. OCLC First Search disclosed just a single physical copy, at Yale. One corner chip confined to margin -- not even close to outer ruled line that frames the caption. One other minuscule edge chip. Light marginal soiling and a few crease lines in margin. Print proper remains bright and fresh. (Inventory #: 20270)