[Hand-Colored Etched Satirical Print]The Rival Richards III

London: S. W. Fores, 1817. First Edition. Very Good. An unknown caricaturist whose initials are G.P.Wi, or J.S. makes hay with the simultaneous productions of Richard III at the Drury Lane Theatre, where Edmund Kean ruled, and nearby Covent Garden, where Junius Brutus Booth was the cynosure. The print is chock-a-block with manic fun. Other important Shakespearean actors such as Kemble and Young populate the print as well, but they are utterly overshadowed by the antics of Kean and Booth. The date on the print reads like 1871, or the more plausible 1811, but the last two numbers were inverted in error. 23 by 34 cm. OCLC First Search discloses a single holding, at the Folger. Held by V&A as well. Assumed held also by British Library. Overly trimmed, with the margin virtually entirely removed,and at the bottom, there was cutting around the central title caption. As the print was mounted onto another paper, which is rectangular, the lower edge has been evened out. Light soiling discernible in the sky area of the print. Around the perimeter of the back are the vestiges of the print having been mounted onto something else. (Inventory #: 20274)