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DS1989-0015
A Rake's Progress, Plate 8: Mad in Bedlam
DS1989-0015

A Rake's Progress, Plate 8: Mad in Bedlam

Date1735
Artist/Maker Thomas Bakewell (1716 - ca. 1760)
Artist/Maker William Hogarth (1697 - 1764)
OriginEngland, London
MediumEtching and line engraving on laid paper
DimensionsOverall: 10 7/8 × 12 3/8in. (27.6 × 31.4cm)
Credit LineMuseum Purchase
Object number1986-24,A
DescriptionUpper margin: "MAD IN BEDLAM."
Lower margin: "Published with the consent of M.r William Hogarth by Tho: Bakewell according to Act of Parliament July 1735/ Plate 8/ His Fortune ruin'd, Frenzy wrecks his Mind,/ In Bedlam view th' unhappy Wretch confind!/ Behold the kind Companion of his Woe/ Whose Tears of sympathizing Pity flow./ What varied Lunancy engage our Eyes?/ The moaping Lover breaths eternal Sighs,/ The echoing roof the Wretch Despairing rends,/ Th' Astronomer his Tribe and Schemes attends,/ Sceptred & Crown'd n.th Straw the Monarch rules,/ The Cross-leg'd Taylor seems to ply his Trade,/ And frantick Airs are by the Fidler play'd"
Label TextThis is the eighth and final scene of one of William Hogarth's most popular "Modern Moral Subjects”: " A Rake's Progress." This print was published as an authorized copy by Thomas Bakewell with Hogarth's authorization in 1735. (For others published by Bakewell see 1986-21,A, 1986-22, and 1986-23) With the popularity of ‘A Harlot's Progress,' Hogarth commenced selling subscriptions in late 1733, but the prints were not completed until June 1735. Part of this delay was the passage of the Engraver's Act, which was designed to prevent pirating of engraver's works. Hogarth waited until the act took effect on June 25th, 1735 - the date engraved on the prints - to publish the series. Despite his careful planning, pirated copies appeared on the market in early June apparently based on Hogarth's original paintings for the set, now in the collection of Sir John Soane's Museum. Hogarth's prints were expensive and published on subscription only, therefore to make a profit on the lower end of the market and combat the piracies, he authorized print seller Bakewell to publish smaller and cheaper versions of the series, with an imprint proving they were authorized copies. (see See 1967-566,8 by Hogarth and 2014-223, 4 by Henry Parker).In plate one, the image is reduced and reversed from the original print by Hogarth.



Plate 8 in Hogarth's "A Rake's Progress."
Despite his careful planning, pirated copies appeared on the market in early June apparently based on Hogarth's original paintings for the set, now in the collection of Sir John Soane's Museum.

To see Hogarth's original series see 1967-566, 1-8.