Francesco Bartolozzi & William Hamilton

Shakspeare. Twelfth Night. Act V, Scene I. The Street. Duke, Viola, Antonio, Officers, Olivia, Priest & Attendants. Publish'd Sept. 29, 1797, by J & J. Boydell, at the Shakspeare Gallery, Pall Mall; & No. 90, Cheapside. Engraved by F. Bartolozzi R. A. Painted by Wm. Hamilton R. A.

Olivia. Alas, it is the baseness of thy fear
That makes thee strangle thy propriety:
Fear not, Cesario, take thy fortunes up;
Be that thou know’st thou art, and then thou art
As great as that thou fear’st. - O, welcome, father!

[Re-enter Attendant and Priest]

Olivia. I charge thee, by thy reverence,
Here to unfold (though lately we intended
To keep in darkness what occasion now
Reveals before ‘tis ripe) what thou dost know,
Hath newly pass’d between this youth and me.

Priest. A contract of eternal bond of love,
Confirm’d by mutual joinder of your hands,
Attested by the holy close of lips,
Strengthen’d by interchangement of your rings;
And all the ceremony of this compact
Seal’d in my function, by my testimony;
Since when, my watch hath told me, toward my grave
I have travell’d but two hours.

This original Francesco Bartolozzi engraving was created after a painting created by William Hamilton as was commissioned by Boydell for the Shakespeare Gallery to represent Act 5, Scene 1 from a play entitled, Twelfth Night by William Shakespeare. This scene depicts a narrow street scene with a large group of people and great deal of confusion. To the left, we see Orsino, the Duke and Count of Illyria who is in love with Lady Olivia (The woman wearing the elegant dress, to the right of the engraving). The Duke also feels great affection for his page, Cesario (who is really Lady Viola disguised as a man, standing in this scene, between Lady Olivia and the Duke). When Duke Orsino is rejected by Lady Olivia, he decides to marry Lady Viola after discovering her true identity. Olivia believes she has married Cesario (Viola), but has unknowingly married Sebastian (Viola's twin brother). The Priest who preformed the marriage ceremony has been called to testify and confirms that Olivia has married the young man (Viola), standing beside Orsino. Other bystanders include the attendants, the officers who have come to arrest Antonio, (the sea captain and pirate who saved Sebastian) and has been looking for him, In the end, the misunderstanding is explained when Sebastian (who has actually married Olivia as Cesario) enters the scene and all can see the resemblances between the twins.

This original engraving is anl 'Open Letter Proof ': 3. 'Open Letter Proofs'. These s bear the title of the play. the heading, 'Shakspeare' (Shakespeare), is yet to be filled in with stippling. These s were printed before the publication of the first edition and were probably struck from the plate at a customer's request. Perhaps ten to twenty Open Letter Proofs exist for each engraving. The text below the image of this proof reads; "Shakspeare. Twelfth Night. Act V, Scene I. The Street. Duke, Viola, Antonio, Officers, Olivia, Priest & Attendants. Publish'd Sept. 29, 1797, by J & J. Boydell, at the Shakspeare Gallery, Pall Mall; & No. 90, Cheapside. Engraved by F. Bartolozzi R. A. Painted by Wm. Hamilton R. A.". Note: As this is an original proof , it lacks the following text that appears in later s.

Oli. Father, I charge thee by thy reverence,
Here to unfold though lately we intended
To keep in darkness what occasion now
Reveals before 'tis ripe what thou dost know
Hath newly past between this youth and me.

Priest. A contract of eternal bond of love,
Confirm'd by mutual joinder of your hands,
Atested by the holy colose of lips,
Strengthen'd by interchangement of your rings;
And all the ceremony of this conmfact
Seal'd in my function by my testimony:

An Important Note on Boydell States and Editions: Proof s and true first edition s are easily identified by their fine lines and strong contrasts of black and white tones. Later more common editions print in a more overall grey tone and contain areas of re-working. Briefly, the publishing history of these great engravings can be categorized into five states or editions:

1. 'Artist's Proofs'. These are the earliest of states and were printed in only a handful of s. They are identified not only by their vibrant lines and tones but by the fact that they lack any letters along the lower margin.
2. 'Proofs Before Title'. These s usually contain the names of the artist, publisher and engraver along the lower margin. They lack the title of the specific play depicted and usually the heading -- 'Shakspeare' -- is smaller than in the published edition. Once again, this state was printed in a very small numbers.
3. 'Open Letter Proofs'. These s bear the title of the play. the heading, 'Shakspeare' (Shakespeare), is yet to be filled in with stippling. These s were printed before the publication of the first edition and were probably struck from the plate at a customer's request. Perhaps ten to twenty Open Letter Proofs exist for each engraving.
4. 'First Edition s'. The completed set of Boydell's Shakespeare engravings was published in London in 1803. The full publisher's address appears along the lower margin as well as the text for the play. The heading, 'Shakspeare', is now filled in with stippling. Both first edition s and proofs were most often printed on either hand-made, laid paper or wove paper bearing the 'J. Whatman' watermark.
5. 'Posthumous s and Restrikes' As early as 1807, John Stockdale of London issued a second edition of the Shakespeare prints. They continued to be published throughout the first half of the nineteenth century. Finally, in 1852, an enterprising dentist in New York City (with the delightful name of Shearjashub Spooner) acquired the plates, restored them and produced the last edition. These prints are most commonly offered for sale.

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