John Ogborne & Josiah Boydell

The First part of King Henry the 6th. Act II, Scene IV. Publish'd June 24: 1790, by J & J. Boydell. Cheapside. & at the Shakspeare Gallery Pall Mall London. Shakspeare Etch'd by Jno. Ogborne. Painted by Josiah Boydell. (London. The Temple Garden. Earl of Somerset, Suffolk and Warwick; Richard Plantagenet, Vernon, etc.)

Richard Plantagenet. Since you are tongue-tied, and so loath to speak,
In dumb significants proclaim your thoughts:
Let him that is a true-born gentleman,
And stands upon the honour of his birth,
If he suppose that I have pleaded truth,
From off this brier pluck a white rose with me.

Earl of Somerset. Let him that is no coward, nor no flatterer,
But dare maintain the party of the truth,
Pluck a red rose off this thorn with me.

Earl of Warwick. I love no colours; and without all colour
Of base insinuating flattery,
I pluck this white rose, with Plantagenet.

Earl of Suffolk: I pluck this red rose, with young Somerset;
And say withal, I think he held the right.

Vernon. Stay, lords and gentlemen; and pluck no more,
Till you conclude - that he upon whose side
The fewest roses are cropp'd from the tree,
Shall yield the other in the right opinion.

Earl of Somerset. Good master, Vernon, it is well objected;
If I have the fewest I subscribe in silence.

Richard Plantagenet. And I.

Vernon. Then, for the truth and plainness of the case,
I pluck this pale and maiden blossom here,
Giving my verdict on the white rose side.

This original engraving is based upon a William Shakespeare play, "First part of King Henry the 6th. Act II, Scene IV. This scene takes place in the gardens of the Temple law school in London with members of the Lancastrian party (loyal to King Henry VI), John Beauford, Duke of Somerset (of Lancaster) and the Earl of Suffolk (William de la Pole). Also present here is the Duke of York, Richard Plantagenet, the son of the Earl of Cambridge, and the head of the Yorkist party. Plantagenet believes that by right of birth he has a greater claim to the throne than Henry VI. Other Yorkist party members, in this scene include the Earl of Warwick, a good friend of Plantagenet's, a young Englishman by the name of Vernon, and a lawyer from the law school. Here, Richard Plantagenet and the Earl of Somerset are having a heated argument concerning King Henry the Sixth's legitimate right to the throne, with both men refusing to back down. In order to settle their argument they asked, Suffolk, Warwick, Vernon, and a lawyer from the law school, to take sides by picking a red rose for Lancaster or a white rose for York, however, most have sided with Plantagenet (who is legally right). In time, this argument would lead to and become the 'War of the Roses'. In this play, Shakespeare also includes such characters as, the very young King Henry the Sixth, his uncle, and Lord Protector, the Duke of Gloucester, the Duke of Bedford, Henry Beauford, Bishop of Winchester, the Earl of Salisbury, Lord Talbot and his son, John Talbot, Edmund Mortimer, Earl of March, Sir John Falstaff (the rogue knight), Sir William Lucy, Sir William Glansdale, Sir Thomas Gargrave, Joan de Pucelle (Joan of Arc) and others.

This engraving is an original 'Proof Impression Before Title. (2.) 'Proof Impression Before Title'. These impressions 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. The text below the image of this proof impression reads; "Publish'd June 24: 1790, by J & J. Boydell. Cheapside. & at the Shakspeare Gallery Pall Mall London. Etch'd by Jno. Ogborne. Painted by Josiah Boydell." Note: As this is an original proof impression, it lacks the following text that appears in later impressions.

"Shakespeare. First part of King Henry the 6th. Act II, Scene IV. Publish'd Jany. 1, 1795. by John & Josiah Boydell. at the Shakspeare Gallery Pall Mall, & No. 90. Cheapside. Engrav'd by J. Ogborne. Painted by Jh. Boydell..

Plant. Since you are tongue-tied, and so loath to speak,
In dumb significants proclaim your thoughts:
Let him that is a true-born gentleman,
And stands upon the honour of his birth,
If he suppose that I have pleaded truth,
From off this brier pluck a white rose with me.

Som. Let him that is no coward, nor no flatterer,
But dare maintain the party of the truth,
Pluck a red rose off this thorn with me."

An Important Note on Boydell States and Editions: Proof impressions and true first edition impressions 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 impressions. 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 impressions 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 impressions bear the title of the play. the heading, 'Shakspeare' (Shakespeare), is yet to be filled in with stippling. These impressions 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 Impressions'. 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 impressions and proofs were most often printed on either hand-made, laid paper or wove paper bearing the 'J. Whatman' watermark.
5. 'Posthumous Impressions 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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