Scholars at a Lecture.

William Hogarth

Scholars at a Lecture.

London, Baldwin Craddock and Joy 1822

Copper engraving

220x185mm

£220

From a  particularly well printed set which includes Hogarth’s erotic pair of Before and After, not usually included.

A scene in an Oxford University lecture hall. A crowd of ugly, foolish  looking students listen to the lecturer, who reads from a large ledger headed Datur Vacuum, meaning ‘Leisure time is given for…’ and is a pun on the vacant expressions of the auditors. The lecturer is supposed to be William Fisher of Jesus College, Registrar of the University, who agreed to be drawn by Hogarth. Paulson 143 II/III.