Love and Marriage

The golden age of satirical prints in the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries saw the rise to fame of several masters of the genre including Rowlandson and Gillray. These artists and their engravers created images which were the predecessors of modern newspaper cartoons, and their power lies in the arresting combination of expert draughtsmanship, merciless humour and often thought-provoking insights into common human emotions and behaviour as well as social trends and customs particular to that time. Perfectly timed for St Valentine’s Day, this book presents a selection of works from the British Museum’s 20,000-strong collection of satirical prints. This colourful giftbook offers amusement for people at any stage of a relationship, brilliantly highlighting attitudes that will strike familiar chords in all of us.