© Wordsworth Trust
Mary of Buttermere
James Gillray
- Art Funded
- 1993
- Dimensions
- 1) 26.7 x 20.3 cm; 2) 30.5 x 23.2 cm
- Vendor
- Professor Michael Jaye
Mary of Buttermere was the victim of bigamist James Hatfield, whose case was a sensation.
James Gillray was a brilliant political caricaturist, and drawings by him are rare as he usually drew directly onto the engraver's plate. Wordsworth included Mary's story in Book VII of 'The Prelude', contrasting his own fate with hers. One drawing and one engraving.
Provenance
Private collection, Germany; private collection, USA.