Explore Collections
You are here:
CollectionsOnline
/
The palace that N--h built: a parody on an old English poem. By I. Hume.
Browse
HUME, I. (fl. 1830?)
The palace that N--h built: a parody on an old English poem. By I. Hume.
[London]:, [s.n.] [1829?].
[22] p. : [9] etch. illus. ; 15.3 cm. (16º)
This parody of the popular nursery rhyme 'The House that Jack built' is a satire on George IV's huge expenditure of public money on the conversion of Buckingham House into Buckingham Palace (begun 1825), and the apparent venality and incompetence of John Nash, the architect responsible. Although a Select Committee of the House of Commons had exonerated Nash of any professional misconduct in 1828, the issue of the spiralling costs of George IV's new palace remained a national scandal until the King's death in 1830 and Nash's replacement by Edward Blore in 1832.
The pamphlet is printed in the style and format of a typical children's rhyme book of the period. 'I. Hume' has not been identified and may be a pseudonym. BAL, Early printed books, no. 1572 suggests that either the author may have been Joseph Hume (1767--1843), a clerk at Somerset House who translated Dante's Inferno (1812), or that the attribution is a topical reference to the well-known radical politician Joseph Hume MP (1777--1855), a prominent and outspoken critic of government overspending. The latter possibility seems more likely. The satirical illustrations are etched in the manner of George Cruikshank; most are just legibly signed 'G. Davies'. Hooked on Books 10.6; BAL, Early printed books, no. 1572.
Copy Notes The title-page is inscribed in ink by George Bailey with the date of Nash's Buckingham Palace (began 1826), and the suggested date of publication (about 1831). Page [5], referring to Buckingham Palace, inscribed (commenced 1826). Bound last in a collection of pamphlets and manuscripts.
Binding C19th half dark green roan, blind double-ruled borders, marbled-paper boards, gilt double-rule spine direct-lettered in gilt 'Brooksean Museum &c', later numbered '47' in a series of pamphlet volumes. Bound by Edwin Hutchinson for 2s. 6d. on 22 December 1830. (Archive 7/15/8).
Reference Number 838
Additional Names Buckingham Palace (London, England); Nash, John (1752--1835)
The palace that N--h built: a parody on an old English poem. By I. Hume.
[London]:, [s.n.] [1829?].
[22] p. : [9] etch. illus. ; 15.3 cm. (16º)
This parody of the popular nursery rhyme 'The House that Jack built' is a satire on George IV's huge expenditure of public money on the conversion of Buckingham House into Buckingham Palace (begun 1825), and the apparent venality and incompetence of John Nash, the architect responsible. Although a Select Committee of the House of Commons had exonerated Nash of any professional misconduct in 1828, the issue of the spiralling costs of George IV's new palace remained a national scandal until the King's death in 1830 and Nash's replacement by Edward Blore in 1832.
The pamphlet is printed in the style and format of a typical children's rhyme book of the period. 'I. Hume' has not been identified and may be a pseudonym. BAL, Early printed books, no. 1572 suggests that either the author may have been Joseph Hume (1767--1843), a clerk at Somerset House who translated Dante's Inferno (1812), or that the attribution is a topical reference to the well-known radical politician Joseph Hume MP (1777--1855), a prominent and outspoken critic of government overspending. The latter possibility seems more likely. The satirical illustrations are etched in the manner of George Cruikshank; most are just legibly signed 'G. Davies'. Hooked on Books 10.6; BAL, Early printed books, no. 1572.
Copy Notes The title-page is inscribed in ink by George Bailey with the date of Nash's Buckingham Palace (began 1826), and the suggested date of publication (about 1831). Page [5], referring to Buckingham Palace, inscribed (commenced 1826). Bound last in a collection of pamphlets and manuscripts.
Binding C19th half dark green roan, blind double-ruled borders, marbled-paper boards, gilt double-rule spine direct-lettered in gilt 'Brooksean Museum &c', later numbered '47' in a series of pamphlet volumes. Bound by Edwin Hutchinson for 2s. 6d. on 22 December 1830. (Archive 7/15/8).
Reference Number 838
Additional Names Buckingham Palace (London, England); Nash, John (1752--1835)