The Tour of Dr. Syntax in Search of the Picturesque, Fourth Edition, 1828. These delightful miniature prints, drawn and engraved by Thomas Rowlandson chronicle the various escapades of the fictional 19th-century English clergyman, Dr. Syntax. The animated drawing and wonderful facial expressions make them excellent examples of Rowlandson’s works of parody from the great age of English caricature. These tours were a satire on William Gilpin’s series of picturesque journeys to different parts of England with emphasis on landscape pictures and flattering prose into which Rowlandson inserted his stumbling parson and a wide range of landscape and decorative arts portrayal.
The joint work of Rowlandson and Combe was published in The Poetical Magazine in 1809 and first appeared as a separate volume in 1812. Its popularity was immediate and very great. The figure of the lean curate and schoolmaster in his scratch wig and his rusty black suit, with his long nose and chin, caught the public fancy; and, doubtless, the device of representing him as a man of learning and of some dignity added to the fun of the ridiculous mishaps into which he fell. Size (in): 3.25 x 5.50
