concept

A surgery where all fantasy and follies are purged and good qualities are prescribed. Line engraving by E. de Boulonnois, 16--.

Mary Toft (Tofts), who duped several doctors into believing she had given birth to a litter of rabbits: twelve episodes. Etching.

An English fool acting as spokesman for a Dutch quack doctor; an ornate border composed of the paraphernalia of quackery surrounds his proclamation. Engraving by G. Bickham.

At the Opéra ball, King Louis Philippe (centre) as a clown is confronted by Charles Philipon (right, representing the journal Caricature) and Louis Desnoyers (left, representing the journal Charivari), both dressed as jesters. Lithograph attributed to Korff, 1834.

Fools carved on the finial of the staff of the Compagnie Mère-Folle (Mère-Folie) at Dijon, 1482. Line engraving by or after B. Picart.

Two designs for flags possibly for a theatrical company. Engraving by P. Yver, 1743.

Two actors performing on an open-air stage, perhaps selling medicines (?); St. Pauls cathedral is visible in the background. Engraving by J. van der Gucht.

Sancho Panza (the squire of Don Quixote) , at a banquet, being starved for health reasons by his physician. Engraving by T. Cook after W. Hogarth after M. de Cervantes Saavedra.

Phillips, a clown, known as 'the Merry Andrew'. Line engraving by W.J. Taylor after M. Laroon.

Sancho Panza (the squire of Don Quixote) , at a banquet, being starved for health reasons by his physician. Lithograph by C. Nanteuil after M. de Cervantes Saavedra.

The Italian social fabric symbolised by a chain of social types, with all relations of dependence ultimately relating back to the devil. Etching by G.M. Mitelli, 1691.

Fools and jesters: with a reprint of Robert Armin's Nest of ninnies, 1608 / With an introduction and notes [by J.P. Collier].

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Fools and jesters

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Sancho Panza (the squire of Don Quixote) , at a banquet, being starved for health reasons by his physician. Lithograph by C. Nanteuil after M. de Cervantes Saavedra.

Fools carved on the finial of the staff of the Compagnie Mère-Folle (Mère-Folie) at Dijon, 1482. Line engraving by or after B. Picart.

The Italian social fabric symbolised by a chain of social types, with all relations of dependence ultimately relating back to the devil. Etching by G.M. Mitelli, 1691.

Two designs for flags possibly for a theatrical company. Engraving by P. Yver, 1743.

Fools and jesters: with a reprint of Robert Armin's Nest of ninnies, 1608 / With an introduction and notes [by J.P. Collier].