The Sweating Sickness; or, the Imaginary Malady. (A bonna fide fact.)

• Price: $375.00
  

  SKU: 86452

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• ARTIST:

• PUBLISHER: Published 2d Decr. 1799, by Laurie & Whittle No. 53 Fleet Street, London.

• MEDIUM: Engraving,

  DATE: 1799

• EDITION SIZE: Paper size 17 1/2 x 11 9/16" (44.5 x 29.4 cm).

• DESCRIPTION: Below the satirical image is an extensive poem-story parodying the notorious Sweating Sickness that ravaged England during the 15th and 16th centuries. In the verse, the protagonist is suddenly overcome with profuse sweating and malaise, prompting alarm among his friends, who fear the dreaded plague-like illness has returned. Their anxious speculation mirrors the historical terror the disease once inspired. The tale takes a comic turn when it is revealed that the cause is not contagion at all, but simple overindulgence—the man has eaten so much that his clothes no longer fit, compressing his body and causing his discomfort. The work plays on both historical memory and contemporary humor, transforming a once-fatal epidemic into the stuff of farce.

• ADDITIONAL INFO:

• CONDITION: Generally good condition. Mild overall toning with a small crease in the upper right and a tear in the lower right, neither affect the image.

• REFERENCE:

• CATEGORIES: 18th-19th Century Subjects , Caricatures and Satirical , English Satire & Caricatures