James Gillray was born in London in the Chelsey district. His father was Scottish and a war veteran. The young Gillray learned the profession of letter engraver and was later accepted as a student at the Royal Academy, working as an engraver time and again to finance his studies and livelihood. From a very young age he was interested in caricature, he especially loved William Hogarth, a very famous caricaturist of the 18th century who was his great idol. Very soon Gillray also began to publish caricatures himself, albeit at first under a fictitious name. Only little by little did drawings with his name appear. For many contemporaries and even today James Gillrey is considered "the father of political and social caricature". Of course, he also lived in a time of great political and social upheavals and also in a time when caricature as an important means of expression for depicting events and their interpretation became fashionable and suitable for the masses. Gillrey's intellect, his wit, his sometimes pitch-black humour and his gift for observation, but also his great talent for drawing made his works unique.
In his private life he was not so successful and happy. He suffered from arthritis or gout in his hands at a younger age, which caused him great pain, and his vision was also increasingly poor. Disabled in his work, he became melancholy and increasingly addicted to alcohol. James Gillray did not start a family either, but he probably lived with his publisher Hannah Humphrey for many years and thought about marrying her from time to time. At least contemporaries ascribe a relationship to the two and it is a fact that Hannah Humphrey took care of Gillray after he wanted to take his own life by jumping out of a window in 1811. He survived, but was repeatedly confronted with severe depressions and psychoses. In 1815 the artist died at the age of only 58 years. Among collectors the caricatures of James Gillray are still very popular. Key prints such as "Fashionable Contrasts" and "Light Expelling Darkness" have already fetched prices of 10,000 to 20,000 US dollars at auctions.
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.jpg "The Plum Pudding in danger or State Epicures taking un Petit Souper, pub. 1805 by James Gillray")
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.jpg "A Voluptuary Under the Horrors of Digestion, July 2, 1792 by James Gillray")
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.jpg "Nelson")
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.jpg "Destruction of the French Colossus by James Gillray")
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.jpg "John Bull Taking a Luncheon, or British Cooks, cramming Old Grumble-Gizzard with Bonne-Chere, published by Hannah Humphrey by James Gillray")
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.jpg "The Grand Coronation Procession of Napoleon the 1st Emperor of France, from the Church of Notre-Dame by James Gillray")
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_-_(MeisterDrucke-161499).jpg "Dido in Despair, published by Hannah Humphrey by James Gillray")
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.jpg "National Conveniences, 1769 by James Gillray")
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.jpg "Fashionable Contrasts, or The Duchess")
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.jpg "New Morality, or The Promised Installment of the High Priest of the Theophilanthropes by James Gillray")
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.jpg "Fighting for the Dunghill or Jack Tar settling Buonaparte by James Gillray")
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.jpg "Le Baiser a la Wirtembourg, published by Hannah Humphrey in 1797 by James Gillray")
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_-_(MeisterDrucke-297654).jpg "Tales of Wonder, pub. H. Humphrey, London, 1802 by James Gillray")
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.jpg "Germans Eating Sauerkraut by James Gillray")
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.jpg "The Wine Duty, or The Triumph of Bacchus and Silenus with John Bull")
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.jpg "Gillray Cartoon on Vaccination Against Smallpox Using Cowpox Serum by James Gillray")
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.jpg "The Life of William Cobbett, written by himself, 1809 by James Gillray")
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.jpg "Plate 1, from")
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.jpg "The Accommodating Spouse; Tyrant")
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_-_(MeisterDrucke-36659).jpg "Harmony before Matrimony by James Gillray")
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.jpg "A Peep into the Cave of Jacobinism (published by Hannah Humphrey) by James Gillray")
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 - (MeisterDrucke-41804).jpg "The Plum Pudding in Danger, 1805 by James Gillray")
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_-_(MeisterDrucke-392112).jpg "A modern Belle going to the Rooms at Bath, pub. 1796 by James Gillray")
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_-_(MeisterDrucke-210121).jpg "Fat Cattle by James Gillray")
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.jpg "The Morning after Marriage, or A Scene on the Continent by James Gillray")
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.jpg "The New Dynasty, or The Little Corsican Gardener Planting a Royal Pippin Tree, Published by Hannah Humphrey in 1807 by James Gillray")
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.jpg "Charon")
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.jpg "The Spanish Bull Fight, or The Corsican Matador in Danger, published by Hannah Humphrey in 1808 by James Gillray")
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.jpg "Georgey in the Coal-Hole, published by Hannah Humphrey in 1801 by James Gillray")
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.jpg "Maniac Ravings, or Little Boney in a Strong Fit, 1805 by James Gillray")
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.jpg "Hanging and Drowning, or Fatal Effects of the French Defeat by James Gillray")
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.jpg "Ci-devant Occupations, or Madame Talian and the Empress Josephine Dancing Naked before Barrass in the Winter of 1797, published by Hannah Humphrey in 1805 by James Gillray")
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.jpg "The Surrender of Ulm, or Buonaparte and General Mack coming to a right Understanding, published by Hannah Humphrey in 1805 by James Gillray")
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.jpg "John Bull taking Luncheon or British Cooks cramming Old Grumble Gizzard with Bonne Chere by James Gillray")
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 - (MeisterDrucke-88562).jpg "Reception of the Diplomatique and his Suite at the Court of Pekin by James Gillray")
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.jpg "A Cockney and His Wife Going to Wycombe, published by Hannah Humphrey in 1805 by James Gillray")
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.jpg "Britannia Between Scylla and Charybdis, or The Vessel of Constitution Steered Clear of the Rock of Democracy and the Whirlpool of Arbitrary Power, published by Hannah Humphrey in 1793 by James Gillray")
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_between_the_Hawks_und_the_Buzzards_published_-_(MeisterDrucke-161019).jpg "The New Speaker between the Hawks and the Buzzards, Published by Hannah Humphrey by James Gillray")
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.jpg "The Gout, published by Hannah Humphrey in 1799 by James Gillray")
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.jpg "Le Diable-Boiteux, or The Devil upon Two Sticks Conveying John Bull to the Land of Promise, published by Hannah Humphrey in 1806 by James Gillray")
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.jpg "The Visit to Piccadilly, or A Prussian Reception by James Gillray")
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.jpg "A Duet:")
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.jpg "Cartoon Depicting Colonel Justly Watson with the Body of a Boot by James Gillray")
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.jpg "Crumbs of Comfort, or Old Orthodox Restoring Consolation to his Fallen Children, Published by G. Humphrey in 1782 by James Gillray")
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.jpg "Homer Singing His Verses to the Greeks by James Gillray")
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.jpg "Praetor Urbanus")
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.jpg "Comforts of a Bed of Roses, Published by Hannah Humphrey in 1806 by James Gillray")
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.jpg "The Monster Going to Take His Afternoon Luncheon, published by Hannah Humphrey in 1790 by James Gillray")
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.jpg "Breathing a Vein by James Gillray")
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.jpg "A Peep at Christies, or Tally-ho, and His Nimeney-Pimmeney Taking the Morning Lounge by James Gillray")
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_-_(MeisterDrucke-392736).jpg "Sampson overcome by a Philistine, pub. 1782 by James Gillray")
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_-_(MeisterDrucke-391116).jpg "Matins at Downing College, Cambridge by James Gillray")
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.jpg "Improvement in Weights & Measures or Sir John Seeclear discovering every balance of every British Flag by James Gillray")
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 (see also 152999) - (MeisterDrucke-38752).jpg "The Plum Pudding in Danger by James Gillray")
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.jpg "The Battle of Bow-Street by James Gillray")
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.jpg "High Change in Bond Street, or La Politesse du Grande Monde by James Gillray")
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.jpg "The Prophet of the Hebrews - the Prince of Peace conducting the Jews to the Promised Land by James Gillray")
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.jpg "Breathing a Vein, Pub. London January 28th 1804 by James Gillray")
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_-_(MeisterDrucke-392116).jpg "Temperance enjoying a Frugal Meal, pub. 1792 by James Gillray")
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 Taking Leave of his Wife and Family 1793 - (MeisterDrucke-90947).jpg "Louis XVI Taking Leave of his Wife and Family, 1793 by James Gillray")
 Taking Leave of his Wife and Family 1793 - (MeisterDrucke-90947).jpg)
.jpg "Tentanda Via Est Qua Me Quoque Possim Tollere Humo by James Gillray")
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 - (MeisterDrucke-120292).jpg "Uncorking Old Sherry, 1805 by James Gillray")
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.jpg "The Sleep-Walker, published by Hannah Humphrey by James Gillray")
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_published_by_Hannah_Humph_-_(MeisterDrucke-185733).jpg "Portrait of Charles Howard, Duke of Norfolk, published by Hannah Humphrey in 1800 by James Gillray")
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.jpg "Gentle Emetic, published by Hannah Humphrey by James Gillray")
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.jpg "The Spanish Bull Fight or the Corsican Matador in Danger, pub. 1805 by James Gillray")
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 - (MeisterDrucke-152647).jpg "Stealing Off; or Prudent Secession by James Gillray")
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_-_(MeisterDrucke-308894).jpg "Les Invisibles by James Gillray")
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.jpg "The Great South Sea Caterpillar, Transformed into a Bath Butterfly by James Gillray")
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.jpg "British Tars Towing the Danish Fleet into Harbour, 1807 by James Gillray")
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 poisoning the sick at Jaffa 1799 - (MeisterDrucke-215901).jpg "Napoleon Bonaparte poisoning the sick at Jaffa by James Gillray")
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.jpg "The Marriage of Cupid and Psyche, Published by Hannah Humphrey in 1797 by James Gillray")
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.jpg "The Life of William Cobbett, written by himself by James Gillray")
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.jpg "The Devil to Pay: The Wife Metamorphos")
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.jpg "The Crown and Anchor Libel burnt by the Public Hangman, published by Hannah Humphrey in 1795 by James Gillray")
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.jpg "Allied Powers Un-Booting Egalite by James Gillray")
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.jpg "Doublures of Characters, or Striking Resemblances in Phisiognomy by James Gillray")
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.jpg "The Royal Extinguisher, or Gulliver Putting Out the Patriots of Lilliput by James Gillray")
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.jpg "Naval Eloquence (detail) by James Gillray")
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.jpg "The Grand Coronation Procession of Napoleon, the 1st Emperor of France, from the Church of Notre-Dame, 2nd December 1804, published 1805 by James Gillray")
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.jpg "Taming of the Shrew: Katherine and Petruchio, or The Modern Quixote, Published by S.W. Fores in 1791 by James Gillray")
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.jpg "Presages of the Millennium, published by Hannah Humphrey in 1795 by James Gillray")
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.jpg "The French Invasion, or John Bull Bombarding the Bum-Boats, published by Hannah Humphrey in 1793 by James Gillray")
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.jpg "Boney and Talley, The Corsican Carcase-Butchers Reckoning Day - No Quarter Day! by James Gillray")
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.jpg "Overthrow of the Republican Babel, Published by Hannah Humphrey in 1809 by James Gillray")
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.jpg "Bonaparte hearing of Nelson")
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.jpg "Midas Transmuting all into Gold Paper, published by Hannah Humphrey in 1797 by James Gillray")
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.jpg "The Man of Feeling in Search of Indispensibles; a Scene at the Little French Milliners by James Gillray")
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.jpg "Blindman")
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.jpg "The First Kiss in Ten Years! or The Meeting of Britannia and Citizen Francois, published by Hannah Humphrey in 1803 by James Gillray")
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.jpg "Former Occupations, or Madam Talian and the Empress Josephine Dancing Naked before Barrass in the Winter of 1797 - a Fact! by James Gillray")
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.jpg "Monstrous Craws, at a New Coalition Feast, pub. 1787 by James Gillray")
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.jpg "Old Wisdom: Blinking at the Stars, published in 1782 by James Gillray")
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_pub_1788_(hand_coloured_eng_-_(MeisterDrucke-392495).jpg "Richard Howe, 1st Earl Howe (Black-Dick turned tailor) by James Gillray")
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.jpg "Dun-Shaw, One Foot in Leadenhall Street & the other in the Province of Bengal by James Gillray")
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.jpg "A Military Sketch of a Gilt Stick, or a Poker Emblazoned, published by Hannah Humphrey in 1800 by James Gillray")
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_(bundw_photo)_-_(MeisterDrucke-37204).jpg "John Bull")
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