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George M. Woodward

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This article is about the 19th-century poet and caricaturist. For the 18th-century poet, author of Poems on Several Occasions (1730), see George Woodward.


George Murgatroyd (also called George Moutard) Woodward (?1760 - November 1809) was an English poet and caricaturist.

Dandy pickpockets, diving

G.M. Woodward, "Dandy Pickpockets diving", from the Caricature magazine, or Hudibrastic mirror, December 2, 1818. Courtesy Wikimedia Commons.

Life[]

Youth and education[]

Woodward was the son of William Woodward of Stanton Hall, Derbyshire, and was born in that county about 1760.[1] His father was land agent to Earl Stanhope of Chevening.[2]

Woodward received no artistic training, but, having much original talent, came to London, with an allowance from his father.[1]

Career[]

Woodward became a prolific and popular designer of social caricatures, much in the style of Bunbury, which were etched chiefly by Rowlandson and Isaac Cruikshank.[3]

His earliest surviving London prints date from 1785. From 1790 he was a major designer, who was also admired for the doggerel texts appended to his prints.[4]

Although the humor of his prints was generally of a very coarse and extravagant kind, they display a singular wealth of imagination and insight into character, and some are extremely entertaining.[1] Among the best are ‘Effects of Flattery,’ ‘Effects of Hope,’ ‘Club of Quidnuncs,’ ‘Everybody in Town,’ ‘Everybody out of Town,’ and ‘Specimens of Domestic Phrensy.’[3]

He was of dissipated and intemperate habits, spending much of his time in taverns, and died in poverty at the Brown Bear public-house in Bow Street, Covent Garden.[3]

Writing[]

Woodward also wrote many light fugitive pieces in prose and verse, some of which were issued in a volume in 1805, with a portrait of the author from a drawing by A. Buck.[3]

He published: ‘Eccentric Excursions,’ with a hundred plates by I. Cruikshank, 1796. ‘The Olio of Good Breeding, with Sketches illustrative of the modern Graces,’ 1801. ‘The Musical Mania for 1802 … dedicated to Mrs. Billington.’ ‘The Bettyad: a Poem descriptive of the Progress of the young Roscius in London,’ 1805. ‘Caricature Magazine, or Hudibrastic Mirror, being a Collection of original Caricatures,’ 1807. ‘An Essay on the Art of ingeniously Tormenting,’ 1808. ‘Chesterfield Travestie, or School for Modern Manners,’ 1808.[3]

Publications[]

Poetry[]

  • Attempts at Humour: Poetical and physiognomical. London: B. Crosby, for Chappel / Bell / Roberts, 1803.
  • The Bettyad: A poem; descriptive of the progress of the young Roscius in London. London: M. Allen, 1805.

Art[]

  • Gradation from a Greenhorn to a Blood: Altered from an original essay, published about the year 1740; and adapted to the taste and fashion of the year 1790. London: William Holland, 1790.
  • Elements of Bacchus; or, Toasts and sentiments, given by distinguished characters. London: William Holland, 1792.
  • Eccentric Excursions: In different parts of England and South Wales. London: Allen, 1797.
  • Familiar Verses: From the ghost of Willy Shakespeare to Sammy Ireland. London: Richard White, 1796.
  • Every Body out of Town: Exemplified in six characteristic prints and illustrative labels. London: privately published, 1796.
  • An Olio of Good Breeding; with sketches illustrative of the modern graces. London: W. Clarke, 1797; London: R. Ackermann, 1810.
  • Grotesue Borders: For screens, billiard rooms, dressing rooms, &c., &c., forming a caricature assemblage of oddities, whimsicalities & extravaganzas!! London: R. Ackermann, 1799.
  • Matrimonial Comforts. London: R. Ackermann, 1799.
  • Every Body in Town: Exemplified in six characteristic prints and illustrative labels. London: S.W. Fores, 1800.
  • Le Brun Travested; or, Caricatures of the passions. London: R. Ackermann, 1800.
  • Pigmy Revels; [or, All alive at Lilliput]. London; S.W. Fores, 1800.
  • Grotesque Borders for Rooms and Halls (series). London: R. Ackermann, 1800.
  • Symptoms of the Shop. London: S.W. Fores, 1801.
  • Graphic Illustrations of the Miseries of Human Life. London: Thomas Tegg, 1807.
  • Napoleon's Apotheosis Anticipated. London: Thomas Tegg, [1807?]
  • The Caricature Magazine; or, Hudibrastic mirror. London: Thomas Tegg, 1808.
  • An Essay on the Art of Ingeniously Tormenting. London: Thomas Tegg, 1808; London: Thomas Tegg / R. Scholey, 1809.
  • Celebrated characters. London: [1810?]
  • Chesterfield Burlesqued; or, School for modern manners. 3rd edition, London: Thomas Tegg, 1811.

Collected editions[]

  • The Fugitive, and other literary works in prose and poetry. London: J. Shaw, for T. Goddard, 1805.
  • The Comic Works: In prose and poetry. London: Thomas Tegg, 1808.


Except where noted, bibliographical information courtesy WorldCat.[5]

See also[]

References[]

  •  O'Donoghue, Freeman Marius (1900) "Woodward, George Moutard" in Lee, Sidney Dictionary of National Biography 62 London: Smith, Elder, pp. 418-419  . Wikisource, Web, Jan. 16, 2017.

Notes[]

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 O'Donoghue, 418.
  2. ↑ George Moutard Woodward, British Museum. Web, July 16,2023.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 O'Donoghue, 419.
  4. ↑ George Murgatroyd Woodward (1760 ca.-1809), English Poetry, 1579-1830. Web, July 16, 2023.
  5. ↑ Search results = George Moutard Woodward, WorldCat, OCLC Online Computer Library Center Inc. Web, Jan. 16,2017.

External links[]

Poems
About

This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain, the Dictionary of National Biography (edited by Leslie Stephen & Sidney Lee). London: Smith, Elder, 1885-1900. Original article is at: Woodward, George Moutard

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