A VIEW OF THE TELEGRAPH, CAMBRIDGE

Original 1809 13 3/4 inch x 10 1/4 inch hand-coloured etching titled A VIEW OF THE TELEGRAPH, CAMBRIDGE.

A coachman in a single-breasted coat reaching to his boot-tops stands looking to the left. His cylindrical hat has an irregular brim. A team-whip leans against his left shoulder and he holds the end of the lash between the tips of the fingers of both hands.

Drawn, etched and published by Robert Dighton (1752 – 1814). Robert Dighton was an English portrait painter, printmaker and caricaturist, he was the founder of a dynasty of artists who followed in his footsteps.

Signed in red ink by Dick Vaughan, the driver of the Cambridge Telegraph, a famous coach, was known as Hell-Fire-Dick, and was ‘a favourite companion of University fashionables’. He died in 1822.

The etching is in very good condition, with corner pinholes and age-related toning and minor defects from handling.