VENUS BRINGING CUPID TO CALYPSO

Original 1793 9 7/8 inch x 7 1/2 inch etching and engraving titled VENUS BRINGING CUPID TO CALYPSO

From ‘The Adventures of Telemachus’ an epic poem from the French of Fenelon with alterations by the Rev. Mark Anthony Meilan.
Mark Anthony Meilan was a writer, born about 1743, who at one time a situation in the post-office, which he resigned in order to become an instructor in private families in English, bookkeeping, and shorthand, of languages, arts, and sciences. He took orders, and for some time served the curacy of St. John, Wapping. In 1809 he was assistant minister of St. Mary, Newington, Surrey, and was apparently alive in 1816.

Engraved by John Barlow (c. 1760 – 1810). Reproductive etcher, working in London.

After Charles Monnet (1732 – c.1808). History and portrait painter and designer of book illustrations. “Peintre du Roy” to Louis XV and designer of a series of etchings of the Revolution and the history of France during the Empire. Monnet exhibited regularly at the Salon and professor of drawing at the military school founded by Napoleon at St.Cyr.

Published on January 14th, 1793, by Mark Anthony Meilan

Inscription below image: “Monnet delin / Barlow sculp / ————LOVE is on thy side; then cease to fear; / Propitious to thy cause I leave him here. / TELEMACHUS shall see his childlike play, / With pleasure too shall pass the vacant day, / Contemplating his charms, and feel beside / What conquest Love can gain o’er human pride. / Published as the Act directs, by M.A. Meilan Jan’y, 14, 1793.”

The engraving is in good condition with a stain in the lower left border corner and slight age-related soiling.