Rowlandson (Thomas) Comparative Anatomy. Resemblances between the Countenances of Men and Beasts,an album of drawings and watercolours, 2 leaves with pen and ink text, 45 leaves with pencil, pen and ink caricatures illustrating "Comparative Anatomy", including four leaves with fully worked watercolour caricatures, of the 47 leaves 12 contain sheets tipped into album, each sheet c. 22 x 18 cm. (8 3/4 x 7 in), occasional spotting and browning, some surface dirt, contemporary vellum, worn, 4to, several album leaves watermarked W.D. Wells, dated 1822 [the same paper as the BM album of the same name]. The current album of original caricatures is one of the three known albums by Rowlandson with the manuscript title Comparative Anatomy, Resemblances between the Countenances of Men and Beasts; the other albums are held in the British Museum (1885,1212.182-244) and the Houghton Library. These albums, alongside numerous other loose studies in various collections (most notably in the Courtauld Institute of Art), show the interest that Rowlandson had in the scientific developments of physiognomy and comparative anatomy, and how his humorous engagement with contemporary scientific thought influenced his drawings and watercolours. [cf. Meyer, Arline. Man's Animal Nature: Science, Art, and Satire in Thomas Rowlandson's "Studies in Comparative Anatomy".]

⁂ ***Provenance: Denston Hall, near Newmarket, Cambridgeshire; Sotheby's, 13th July, 1989, Lot 34..