| Title |
Cunicularii, or The Wife men of Godliman in
Consultation |
| Artist |
William Hogarth |
| Date |
1726 |
| Medium |
Etching |
| Location |
The Newberry Library |
Mary Toft, a woman from the small town of Godliman (also called
Guildford), claimed in the fall of 1726 to have given birth to eighteen
rabbits in order to gain fame and wealth. Hogarth pokes fun at the
gullibility of the local doctor (B) and the royal anatomist and
surgeon (A and C) who inspect Toft in a London bagnio, where people
come to witness the monstrous spectacle. The scene's other characters
conspire in the plot, which dupes even the most educated men in
England.
| Title |
The Doctors in Labour; or a New Whim Wham
from Guildford |
| Artist |
Anonymous |
| Date |
1726 |
| Medium |
Etching and engraving |
| Location |
The Newberry Library |
This anonymous print illustrates in detail the rise and fall of Mary
Toft. Her ruse eventually gained her passage to the city. But even
after her masquerade was revealed, her fame as a public spectacle
- as well as the infamy of the deceived doctors - continued for decades.
|
