Cartoon Prints, British

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Some images are digitized | All jpegs/tiffs display outside Library of Congress | View All

Arrangement and Access

Arrangement | Finding and Viewing Cartoons | Ordering Reproductions

Descriptions for all of the Library of Congress British cartoon prints are available online in the Prints & Photographs Online Catalog. A portion of the descriptions are accompanied by digital images–generally those cartoons for which researchers have requested reproductions. The remaining cartoons are accessed through book catalogs and microfilm.

Because most of the caricatures were purchased shortly after they were printed and have only rarely been handled or exposed to light, the majority remain in pristine condition. To maintain this condition, the Library of Congress asks researchers to work initially with microfilm or, where available, digitized images. Original prints are served only as research needs require, balancing these needs with the preservation needs of the objects themselves.

Arrangement of the Collection

The British cartoons are in three groups:

1. British political cartoon prints, social satires, and illustrated broadsides, 1655-1832, listed in the British Museum's Catalogue of Political and Personal Satires (BMC). (Call number begins with "PC 1")
2. British political cartoons, as described above, which are NOT LISTED IN BMC and which are NOT DATED. Arranged by title. (Call number begins with "PC 2")
3. British political prints, as described above, which are NOT LISTED IN BMC and which ARE DATED. Arranged by date, then by title. (Call number begins with "PC 3")

Finding and Viewing Cartoons

1. PC 1 (Cartoons in BMC)
   • Finding Cartoons: All are described online. They are also described in the Catalogue of Political and Personal Satires (Full citation: British Museum. Dept. of Prints and Drawings. Catalogue of prints and drawings in the British Museum: Division I. Political and personal satires. [London] Printed by order of the Trustees, 1870-1954.) (BMC) P&P reference book collection. 11 volumes.
     Call number: NE55.L7A3 P&P Ref. 17,400 English satiric prints from the British Museum listed chronologically with BMC catalog numbers running consecutively. Cartoons owned by P&P are checkmarked. Partially annotated with LC negative numbers.
     • Vols. 1-4 (1655-1770) not indexed save for a title index at end of Vol. 3, Part 2.
     • Vols. 5-11 (1771 to 1832) fully indexed by titles, people, selected subjects, artists, printsellers and publishers.
   • Viewing: For those not viewable online, use the microfilm of English Cartoons and Satiric Prints, 1320-1832, in the British Museum. Cambridge, England: Chadwyck-Healey, Ltd.; Teaneck, NJ: Somerset House, 1978. 21 reels.
     Call number: Microfilm 83/26(N) - P&P reference microfilm collection The British Museum made this microfilm of its prints. The Library of Congress holds impressions of many of the same prints. The British Museum's prints and the prints held by the Library of Congress may differ in condition or in notations such as "suppressed." The prints are arranged on the microfilm by BMC number. Catalog numbers are listed at the start of each reel; with the corresponding volume no. of BMC given for looking up title, commentary, etc.
2. PC 2 (Not in BMC; undated)
   • Finding Cartoons: All of the descriptions are online, converted from volume 1 of the unpublished 1968 checklist, "British Political and Social Caricatures, 1655-1832, a checklist ...of the cartoons in the Prints & Photographs Division of the Library of Congress which are not in the public catalogs of the British Museum, London." The unpublished checklist, partially annotated with microfilm reel and frame numbers, is available in the P&P reference book collection (Call number: NC1470.M4 vol. 1 P&P Ref). Card indices of artists, publishers, and printsellers are also available in the P&P reading room.
   • Viewing: For those not viewable online, use Microfilm LOT 12022, reel 1, "British Political and Social Cartoons, 1655-1832," not in the British Museum," produced by the Library of Congress' Photoduplication Service, 1970. The microfilm is available in the Prints & Photographs Reading Room, the Lewis Walpole Library, and the Print Room of the British Museum. The microfilm is also available for purchase from the Library of Congress Photoduplication Service (microfilm positive).
3. PC 3 (Not in BMC; dated):
   • Finding Cartoons: All of the descriptions are online, converted from volume 2 of the checklist of British cartoons owned by P&P not listed in BMC. The unpublished checklist, partially annotated with microfilm reel and frame numbers, is available in the P&P reference book collection (Call number: NC1470.M4 vol. 2 P&P Ref). Card indices of titles, artists, publishers, and printsellers are also available in the P&P reading room.
   • Viewing: For those not viewable online, use Microfilm LOT 12022, reels 2-4, "British Political and Social Cartoons, 1655-1832, not in the British Museum," produced by the Library of Congress Photoduplication Service, 1970. The microfilm is available in the Prints & Photographs Reading Roomand the Print Room of the British Museum. The Lewis Walpole Library holds photostats made from the microfilm. The microfilm is also available for purchase from the Library of Congress Photoduplication Service (microfilm positive).

Ordering Reproductions of Cartoons

The Library of Congress Photoduplication Service can produce photographic copies of cartoons; it does not make facsimile copies of the prints.

• Cartoons With Reproduction Numbers If the cartoon already has a reproduction number (usually LC-USZ----), a patron should provide that number to the Photoduplication Service.
• Cartoons With No Reproduction Numbers If the cartoon does not yet have a reproduction number, a patron should cite the original cartoon call number:
  For PC 1: PC 1 + [BMC number] P&P
  For PC 2: PC 2 + [title] P&P
  For PC 3: PC 3 + [date + title] P&P