‘Martin’s Bill in Operation’, 1824

Description

Mounted hand coloured etching and aquatint entitled ‘Martin’s Bill in Operation___’, drawn by George Cruikshank, etched by anon, and published by J. Walker in 1824.

‘Martin’s Bill in Operation___’ shows three men, including William Kitchiner and Dr Eady, sitting at a table eating oysters, while Richard Martin raids the premises followed by a constable. Martin’s Bill, the first Cruelty to Animals Act, was brought in in 1822.

Martin was well known for bringing actions for cruelty against the poor and then paying the fines himself. William Kitchiner M.D. was an epicure and a writer on cookery. He edited song collections and composed the operetta “Love among the Roses” (1822). ‘Dr’ Eady was a well-known quack whose remedies were much advertised.

One wall in the room has shelves inscribed “GOOD LIVING” filled with food. The other wall, the “LARDER OF DEATH”, has shelves of wet and dry drug jars, shop rounds and bottles, with labels “OPIUM”, “Oxalic Acid”, “Calomel”, and a seed box “Gamboge”. There is a