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| Title | John Bull Making Observations on the Comet |
| Creator | Woodward, George M., 1760-1809 (artist) and Rowlandson, Thomas, 1756-1827 (engraver) |
| Publisher | Tegg, Thomas, 1776-1845 |
| Place of Publication | England--London--Cheapside |
| Date | 1807 |
| Caption Text | Caption on Image:
JOHN BULL MAKING OBSERVATIONS ON THE COMET
Woodward Delin
London Printed for Tho. Tegg 111 Cheapside 10th Nov 1807
Rowlandson scul
Price one Shilling Coloured
Dialogue:
[John Bull] Aye--Aye--Master Comet--you may attempt your Periheliums--or your Devilheliums for what I care but take the word of an Old Man you'll never reach the Sun depend on it.
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| Historical Notes | The drawing shows John Bull looking through a telescope. Napoleon appears as the head of a comet, streaking towards the sun which has the head of George III as its center. A frog climbs up the land mass from which Napoleon was launched.
In 1807, the British were preoccupied with worries about Napoleon invading England. Here the caricaturist discounts that worry when he has John Bull comment that no matter what Napoleon tries in his attempts to defeat England, he will never succeed.
Readers would recognize the comet analogy and perhaps even the term "perihelium" (a mispelling of perihelion, the point of a comet's orbit that comes closest to the sun), since a comet had been visible during the autumn and winter of 1807.
Reference source: George #10769
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| Subjects (LCSH) | Political cartoons
History--Caricatures & cartoons
Napoleon I, Emperor of the French, 1769-1821
Napoleonic Wars, 1800-1815
George III, King of Great Britain, 1738-1820
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| Geographic Coverage | France |
| Digital Collection | Napoleonic Period Collection
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| Digital ID Number | NAP018 |
| Repository | University of Washington Libraries. Special Collections Division. |
| Repository Collection | Napoleon Collection |
| UW Reference Number | E7 |
| Object Type | Print |
| Physical Description | Etching, hand colored ; plate mark 24 x 34 cm. on sheet 25 x 35 cm. |
| Digital Reproduction Information | Scanned from original drawing in RGB at 200-400 dpi, saved in TIFF format, changed to indexed color, enhanced and resized using Adobe Photoshop, and imported as JPEG2000 using Contentdm software's JPEG2000 Extension. 2006. |
