X-rated cartoons dusted off
ON ONE page Napoleon peeks through a set of curtains to spy on cavorting nudes. On another the Duke of York is in carnal embrace with his diminutive wife. A third depicts George III defecating into a hat.
The bound volume of cartoons by James Gillray, the 18th- and 19th-century artist whose satirical etchings were the forerunner of modern political cartoons, was once considered so obscene it was seized by police.
Yesterday the pornography and obscenity officials in Britain conceded that times have changed and handed it over to the Victoria and Albert Museum. (© The Times, London)
Irish Independent
