A print of two men shaking hands. On the left is the Prince of Wales; he wears fashionable 1780s costume, including a tailcoat, tight breeches, knee-high boots, a prominent cravat and a bicorn hat. He holds a riding crop in one hand, tucked behind his back. On the right is Charles James Fox, dressed as Falstaff. He is bearded and very fat, and wears a slashed doublet, hose, wide boots, a cloak, a ruff, and a high-crowned hat adorned with two feathers. Below, the title ‘Falstaff & His Prince’ is printed in capitals, and dialogue is printed in small italic letters to either side. The Prince says 'There is a Gentlewoman in this Town, her name is [blank],’ (the name is censored). Falstaff replies (quoting from The Merry Wives of Windsor): ‘Master George I will first make bold with your Money next give me your hand & last as I am a Gent[leman], you shall if you will Enjoy [blank’s] Wife.’
Image: A print of two men shaking hands. On the left is the Prince of Wales; he wears fashionable 1780s costume, including a tailcoat, tight breeches, knee-high boots, a prominent cravat and a bicorn hat. He holds a riding crop in one hand, tucked behind his back. On the right is Charles James Fox, dressed as Falstaff. He is bearded and very fat, and wears a slashed doublet, hose, wide boots, a cloak, a ruff, and a high-crowned hat adorned with two feathers. Below, the title ‘Falstaff & His Prince’ is printed in capitals, and dialogue is printed in small italic letters to either side. The Prince says 'There is a Gentlewoman in this Town, her name is [blank],’ (the name is censored). Falstaff replies (quoting from The Merry Wives of Windsor): ‘Master George I will first make bold with your Money next give me your hand & last as I am a Gent[leman], you shall if you will Enjoy [blank’s] Wife.’

Published the year George, Prince of Wales, achieved his majority, this was the first of many satirical engravings to identify Charles James Fox as Falstaff to George’s Hal.

Boyne contrasts the (relatively) guileless prince with the disreputable Fox, in Elizabethan costume, though the caption – from the Merry Wives of Windsor – identifies his weakness: women.

Though Fox’s girth and licentiousness perhaps made the comparison inevitable, Boyne’s print testifies to Shakespeare’s late eighteenth-century status as a reliable reference point for a widening market of print-purchasers.

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