"The main objection [of the Victorians] to Georgian caricaturists was their indulgence in personality: their bitter attacks; scurrility; impugning of individual character; and ruthless exploitation of private vices to damn public figures. James Gillray was the main culprit. Even the Prince of Wales (later George IV) and Napoleon did not deserve the derision which Gillray regularly visited upon them. In 1851, the Morning Chronicle carefully distinguished between modern cartoons, which were satires, and Gillray's caricatures, which had been "libels" on the subject; they were unfair, damaging, and destructive."
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Henry J. Miller, 'John Leech and the Shaping of the Victorian Cartoon: The Context of Respectability', Victorian Periodicals Review, Vol. 42, No. 3 (Fall 2009), p. 269
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/James_Gillray
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James Gillray
James Gillray (13 August 1756 – June 1815) was a British caricaturist and printmaker famous for his etched political and social satires, mainly published between 1792 and 1810. Many of his works are held at the National Portrait Gallery in London.
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