Genuine Antique Print, Vanity Fair, Caricature, Top Hat & Tails, Mustache, Duke of Devon-shire, 1902, Politician

Statesman 752: "Education and Defence" (Spencer Compton Cavendish, 8th Duke of Devonshire)

The Duke sits on the House of Lords red button upholstered bench with hands in pockets, legs crossed, fob watch and chain, Ginger-greying beard and mustache with mouth ajar and top hat on head.

Antique Chromolithograph by SPY, Sir Leslie Ward (1851-1922). Ward joined the staff in 1873. He was a major contributor over the 40 years. He took over the magazine after the flamboyant Carlo Pelligrini's death in 1889.

Published by Vincent Brook, Day & Son Ltd for Vanity Fair Magazine, London, 15th May, 1902.

Image size= 35 x 23.5cm (14 x 9 1/3 inch)

Condition = Excellent. Issued with original text

Issued with Certificate of Authenticity

Spencer Compton Cavendish, 8th Duke of Devonshire (1833 – 1908),

Styled Lord Cavendish of Keighley between 1834 and 1858 and Marquess of Hartington between 1858 and 1891, was a British Statesman. He has the distinction of having served as leader of three political parties (as Leader of the Liberal Party in the House of Commons (1875–1880), as of the Liberal Unionist Party (1886–1903) and of the Unionists in the House of Lords (1902–1903).

He also declined to become Prime Minister on three occasions, not because he was not a serious politician but because the circumstances were never right.

Includes Original text: “The noble family of Cavendish ...(who benefited from) the dissolution of the monasteries by Sir William Cavendish, who was the Gentleman-Usher to Cardinal Wolsey...He is a typical Whig as an honest gentleman can be…He is master of Apoptosis who once yawned in the middle of his peroration and ended his speech with the word 'and'".

Chatsworth House, Devonshire

The focus of this Caricature, The Duke of Devonshire, is a portal to a fascinating, dynamic century of British history, the 1500s. The Dukedom is born out of the Era of Henry VIII, Rise of Protestantism, Queen Mary (Queen of Scots) and Elizabeth I.

It starts with the  Elizabeth Talbot & Chatsworth House. She was said  "to become the second most powerful woman in Elizabethan England after the Queen." Her second marriage was to Sir William Cavendish, one of Henry VIII's commissioners who presided over the Dissolution of the Monestaries and purchased what was to become the stately home of Chatsworth House. Her  4th marriage to George Talbot, the 1st 6th Earl of Shrewsbury, continued her influence in the Tudor Period. Talbot was appointed custodian to Mary, Queen of Scots, who was a prisoner at Chatsworth House periodically from 1569 to 1584. How is this relevant today? The Estate and all of its astounding contents amassed during its lively history, was the set of the Pride & Prejudice with Kiera Knightly as Elisabeth Bennet and Matthew MacFadyen as Mr, Darcy, in 2005.