Homunculus Pseud (1 results)

FIRST EDITION. 4to. Half title, hand-col. front. & plates. Orig. vertical-grained red cloth, borders blocked in blind, front board pictorially blocked in gilt; sl. dulled & rubbed. Armorial bookplate of Henry Frederick, 6th Marquess of Bath. 'An English version of an Eastern tale', forming a satire on the British radical politician Richard Cobden, identified here as the 'wicked magician' Cô-Ab-Deen. At this time Cobden was chiefly associated with his central role in the repeal of the Corns Laws, controversial protectionist laws that kept the price of corn artificially high, and restricted imports. His campaign to repeal the law succeeded in 1846, riling much of the UK's rural Conservative population, which now had to contend with free trade agreements and falling prices. Cobden is depicted in this satire as self-servingly exchanging The Wonderful Lamp of Native Protection, which has bought stability and prosperity, with the destructive Lamp of Free Trade. The authorship of the work is unknown; Van Duzer, in A Thackeray Library identifies this work (p.188), noting that is 'sometimes attributed to Thackeray, but without reason'.