1785

Courtesy of the Print Collection, New York Public Library

The INTERVIEW between TOM JONES and SOPHIA WESTERN

London. Publish'd as the Act directs, June 13th 1785, by R. Sayer & J. Bennett, Map, Chart, & Printsellers, No. 53 Fleet Street

Sophia in a rich gown and feathered hat sits on a couch and listens intently to Tom Jones who has fallen to one knee and clasps her right hand. On her lap, she holds a closed fan in her left hand. Against the wall below a pair of ornate oval mirrors sits a sideboard with two wine decanters, goblets, and a plate of grapes and other fruit, forming a backdrop for the couple. To the far left and behind the kneeling Jones, two gentlemen, likely the Squires Allworthy and Western, can be seen through an open door approaching the house through a garden. The subtext places the scene at the end of the novel where Tom proposes: "O! My Sophia, am I never to hope for forgiveness?"

The New York Public Library impression is cropped or a proof. The inscription and date are from other surviving copies.

32 x 24.5 cm.
New York Public Library (untitled, without date or publisher, MEZYRK Anon und.43)

Courtesy of the Print Collection, New York Public Library

The Amouroso

The scene is a park with a lovely young lady walking her lapdog. A portly older man with cane turns to gaze fondly at her, his right hand thrust into his vest over his heart. The subtext is his: "Oh! the days when I was young." Other copies of the impression include the inscription trimmed from this print: "Pub'd Sepr 1, 1785 by R. Pollard, Engraver No 15 Braynes Row Spa Fields."

31.2 x 25.1 cm.
New York Public Library (Satyr p. 169)