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"In Beetles' catalogue this illustration bears the caption, 'The Mutton was bad', but in Everybody's Boswell the illustration (opposite page 414) has the caption 'He scolded the waiter,' a direct quotation from Boswell's text on this page. Shepard first wrote on the reverse of the illustration 'Scolded the waiter,' but crossed it out and underneath wrote 'The mutton was bad', perhaps thinking this would be more eye catching. However, Bell & Son the publishers obviously picked this up and in the book gave it the caption taken from the text thus conforming to Shepard's usual practice of choosing one from the text, which he would then illustrate. The reason Johnson had scolded at the waiter was because he considered the mutton 'ill-fed, ill-killed, ill-kept, and ill-dressed. It would appear that it was indeed bad!"
-Christopher Fyfe
8 & 10 Ryder Street, St James’s, London SW1Y 6QB
gallery@chrisbeetles.com
020 7839 7551
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