Selling Off! Retiring from Business!! Mr. W. E. Gladstone will Sell by Auction, at the Boer's Head Hotel ... the Whole of the Vast Landed Estates, Goods, Chattels and Effects of John Bull, Esq. ...
London: 1881. Satirical broadside, in the form of a bankruptcy sale poster, mocking Gladstone's conciliatory actions in the peace treaty of 1881 following the First Boer War: "John Bull, Esq. who is retiring from business on account of advancing age and ill-health, induced by recent losses in his TRANSVAAL Venture, comprising three kingdoms (United or otherwise), One Empire, One Dominion, Forty-Eight Colonies and One Suzerainty ...."
The list of numbered lots of properties for sale includes Hong Kong and Singapore (Lot 6); and the British Colonies in Australasia (Lot 9): "this lot abounds in mineral wealth and also offers special attractions to sheep farmers and others. A portion of this property is of immense interest to historians as the scene of the early labours of Arthur Orton."
James & Herschell, Westminster at the lower right. Trimmed close with some minor loss, some cracking at old folds repaired at verso with archival tape, not affecting legibility. Small library stamp at top John D. Banks Imperial Library, Cheltenham. 8 1/2 x 17". National Library: 001434524. OCLC: 561139085. Very good overall. Item #20315
Price: $450.00