Stultifera Navis: Qua Omnium Mortalium Narratur Stultitia. The Modern Ship of Fools

1807

De Beer Eb 1807 I

London: Printed for William Miller

John Augustus Atkinson (c.1775–1830) was an artist who could draw scenes from life and then engrave them on to plates for publication, or display. While concentrating on military and naval scenes, he also worked on books about costumes. In a break from the military, but not costumes, he produced this delightful hand-coloured foldout engraving (shades of Thomas Rowlandson) for W.H. Ireland’s early 19th century rendition of the Ship of Fools, based on Sebastian Brant’s famous satire of 1494. Note the jesters with bells herding the ‘Fools’ through the archway. Naval matters were obviously hard to dismiss. Austin, an unknown illustrator, has produced a title-page image that depicts the dysfunctional crew finally on the water.