American Revolution.- Rebus.- Darly (Mary, publisher) [Britannia [toe] Amer[eye]ca], hand-coloured engraved rebus, imprint at foot trimmed away (as often), 297 x 203mm., folds, soiled, mounted on a board book cover, [Mary Darly], [6th May, 1778].

⁂ A rare copy of this rebus satirising Lord North's efforts to reconcile with the American colonies. It follows the loss of Burgoyne's army at Saratoga in October, 1777 and the conclusion of a Franco-American alliance on 6th February, 1778. It is 'written' in the style of a letter from a mother to her wayward daughter. Darly published two of these rebuses in May, 1778, the second is a reply from the American colonies, entitled [America toe] her [Miss]taken [Moth]er.

'My dear daughter, I cannot behold without great pain your headstrong backwardness to return to your duty in not opposing all the good I long intended for your sole happiness, and being told that you have given your hand to a base and two-faced Frenchman...'

Literature: Creswell, American Revolution in Drawings and Prints, 730 (ill. p. 307). Prints and drawings in the British Museum. Division I, Political and Personal Satires, V. 5, p. 288. OCLC 61106948, recording only the Library of Congress copy.