The Works of William Hogarth: In a Series of Engravings: With Descriptions, and a Comment on Their Moral Tendency

John Trusler's 1747 volume stands as a remarkable time capsule: a contemporary's guide to understanding William Hogarth through the moral lens of the 18th century. Here is Hogarth interpreted not as we might interpret him now, but as his own era saw him: as a moralist who wielded his burin like a sermon, warning readers against the snares of vice, folly, and social degeneration. Trusler walks readers through Hogarth's biography, from the silversmith's workshop to the artist's marriage and early struggles, framing these details as prologue to a revolutionary visual project. The heart of the volume examines major series like 'The Harlot's Progress' and 'The Rake's Progress' sequences that function as cautionary tales, each plate a moral tableau condemning the wages of sin. Trusler's commentary reveals what 18th-century viewers saw in these images: not merely clever satire, but ethical instruction dressed in the language of visual comedy. For modern readers, the work offers something rare: access to the original reception history of one of England's most morally complex artists, seen through eyes that shared his world.