[BOTANY BAY] HEATH, William.
New Panorama. A Startling Interrogation.
London, T. McLean, 1829.
Handcoloured engraving, 300 x 410 mm.; in fine condition, framed.
A fine impression of the coloured issue of this rare cartoon, satirising the colony which at this time was desperately trying to attract free immigration. The cashier at the Panorama (presumed to be the Colosseum in Regents Park) asks "Do you wish to go to Hell or Botany Bay? Sir". To which the prospective immigrant replies: "I wonts to go to Bottomy Bay"; a young girl exclaims to her enormously fat mother "La Mama I should like to see the Naughty Place better than any thing".
William Heath is noted by Bénézit in his Dictionnaire: 'on cite aussi de lui des caricatures pleines d'humour sur les moeurs anglaises, vers 1825'.
Separately issued transportation and immigration views are exceptionally scarce, and this is a particularly charming and amusing example in fine condition.
Reproduced (although not attributed, and misdated) by Jonathan King: 'The Other Side of the Coin: A Cartoon History of Australia', p. 23.
