Satire on the gullible; frontispiece to Charles Gildon, "History of the Athenian Society" showing a table behind which sit twelve men (A), one a poet, one a physician and one a lawyer, each with a paper in front of him; on the other side of the table, men and women deliver notes with their enquiries. They include: a lady in a mask (B); another with a lapdog (C); a gentleman holding a cross-staff pointing towards the sky (D); a sailor (E); a geometrician (F) who examines a globe by means of a compass and scale; a lawyer (G). Below is a less genteel crowd (H), including many women, two of whom are being beaten by men, and another who herself beats a man; the latter cries out, "Help, help noble Athenians"; to their left, a man (I) is prevented by an angel from stabbing himself and another prepares to hang himself. Below is a country road with horses and carriages and views of Oxford and Cambridge on either side. At the right hand end of the table, a man (K) delivers a coffee pot to the members of the Society. In the upper register, left, a representation of the fable of the "catspaw": a monkey (L) forces a cat to take nuts from a brazier, beside which is a post office stamp for letters, and above a view of Athens; on the right, is an emblematic view (M) with a mermaid, a watchtower or still, a flying dragon, salamander, a shooting star, three suns and a pyramid, and above a view of Rome; in the centre is the title within a cartouche supported by angels and surmounted by a raven (N; the publisher's shop sign)   1692
<br>Etching and engraving
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<p>Print made by: Frederick Hendrik Van Hove
</p>
<dl><dd>Published by: John Dunton</dd></dl></div>
1692<div style="display: none;">date QS:P571,+1692-00-00T00:00:00Z/9</div>
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