La decouverte ou la femme franc maçon
published by Samuel Cooper
1771
British Museum 1868,0808.4456
On the table on the left is a piece of paper inscribed "A Policy 25 P Ct On the Chr D'Eon Man, or Woman," and two books, "Lettres du Chr D'Eon", "L'Hist. du Chr D'Eon." On the wall behind are two framed pictures. That on the left represents Mary Toft giving birth to rabbits, a ruse by which she duped numerous experts. That on the right shows the "bottle conjurer," a performer who was to jump into a bottle before a paying audience at the Haymarket Theatre. Between the pictures is a military hat and sword, a reference to the bottle conjurer episode in which William Augustus, Duke of Cumberland lost his sword in the melee at the Haymarket when the audience realized they had been gulled. The bust on the left is that of the Chevalier's friend John Wilkes, said to have been profiting from bets made on the Chevalier's sex.
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