A satire ridiculing the installation of Lord Grenville as the Chancellor of Oxford University on July 3rd, 1810. The installation followed a divisive election in which Lord Eldon opposed Lord Grenville on political and religious grounds. Opponents like Gillray saw Grenville’s installation as a triumph for Catholic Emancipation. Here Grenville rises in balloon over a vast applauding crowd in Oxford. Many of the faces in the crowd are indentifiable politcal figures: Buckingham, Stafford, M.A. Taylor, Erskine, Tierney, Holland, Grey, Sidmouth, Cholmonderly, Whitbread, Watkin Williams-Wynn, Fingall, Sheridan etc.

• Artist: Gillray, James, 1756-1815.
• Title: Tentanda via est qua me quoque possim tollere humo. Virgil, Geor. [graphic] : He steers his flight aloft, incumbent on the dusky air that felt unusual weight. Par. Lost. Lib. I, l. 225 / J. Gillray, fect &c.
• Published: London : Publish’d August 8th, 1810 by H. Humphrey, 27 St. James’s Street, [8 August 1810].

Catalog Record & Digital Collection

Acquired November 2011