BROWNING (ROBERT, SNR.) Collection of over 170 lively 'grotesque' caricatures, many extensively annotated, depicting characters seen at Bow Street magistrates court, various criminals and their misdemeanours ("Guilty", "Indifference – a child run over – I dare say it was the Brat's own fault", "Brutality – killed on the spot – good on it", "One of the better sort of house breakers", "A Modern Swindler"), portraits of topers, vagabonds and tavern gossips commenting on issues of the day such as tariffs and Walpole's sale ("...You talk of the Strawberry Hill collection – why my grandmother had the very apron that Oliver Cromwell wore when he was a brewer in Huntingdon..."), and an auctioneer ("...a quantity of superior soap!... I can not let it go under 18 pence! – Look at it – handle it – feel it – smell it – in fact gentlemen do any thing but – eat it!..."), five of animals in the Surrey Zoological Gardens including bears and elephants ("Young Bear lying down – seen from above"), one titled "Advice to the Poor Gratis" depicting a gentleman offering 'advice' to a poor man ("...either ride out in the carriage... or lay down & go to sleep on your sofa..."), with accompanying loose engraving, all pasted into an old account book (entries dated 1797), pencil (71), pen (52), pen, ink and wash (51) on 34 leaves, dust-staining and marks, small tears and creasing, 224 x 120mm. and smaller, quarter calf, marbled boards, worn with loss, hand-embroidered loose cover titled 'Browning' in red thread, folio (318 x 204mm.), London, [1830's] 'ONE OF THE BETTER SORT OF HOUSE BREAKERS': A COLLECTION OF CARICATURES BY THE FATHER OF ROBERT BROWNING. Despite enjoying a classical education and with a deep love of literature and art, Robert Browning, Snr (1782-1866), father of the poet Robert Browning, was not encouraged to pursue his talents by his family, and spent the majority of his career as a clerk at the Bank of England. He was a talented artist and, as our quickly-drawn portraits show, he had a keen eye for caricature and the grotesque in the tradition of Rowlandson and Gillray. These insightful sketches, the subjects mostly shown in profile, are coupled with humorous narratives, and are clearly drawn from Browning's real-life experiences. Provenance: Mary Lemann (née Earles, 1814-1901), sister of William Earles (1813-1836, see lots 182 and 183); thence by descent.