March of Intellect. Lord how this World improves as we grow older, 1829 (hand coloured...

Artwork by William Heath (1795–1840) From 1827–29 Heath used the image of a little dandy holding an umbrella to sign prints, seen here at lower left, which is a reference to Paul Pry, a nosy character in an 1825 play by John Poole. Designed to caricature elements of the Industrial Revolution, this satirical print was one of three by Heath, aimed at the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge. Filled with technological innovations and modern architecture, here steam power is blamed for the breakdown of distinctions between the social classes. Steamboats seen in the background had begun to ply the Thames in 1815. Other inventions include flying machines, a vaccuum tube transporting passengers between London and Bengal, and a bridge linking England and Cape Town. One flying machine, a walrus, wombat or bat, is 'for New South Wales, with convicts'. There is a steam-driven horse called Velocity, carrying five riders; a stagecoach capable of going from London to Bath in 6 hours; a 'quick conveyance for the Irish emigrants' (a cannon shooting people across a large distance, probably to America) and a 'Model for a new church designed by the Mammoths of Taste'.Published by T. McLean 26 Haymarket, London.