Pamphlet published in 1638 by John Taylor. A scurrilous story of a woman scorned and what she and her friends did to the woman in Covent Garden who had spent a night with her husband. What is really interesting is that this picture seems to be the original woodcut that was used in the Discovery of Six Women Preachers” that I blogged about previously. The story even mentions a serving boy who goes for a bowl and razor who features in the bottom left hand corner. Sadly the image is incomplete as the top part is covered by a scale, but it’s obvious that this is the original, there are no alterations in the woodcut and the image makes more sense in the context of this story. Nice costume details on the women’s petticoats too. The woman on the right wears a simple petticoat with bodies joined to the skirts, whilst the two on the left wear waistcoats over the top. The poor woman being whipped in the centre has a petticoat with separate skirts, or at least one where the body can be easily detached. Good selection of pointed coifs too.
The 1640s Picturebook 