William Hogarth (1697-1764) was one of several engravers invited to present illustrations for J. and R. Tonson's edition of Don Quixote (1738). By 1720 Hogarth was engraving on copper and began to produce illustrations for a number of books, among the best of which accompanied the 1726 edition of Samuel Butler's Hudibras. Plans for the Tonson edition, under the patronage and control of Lord Carteret, had been discussed at least since the late 1720s, and Hogarth submitted a series of six designs during this time. For reasons still unclear, his illustrations were not accepted, and perhaps were even rejected in favor of John Vanderbank's engravings. At least one scholar has speculatd that Hogarth was not pleased with the control exerted over the project by Carteret and his agent Oldfield, and may have withdrawn his designs to pursue other projects.
