Dr. Syntax and the young Couple

In collaboration with the hack writer William Combe, Rowlandson produced the illustrations to the three Tours of Doctor Syntax. The first: In search of the Picturesque, published in book form in 1812, was essentially a humorous satyr on the 'picturesque' tours of the English countryside described by William Gilpin. The success of this publication, which ran to nine editions, led to two further volumes In Search of Consolation, in 1820 and In Search of a Wife in 1820-21.