Cambridge Broadsides : A New Coat of Arms

Poley, John Weller -1799

Cambridge Broadsides

<p style='text-align: justify;'>An unrecorded issue of a satirical coat of arms, relating to an order prohibiting undergraduates from socialising in dining clubs. The Latin motto may be translated as “Enquire unfed, young men”.</p><p style='text-align: justify;'>Other copies of this coat of arms, including two held in the University Archives as part of the records of The Family dining club, show a different drawing of the same design. They also bear the legend “Etched by I.B.” under the scroll, and the imprint of H. Humphrey dated a week later. These copies, one of which is coloured, are also shown. The first copy may have been a trial run, improved for the published version.</p><p style='text-align: justify;'>The design appears to have been the work of John Weller Poley (1755-1799), of Boxted Hall, Suffolk, a fellow of Queens’ College. A preliminary drawing in the British Museum bears the inscription “ex dono Vir[i] Reverendi J.W. Poley Pict:” (the gift of the Reverend J.W. Poley, artist). The engraver of the later version was John Barlow. <br />Will Hale, Rare Books Specialist, CUL</p>