A Rake's Progress A Rake's Progress A Rake's Progress is a series of eight paintings by 18th-century English artist William Hogarth. The canvases were produced in 1732–34, then engraved in 1734 and published in print form in 1735. The series shows the decline and fall of Tom Rakewell, the spendthrift son and heir of a rich merchant, who comes to London, wastes all his money on luxurious living, prostitution and gambling, and as a consequence is imprisoned in the Fleet Prison and ultimately Bethlem Hospital (Bedlam). The original paintings are in the collection of Sir John Soane's Museum in London, where they are
Cowdray engravings of King Henry VIII at Marquison", "The Siege of Boulogne by King Henry VIII", "The Encampment of the English forces near Portsmouth" and "The riding of King Edward VI from the Tower of London to Westminster". Philip Yorke, the Earl of Hardwick and a keen antiquarian, proposed producing engravings of the paintings in the 1760s. His colleague, the antiquarian Sir Joseph Ayloffe, was spurred on by his interest and convinced the Society of Antiquaries to record them as engravings, as part of a longer series of historical prints produced by the society. The "Encampment of the English Forces near Portsmouth"