1-150-851 - The Cartoon Collector/Heritage-Images

'Endymion', 1880. Disraeli, Earl of Beaconsfield, is the former Conservative Prime Minister. Now in opposition, he had used his free time to publish what would be his final novel, Endymion. In Greek mythology, Endymion is a beautiful young man loved by Selene, the Moon Goddess, who granted him eternal sleep so that he would remain forever young. In the early 1800s, Keats had published his epic poem, Endymion, which portrayed him as a 'brain-sick shepherd prince', which probably explains why Disraeli is depicted holding a shepherd's crook. From Punch, or the London Charivari, December 12, 1880.