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The set of 80 plates, etchings with aquatint, in the first edition of 1799, fine, early impressions before the scratch on plate 45, printed in sepia ink and generally cleanly wiped, on laid paper, with margins, bound in early 19th c. calf Goya's life and artistic career spanned a period of great turbulence in Spain. During the 1790s the country was ruled by the very weak Charles IV, who was dominated by his wife María Luisa and her protégé Manuel de Godoy. Revolutionary ideas from France and America were making themselves felt and the power of the nobility and the Church were being questioned, but these institutions still had enormous power. Goya himself was very much influenced by the Enlightenment, but he was also a product of the contradictory nature of Spanish society. The Caprichos are among his most famous works, and reflect the various forces that shaped the artist. This series of aquatints with etching has long been admired for its moral content as well as its artistry. Goya first conceived of the prints as a series of sueños (dreams) a conceit that dates to the 17th century, and he completed designs for 28 of them. He retained that conception in one of the most famous images from the series, plate 43, El sueño de la razon produce monstruos (the sleep of Reason produces monsters). The author has fallen asleep at his desk and is surrounded by creatures of the night, owls, -- symbols of ignorance -- bats and a lynx with glowing eyes -- a symbol of sight. In contrast to the preparatory drawings for this print, where beams of light still impinge on the space, here the writer is in actual as well as intellectual and moral darkness. He is besieged by the monsters he has conjured up, so much so that an owl has even seized his chalk holder. The Caprichos were made in 1797-98 and in 1799 Goya announced their publication as: [a] collection of prints of extravagant subjects, invented and etched by Francisco Goya .... The author is convinced that censuring human