This book contains 101 of Hogarth's finest and most important engravings, including all the major series or "progresses": "The South Sea Scheme," A Harlot's Progress, "A Midnight Modern Conversation," A Rake's Progress, Before and After, Marriage à la Mode, Industry and Idleness, "The March to Finchley," The Four Stages of Cruelty, "Time Smoking a Picture," "Tailpiece," and many more, including ten study sketches and paintings that show how the final works evolved.

Sean Shesgreen, a foremost authority on Hogarth, has consistently selected the best states of the plates to be used in this edition and has carefully introduced them, commenting upon the artist's milieu and the importance of plot, character, time, setting, and other dimensions. A most important aspect of this book, found in no other Hogarth edition, is the positioning of the editor's commentary on each plate on a facing page. With the incredible and sometimes overwhelming amount of detail and action going on in these engravings, this is a most helpful feature.