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The artist and publisher of this complex caricature are unknown possibly because the subject was controversial. The year 1867 was one of heightened speculation in transportation companies -especially railroads and steamship lines-and this cartoon lampoons the "greedy peddlers" of these stocks. A steamship and a bicycle are showing as pushed aside by railroad interests, represented by five main figures. Reading right to left the largest bundle is carried by Cornelius Vanderbilt who is addressed as "Commodore" by James Fisk, to his right, whose Erie Rail Road was in direct competition with the former. An archetypical Englishman waves his flag and claims to own 40,000,000 shares, and next to him is Jay Gould peddling stocks of the Rock Island Railroad, while a last figure stumbles on the left, born down by the Chicogo and N.W. railroad. Others in the background, standing in the "Street," are claiming ownership of railroads and selling presumably watered stock. At the time this caricature was drawn nobody knew how such financial manipulations would end. $850
Hskl [Haskell]. "Sept. 17th 1878 at 4 o'clock in the morning." Worcester, 1878. Lithograph. 9 ½ x 14. Chip in top right corner, just into neat line; expertly repaired. Old folds and some stains; professionally conserved. Generally good image and condition.
A wonderful but obscure political cartoon from Benjamin Butler's unsuccessful run for Governor of Massachusetts in 1878. Butler was active in the Democratic party and served as state representative in 1853, and as state senator in 1858. In 1859 and again the following year, Butler ran for Governor, again unsuccessfully. As a Major-General in the Union army, Butler became one of the most hated men of the Civil War during his controversial tenure as commander of the occupation forces in New Orleans in 1862. After the war Butler went to Congress now as a Republican, serving from 1867 to 1875 and 1877 to 1879. Throughout this period Butler kept trying for the Governorship of Massachusetts, running unsuccessfully 1971, 1873, 1874, 1878, and 1879. He was finally was elected in 1882.
This cartoon concerns his campaign of 1878. The central figure is Butler shown as a bucking horse, being ridden by "Old Sand Lots" and kicking an "Independent Republican" and an "Independent Democrat." Below this is a scene of a funeral for Butler, who "Died With Governor On The Brain," with a disreputable train of mourners led by a McDavitt and Tom Riley. To the right is a scene of rioting and drunk men climbing into Worcester's Mechanics Hall at 4 o'clock in the morning on Sept. 17th, 1878. The meaning of all this would take extensive research into the events and personages of the election, but even on its surface, this is a terrific print of American politics in the nineteenth century. $425
Thomas Nast's Political Cartoons
Prints by Thomas Nast. New York: Harper's Weekly, 1868-1886. Single page (ca. 16 x 11) and double page (ca. 22 x 16). Wood engravings. Very good condition, unless otherwise noted.
Harper's Weekly, a newspaper in the last half of the nineteenth and early twentieth century, presented a mixture of news stories, gossip, poetry, and most notably, wood-engraved illustrations. Amongst the most famous of the illustrators who worked for the magazine was Thomas Nast, 'father of American political cartooning.' Nast was born in 1840 and immigrated to the United States in 1846 with his family from Bavaria. By early 1862, he had become a war correspondent for Harper's Weekly. His patriotic themes for the Union cause created such attention that President Lincoln cited Nast as his "best recruiting sergeant".
During the first 25 years following the war between the states, Nast became the most significant illustrator of American political and social issues. His pointed cartoons exerted a great impact on public opinion. Every presidential candidate to gain his support won and his stature increased with the successful campaign in 1870-71 to bring down "Boss" Tweed of New York's corrupt Tammany Hall and his political machine. More than a mere cartoonist, Nast was an innovator of political images, popularizing or instituting many now familiar subjects such as the Republican elephant, the Democratic donkey, John Bull, Uncle Sam, and Columbia.
Note: We do have other Nast political cartoons; enquire for further information.
The Republican elephant is shown emerging from a hole labeled "Third Term Trap," a reference to the Democratic protests over a possibthird term for U.S. Grant. The "other" trap is shown as a "Reformed Tammany Hall," of which Nast was very skeptical. $150
The Republican elephant is shown here in a very dire predicament. Already battered and scarred, a characterization which Nast used after that fall's bitter loss of both the Senate and House, the elephant is shown falling from a cliff. The rocks which have become loose and insecure are labeled with the various issues that antagonized and, from Nast's perspective, endangered his party and as well as financial security of the nation. $125
A dog with a ribbon labeled, "Political Communism" stands on its forelegs and holds a bow. A beaver representing the industrial middle class lies mortally wounded by two arrows, with one reading "90 cent silver", and the second, "Income Tax." In the background, a content-looking rhinoceros labeled "Wealth" rubs up against a large safe. The dog is pointing at the rhinoceros as he exclaims, "I aimed at Him." $45
Set as a domestic dispute, Columbia scolds Uncle Sam for his actions regarding the currency issue and the actions of the presiding Cabinet. $40
The quote reads, "The Bloated Rag-Baby Owner. 'Now that we're going to choose another President, you'll be talked about so much that you'll grow quite stuck up again.'" This is a resurrection of one of Nast's more enduring symbols, the rag-baby of inflation. $40
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