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Artist/Maker
Thomas Nast
(American, born Germany, 1840 - 1902)
Datepublished April 16, 1881
MediumWood engraving on newsprint
DimensionsComposition: 10 7/16 × 9 3/8 in. (26.5 × 23.8 cm)
Sheet: 15 15/16 × 11 1/4 in. (40.5 × 28.6 cm)
Credit LineGift of Professor Emeritus Jay Williams, Class of 1954
Object number2019.13.554
Not on view
DescriptionCaptioned "SENATOR MAHONE. 'Caesar had his Brutus, Charles the First his Cromwell, George the Third his Patrick Henry, and the Bourbons' (there was a cry of 'Treason! / Treason!')--he paused a moment, and said--'may profit by their example. If that be treason, make the most of it. Give me RIDDLEBERGER, or give me death.' / N.B.--Republicans, a straw has broken a camel's back before." typeset beneath title in black ink. In the center of the composition a man stands on top of an elephant on its back. A blanket the man is standing on reads "Republican / Pachyderm." and a sack next to the man reads "Debts / $ / Repudiate" and has a tag reading "Dis-honest / Count." A box on the elephant's head reads "Votes" and has a tag reading "Honest / Count." Crowds of people in the background.
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Additional Details
Provenance
2019: Hamilton College (Ruth and Elmer Wellin Museum of Art), by gift of Jay G. Williams.
Markings
Pencil inscription in upper right corner of sheet reads "Coffin"; pencil inscription in lower right corner of sheet reads "#1904 JGW".
Signature
Signed "Th Nast" in block at lower left composition.
Inscribed
Title typeset beneath image in black ink, Publisher banner headline typeset above image in black ink: "Harper's Weekly / Journal of Civilization / Vol. XXV.-No. 1268.] / New York, Saturday, April 16, 1881. [Single Copies Ten Cents. / $4.00 Per Year, In Advance. / Entered according to Act of Congress, in the Year 1881, by Harper & Brothers, in the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington."
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