Lincoln, Abraham, 1809-1865 -- Caricatures and cartoons
|Plate Number Ten--This cartoon, "Sinbad Lincoln and the Old Man of the
Sea," published in _Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper_, on May 3,
1862, shows the President as Sinbad carrying on his shoulders the Old
Man of the Sea--Gideon Welles, whose course as Secretary of the Navy was
then the cause of much ill-natured comment. We had no navy when the war
began, and Welles had to create one. His way of doing it provoked much
opposition, but he had always the confidence of the President, and so
good a judge as the late Charles A. Dana has told us that though "there
was no noise in the street when he went along, he was a wise, strong
man, who understood his duty, and who was patient, laborious and
intelligent at his task." The generous growth of hair which the artist
has given Welles was not his own. Instead he wore a wig, which was
parted in the middle, the hair falling down on each side, and it was,
perhaps, from his peculiar appearance that the idea originated that he
was old-fashioned in his methods.
[Illustration: 011]
|Plate Number Eleven--This cartoon, "The New Orleans Plum," published in
_Punch_ on May 24, 1862, deals with the capture of that city, and with
it the mouth of the Mississippi--one of the first decisive victories of
the war. The artist, borrowing from the old nursery tale, showed Lincoln
seated in a corner and plucking a plum from the generous pudding in his
lap. Possibly for fear that his design might not be perfectly clear to
the British mind, the artist appended to it the legend: "Big Lincoln
Horner, up in a corner, thinking of humble pie, found under his thumb, a
New Orleans plum, and said,'What a cute Yankee am I!'"
[Illustration: 012]
|Plate Number Twelve--This cartoon, "The Latest from America," published
in _Punch_ on July 26, 1862, aims to make light of the war news sent
out from New York at that time. The President is represented as a
bartender, standing behind a bar on which are bottles inscribed
"Bunkum," "Bosh" and "Brag," and shifting a concoction labelled "The New
York Press" from the glass of Victory to that of Defeat.
[Illustration: 013]
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account