Old 1876 political cartoon engraving from the magazine Harper's Weekly, April 8, 1876. Caption: THE REIGN OF THE PRESS. Illustration by Thomas Nast. The cabinet member inquires whether the war with Spain is over because he would like to make arrangements for signing the Treaty Of Peace. THE ARTIST: Thomas Nast (1840-1902). Considered the greatest American political cartoonist, he is most often remembered for his cartoon campaign in the 1870s against Boss Tweed and New York's corrupt Tammany Hall political machine. After Nast portrayed Tweed and the Tammany Ring pointing at each other in answer to the question, "Who stole the people's money?" Tweed is reported to have demanded, "Stop them damned pictures. I don't care what the papers write about me. My constituents can't read. But, damn it, they can see pictures." Nast was offered a half-million dollars to leave New York to study art in Europe but that only increased his determination. Five years later, in 1876, another cartoon by Nast would be used by Spanish authorities to identify Tweed after his escape from New York. Although his contribution to bringing down the Tweed Ring would remain the high point of his career, Nast's influence on American political culture went far beyond and continues today. Along with the Tammany Tiger, Nast created the G.O.P. Elephant, popularized the Democratic Donkey, and was the first to portray Santa Claus as the jolly, rotund, red-nosed character that is so familiar today. Nast's career continued into the 1890s but after his departure from Harper's Weekly in 1886 he worked primarily on oil paintings and book illustrations. As Arthur Bartlett Maurice notes in his biographical sketch, it was not uncommon by 1902, when Nast was appointed consul general at Ecuador, for people to refer to him as "the late Thomas Nast." Although his major contributions to the art of political cartooning were all behind him, Nast's work inspired many if not all of the new generation of political cartoonists who worked for the daily press in the 1890s and early 1900s.-Jim Zwick, History of Political Cartooning. SIZE: 11" x 16". ****** We provide in-house shipping. Low shipping costs! Combine items to save even more! Click on the Shipping tab below for details.

Excellent condition with no damage, just some light handling wear. Text only on the reverse.