Sep 27, 2018 - Sale 2486

Sale 2486 - Lot 114

Price Realized: $ 4,250
?Final Price Realized includes Buyer’s Premium added to Hammer Price
Estimate: $ 5,000 - $ 7,500
(PRINTS--CARTOONS.) Miscegenation or the Millennium of Abolitionism. Lithograph, 13 3/4 x 20 3/4 inches; cropped with loss of "Political Caricature No. 2" from top edge and part of pricing information from bottom edge, publisher's name rubbed out from the copyright statement, a few short tape repairs by the edges (most notably a 2-inch closed tear running through the second dialogue bubble along the top edge, and a 3-inch closed tear parallel to the right edge), mount remnants on verso, lacking 1/2 inch from lower left corner. New York: [Bromley & Co.], 1864
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This political cartoon was intended to be a devastating indictment of Lincoln's racial agenda in advance of the 1864 election. The publishers were closely affiliated with the partisan Democratic newspaper, the New York World. To modern eyes, the scene might seem quite idyllic. Several interracial couples enjoy a sunny day at the park, eating ice cream, discussing wedding plans and a woman's upcoming lecture. Two African-American families have white employees--a carriage driver and a babysitter. To the left, Senator Charles Sumner introduces a Miss Squash to the president; she explains that she had once done Mrs. Lincoln's washing "fore de hebenly Miscegenation times." Lincoln bows and answers "I shall be proud to number among my intimate friends any member of the Squash family, especially the little Squashes." A horrified German exclaiming "Mine Got, vat a guntry" is intended to be the only voice of reason. Holzer, Lincoln and New York, page 149; Reilly 1864-38. Only one other example traced at auction, at a Swann sale, 25 February 2010, lot 370.