Sep 24, 2020 - Sale 2546

Sale 2546 - Lot 98

Price Realized: $ 281
?Final Price Realized includes Buyer’s Premium added to Hammer Price
Estimate: $ 400 - $ 600
(HUMOR.) Pictorial History of Senator Slim's Voyage to Europe. Numerous illustrations. 32 pages. 16mo, self-wrappers; minimal wear. Albany, NY: Dr. Herrick & Brother, Chemists, circa 1859
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Additional Details

An extended patent medicine advertisement masquerading as an early comic book. The liberal use of "Herrick's Sugar Coated Pills" and "Herrick's Kid Strengthening Plasters" are advocated in every conceivable way, particularly through the testimonials of patients dated from 1858 to September 1859. One of these is from a slave owner from Kentucky who credits Herrick's pills with curing one of his female slaves (page 7).
The graphic novel portion of the booklet tells a very simple story in 16 panels interspersed among the testimonials. Senator Slim embarks on a trip to Europe, is much troubled by rough conditions on board, and in the final panel the "steward recommends a dose of Herrick's Pills and a hot sling." The first engraving is signed "JMcL," suggesting the artist as John McLenan, a well-known caricaturist who worked in this style. Another is signed "Anthony," making popular illustrator Andrew Varick Stout Anthony a candidate as the engraver, although this humble project might have been below his pay grade. 2 copies in OCLC, and one (inferior) copy traced at auction.