Sep 26, 2019 - Sale 2517

Sale 2517 - Lot 179

Price Realized: $ 4,500
?Final Price Realized includes Buyer’s Premium added to Hammer Price
Estimate: $ 1,500 - $ 2,500
(PRESIDENTS--1844 CAMPAIGN.) Bucholzer, H; artist. Group of satirical prints on the Polk campaign and his supporter Andrew Jackson. 4 lithographs, each about 14 x 21 inches; moderate wear including several short tears, dampstaining in right margins, old cello tape stains. New York: James Baillie, 1844

Additional Details

"Sale of Dogs." Elderly ex-president Andrew Jackson uses his trusty collared dog Martin Van Buren in a quest to annex Texas, but is offered a pair of new dogs with the faces of Democratic nominees James Polk and George Dallas: "Here, Almighty sir! are a couple of pups well broken, who will come when you whistle for them, & go where you wish. That dog has too much of the fox in him." Polk beat out Van Buren for the Democratic nomination and as president went on to bring Texas into the Union.
"The Little Magician Invoked." Passed-over candidate Martin Van Buren invokes evil spirits using an astrological circle and a satanic pipe, predicting of his rival "You'll find that many folk / Will never vote for Master Polk." Ex-president Andrew Jackson threatens to hang the spirits, while a spooked James Polk remarks "These words remind me of the dream I had when I first heard of my nomination."
"Cleansing the Augean Stable." Whig candidate Henry Clay clears out the manure from the mythical stable, including the Polk-Dallas ticket, Martin Van Buren, and Lady Texas: "Madame Texas, you will go about your business and lurk about these premises no longer. . . . We shall not pay your debts."
"Pilgrims' Progress." Andrew Jackson leads the Polk-Dallas ticket to their presumed demise at Salt River. Dallas exclaims "This is not quite as bad as if we were riding to the gallows.'" Martin Van Buren is dragged along behind them by his tail. Reilly 1844-38, 40, 35, 21. We trace none of these 4 prints at auction, and find only one or two of each in OCLC.

with--a pair of unrelated proof lithographs by Baillie from the same period: [H. Bucholzer; artist.] "Jamie & the Bishop." A satire on the conflicts between Protestant editor James Gordon Bennett and Catholic bishop John Hughes of New York. Proof before letters. [New York: James Baillie, 1844]. Reilly 1844-30 "Consistency, Thou Art a Jewel!!!" Proof before letters. New York, James Baillie, circa 1844. Not in Reilly or OCLC.