Lot 223: Attributed to James Akin (American

Attributed to James Akin (American, 1773-1846), "The Pedlar and his Pack or the Desperate Effort, an Over Balance", 1828, Philadelphia, hand-colored etching with aquatint, the cartoon showing Binns being crushed by the weight of the coffins, with Henry Clay, John Quincy Adams and other leading candidates, image (including text) 9 5/8 in. x 14 in., sheet 10 1/2 in. x 15 1/2 in., attractively framed.
Note: This rare cartoon shows the paradoxical effect that negative attacks on Andrew Jackson were having in the famous campaign of 1828. An editor-publisher in Philadelphia named John Binns had published several harsh hand-outs called "coffin hand bills" that accused Jackson of arbitrary executions of American militia volunteers and Native American prisoners, as well as violent episodes from Jackson's personal history. The hand bills failed, though it isn't clear whether it was because they exaggerated Jackson's excesses or because an important portion of the population approved of the implied excesses. All this, though hardly altogether false, had the effect of increasing Jackson's popularity.