Lot 260: "NOW LET MAYOR HEWITT PROVE THE POWER OF MAN OVER BEAST" ANTIQUE 1886 Harper's Weekly Full Page Thomas Nast Democratic Party Corruption Cartoon

ANTIQUE 1886 Harper's Weekly Full Page Thomas Nast Image Signed Cartoon Lampooning A Recently Elected NYC Mayor’s Attempt to Rein in Democratic Party Corruption. It is suitable for framing. It is the front page of the Noverber 13, 1886 Issue of Harper's Weekly.

The Portrait is Titled: "NOW LET MAYOR HEWITT PROVE THE POWER OF MAN OVER BEAST". The image measures approximately 11 inches high X 9 inches wide plus borders & Harper's Weekly Masthead. Edges show general handling wear & Harper's Weekly volume removal marks along one side, short closed tears at margins which DO NOT affect image & will be covered by the mat when framed. Paper is lightly age toned but not brittle. Overall the piece is Good Condition.

This cartoon is directed at The Democratic Party's general corruption & the attempt by the "swallowtail" faction to clean up & reform the party. In 1886, Hewitt was elected mayor of NYC when Tammany Hall—which had resumed its control of the Democratic Party in the city—arranged for Hewitt to get the Democratic nomination, despite his being the leader of the anti-Tammany "Swallowtails" of the party. Croker needed a strong candidate to oppose the United Labor Party candidate, political economist Henry George who Tammany feared might reorganize politics in the city along class lines, rather than along ethnic lines from which Tammany drew its power. Hewitt, as Nast feared, was not successful as a mayor, due both to his unpleasant character and nativist beliefs: he refused, for instance, to review the St. Patrick's Day Parade, a decision that alienated most of the Democratic power base. Hewitt also refused to allow Tammany the control of patronage they wanted, and Croker saw to it that Hewittt was not nominated for a second term. Of course corrupt Democrats were one of Nast's pet peeves—-many Republicans were as bad if not worse. Mostly it shows that little has changed in NYC politics in the 130+ years since Nast crusaded for better clean government. As Kurt Vonnegut might say "and so it goes."

Abram Stevens Hewitt (1822-1903) was a teacher, lawyer, an iron manufacturer, US Congressman, and Mayor Of NYC. He is best known for planning the financing and construction of the 1st subway line of the NYC Subway, for which he is considered the "Father of the New York City Subway System".

Thomas Nast (1840-1902) was a German-born American caricaturist and editorial cartoonist considered to be the "Father of the American Cartoon". He was the scourge of Democratic Representative "Boss" Tweed and the Tammany Hall Democratic party political machine & of the Democratic Party in general whom he considered pro-South traitors. He was also strongly anti-Irish & anti-Catholic Church, since in the 19th century the Irish strongly supported the Democratic Party & were predominately Catholic. Nast considered the Catholic Church as a threat to American values. According to his biographer, Fiona Deans Halloran, Nast was "intensely opposed to the encroachment of Catholic ideas into public education". Among his notable works were the creation of the modern version of Santa Claus----based on the traditional German figures of Sankt Nikolaus and Weihnachtsmann----and the political symbol of the elephant for the Republican Party. Contrary to popular belief, Nast did not create Uncle Sam----the male personification of the American people----or Columbia----the female personification of American values----or the Democratic donkey, though he did popularize these symbols through his artwork. Nast was associated with the magazine Harper's Weekly from 1859 to 1860 and from 1862 until 1886. It has been argued by eminent historians that as a political cartoonist, Thomas Nast wielded more influence than any other artist of the 19th century. He not only enthralled a vast audience with boldness and wit, but swayed it time and again to his personal position on the strength of his visual imagination. President Lincoln called Nast "our best recruiting sergeant" for one of his most celebrated cartoons "Compromise with the South", which was directed against those in the North who opposed the prosecution of the American Civil War, as well as, for drawing battlefields in border and southern states. President Grant attributed his victory in 1868 to "the sword of Sheridan and the pencil of Thomas Nast." In the 1872 presidential campaign, Nast's ridicule of Horace Greeley's candidacy was especially merciless. After Grant's victory in 1872, Mark Twain wrote the artist a letter saying: "Nast, you more than any other man have won a prodigious victory for Grant----I mean, rather, for Civilization and Progress." As a crusading civil reformer he helped destroy the corrupt "Boss" Tweed Ring that swindled NYC of millions of dollars. His impact on American public life was formidable enough to profoundly affect the outcome of every presidential election during the period 1864 to 1884.

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Good Condition