Details
Creator Volck, Adalbert John, 1828-1912, artist.
Title Worship of the North. [graphic].
Publisher [Baltimore] : [A. J. Volck]
Publisher MD. Baltimore. 1863
Date [1863]
Physical Description 1 print : etching ; sheet 21 x 30 cm (8 x 11.75 in.)
Description Graphic cartoon steeped in Confederate bitterness toward the "Republican" North depicting a scene of Northern idolatry of the African American. Worshippers near a mound of skulls surround a blood-stained altar upon which lies the shackled sacrificed body of American youth. The altar, with a bust of Lincoln dressed as a clown overhead, is constructed from Northern principles such as "Puritanism," "Free Love," and "Negro Worship." Behind the altar an African American man idol, barefoot and bare-chested and portrayed in racist caricature, sits upon the "Chicago Platform." Near the idol stands the statue of "St. Ossawattomi" (i.e., John Brown). The worshippers include General Scott, General Halleck and a loot-laden General Butler, as well as Secretary Edwin Stanton, John Fremont, a knife wielding Henry Ward Beecher, a torch carrying Charles Sumner, Horace Greeley with a censer, and Harriet Beecher Stowe, praying and kneeling atop a volume of Uncle Tom's Cabin. Printed in the top corners is "Ego."
Is referenced by Weitenkampf, p. 139
Nevins and Weitenkampf, A Century of political cartoons, p. 100
Murrell, Graphic humour, vol. 1, p. 201
Notes Published in: Sketches from the Civil War in North America (London [i.e., Baltimore]: [the author], 1863-1864), pl. 1.
Issued as plate 1 in Sketches from the Civil War in North America (London [i.e., Baltimore]: [the author], 1863-1864), a series of pro-Confederacy cartoons drawn and published by Baltimore cartoonist Adalbert John Volck under the pseudonym V. Blada. The "first issue" of 10 prints (numbered 1, 2, 5, 6, 7, 12, 15, 16, 21, 24), with imprint "London, 1863" were printed as etchings. The remaining 20 prints (numbered 4, 8, 9-11, 14, 17-20, 23, 25-27, 29, 30, 32, 33, 40, 45) headed "Second and third issues of V. Blada's war sketches" and dated "London, July 30, 1864" were printed as lithographs.
Title and publication information from series at Brown University Library.
Accessioned 1979.
RVCDC
Description revised 2021.
Access points revised 2021.
Digitized by Alexander Street Press for Images of the American Civil War.
Part of digital collections catalog through a grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services as administered by the Pennsylvania Department of Education through the Office of Commonwealth Libraries, and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Tom Corbett, Governor, 2013-2014.
Biographical / historical note Aldabert Volck (1828-1912), i.e., V. Blada, was a prominent Southern cartoonist from Baltimore who is best known for his 1863 work "Sketches from the Civil War," later republished circa 1886 by Porter & Coates in Philadelphia under the title "Confederate War Etchings."
Subject Beecher, Henry Ward, 1813-1887 -- Caricatures and cartoons.
Brown, John, 1800-1859 -- Caricatures and cartoons.
Butler, Benjamin F. (Benjamin Franklin), 1818-1893 -- Caricatures and cartoons.
Frémont, John Charles, 1813-1890 -- Caricatures and cartoons.
Greeley, Horace, 1811-1872 -- Caricatures and cartoons.
Halleck, H. W. (Henry Wager), 1815-1872 -- Caricatures and cartoons.
Lincoln, Abraham, 1809-1865 -- Caricatures and cartoons.
Scott, Winfield, 1786-1866 -- Caricatures and cartoons.
Seward, William Henry, 1801-1872 -- Caricatures and cartoons.
Stanton, Edwin McMasters, 1814-1869 -- Caricatures and cartoons.
Stowe, Harriet Beecher, 1811-1896 -- Caricatures and cartoons.
Sumner, Charles, 1811-1874 -- Caricatures and cartoons.
Abolitionists -- United States.
African American men -- Caricatures and cartoons.
Racism in popular culture.
Slavery -- United States.
Enslaved people -- United States.
Geographic subject United States -- History -- Civil War, 1861-1865.
United States -- History -- Civil War, 1861-1865 -- Moral and ethical aspects.
Genre Anti-abolition prints -- United States -- 1860-1870.
Etchings -- 1860-1870.
Political cartoons -- 1860-1870.
Location Library Company of Philadelphia| Print Department| Political Cartoons - 1863 - Wor [P.2275.6]
Accession number P.2275.6