Creator |
Newdegate, Charles Newdigate, 1816-1887. |
Contributor |
Warwick, Henry Richard Greville, Earl of, 1779-1853, former owner. |
Title |
Sketches for the Washington Races in October 1840 [graphic]: British steeds of your speed I have not a doubt, but if Yankees
an't stouter they are as stout, a black jock, in looks so much like a monkey, rides a good horse as an ape rides a donkey
/ By an eye witness; C.N. Newigate ael et lithog.
|
Publisher |
[London?] |
Publisher |
Eng. London. 1840 |
Date |
[ca. 1840] |
Physical Description |
3 prints in 1 portfolio : hand-colored lithograph ; sheet 58 x 38 cm (23 x 15 in.) |
Description |
Portfolio containing three prints depicting African American men jockeys, portrayed in racist caricature, speaking in the
vernacular, and attired in long underwear, during key moments from a two-mile heat at the Washington Race Course in Charleston,
South Carolina. Pl. 1 shows the beginning of the race with three jockeys reigning in and spurring on their horses. Caption
reads: At the tap of the drum they jump off from the stand, Be the track deep in mud or heavy with sand, At a pace which at
once makes fast ones extend, An e'en the best winded cry bellows to mend. Pl. 2 shows two jockeys racing past a fence as one
prepares to whip his mount that trails behind. Caption reads: And now they have reach'd the third mile, second heat, The mare
is still going, the horse is dead beat; Say Sambo "Me know how Mass him do it, so me gib him de whip, and make him stick to
it." Pl. 3 shows the horse previously in the lead winning the race in a stagger by the judge's stand filled with well-dressed
gentlemen. The other jockey races in from behind. Caption reads: Now the Winner comes in decidely blown, Tho 'ere two miles
were done the race was her own, but they go the whole hog in this western clime, When they've beaten the field they run against
time. The Washington Race Course, also known as the Charleston Race Course, was developed by 1792 and served as the one-mile
track for the South Carolina Jockey club annual one-week races in early February. The jockeys were usually enslaved men and
the races were a series of two, three, and four mile heats run by the same jockeys and horses. The track closed circa 1900.
|
Notes |
"Eye witness" attributed as conservative British politician Charles Newdigate Newdegate. |
|
Inscribed on front cover: the Lord Brook. Sir Richard Henry Greville, 3rd Earl of Warwick was known as Lord Brook in his later
years.
|
|
Plates numbered in upper right corner: Pl. 1; Pl. 2; Pl. 3. |
|
Purchased with funds from the Albert M. Greenfield Foundation. |
|
RVCDC |
|
Description revised 2021. |
|
Access points revised 2021. |
|
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 the Commonwealth Libraries, and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania,
Tom Corbett, Governor, 2013-2014.
|
Subject |
African American jockeys -- South Carolina -- Charleston. |
|
African Americans -- Caricatures and cartoons. |
|
Horse racing -- South Carolina -- Charleston. |
|
Racism in popular culture. |
Geographic subject |
Charleston Race Course (Charleston, S.C.) |
Genre |
Caricatures -- 1830-1840. |
|
Lithographs -- Hand-colored -- 1830-1840. |
|
Portfolios -- 1830-1840. |
Provenance |
Warwick, Henry Richard Greville, Earl of, 1779-1853, former owner. |
Location |
Library Company of Philadelphia| Print Department| *albums (flat) [P.2010.8.1-3] |
Accession number |
P.2010.8.1 |
|
P.2010.8.2 |
|
P.2010.8.3 |