Collection of twelve numbered and captioned comic cards satirizing the diplomatic relations between the United States, Confederate States, Great Britain, France, and Mexico during the Civil War. First nine cards show the British "surly lion" giving a "generous roar," (i.e., the recognition by Great Britain of the Confederacy); which "temporarily astonishes" the "Gallic Cock"; who eventually overpowers the lion; who later weeps "is he not a bird and brother" for a crow, (i.e. an enslaved person of the South) at Exeter Hall; "which he forgets in the embrace of the "Belligerent Wolf of the C.S.A." while stepping on the crow; which leads to his "arming of the wolf"; while the Mexican vulture is garroted by the Gallic cock (i.e., French intervention in Mexico); causing the lion to protect his rams with the introduction of the "Swamp Angel" and Greek fire, (i.e. the bombing of Charleston) by the American eagle; which causes the "grand combat" between the eagle and the wolf. Last three cards predict "to consult history" to see the Union victory of the eagle over the wolf; the eagle vindicating the Monroe Doctrine in Mexico by overthrowing the Gallic cock; and the little child Liberty leading the supplicant British lion and Gallic cock., Attributed to James Queen after Henry Louis Stephens., Title from accompanying wrapper., Date from copyright statement by William A. Stephens., Originally part of a McAllister scrapbook of humorous caricatures and photographs. McAllister Collection, gift, 1886., RVCDC, Description revised 2021., Access points revised 2021., Queen, a Philadelphia lithographer and pioneer chromolithographer known for his attention to detail, served in the Civil War militia from 1862 until 1863, and created several lithographs with Civil War subjects.
Creator
Queen, James Fuller, 1820 or 21-1886, lithographer
Date
1863
Location
Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Henry Louis Stephens Collection [5780.F.55a-l]
