[Civil War]:

THE HERCULES OF THE UNION, SLAYING THE GREAT DRAGON OF SECESSION.

[New York? Currier & Ives? 1861]. Lithograph, 12" x 17". Light lower margin wear. This imprint does not have "General Scott" directly beneath the picture and preceding the caption as an almost identical version does. Very Good.

"A tribute to commander of the Union forces Gen. Winfield Scott, shown as the mythical Hercules slaying the many-headed dragon or hydra, here symbolizing the secession of the Confederate states. At left stands Scott, wielding a great club 'Liberty and Union,' about to strike the beast. The hydra has seven heads, each representing a prominent Southern leader. The neck of each Southerner depicted is labeled with a vice or crime associated with him" [Reilly].
The Southerners are Toombs, Stephens, Davis, Beauregard, Twiggs, Pickens, and Floyd, labeled variously as Hatred and Blasphemy, Lying, Piracy, Perjury, Treason, Extortion, Robbery.
This is the variant noted by Weitenkampf, omitting the name of Scott in the title.
Reilly 1861-35. Weitenkampf 131. OCLC 191119921 [2- Peabody Essex, Boston Athenaeum] as of November 2023. Not at the AAS online site. Item #39672

Price: $1,750.00