AMERICA. A JOURNAL FOR AMERICANS. DEVOTED TO HONEST POLITICS AND GOOD LITERATURE.
Chicago: Slason Thompson & Company, 1889-1891. 4to. 24 issues, each 32 pages. Beginning 29 August 1889 [Vol. II, No. 74] and ending 22 January 1891 [Vol. V No. 17.] Original printed and illustrated wrappers, Thomas Nast's illustration of Lady Liberty on front wrappers [signed in facsimile "Th. Nast"]; illustrated title pages [signed in facsimile "Junius"].
"A general weekly, founded by Slason Thompson, whose political views included opposition to immigration, suffrage, and the Catholic church" [Lomazow 969]. It was "Published Every Thursday." Many of the cover cartoons feature vicious caricatures of Irish [and sometimes German] immigrants.
Each issue contains a centerfold, double-page comic illustration, explicitly and usually anti-Irish and/or anti-Catholic. The 29 August 1889 issue features Nast's double-page illustration, "Brave Pat-Riot and So Safe. As long as the Rain of American Dollars Pours into His pocket, His Reign Will Continue." The 26 September 1889 issue is about the "Irish America State Department, The Strangest Political Bed-Fellows on Record." An infirm Irishman lies in bed, covered by a blanket on which is written, "Erin Go Kill." And so on.
Several well-known authors make appearances, such as Charles Lummis (26 September 1889), Eugene Field (19 December 1889), and the Irish Fenian ex-convict John Boyle O'Reilly (7 November 1889). Agnes Leonard Hill and Harry B. Smith were regular contributors. A 31-year-old aspiring politician named Theodore Roosevelt contributed "College Men in Politics" to the 24 April 1890 issue, apparently its sole publication.
Lomazow 969. Not at AAS, Boston Athenaeum, Huntington, NYPL, LCP. Item #41523
Price: $1,250.00