[Rarebooks] FS: 1884 Satiric Funeral Card for James G. Blaine’s Presidential Hopes

[Joslin Hall Rare Books]

 From our new Recent Acquisitions catalog
<http://www.joslinhall.com/Catalog383.pdf>

1884 Satiric Faux Funeral Card for James G. Blaine’s Presidential Hopes.

A rather wonderful faux funeral announcement for the death of perennial 
Presidential hopeful James G. Blaine’s Presidential Hopes- “The Plumed 
Knight’s Funeral - Hastened to Death by Ben. Butler’s Spoons. Deceased 
Nov. 4, 1884. Internment in the Dishonored and Decayed Politicians’ 
Cemetery”. This is illustrated with a woodcut featuring two coffins 
flanking a plumed hearse driven by a skeleton in full frock coat, 
followed by a procession of carriages. Would that all political dreams 
died this dramatically.

Despite the rather dire tidings shown here, the subject of all this, 
James G. Blaine [1830-1893] had a successful and varied political 
career, if you don’t count that whole never becoming President thing. Or 
the constant corruption scandals. Hey, no career is perfect. As a 
tireless Republican politician, Blaine represented Maine in the House of 
Representatives [1863-1876], was Speaker of the House [1869-1875], 
served in the Senate [1876-1881], and was Secretary of State twice 
[1881, 1889–1892. He (unsuccessfully) sought the GOP Presidential 
nomination in 1876 and 1880, and was finally voted the party nominee in 
1884. Blaine’s nickname ‘The Plumed Knight’ came from a nomination 
speech by Illinois orator Robert G. Ingersoll at the 1876 Presidential 
Convention, when Ingersoll sought to deflect corruption charges swirling 
around Blaine and declared, “Like an armed warrior, like a plumed 
knight, James G. Blaine from the state of Maine marched down the halls 
of the American Congress and threw his shining lance full and fair 
against the brazen foreheads of every traitor to his country and every 
maligner of his fair reputation”.

Unfortunately for Blaine, the later release of a batch of secret letters 
proved the charges to be true, and the phrase with which he closed most 
of the incriminating correspondence, “kindly burn this letter”, became a 
popular epithet. Blaine’s loss to Democrat Grover Cleveland in the 
election of 1884 was especially bitter, because Benjamin F. Butler, an 
old foe from their days together in the House of Representatives, ran as 
a third party candidate. Butler, a former Civil War general and 
Massachusetts governor, had an even longer and more distinguished 
history of corruption than Blaine; his nickname ’Spoons’ arose from an 
unfortunate incident regarding the seizure of silverware in New Orleans 
during the Civil War. He was suspected of attempting to win the 1884 
election by making deals with Democrats in some states and Republicans 
in others and was specifically said to have taken a $25,000 bribe from 
Blaine, which certainly helped neither man’s electoral prospects. But 
hey, honesty isn’t everything- oops, I meant ‘winning’, winning isn’t 
everything…

Card. 7.25”x4”. Minor soil, three mounting tab remnants on the back.  
[44010]  $175

Picture =>

<http://www.joslinhall.com/images440/th-44010-cover.jpg>




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