Drawn on Stone: Political Prints
from the 1830s and 1840s
December 19, 2005 - March 19, 2006
Philip Sills Exhibit Hall
William Oxley Thompson Memorial Library
1858 Neil Avenue Mall, The Ohio State University
Drawn on Stone explores American political cartooning
during the tumultuous Jacksonian era. The exhibition features
thirty rare satirical lithographs recently acquired by the
Cartoon Research Library with help from the William J. Studer
endowment. This extraordinary collection illustrates the
surge in the creation and distribution of political cartoon
broadsides made possible by the relative ease and speed of
the new print-making process of lithography. Several cartoons
not found in other major print collections are included.
Like their contemporary counterparts, early nineteenth-century
cartoonists used satire, symbols, metaphors and references
to popular literature and theater to comment on domestic
policy and world events, to expose greed and corruption in
the government, to sway voters during an election, and to
criticize the administration for conducting a costly and
unpopular war.
Drawn on Stone is curated by Jenny E. Robb, Visiting
Assistant Curator at the Cartoon Research Library.
