Andy’s Trip to the West, 1866
For this week’s Non-Partisan Monday, we present in its entirety the 1866 political comic book parody, Andy’s Trip to the West, written by then-popular humorist Petroleum V. Nasby (pseudonym of David Ross Locke), and illustrated by…unknown. (Some have claimed it to be illustrated by Thomas Nast, but the art style doesn’t really match; plus, anything illustrated by Nast would have promoted that fact.) This is one of several versions all published at about the same time, from different printers located in different towns. It makes fun of President Andrew Johnson’s (successor to the assassinated President Lincoln) train tour from Washington, D.C. to Illinois (“the West”), and back, in an attempt to build political support for himself (the trip was a spectacular failure). The comic shows General Grant stealing the attention from the unpopular Johnson.
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— Doug
I always enjoy your site for its great comics related items/links, and especially for the political cartoons and related materials. Reading the book “Impeached: The Trial of President Andrew Johnson and the Fight for Lincoln’s Legacy” by David O. Steward last year (http://www.amazon.com/Impeached-President-Andrew-Johnson-Lincolns/dp/1416547509/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1288118986&sr=8-1), I enjoyed his chapter regarding Johnson’s 1866 tour, but this parody by Nasby is particularly fascinating.
Hi!
Thanks for the additional information & comments. Always good to hear feedback from the readers (and, to know we have some!
Doug