Scarce, iconic, & fantastic Abraham Lincoln lithograph cartoon,?The Political Gymnasium

Scarce, iconic, & fantastic lithograph Abraham Lincoln cartoon, The Political Gymnasium

[Abraham Lincoln] [Louis Mauer?] The Political Gymnasium. New York: Currier & Ives, 1860. Lithograph broadside, 18 x 13-1/2 inches.

This scarce and iconic lithograph is a detailed, humorous "parody on the field of presidential candidates and their supporters in the 1860 campaign." Bell and Everett, for the Constitutional Union Party, are there: Bell, a muscle man, holds Everett aloft on a barbell. Horace Greeley struggles to do a pull-up in his effort to gain the New York governorship, while Lincoln is easily astride his own bar (wooden rails) offering helpful advice: "You must do as I did, Greely, get somebody to give you a boost. I'm sure I never could have got up here by my own efforts." The New York Courier's James Watson Webb does a backward somersault in the foreground.

The broadside evidently issued after the parties' nominating Conventions, because Seward is depicted as a cripple, "on crutches and with bandaged feet." Breckinridge and Douglas, "the two sectional Democratic candidates compete in a boxing match."

Auction records for the last couple of years show a colored example with trimmed right margin selling for $8,125 and a nice but sooty uncolored example for $5,250. (Both sold by Heritage.) Measures 18 x 13-1/2 in. and is an ideal candidate for framing. Overall Near Fine. Professionally cleaned & mended. (Closed tear crosses most of Seward's midsection.)