Call Number:

C1135

Repository:

Princeton University Library: Manuscripts Division

Extent:

• 1 box
• 0.2 linear feet

Language:

English

Preferred Citation:

Citations should be as follows: Thomas Nast Manuscript Collection, Box #, Folder #, Special Collections, Princeton University Library.

Date:

1860-1922 (inclusive)

Creator:

Princeton University. Library. Special Collections and Nast, Thomas, 1840-1902

Form:

Correspondence -- 19th century and Drawings--19th century.

Abstract:

Consists of selected correspondence of American political cartoonist Thomas Nast. Nast's popular artwork influenced presidential elections in the latter half of the nineteenth century, and the letters in this collection reflect both the professional and personal sides of his life.

Thomas Nast was a nineteenth-century caricaturist and editorial cartoonist and is considered to be the father of American political cartooning. Born in Germany, he came to New York in 1846. He began work for Harper's Weekly, and in 1860 went to England for the New York Illustrated News to depict the prize fight between Heenan and Sayers, the famous boxers. He then joined Garibaldi in Italy as artist for the Illustrated London News. Also In the early 1860s, he married Sarah Edwards. He was well known in his time for his political cartoons supporting American Indians and Chinese Americans, and for advocating the abolition of slavery. Nast became a close friend of President Grant, and the two families shared regular dinners until Grant's death. He lived for many years in Morristown, New Jersey, and in 1902 Theodore Roosevelt appointed him as United States Consul General to Guayaquil, Ecuador, in South America, where he died of yellow fever.

The collection consists of selected letters (often illustrated) and a manuscript description of Naples, Italy, by American artist Thomas Nast. Included are a letter to Mr. Lexow of the New York Illustrated News (March 19, 1860) about the Sayers and Heenan fight; seven letters sent (1860) from Palermo, Naples, and Milazzo to W. L. Thomas, an engraver with the Illustrated London News; three letters (1869-1872) to Col. and Mrs. Chipman, heavily illustrated with pen-and-ink drawings of his wife and children, one showing a child looking at a medal of Ulysses S. Grant; and four letters to his wife, Sarah, including a letter from Fortress Monroe after the start of the Civil War when Nast was trying to get to the front. In addition, the collection contains a letter (1896) and two greeting cards (1886, 1895) with pen-and-ink sketches that Nast sent to the journalist Joseph Howard.

Arranged by accession number.