Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1903-04-02
HISTORY OTrr3 CARTOONS
VALUE OF CARICATURE AS REC
oRDs OF POPULAR OPINION.
EarIv Craftsmen Assisted Students in
Obtaining Appreciation Of
Past Politics.


The important role played by caricature in
public lie has been insisted upon by vari-
GUS writers. Mast, Tenniel. Keppler. GILL
raw and even Benjamin Franklin are names
that readily come to mind when examples
of the corrective power of pictorial satire
are sought after. The cartoonist brings
out the main point of an intricate argument
or an ambiguous assertion, a hazy fact, a
point at issue with a force of succinct
statement that makes of his picture sum-
mary review which can be grasped in a mo-
ment.
But there Is also a potentially in the
caricature which Is frequently overlooked.
The concrete and telling expression which
1t gives to certain facts, beliefs and opin-
IONS and it's comments On manners and
customs make 1t not only force in its
day. but also a useful record for later
times The caricature is material for his
tory. The political squib or cartoon of for
mer days helps to explain the general pub
lie attitude as we'll as various shades and
undercurrents of public opinion, especially
in times of extraordinary political ferment.
1t emphasizes facts vaguely known, such
as the details Of local politics. 1t helps in
various ways to round out the pictorial pos
sbilties of the subject. Social satire Is as
obviously a document pour servir to the
student of social history. The manners and
customs of the period. foibles and fads,
vagaries Of costume. social amusements
the language of the day in its colloquial ex
preston, and the many other aspects Of
daily life are preserved for us. The med
iaeval love of the ludicrous has given us
many humorous or satirical comment on
the life Of the time In carvings, and minia-
lures, woodcutS and sculptures.
Interest and Use Of the Caricature.
The interest and use Of the caricature are
shown by it's employment as Illustrative
material in works on social and political
history such as those bNlJohn Ashton and
Joseph Gregg on England. and by John
Grand Carteret on France. or in biogra-
phies such as those tof, Wagner and Berlioz
by Adolphe Julien. Collections Of carica-
lures relating to particular events, such as
the civil war, the Dreyfus case, the Span
ish-American war, or Prince Henry Of Prus-
sia's visit to the United States, or to par
ticular individuals. such as the Kladdera-
datsch volume on Bismarck or the Punch
volume on Beaconsfleld, also illustrate the
possibilities indicated. ,-ir
Studies such as those referred to, OF the
intimate life Of special nations, classes, or
individuals, strongly emphasize the fact
that large proportion Of art works In
terest us because they enlist our sympa-
thies for that always interesting subject
humanity-and that the c6mics art as a con-
tribution to the history Of that subject
pays us his Is Drought
out with special FORGE In books on carica-
ture. such as theJ historical works OF
Thomas Wright. Champfeury. and even
James Parton, who characterized carica-
ture as "a thing OF moment" which,
dying as soon as its moment has passed,
loses all power to interest instantly and
forever''-but added big octave volume to
the photography of the subject.
The spirit Of specialization Identifies GER
tain caricaturists with certain types or
classes: Charles Keene depicted the Eng
lish bourgeois, Phil May has immortalized
certain figures Of lowly life In London,
Schlittgen delineates the German officer,
Henriot the French piou-piou, Monnier,
Daumier and Gavarni have left gallery Of
mint able characters. w. L. Sheppard and
E. w. Kemble have offered the humorous
side of negro life without distortion. The
interest of such special productions, as con-
tributions to social history, is evident.
Prints and the Public Libraries.
1t obviously falls within the province Of
print departments. such as those Of the
Congressional Library, the Boston Museum
OF Fine Arts or the New York Public LII
brary, to preserve material of such evil
dent usefulness. In the print room Of the
New York institution, for example, the
searcher after interesting or useful side
lights on the development of humanity Will
find prints such as the Dutch contemporary
comments on the South Sea bubble, GILL
rays drastic record Of the days of George
III and Pitt and Fox. comic accounts Of
presidential campaigns in the United States,
French impressions Of the vctors of Sedan
and their own fallen emperor. Amsterdam
cartoons of the Boer war, Spanish COM
ments, not over nice on the war OF '9S.
pictures Of the French dry goods clerk of
the restoration, bitter hits at Charles x or
Louis Philippe by Decamps or Philipon de-
lineations Of Whistler or Hugo by contem-
porary laughing philosophers.
However, it is not necessary to continue
to cite instances In order to prove that
there is an element Of distinct future utility
in caricature-using the word In its broad
est sense, as a general term covering all
comic art and pistorial satire. though the
element Of distortion be absent This field
Of art In its totality offers a storehouse of
material which proves Of an ultimate use
fulness extending beyond Its original pur-
pose.