[American Humor].

Exhibition of Paintings and Works of Art . . . [caption title].

[N. p., but certainly America, ca. 1872]. Handbill broadside (8.88 x 5.88 inches), printed in two columns. Ample contemporary autograph pencil annotation on recto and verso. A trifle foxed, worn, and soiled; in good to very good condition. Item #22627

“No pains or expense have been spared to make this collection one of the best in the country. That famous individual, Elder Pennibacker, from the Kentucky Cross Roads, has kindly consented to be present in this Gallery of Art. Admission - - - - - 10 Cents.” The allusion to a minor character in the Petroleum V. Nasby universe suggests a satirical intent, and the pencil annotations to the bare list of 64 exhibits bears out this suspicion—an “Antique edition of Cooper’s Works, (With Illuminated Plates)” is glossed on the verso as “a parcel of Oyster Kegs,” while “Sumpter” is explained in the margin and again on the verso as “some Tar in a dish.” (The punning goes on throughout.) A note at the foot of the text suggests this was no mere mental rebus exercise, but an actual exhibition—after item 61, “So much Mr. Howell did no see in a separate Department by Curtain.”.

Price: $250.00