THE GREAT TUMBLE BUG OF MISSOURI, BENT-ON ROLLING HIS BALL

New York: H.R. Robinson, 52 Courtlandt St., 1837. Oblong folio broadside, 17-1/2" x 14." Hand-colored lithograph. Short closed tear and a few light fox spots at blank margins. Mounted to a thin board. Very Good. At upper margin: "N. Tom O' Logical Studies."

"Tumblebugs roll manure into balls as large or larger than themselves. Female adults lay eggs in the balls and bury them to supply food for the larvae" [Garrett, The Dirt Doctor, on line article on the Tumble Bug]
"A caricature of Missouri senator Thomas Hart Benton, as an insect rolling a large ball 'Expunging Resolution' uphill toward the Capitol. The print employs Benton's own metaphor of rolling a ball for his uphill campaign to have a March 1834 Senate censure of then-President Andrew Jackson stricken from the Senate journal. The censure had condemned Jackson's removal of federal deposits from the Bank of the United States as exceeding the President's constitutional power.
"In the cartoon Benton says, 'Solitary and alone and amidst the jeers and taunts of my opponents I put this Ball in motion.' The quotation comes from Benton's 1834 speech given in the Senate, stating his intention to move to expunge the censure. Benton's campaign earned him scorn from the opposition and, initially, little support from friends of the administration. But his resolution was finally passed in January 1837. The cartoon must have appeared shortly after the successful vote, for the ball is inscribed with a 'List of the Black Knights,' which names the twenty-four senators who voted for the resolution" [Reilly].
Reilly 1837-14. Weitenkampf 46. OCLC 299944520 [1- DLC], 945093240 [1- Clements] as of November 2022.