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Image: bibliographic info follows

TITLE:  Congressional Pugilists

CALL NUMBER:  PC/US - 1798.A000, no. 1 (A size) P&P

REPRODUCTION NUMBER:  LC-USZ62-1551 (b&w film copy neg. of first state)
LC-USZ62-9242 (b&w film copy neg. of second state)

SUMMARY:  A crude portrayal of a fight on the floor of Congress between Representative Matthew Lyon of Vermont and Representative Roger Griswold of Connecticut. The row was originally prompted by an insulting reference to Lyon on Griswold's part. The interior of Congress Hall is shown; as are Speaker Jonathan Dayton and Clerk Jonathan W. Condy (both seated), Chaplain Ashbel Green (in profile on the left), and several others. Griswold, armed with a cane, kicks Lyon, who grasps the former's arm and raises a pair of fireplace tongs to strike him. Below are the verses: "He in a trice struck Lyon thrice / Upon his head, enrag'd sir, / Who seiz'd the tongs to ease his wrongs, / And Griswold thus engag'd, sir."

MEDIUM:  1 print: Etching on wove paper; 16.2 x 22.1 cm (plate)

CREATED/PUBLISHED:  1798.

NOTES:
[Published in Philadelphia, 1798].

The Library has three states of the print. Dayton, Condy, and Green are identified by keyed references in the (plate) margins of the second and third states. In all three states "Congress Hall, in Philada. Feb.15.1798" is inscribed in the lower right corner. In the second and third states this inscription is followed by "S. E. Cor.6th & Chesnut St." In the third state, the number "17" appears in the upper right corner. Weitenkampf lists four states, some of which (including two of the Library's impressions) appear to be later restrikes. The call numbers are: PC/US - 1798.A000, no. 1 (A size) (first state); PC/US - 1798.A000, no. 2 (A size) (second state); PC/US - 1798.A000, no. 3 (A size) (third state).

Weitenkampf, p. 12

Fowble, no. 329

Murrell, pp. 43, 45

Use surrogate: either electronic image or Reilly's American Political Prints, 1766-1876: A Catalog of the Collections in the Library of Congress book illustration.

Published in: Bernard F. Reilly, Jr., American Political Prints, 1766-1876: A Catalog of the Collections in the Library of Congress (Boston: G. K. Hall, 1991), entry 1798-1.

REPOSITORY:  Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division, Washington, D.C. 20540, USA.

DIGITAL ID:  b&w film copy neg. 3a05342 app

VIDEO FRAME ID:  LCPP003A-05342 (b&w film copy neg.)
LCPP003A-11734 (b&w film copy neg.)

CARD #:  app94000671/PP


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