The globe man listening to Webster's speech, on the specie circular

A small, bust-length caricature of Washington "Globe" editor and Van Buren adviser Francis Preston Blair. The print was probably issued in the spring of 1838. In May of that year the Specie Circular, an extremely unpopular order issued by the Jackson administration in December 1836, directing collectors of public revenues to accept only gold or silver ("specie") in payment for public lands, was repealed. The print's title may refer to Daniel Webster's lengthy March 12 speech condemning the Independent Treasury Bill and other aspects of President Van Buren's fiscal program. The print may to be a companion piece to "The Globe-Man After hearing of the Vote on the Sub-Treasury Bill" (no. 1838-4). Both are probably attributable to Napoleon Sarony on the strength of their marked resemblance to Sarony's characterization of Blair in "A Globe to Live On!" (no. 1840-42).
Entd . . . 1838 by H.R. Robinson . . . Southern District of N. York
Printed & pubd. by H.R. Robinson, 52 Cortlandt St. N.Y.
Probably drawn by Napoleon Sarony.
Title appears as it is written on the item.
Weitenkampf, p. 54.
Forms part of: American cartoon print filing series (Library of Congress)
Published in: American political prints, 1766-1876 / Bernard F. Reilly. Boston : G.K. Hall, 1991, entry 1838-3.