Vanity Fair, Vol. 6, No. 149

Wood-engraved cover from the American comic weekly Vanity Fair, featuring a caricatured bust of actor Edwin Booth in profile, identified by caption as "Hamlet." The figure sports exaggerated long curls and theatrical dress; below runs a quoted line: "They are coming to the play." The masthead frames the portrait in ornamental lettering. Published by Ticknor & Fields of Boston, this New York–based satirical journal lampooned Union politics, personalities, and manners during the Civil War era. Vanity Fair (1859–1863) mixed political caricature with comic verse, serving as an ancestor to American humor magazines and the comic press.