Vanity Fair, Vol. 6, No. 153

Wood engraving cover from the Civil War-era American comic weekly Vanity Fair, a New York satirical publication (1859–1863) devoted to political caricature, humor, and social commentary. This issue features a grotesquely exaggerated figure labeled "Old Peter Cooper"—the philanthropist and industrialist—standing beside a barrel marked "Specie," with the caption "Heading it Up." The caricature employs crude anthropomorphic distortion typical of the period's graphic satire. Published by Ticknor & Fields, Boston, Vanity Fair served Union-side readers as a weekly outlet for lampooning public figures, wartime events, and civilian affairs during the nation's secession crisis and armed conflict.