Vanity Fair, Vol. 6, No. 154

Wood engraving cover from the New York comic weekly Vanity Fair, a Civil War-era satirical paper specializing in political caricature and verse. The cover depicts a fashionably dressed male figure in a formal suit and bow tie, holding a cane in one hand and what appears to be a dead animal in the other, titled "Lester Wallack: Returning from the Chase." The letterpress title treatment and surrounding vignettes of skating figures reflect the paper's mix of theatrical satire, social commentary, and seasonal humor. Founded in 1859 and edited at various points by Charles Farrar Browne (Artemus Ward), Vanity Fair offered Union audiences irreverent commentary on wartime politics and popular personalities through wood block illustration and comic text.