Puck #263

In this striking 1882 issue of Puck, a powerful political moment unfolds as James Russell Lowell, U.S. minister to England, publicly rejects an Irishman dressed as Uncle Sam, detained by British forces on charges of anarchism. The image, drawn and colored by Joseph Keppler with sharp, satirical precision, captures a tense confrontation underscored by a handwritten note declaring that one cannot be both Irish and American—a statement that reflects the era’s fraught immigration and national identity debates. The cover, by Bernhard Gillam, complements the issue’s biting commentary with its own vivid, expressive style.