Buchanan, James. Original 1849 Irish Political Protest Broadside Inscribed and Signed "18 July 1861, Presented to Jameson Glossbrenner by James Buchanan," to his political ally. Broadside entitled "Protest Against the British Government," on wove stock, 30 x 20 inches, [Philadelphia]: Michael Lawrence, 1849. An elaborate harp with two angels at the top forms the border of the text, engraved in wood by Joseph H. Brightly; the angels hold scrolls with names of protesting Irishmen, including John Mitchel, T.R. Meagher, Wm. S. O'Brien, and C.G. Duffy. A portrait of Irish martyr (Robert) Emmett is featured above the text, with the legend "Let no man write my epitaph till Ireland is free!" Wood frame is 35¾ x 25½ inches.
In 1845 Irish patriot John Mitchel abandoned law to join the staff of the nationalist newspaper The Nation. Mitchel's radicalism turned out to be too extreme for the newspaper and it led to the prosecution of the paper's editor, Charles Gavin Duffy, for seditious libel, of which the paper was eventually cleared. Mitchel was described by Duffy as "a trumpet to awake the slothful to the call of duty; and the Irish people." The broadside is a lengthy condemnation of the British government, charging it with the suppression of the Irish press, Catholicism and the Irish people, and calling for "a consolidated union like that of the American Revolution…The insulted majesty of a people will rise and defend the glorious standard." Many Irish-Americans were enthusiastic supporters of Irish independence. The Fenian Brotherhood movement, for example, was based in the United States.
Buchanan was of Scotch-Irish (or Ulster Scots) ancestry; his great-grandfather, George Buchanan (born in 1648) emigrated from Scotland to County Tyrone, Ireland. Buchanan once proclaimed, " My Ulster blood is my most priceless heritage."
Jameson Glossbrenner, to whom this broadside is inscribed, was the son of Adam Glossbenner, Democrat from Pennsylvania in the House of Representatives (1865-1869) and private secretary to fellow Pennsylvanian James Buchanan in 1860-61; earlier, he had served as Clerk and Sergeant at Arms of the House of Representatives when Buchanan was a member of that body.
A few scattered stains, not affecting legibility, and some closed tears to margins, not affecting text or images; expert paper repairs to verso. A handsome Irish political piece with an important James Buchanan autograph showing his solidarity with the Irish.
Estimated Value $4,000 - 6,000.
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