The Life of a
Civil War Spy:
This is a fascinating
Thomas Nast Civil War illustration. It is entitled "Life of a Spy - In
Nine Tableaux." and is an original leaf from an 1863 Harper's Weekly
newspaper. The print features 9 inset images of the life of a Civil
War Spy. |
Nast's "Life of a Spy - In Nine
Tableaux." (Click on Image for Enlargement) |
It
is a superb illustration, with a wealth of interesting content. The inset
images include pictures of the spy behind enemy lines collecting
information, a picture of him stealing money from a sleeping soldier, his
safe return to camp, and images of him sitting around a fire, telling his
cohorts of his exploits. His second mission does not go so well. There is an
image of him being pursued on horseback. He is then seen being confronted as
a spy. The final image shows the unfortunate spy paying the ultimate price
for his dangerous line of work- he is hanging by the neck from a tree.
This illustration demonstrates Thomas Nast's
talent as a story teller. His drawings did not just show a picture,
they almost always told a story.
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We hope you enjoy this complete Gallery of
the Civil War works of Thomas Nast. We have created this digital
archive for the use of researchers and students of Thomas Nast. Please
remember that the digitally enhanced images are Copyright ©
Son of the South Material, so do not use them without asking permission. For more
information, contact
paul@sonofthesouth.net .
A Note to our Readers
We created this
Thomas Nast Gallery to digitally preserve Nast's Civil War work for
posterity. We are now making the original, 140 year old leafs
available for a price of $250 each. The proceeds from the sale of the
material will enable us to continue to expand the material featured on our
site. Please contact
paul@sonofthesouth.net
if you are interested in acquiring one of these original leafs. |