National Republican. Grant and Wilson Campaign Song-Book

Washington D.C.: The Union Republican Congressional Committee; Gibson Brothers, printers, 1872. 24mo (5.75" x 3.75"), printed wrappers. 96 pp. CONDITION: Good, one chip to margin of the front-cover, some cracking to spine; sewing coming loose, contents bright and clean, one word effaced on page 1. A scarce collection of political songs promoting the 1872 Republican Party ticket.
Set to tunes of then-popular songs such as "Yankee Doodle" and others, these songs variously touch upon Grant and Wilson's campaign ("O, General Grant's the Man," "Grant's What's the Matter," "Grant, Wilson, and Success"), race-relations ("The Klu-Klux Ghost," "The Colored (truncated) Voter's Song," "Klu-Klux Song"), the Democratic Party ("Popular Democratic Ode," "Why are Democrats Dejected?"), the Civil War ("Say, Union boys, have you seen old Greeley"), Grant's opponent Horace Greeley ("With Greeley you Can't Fool Us," "Campaign version of John Brown"), and more. The songs make frequent reference to Greeley's career as a gentleman farmer and Grant's prior work as a tanner. One song, entitled "Obituary on Horace Greeley," presents a faux-obituary for Grant's opponent, who actually died soon after losing the election. The final song in the collection, "Campagne Sonette" is in German. The work concludes with a list of documents published by the Union Republican Congressional Committee, including works in both German and Scandinavian.
OCLC records three copies, at AAS, Mississippi State University and the New York Public Library. (Inventory #: 7363)