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300 and Odd Per Cent Patriotism, of the Latest French Fashion; The Way to Cheat’em. A bran new song. Tune, Yankee Doodle.

[New York, ca. 1806]. Broadside, 10.875” x 8.75” (sheet size). CONDITION: Old folds, chipped edges, light toning to margins.

A rare 1806 Pro-Federalist broadside mocking printer James Cheetham and New York Democrat-Republicans.

In this lyric broadside, New York Federalists deride fractious author and printer James Cheetham after learning he had farmed out printing work, then charged the state government at a 300+ percent markup as the way to “Cheat’em!” The main body of the text, a “bran [sic] new song” that parodies Yankee Doodle, condemns the Democrat-Republicans of the Corporation of New York, questioning their—and Cheetham’s—patriotism on the basis of their wasting the people’s money to raise their own salaries.

Possibly unique, this broadside appears to be referenced only once, in James Fessenden’s short-lived New York magazine TheWeekly Inspector, which in November of 1806 (Vol. I, No. 13) reprinted it (listing it as a “handbill”) on page 100. (The article also reprints another handbill titled “Matter of Fact.”) The story of Cheetham’s deceitful actions is given in Vol. I, No. 7 of The Weekly Inspector, on page 52, with the heading “Every man his own swindler.”

James Cheetham (1772–1810) was often embroiled in political controversy, beginning in Manchester, England, where he was charged with conspiracy to overthrow the government. He was freed, but during the riots of 1798 fled to New York. There he published the American Citizen, an influential pro-Democratic-Republican daily paper, and the weekly American Watchman. He came into conflict with Aaron Burr; was challenged to a duel by a rival newspaper editor (William Coleman, a Federalist); and ultimately soured his relations with Thomas Paine, publishing a damning biography of him after Paine’s death in 1809.

Not in OCLC.

Item #8032

Price: $1,250.00