“Parson Weem’s Fable.”

Title

“Parson Weem’s Fable.”

Description

1939/80? “Parson Weem’s Fable.” Poster. 23” x 17.5”. Grant Wood. Courtesy Amon Carter Museum, Foret Worth. Baltimore: Lithographed by A. Hoen & Co. Unknown source.

Though we are not really dealing with a fable here, the story fascinates me. My recollection is that Pastor Weems spun a story to glorify our first president. This image shows his father confronting young George with a cherry tree in his hand. George already looks the way he will look some decades hence. The curtain put into the scene suggests all sorts of interpretations. Pastor Weems points a finger just as Aesop did in the first illustrated editions of Aesop in the 1500’s. Weems in 1800 wrote the first biography of Washington immediately after his death. He was a parson and travelling bookseller. The web offers a comment “it is probable he would have accounted it excusable to tell any good story to the credit of his heroes."

Date

1939/80?

Subject

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