When?

Colour lithograph on a single newspaper leaf, 23 x 20.5 cms (image); 32.5 x 22.8 cms (sheet), issued as the front page of "Puck" magazine, May 17,1905, related text on the verso; short repaired marginal tears (not affecting the image), lower left corner with faint creases, in very good condition. A caricature from the American satirical journal "Puck" depicting the fear that struck European powers following the Japanese victory in the Russo-Japanese war of 1904-1905. The head of an armed Japanese soldier emerges as a rising sun over the horizon as a group of European leaders huddles below. Uncle Sam is nowhere to be seen. The tone of the related text on the verso strikes rather a different note: "France has deliberately permitted the enemies of Japan to use her territory as if it were their own and has thus invited trouble of far-reaching possibilities and of a kind highly inimical to the general peace of the world. All of which should make Uncle Sam wary in his dealings with these foreign powers that regard international agreements and ententes cordiales with contempt." The "When?" of the caricature, equally queried an end to American isolationism as well as the European fear of the rise of Japan.…