General S. W. Backus, Owner of *The Wasp*

This photographic portrait — not a cartoon plate — shows General S. W. Backus, proprietor of *The Wasp*, seated at an ornate roll-top desk in what appears to be his editorial office. Backus is dressed in a dark suit with a beard trimmed in the fashion of the 1890s professional class; his posture is composed, one hand resting near papers on the desk. Behind him, pigeonhole compartments and stacked volumes signal an active publishing operation. As owner, Backus presided over *The Wasp* during its peak years of chromolithograph satire — work that coupled sharp political commentary on Gilded Age corruption with anti-Chinese caricature.