For well over a century the Library of Congress has maintained a strong collecting interest in pictorial humor and satire. Spanning four centuries, its related collections range from 17th-century Dutch political prints to contemporary caricatures by David Levine, and include drawings for cartoons and comic strips, printed satires and caricatures, comic books, illustrated satirical journals, and comic ephemera.

Among its extensive holdings of visual materials, the Library has custody of the largest collection of American political prints and drawings in existence; one of the finest assemblages of British satires in North America; more than 20,000 original cartoon drawings by several generations of America's best cartoonists and illustrators; and extensive runs of rare satirical and comic journals from Europe and the United States.

New York advertising executive Erwin Swann (1906-1973) established the Swann Foundation for Caricature and Cartoon in 1967. An avid collector, Swann assembled a large group of original drawings by more than 500 artists, spanning two centuries, which his estate bequeathed to the Library of Congress in the 1970s. Swann’ s original purpose was to build a collection of original drawings by significant creators of humorous and satiric art and to encourage the study of original cartoon and caricature drawings as works of art.

The Caroline and Erwin Swann Collection of Caricature and Cartoon, is now preserved within in the Prints and Photographs Division. These drawings are frequently placed on exhibition at the Library of Congress and in museums and galleries throughout the world. The collection is particularly strong in American work, but there is substantial representation of British, French and German artists, as well.