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Announcing: Catalog #334 for September, 2023 – Rare & Early Newspapers…
September 1, 2023 by GuyHeilenman · Leave a Comment
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[The links above will redirect to the latest catalog in approx. 30 days
upon which time it will update to the most recent catalog.]
The reason I collected it: Dodge’s Literary Museum…
August 21, 2023 by TimHughes · Leave a Comment
Mastheads of newspapers through the centuries offer a very wide assortment of styles, sizes and decorativeness, with many being quite mundane. Only the “special” ones make it to the private collection, and “Dodge’s Literary Museum” is one.
Any newspapering which the masthead consumes one-third of the front page qualifies. This title’s masthead engraving consumes over half of the front page, very unusual as such. The content may be literary items with no “newsy” reports, but the front page is certainly worth of collecting, regardless of what is inside.
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The meanderings of those who collect Rare & Early Newspapers…
August 11, 2023 by GuyHeilenman · Leave a Comment
One of the more difficult challenges the staff at Timothy Hughes Rare & Early Newspapers face on a near-daily basis is to not be (too often) distracted by that which makes the hobby itself so interesting: that is, that one never knows what one may find while perusing an old newspaper… nor where it may lead. In other words, to not become endlessly distracted. It really is the “back in the good old days” version of surfing the web. This isn’t to say the meanderings are bad per se, for if we permit ourselves to be carried away for a period of time there is much to learn; however, if permitted to get out of hand the phone would be ringing off the hook from collectors wondering why their purchases, which will likely lead to their own meanderings, have yet to ship. Combining the old (rare newspapers) with the new (the internet) has only exacerbated the temptation.
One minor instance occurred just a few weeks ago which, if you have a few minutes to spare, I’d like to share with you.
We recently purchased a set of The National Era which included many of the original installments of the serialized printing of Uncle Tom’s Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe. While tagging the issues which contained segments of her profoundly culture-altering novel, we noticed several issues which did not have portions still contained related articles. This led us to do an internet search for additional titles (newspaper publications) which had Uncle Tom’s Cabin themed coverage… and this is where the fun began.
I expected the big boys (The New York Times, Tribune, and Herald, along with other notable papers such as the Philadelphia Inquirer and The Liberator) to have mentions. However, I did not expect to see coverage of the book in The Saturday Evening Post – and as fate would have it, the issue referenced was one buried deep within our archives. Off I went to find the July 29, 1865 issue. Hoping for a glorious, detailed report, what I found instead was a poem with a mere mention. Still, although a bit disappointed, I was intrigued by the first line of the article: “There are fragments of songs that nobody sings”, by B. F. Taylor. After having my curiosity piqued by the line, and my sleeping heart stirred by the article itself, I headed back to the internet to find the text of the entire poem (which turned out to be significantly more challenging – dare I say time-consuming – than expected). Once found and read, the entirety of the trek to this point caused me to sense the tension between hope and sorrow… which led me to wonder how those who lived in the mid-1800’s morphed from anger (having read Uncle Tom’s Cabin), to hopelessness (seeing little-to-no change in the state of slavery since their “forefathers” had agreed it should be abolished, but did not do so for fear that the doing so would cause their quest to become a “united” group of states to fail), to hope in a trickle… and then a stream… and then a flood… and then a bloody tidal wave called the American Civil War… to deep sorrow (for the sins of the past and deadly consequences thereof), to restored hope and wonder (in what the future might hold).
Although at this point I could hear my daily tasks calling, this mental excursion was not to be stifled for it had caused me to recall a certain illustration from the cover of the Harper’s Weekly dated November 3, 1866) – a woodcut print of which I was familiar, yet one I had never taken the time to read the blurb describing it. Not wanting to let my travels come to an end with a whimper, I read the short description – And this led me to my final question and motivation for writing this verbose post: When/how did the moniker “Uncle Tom”, born from the text which had been instrumental in vanquishing slavery, morph from being a term of endearment to a gross insult? While the road I had taken did not lead me to new “finds” within our inventory, it did awaken my heart to the plight of slavery and my mind to the understanding of why a nickname which had once been bestowed on someone with kindness and admiration had transformed into one of the greatest cultural (and political) insults aimed at black Americans. The latter I learned by one more trip to the internet: When ‘Uncle Tom’ Became an Insult
The following photos provide a visual glimpse of my meanderings, with the poem by B. F. Taylor saved for last. If you made it this far, thanks for indulging me. Please know if you decide to start collecting rare and early newspapers, this condition is highly contagious. If you already are a collector, you already know.
Are the Molly Maguires, Mormons, General Pickett, Jim Thorpe and Hitler connected?
August 7, 2023 by GuyHeilenman · Leave a Comment
What do Eskimos, George Washington, King William IV (England), the Ku Klux Klan, the Molly Maguires, Mormons, General Pickett, John D. Rockerfeller, Jim Thorpe, Amilia Earhart, Billy Burke, Adolph Hitler, “Bugs” Moran, Billie Jean King, and Roger Federer have in common? Coverage about each of them appeared in newspapers dated July 7th. The years may have varied, but one of the many reasons why were are familiar with their names is due to “This Day in History”. I wonder who might show up on a different day? Why not give it a try – see “Month and Day (Any Year)”?
The impact of Newspapers on the abolition of slavery…
August 4, 2023 by GuyHeilenman · Leave a Comment
The impact print media in general, and newspapers in particular had on attitudes towards slavery cannot be overstated. The abolitionist press was in full-force during the early-to-mid 1800’s with publications such as The Anti-Slavery Bugle, The Emancipator, the National Anti-Slavery Standard, the National Era (which had the honor of being the first to print Harriet Beecher Stowe’s “Uncle Tom’s Cabin”), among those who carried the torch. While some publishers became household names during this critical period in American history (William Lloyd Garrison – publisher of The Liberator), Frederick Douglass – publisher of the North Star [later, the Frederick Douglass’ Paper], and Horace Greeley – publisher of the New York Tribune), a slew of others, while highly influential, have largely been forgotten. One such unheralded publisher was Hezekiah Niles’, the publisher of the Niles’ Register from Baltimore, Maryland. While Niles’ Register would not be placed under the umbrella of The Abolitionist Press, not wearing this label coupled with its heavy focus on political issues may have played to his advantage when Hezekiah wrote and published his “Mitigation of Slavery” in serialized form over a span of 8 issues in 1819. It may not have had an Uncle-Tom’s-Cabin-level impact among the masses, there is little doubt the minds of many in-and-around Washington D.C. were challenged to keep the abolishment of slavery at the forefront of both political and public discourse. The full text of his essay can be read on-line, however, photo-snippets of portions of an original as well as a brief description may be viewed on the Rare Newspapers website: Hezekiah Niles’ “Mitigation of Slavery“. His final thoughts are shown below.
Horrace Greeley, Fred Douglass, Harriet Beecher Stowe… Hezekiah Niles…
Announcing: Catalog #333 for August, 2023 – Rare & Early Newspapers…
July 31, 2023 by GuyHeilenman · Leave a Comment
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The August catalog (#333) is now available. Shown below are links to various segments of the catalog, our currently discounted newspapers, and recent posts to the History’s Newsstand Blog. Please enjoy.
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[The links above will redirect to the latest catalog in approx. 30 days
upon which time it will update to the most recent catalog.]
Snapshot 1881: Is it a car, a bike, a train or a trike?
July 17, 2023 by GuyHeilenman · Leave a Comment
Is it a car, a bike, a train, or a trike – or something else altogether? Looking back with an effort to place various inventions into current-day buckets is not always easy. However, in this case, there is one thing we know for sure: It is a velocipede: “a human-powered land vehicle with one or more wheels.” This one appeared in the April 16, 1881 issue of Scientific American.
The reason I collected it: The Semi-Weekly Argus from Washington Territory…
July 10, 2023 by TimHughes · Leave a Comment
“The Semi-Weekly Argus” of Port Townsend, Washington Territory, July 7, 1873, might seem like an ordinary issue with typical content of the day. However the most intriguing aspect of the edition is not the data nor its content; it’s the paper upon which it is printed. It is yellow.
On rare occasions, newspaper publishers had to deviate from the traditional newsprint with which we are familiar, when necessity required an alternative. In such situations “necessity paper” was used, the term for whenever an issue was printed on anything non-traditional.
Given Port Townsend’s relative remoteness in the Northwest, I would suspect supply routes were often questionable a best, particularly with this date being 16 years before statehood.
We have encountered newspapers printed on paper with a wide assortment of colors, as well as wrapping paper, cornhusk paper, wallpaper, lined notebook paper. tissue paper, etc. Such editions were typically very short-lived, perhaps a few days at best, until supply chains could be re-established.
Here is a great example of the use of “necessity paper” and a visually prominent addition to any collection.
Announcing: Catalog #332 for July, 2023 – Rare & Early Newspapers…
June 30, 2023 by GuyHeilenman · Leave a Comment
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The July catalog (#332) is now available. Shown below are links to various segments of the catalog, our currently discounted newspapers, and recent posts to the History’s Newsstand Blog. Please enjoy.
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[The links above will redirect to the latest catalog in approx. 30 days
upon which time it will update to the most recent catalog.]
New Inventory ALERT: John Lennon’s Death Report from where he was killed…
June 23, 2023 by Laura Heilenman · Leave a Comment
At Rare & Early Newspapers, we often have the privilege of procuring collectible newspapers from all over the world. Usually, Tim Hughes or my husband (Guy Heilenman) will speak with a dealer, library, museum or a person who was digging through their grandparent’s attic, and before long treasures will show up on our doorstep. We feel it is a bit like Christmas. Every now and again, a seller will come to visit us and bring their issues in person. Such was the case this week when a very sweet and gracious gentleman brought us issues of the NEW YORK POST dated Dec. 9, 1980 which contained coverage of John Lennon’s tragic death at the hands of “a screwball” (see photo below). We were thrilled to procure these issues for 2 reasons. First, we now have newspapers reporting his death from both the city where he died and the city where in he born (LIVERPOOL) – forming a truly unique 2-issue set for collectors of John Lennon/Beatles memorabilia. Secondly, while this content may not interest all of our collecting family, we are always on the hunt to expand the variety of the collectible newspapers within our archives… satisfying our continual quest to find items spanning all collectible interests.