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Fake Lincoln Proclamation… An attempt to profit in the gold market…
July 24, 2017 by TimHughes · Leave a Comment
The “Boston Daily Courier” of May 19, 1864, contains a fascinating sidebar in American history, the printing of a “fake” Lincoln Proclamation which appeared in two New York newspapers but was ultimately determined to be bogus. The “proclamation” is prefaced with a cautioning statement: “The document which made its appearance yesterday, purporting to be a proclamation of President Lincoln, is copied for the information of our readers:”, then the full text (see below).
This was a scheme by Joseph Howard, a newspaper journalist and a bit of a prankster throughout his career. Howard and an acquaintance had hoped to make a profit on declining gold prices if news from the front was bad. They acquired the stationery and other items necessary to make it look as if a story had come in on the wires to the headquarters of the Associated Press of New York, the clearing house for official wire stories coming from Washington. They forged the Proclamation from the president, which called for the drafting of an additional 400,000 soldiers, obvious evidence the war wasn’t going well. It was delivered to the offices of various New Your newspapers. Only two actually published the story but it caused such that Howard was arrested two days after the story appeared and placed in Prison. He was released on Lincoln’s personal order on August 24, 1864.
Announcing: Catalog #260 (for July, 2017) is now available…
July 3, 2017 by GuyHeilenman · Leave a Comment
Rare Newspapers’ monthly offering of collectible newspapers, Catalog 260, is now available. This latest collection of authentic newspapers is comprised of nearly 350 new items. Some of the noteworthy content includes:
• Period printing of the Declaration of Independence…
• Lincoln delivers his Gettysburg Address…
• Dealing with the hated tea tax…
• Washington’s Farewell Address…
• First report of Lincoln’s assassination…
• Displayable Battle of Gettysburg issue…
To view the above key issues and a whole lot more, go to: Catalog 260
(The catalog links shown above will redirect to the latest catalog in approximately 30 days.)
Announcing: Catalog #259 (for June, 2017) is now available…
June 1, 2017 by GuyHeilenman · 2 Comments
Rare Newspapers’ monthly offering of collectible newspapers, Catalog 259, is now available. This latest collection of authentic newspapers is comprised of nearly 350 new items. Some of the noteworthy content includes:
• Anti-slavery periodical by Frederick Douglass
• Treaty of peace ending the Revolutionary War
• Perhaps the best issue on the end of the Civil War
• Historic printing of the Star Spangled Banner
• Graphic issue on the Lincoln assassination
• Perhaps the finest baseball print in a periodical
To view the above key issues and a whole lot more, go to: Catalog 259
(The catalog links shown above will redirect to the latest catalog in approximately 30 days.)
Announcing: Catalog #258 – for May, 2017 – is now available…
May 4, 2017 by GuyHeilenman · Leave a Comment
Rare Newspapers’ monthly offering of collectible newspapers, Catalog 258, is now available. This latest collection of authentic newspapers is comprised of more than 350 new items. Some of the noteworthy content includes:
• John Peter Zenger’s famous New York Weekly Journal dated 1734
• The famous “Dewey Defeats Truman” headline
• Cornwallis surrenders at Yorktown
• Rare “View of Boston” plate from 1787
• Washington proclaims an end to the Revolutionary War
• New Jersey’s first newspaper (from 1780)
To view the above key issues and a whole lot more, go to: Catalog 258
(This catalog link shown above will expire in approximately 30 days.)
Announcing: Catalog #257 – for April, 2017 – is now available…
March 31, 2017 by GuyHeilenman · Leave a Comment
Rare Newspapers’ monthly offering of collectible newspapers, Catalog 257, is now available. This latest collection of authentic newspapers is comprised of more than 350 new items. Some of the noteworthy content includes: a front page account of the Battle of Brandywine, a rare “camp” newspaper from 1861, The Constitution of the United States, the assassination of Abraham Lincoln, Benedict Arnold on the Battle of Quebec, an uncommon beardless print of Abraham Lincoln, and more. Key items which include the remaining items from the above may be viewed at: Noteworthy Catalog 257
Whereas the entire catalog is shown at Catalog 257, the following links are intended to aid in quickly finding items from the catalog based on era:
1500-1799 (full view OR quick-scan/compact view)
1800-1899 (full view OR quick-scan/compact” view)
1900-2015 (full view OR quick-scan/compact” view)
To view items from both the current and the previous catalog, go to: Combined Catalog
Note: The links shown above will expire in approximately 30 days.
Announcing: Catalog #256 (for March, 2017) is now available…
March 2, 2017 by GuyHeilenman · Leave a Comment
Rare Newspapers’ monthly offering of collectible newspapers, Catalog 256, is now available. This latest collection of authentic newspapers is comprised of more than 350 new items. Some of the noteworthy content includes: a 1643 newsbook, the sale of Coca Cola in 1919 (in an Atlanta newspaper), a “Royal Gazette” from Charleston (1782), Lee surrenders to Grant at Appomattox, the British plan for conquering America, a rare Confederate newspaper (Jackson, Mississippi), and more. Key items which include the remaining items from the above may be viewed at: Noteworthy Catalog 256
Whereas the entire catalog is shown at Catalog 256, the following links are intended to aid in quickly finding items from the catalog based on era:
1500-1799 (full view OR quick-scan/compact view)
1800-1899 (full view OR quick-scan/compact” view)
1900-2015 (full view OR quick-scan/compact” view)
To view items from both the current and the previous catalog, go to: Combined Catalog
Note: The links shown above will expire in approximately 30 days.
Announcing: Catalog #255 (for February, 2017) is now available…
February 2, 2017 by GuyHeilenman · Leave a Comment
Rare Newspapers’ monthly offering of collectible newspapers, Catalog 255, is now available. This latest collection of authentic newspapers is comprised of more than 350 new items. Some of the noteworthy content includes: Rivington’s New York Gazetteer, the Oxford Gazette, Washington’s miracle escape from Long Island, “War Declared” in a Honolulu newspaper, the death of Marilyn Monroe in a Los Angeles newspaper, a great graphic issue on Abraham Lincoln, and more. Key items which include the remaining items from the above may be viewed at: Noteworthy Catalog 255
Whereas the entire catalog is shown at Catalog 255, the following links are intended to aid in quickly finding items from the catalog based on era:
1500-1799 (full view OR quick-scan/compact view)
1800-1899 (full view OR quick-scan/compact” view)
1900-2015 (full view OR quick-scan/compact” view)
To view items from both the current and the previous catalog, go to: Combined Catalog
Note: The links shown above will expire in approximately 30 days.
This is why collectors love broadsides…
January 23, 2017 by TimHughes · Leave a Comment
When notable news breaks in today’s world, regular television and radio schedules are canceled in favor of newscasters bringing the world the latest on the event as it happens. During the Civil War, a newspaper would put out a “broadside” edition, a quickly-produced piece on a single sheet and printed on the front side only, with text limited to the event being covered. Waiting for the next day’s edition was not an option for the most competitive of newspapers.
A recent addition to our inventory is one of the best Civil War broadsides we have seen. Using type dramatically larger than found in any regular edition the broadside screams: “LATEST! The Final Blow. RICHMOND TAKEN.” The brief text provides a same-day report of the capture of the Confederate capital, with a date stamp of 11:20 noting: “…General Grant states Petersburgh has been evacuated and believe Richmond also.” And then another date stamp just ten minutes later reports: “A dispatch from E. M. Stanton announces the capture of RICHMOND by our troops under Gen. Weitzel, they having taken it about 8:15 this morning.”
The immediacy of the report along with the dramatic, graphic presentation are what excite collectors. Add to this the significance of the fall of the rebel capital and you have a terrific newspaper just perfect for display.
Discretion was the better part of valor…
January 19, 2017 by TimHughes · Leave a Comment
Wounds from the Civil War were still very fresh in the hearts & minds of the Southerners in the months after the Civil War, and perhaps sensitivities were no more acute than among the residents of Richmond, the capital of the Confederacy up to the closing days of the war.
With this in mind, a new newspaper was begun in the city of Richmond during the closing day of April, 1865, the same month the capital fell to the Yankees. The newspaper was announced in the April 20 issue of the “Richmond Whig”, the announcement headed: “A New Morning Paper – The Richmond Times” and the text including: “…The paper will be under the exclusive editorial charge & control of Mr. H. Rives Pollard, late of the Richmond Examiner, and the first number will appear on Friday…will be devoted to the honor and interest of Virginia…For the present at least–until Virginia shall have emerged from the existing chaos and confusion–the Times will studiously refrain from all editorial comment & will be devoted exclusively to the news of the day. It must be obvious to every reflecting mind that the present is no time for editorial comment or stricture, and that it would only serve to fan the flame of excitement…”.
It is nice to read that there was compassion among the victorious Yankees as the occupied Richmond. There were certainly options that could only have hurt the cause of reunion, but the publisher wisely opted to consider discretion as the better part of valor.
Announcing: Catalog #253 (for December, 2016) is now available…
December 1, 2016 by GuyHeilenman · 2 Comments
Rare Newspapers’ monthly offering of collectible newspapers, Catalog 253, is now available. This latest collection of authentic newspapers is comprised of more than 350 new items. Some of the noteworthy content includes: Cornwallis surrenders at Yorktown, the Olive Branch Petition, the Battle of Bunker Hill, several nice Nast Santa Claus prints, the Battle of Gettysburg in a Confederate newspaper, a 1775 map of Boston, and more. Key items which include the remaining items from the above may be viewed at: Noteworthy Catalog 253
Whereas the entire catalog is shown at Catalog 253, the following links are intended to aid in quickly finding items from the catalog based on era:
1500-1799 (full view OR quick-scan/compact view)
1800-1899 (full view OR quick-scan/compact” view)
1900-2015 (full view OR quick-scan/compact” view)
To view items from both the current and the previous catalog, go to: Combined Catalogs