Journalism from Early America to the Digital Age… Election Fraud and more…

June 10, 2022 by · Leave a Comment 

Someone recently brought to my attention an article posted on the website “Brewminate: A Bold Blend of News and Ideas”. While scanning the article I was intrigued by the presence of illustrations of newspapers we have or have previously offered. One in particular which caught my attention was the timely political cartoon by Thomas Nast found in the Oct. 7, 1871 issue of Harper’s Weekly. While a degree of election fraud is (unfortunately) part-and-parcel of the election process, I was inspired to read through the entire article, and in so doing, found it to be quite informative… and wondered if the friends of Rare & Early Newspapers might also find it interesting. Hopefully you will also enjoy reading it:

“Journalism from Early America to the Digital Age”

 

I’m New Here: One Year In

January 17, 2020 by · Leave a Comment 

This week I made two different forays into a subject I only visited once before — The Wild West.  Thankfully, when you are dealing with a forty-four year old company that specializes in items printed hundreds of years ago, twelve months is not a long time.  And that is good for me, because even when I tally up the number of days I have been here at Rare & Early Newspapers I still feel like a novice.  Today I had back-to-back victories using the organizational system efficiently.  Harper’s Weekly from 1912 is not in the front warehouse (designated “W” on location maps) with issues published through the end of the 19th Century, but in the annex (“A”) along the right wall, almost to the very end.  Better still, as I confidently strode through the front building with an inward chuckle over my early bumbling efforts to determine what happened after December 30, 1899, I recalled the clipboard hanging in that area.  Rather than maneuver the lift across four rows and down a 15′ column in order to ascend to the appropriate decade, I checked the sheet.  There, recorded after exhausting all potential volume locations, was the notation, “August 17, 1912 — no cc”.  So, a disappointing answer for the collector inquiring, but a resounding victory for me as the entire search took a total of three minutes.

Every time I can locate an issue someone is seeking, I feel victorious. But the worst thing is spending a lot of time (which is always needed elsewhere) without having anything to show for it.  Today’s glance at the inventory tally reminded me that even a negative result can be useful, if not to me then surely to someone else.  Anyway, I am finally reaching the stage where I am wasting less time when I head into the back in search of whatever someone has called, emailed, written or web queried about.  In theory, the more time I save, the more I have to search out another Titanic issue (665700) for the collector in Germany or a Jay Gould cover portrait for the fellow in Minnesota.

And, for those of you who continue to read these posts, I will always make time to follow up on your requests.  I might even write about them…

Harper’s Weekly: a magazine or a newspaper?

December 12, 2016 by · 4 Comments 

Many collectors have wondered if the popular “Harper’s Weekly” publication is a newspaper or a magazine. Well,  there is really no clear answer.

I’ve always referred to it as a newspaper to distinguish it from their own sister publication “Harper’s New Monthly Magazine” which, being smaller, many more pages, and issued monthly, is blog-12-12-2016-illustrated-newspapersa more definitive magazine. Early in its history the weekly called themselves a “family newspaper”, and modeled themselves against “Frank Leslie’s Illustrated Newspaper” which began about a year earlier. If Leslie’s was a “newspaper” then certainly Harper’s Weekly was a “newspaper” as well.

However, in Mott’s “History of American Magazines” he includes a section for Harper’s Weekly, as well as one for Leslie’s Illustrated Newspaper and other similar weeklies. Then he confuses the issue a bit more in the second volume of his book (pg. 43) by stating: “Half a dozen copiously illustrated weeklies of general appeal must be grouped separately. It would not be inappropriate to classify these periodicals as newspapers, since they all relied much upon the reporting of current events: indeed, one of them called itself a newspaper in its title. But they were all very much more than newspapers, and they placed the emphasis on features of appeal which belonged more characteristically to the magazine than to the newspaper–namely, pictures and belles-lettres…”.

So there you have it. No definitive answer, but in my book Harper’s Weekly is, and always will be, a newspaper.
Your thoughts?

The Traveler… unbelievable human brutality…

October 5, 2015 by · Leave a Comment 

This week I traveled back to New York City by the way of the Harper’s Weekly, October 7, 1865. Although this issue is filled with a variety of woodcuts [illustrations], the one that struck me the most was of the “Grounds at ABlog-10-5-2015-Andersonvillendersonville, Georgia, Where are Buried Fourteen Thousand Union Soldiers Who Died in Andersonville Prison” and the accompanying article. “…The graves of the soldiers starved and poisoned and brutally murdered there are not scattered about over the innocent hill-sides of our land, but are dug under the sod that drank their blood and bore witness to the cruelty of Wirz, Winder, and the rebel authorities at Richmond, who kept these demons at their posts… James M. Moore,Assistant-Quarter-master, and his party, returned from Andersonville, where they have been engaged for a month in identifying the graves and giving honored sepulture to the fourteen thousand victims of rebel barbarity, who suffered all manner of torture and death in that notorious prison-pen…”.

~The Traveler

Elon Musk and his Hyperloop idea is 146 years old…

August 16, 2013 by · Leave a Comment 

The recent buzz about Elon Musk and his Hyperloop transportation system is an idea that was actually conceived in 1867, and received enough attention at that time that a model of the “Pneumatic Railway” system, as displayed at the American Institute in New York City, appeared on the front page of the October 19, 1867 issue of “Harper’s Weekly”.

Once again the old adage and Biblical verse  “there is nothing new under the sun” is proven to be true. Every new idea seems to have some sort of precedent or echo from the past.

The Traveler… The Emancipation… the last look… and today…

January 21, 2013 by · Leave a Comment 

This week I traveled 150 years back in time and through the activities of the Civil War via the Harper’s Weekly dated January 24, 1863. This issue contains a double-page illustration by Thomas Nast entitled “The Emancipation of the Negroes, January, 1863 – The Past and The Future.” Mr. Nast shows their present life in the center circle, of a happy home including a picture of President Lincoln hanging on the wall. The illustrations to the left show obstacles they had to endure — being sold at auctions and separated from loved ones, beatings, and being chased (if running away). The illustrations to the right show what they are looking to in the future with the implementation of the Emancipation Proclamation — owning a home, children going to public school, being treated fairly by the employer and being paid for working.

This illustration has an accompanying article that describes the illustration and also includes text from the Tribune of March 11, 1859, which dealt with the largest single sale of humans (slaves) in the United States. Mr. Pierce M. Butler of a city near Savannah, Georgia, sold 486 slaves — men, women and children — to pay his debts. This gives a prospective of what the slaves had to endure as they were being separated from each other as family members and long term friends.

As a contrast , this issue also presents a look into the past with an illustration and small article, “A Slave-Pen at New Orleans – Before the Auction. A Sketch of the Past.”

Today we also celebrate Martin Luther King, Jr. day. Let us all remember his famous words… “Free at last. Free at last. Thank God Almighty we are free at last.

~The Traveler

The Civil War… 150 years ago… March 1, 1862…

March 1, 2012 by · Leave a Comment 

An ongoing reflection on the Civil War… 150 years prior to this post…

Arkansas, Tennessee, Virginia, North Carolina, Ohio… where was this war being fought?  How are our loved ones doing?  Are they near live action?  Are they even still alive… or perhaps injured?  Is the war coming to me?  Are we safe?  Will soldiers harm civilians?  Will we ever be able to visit our relatives on the other side again?  Would they even want to see us?  What does all this mean?  Today we look at original newspapers printed for March 1, 1862, and try to understand what it was like to walk in their shoes. Please enjoy:

Original Newspapers Read On March 1, 1862

“History is never more fascinating than when it’s read from the day it was first reported.”, Timothy Hughes, 1976

The Civil War… 150 years ago… February 22, 1862…

February 22, 2012 by · Leave a Comment 

An ongoing reflection on the Civil War… 150 years prior to this post…

On February 22, 1862, news was spreading that Jefferson Davis was soon to be elected President of the Confederacy.  If so, what would this mean?  Would the war soon be over?  Would this entrench the opposing sides making an early end nearly impossible?  Additional news was spreading that Fort Donelson either was, or was soon to be, under fire.  It seemed as if every day brought discouraging news to the North, and quite the opposite to the South.  Please enjoy the following original newspapers printed for the day, and see life unfold through the eyes of those present during this flash-point period in American history:

Original Newspapers Read On February 22, 1862

“History is never more fascinating than when it’s read from the day it was first reported.”, Timothy Hughes, 1976

The Civil War… 150 years ago… February 8, 1862…

February 8, 2012 by · Leave a Comment 

An ongoing reflection on the Civil War… 150 years prior to this post…

150 years ago today, citizens, from both the north and the south, sat down over a cup of coffee (if they were lucky) to read newspapers telling of the capture of Fort Henry, the Battle of Mill Spring, the available (advertisement) speech by Frederick Douglass, and more, while perhaps looking over large detailed maps of related regions.  The daily newspaper was their connection to the events touching nearly every household in America.   Enjoy a glimpse of the issues printed for the day:

Original Newspapers Read On February 8, 1862

“History is never more fascinating than when it’s read from the day it was first reported.”, Timothy Hughes, 1976

The Civil War… 150 years ago… February 1, 1862…

February 1, 2012 by · Leave a Comment 

An ongoing reflection on the Civil War… 150 years prior to this post…

On February 1, 1862, the following issues were all held… and read… by those living during the American Civil War.  Feelings of fear, sorrow, and uncertainty were prevalent as readers searched for news which would provide a glimmer of hope that loved ones would be safe, the greater good would prevail, and soon all would be well.  Experience a glimpse of their world as you browse through the following:

Original Newspapers Read On February 1, 1862

“History is never more fascinating than when it’s read from the day it was first reported.”, Timothy Hughes, 1976

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