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Still Learning… Harper’s Monthly Magazine & Disaster…
June 8, 2020 by Stephanie Williams · Leave a Comment
These past few months have been characterized by intense focus. I wonder if we are all concentrating fiercely on the task at hand, since everything else seems a bit too immense. Whatever the reason, I have thoroughly immersed myself in systematically working through volumes of titles in search of particular dates of interest as if this is the most important job in the world. Since publications in view are from the 1800’s, I am glimpsing snippets of similarities and of differences to our modern era.
While shelving Harper’s New Monthly Magazine, I read the following:
“Harper’s Magazine has now reached the close of its Tenth Volume. During the five years of its existence, its prosperity has been constant and uninterrupted. It has not been checked even by the disaster which fell upon the establishment of the Publishers, or by the period of general depression from which the country is now emerging.”
I didn’t know about this time of economic difficulty that Wikipedia describes as “lasting [from the Great Panic of 1837] until the Great Panic of 1857.” From where we stand it is easy to lose a historical perspective, but the December 1854 issue — sandwiched between two economic trials — provides that opportunity. The editor’s note at the front claims the magazine even flourished through the difficulties. At 144 pages, with 64 illustrations, this Harper’s devotes the first two-thirds to literary offerings ranging from an account of Napoleon’s exile to an installment of fiction by William Makepiece Thackeray. Following that are an extensive listing entitled “Monthly Record of Current Events”, three categories of editorials (Editor’s Table, Editor’s Easy Chair, and Editor’s Drawer), two pages of political cartoons, and the illustrated hoops and flounces that comprise those “Fashions for December.” This is a comfortable compilation that seems to provide a wealth of distracting entertainment that was as surely craved then as it is now, situated alongside a factual depiction of the nation and world.
From the current events section I extracted a nugget of reporting that mirrors modern newscasts.
“It may be stated generally, however, in reference to all of them, that partisan divisions have been less rigid than usual — that old party lines have been broken down.”
Somehow, shared disaster still seems to have that unifying effect.
I’m New Here: Still Learning… Leslie’s Illustrated Newspaper
February 7, 2020 by Stephanie Williams · Leave a Comment
I am always ready to learn although I do not always like being taught. Winston S. Churchill
This is an appropriate enough quote to summarize my perspective at the close of a year of many new lessons – and not all of them pleasant at the time of learning. It’s tough to be new, but it feels great to be not-new. Since I find myself in a “next stage” here at Rare Newspapers, as of this week I am transitioning the title(s) of my blog. Once a month I will continue to pass along something new I have learned, under the heading “Still Learning.” In the other three weeks I will focus on different aspects of this wonderful place.
My most recent orientation was a byproduct of searching the wide world of Frank Leslie’s Illustrated Newspaper. It seems these treasures, similar in size to Harper’s Weekly, are located in a completely different collection of Civil War Era papers. Although our titles are meticulously indexed and cataloged, the facilities could not possibly be rearranged with each new collection acquired. Consequently, the front warehouse has its own area of 1861-1865 issues, while the annex has a separate one. It’s so funny to still be discovering a nook packed full of Historical Relevance (in capital letters).
Within a publication from 1862, I located a four-panel, tipped-in centerfold. It’s a beautiful illustration that measures 20″ high by 32″ wide, folded inside the magazine, with no binding holes or glue lines within the image margins. The top half is titled “The Second Day of the Second Battle of Bunker Hill”, and depicts a lovely landscape in which lines of marching men wind along hilltops and alongside lanes of trees. Even the award winning photography of later wars doesn’t compete with the impact of this intricate rendering.
Note that this is not a double-page centerfold, as I originally described it to Guy, but a more extravagantly sized and highly desirable four-panel, tipped-in centerfold. I have recently been taught the difference.
Anyway, I have much more to learn, but in case you were wondering, I am ready for more Leslie’s requests — particularly Civil War issues.
The June (2020) Newsletter from Rare & Early Newspapers…
June 22, 2020 by GuyHeilenman · Leave a Comment
Monthly Newsletter ~ Rare & Early Newspapers
Welcome to the June 2020 edition of our monthly newsletter. With so much to talk about, let’s jump right in:
A New Set of Discounted Newspapers – 50% Off
Catalog 295 – New Items Added
Four Interesting Items on eBay
Catalog 295
History’s Newsstand
Newly Discovered Items
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