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The Civil War… 150 years ago today… August 10, 1861
August 10, 2011 by TimHughes · Leave a Comment
We continue our weekly feature of reflecting upon the appropriate 150 year old issue of “Harper’s Weekly” from the perspective of a subscriber in 1861:
With all the battle action to report it is interesting that the front page (of my August 10, 1861 issue) is taken up with a literary piece. But there is much inside on the Battle of Bull Run, including a full page: “Retreat of our Troops from Bull Run, by Moonlight…” and a very dramatic full page print: “Charge of the Black Horse Cavalry Upon the Fire Zouaves at the Battle of bull Run”. This print shows very hot hand-to-hand combat. It must have been not only brutal, but very confusing with every foot filled with charging soldiers. Yet another print shows “Carrying in the Wounded at the Battle of Bull Run”. I can only imagine the total carnage.
Elsewhere is a nice half page print of: “Sandy Hook Hqts. of Col. Stone, on the Upper Potomac”. And if I thought last week’s centerfold was dramatic, this one has to be even better. It’s a large print showing hundreds of soldiers, a few on horseback, with dead and dying soldiers . Smoke and bursting bombs fill the air, yet the gallantry seems incredible as the soldiers charge in very close quarters. I notice several Negro soldiers as well. And if this was not sufficient, there is yet another very dramatic full page print of the: “Gallant Charge of the 69th Reg….Upon a Rebel Battery at the Battle of Bull Run”.
There is a very nice full page “Map of the Seat of War in Virginia” showing from Washington, D.C. to Staunton, Va. & the site of the Bull Run battle. There there is a “Balloon View of Fortress Monroe & the Mouth of the Chesapeake”. I didn’t realize that the fort is connected to the mainland by a very narrow strip of land. I can see what it is important in the protection of the harbor.
A marvelous development in engineering (?)…
August 8, 2011 by TimHughes · Leave a Comment
Sometimes the simple reports we find in newspapers lead to a much more fascinating back story than was anticipated. Such was the case with an interesting report in “The Cleveland Leader” of May 17, 1875, which contained a very lengthy & detailed article headed: “A Wonderful Discovery!” “A New Motor!” “The Days of Steam Probably Numbered”. Not knowing of any new motor created in the 1870’s I did some exploring and learned much about Mr. John Keely and the great hoax he perpetrated on the public.
See the hyperlink on Mr. Keely for the full story along with the following:
The end of the world… false alarm…
August 6, 2011 by GuyHeilenman · Leave a Comment
A few years ago several collectors contacted us wondering if the end of the Rare & Early Newspapers collectible was at hand. They had just received news about Google’s newspaper digitizing project and wondered if this would lead to an end in people wanting to collect historic newspapers. “Might this be the end of the old newspaper’s collectible world?” We tried to reassure them them that collecting the actual newspaper from the day it was 1st printed/read as compared to reading digitized versions is akin to eating an ice-cream sundae rather than looking at a picture of one. No matter how perfect the picture of the sundae reproduces the look of an actual one, it can never compare to the real deal. Apparently, time has proven this to be so. 2011 brought news from Google announcing the end of the digitizing project. The date of the announcement is rather ironic. Please read:
Google Announces End Of Newspaper Digitizing Project
🙂 🙂 🙂
The Civil War… 150 years ago today… August 3, 1861
August 3, 2011 by TimHughes · Leave a Comment
We continue our weekly feature of reflecting upon the appropriate 150 year old issue of “Harper’s Weekly” from the perspective of a subscriber in 1861:
Women prisoners? I was astounded to see the front page print (of my August 3, 1861 issue) of two women in a cart, surrounded by guards, captioned: “Bringing in the Misses Scott as Prisoners to Fall’s Church, Va.” But the interesting article relates the fascinating circumstances which lead to their arrest. The front page also has a nice battle scene captioned: “the Death of the Rebel General Garnett at the Battle of Laurel Hill”.
Inside pages include a nice print of General McClellan, a scene of an ax wielding African-American about to: “…Attack Of The Second Mate”, and a nice full page print of: “The Battle of Carthage, Missouri”. the latter shows both the Yankees & Confederates on either side of a stream.
There is also a print of the “Camp of the First Brigade of the Confederate Army…”. I wonder how they get those prints from the other side of the battle lines? One of the most dramatic prints I have ever seen in “Harper’s Weekly” is the centerfold in this issue, captioned; “Colonel Hunter’s Attack at the Battle of Bull’s Run”. The print shows hundreds & hundreds of soldiers, in very close ranks, charging towards the Confederates in the distance. Their are bombs bursting in the air, and soldiers falling from wounds, and officers on horseback as well. It’s a very dramatic scene! There are a few other prints relating to Bull’s Run as well.
The Traveler… Standard Oil’s dissolution… “perfectly logical”…
August 1, 2011 by The Traveler · Leave a Comment
Today I found myself in the The Christian Science Monitor dated August 1, 1911 where two front page articles caught my attention. The first is a bit of a continuation from a few weeks back,which was Standard Oil’s plan of dissolution being announced. The reorganization would involve the distribution of approximately 220,000 certificates representing 35 companies.
The other article was of Chicago’s aviation event which would have the largest purse ever offered, the prizes having a total value of $80,000. A stadium (the largest at that time) would be built that would hold 60,000 persons. Some notables to be in attendances were: Glenn H. Curtiss, Tom Sopwith, J.A. D. McCurdy, John J Frisbie, Harry N Atwood, Charles Willard and others.
I also found a cute little story entitled “perfectly logical” which just says it all…
~The Traveler
Ideas on how to collect Rare & Early newspapers…
July 30, 2011 by GuyHeilenman · Leave a Comment
While we at Rare Newspapers’ History’s Newsstand Blog are committed to continually adding material to help support the hobby, every now and then we come across informative material produced by others. Just recently we found a set of videos related to the collectible produced by eHow.com. They may be viewed at:
http://www.ehow.com/videos-on_5949_collecting-comics-newspapers_-tips-strategies.html
Please enjoy!
The Civil War… 150 years ago today… July 27, 1861
July 27, 2011 by TimHughes · Leave a Comment
We continue our weekly feature of reflecting upon the appropriate 150 year old issue of “Harper’s Weekly” from the perspective of a subscriber in 1861:
The front page (of the July 27, 1861 issue) prints of General Prentiss and Brigadier-General Williams are nice, allowing the subscribers to put a real “face” on the names appearing in the daily newspaper battle accounts. I always look forward to prints of our military leaders. The front page also has a scene of soldiers marching from Boonville, Missouri, to the Arkansas border.
A full page is taken up with a dramatic print of “The Battle of Rich Mountain, Virginia” showing a very daring charge of solders. I can only imagine the petrifying fear of the soldiers. I also love the great full page print of a “Balloon View of Washington, D.C.” offering a perspective not appreciated from ground level. The huge dome of the Capitol is only partially complete, and the streets of the city are both perpendicular and diagonal–an unusual look which would seem to be confusing. Another print includes a “Review of the New York Troops…” in front of the White House. What a huge edifice!
The Traveler… the frigate Huzza… struck by lighting!
July 25, 2011 by The Traveler · Leave a Comment
In today’s travels, I found the July 25, 1811 issue of the Middlesex Gazette from Middletown, Connecticut was carrying a lengthy article from Thomas Pickering to the People of the United States pertaining to Commodore Roger’s actions in the “Little Belt” incident.
There is also a report of the DIVING BELL which had just located the British frigate Huzza which had sunk during the Revolutionary war period. The frigate had 28 guns and was heading to Boston with money to pay the British troops when it struck a rock and sunk.
A death notice is also mentioned for Richard Penn, Esq., former governor of Pennsylvania. He was also the grandson of William Penn, the founder of Pennsylvania.
Also within is a report from Carlisle, Pennsylvania, of a miraculous event. A boy was struck by lightning, which went through him and even instantly killed the horse he was riding. The boy escaped with but a singe behind his ear and his side somewhat scorched and blistered. He managed to make it the rest of the way to his home (less than a mile) on his hands and knees, and recollects nothing whatever of the circumstances.
~The Traveler
Interesting wording of an obituary…
July 23, 2011 by TimHughes · Leave a Comment
The photo shows an obituary of Lady Oglethorpe as found in the “Country Journal Or the Craftsman” newspaper from London, July 1, 1732. It is always interesting to see how differently reports were presented several hundred years ago:
The Civil War… 150 years ago today… July 20, 1861
July 20, 2011 by TimHughes · Leave a Comment
We continue our weekly feature of reflecting upon the appropriate 150 year old issue of “Harper’s Weekly” from the perspective of a subscriber in 1861:
Today’s issue (July 20, 1861) has the front page taken up with two prints on the progress of “Filling Cartridges at the U.S. Arsenal at Watertown, Mass.”, which involves a surprising number of women. There are two interesting pages with a dozen prints of “Scenes About Camp” showing some of the activities while in recreation (dancing & acrobatics!) as well as practicing for warfare. These scenes offer a different view of soldier life; one away from the battle field. I can imagine relaxing & recreation is a welcome diversion.
One print has a scene of soldiers with Hagerstown, Maryland, in the background, and a few other prints have scenes of Harper’s Ferry, just a few years after the John Brown raid. Very impressive is the doublepage centerfold showing “The Navy Yard at Brooklyn…” which shows several massive sailing ships. And yet another print shows that not all soldiers wear the traditional garb, as “Irregular Riflemen of the Alleghanies, Virginia” are in frontier clothing. How can those involved in a fight tell the enemies from their fellow soldiers?