Contest – Share your best “golden nugget discovery” story with the world!

October 16, 2008 by  
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What do gold prospectors, pirates, treasure hunters, archeologists, and rare newspaper collectors have in common? They all share the thrill of the hunt and the reward of discovery.

When it comes to rare newspapers, finding the unexpected, in contrast to other collectibles, is often a good thing… and at times can even be quite valuable.  Since the inception of the History’s Newsstand Blog, a number of posts have focused on this intrinsic pleasure of the hobby, and several readers have responded with “discoveries” of their own.  In an effort to communicate this joy to the world, we would like to invite our readers to share their stories – for fun and for potential reward!

From now until Sunday, October 31st, you will have the opportunity to share your story (or stories) of a time when you purchased a newspaper (for one reason or another) only to discover upon reading the issue that it also contained key, historic, or highly interesting content that you did not know was present when you initially obtained the issue. The staff at Rare Newspapers will select a 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place story by Friday, 11/7 (perhaps sooner), and announce the winners via the blog and through a personal e-mail contact. The winners will have their stories recognized on the blog, will receive Rare Newspapers gift certificates worth $100 (1st place), $50 (2nd place), and $25 (3rd place), and will have the satisfaction of knowing they contributed to the enhancement of the rare newspapers collectible community.  If you have more than one story to share, enter them as separate comments to this post.  Please include the title and date of the issue along with your story of discovery.

Don’t delay.  Share your story with the world!

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Comments

33 Responses to “Contest – Share your best “golden nugget discovery” story with the world!”

  1. Morris on October 16th, 2008 5:36 pm

    Last year I purchased a newspaper published by New York American. The paper is dated April 8, 1836.

    I purchased the newspaper because it contained a front page printing of a letter written by Lieutenant Col. Commanding W. Barnet Travis, from the Alamo, to Major General Samuel Huston, with the closing line of

    “If they over power us, we fall a sacrifice at the shrine of our country, and we hope posterity and our country will do our memory justice. Give me help, O, my country! Victory or death!”

    It was thrilling enough to have this newspaper with a front page printing of the Travis letter, but the biggest thrill was when I turned to page three and found a complete printing of the Declaration Of Independence Of The People Of Texas.

    To have the front page Travis letter and the inside page printing of the Declaration of Independence of Texas makes this newspaper very special, especially since the Declaration was a pure bonus.

    Morris

  2. Lawrence Garrett on October 16th, 2008 6:19 pm

    A few years ago I had the chance to pick out a few pirate newspapers
    from rarenewspapers.com as a Fathers day gift.

    I picked out 5 Post Boys to add to my growing collection, and noticed
    one had more pirate information then was highlighted for the issue.
    This was the VERY RARE mention of pirate BURIED TREASURE.
    I could not read the complete story and knew this issue was
    posted for sale for about a year, an unseen gold nugget even to
    rarenewspapers.com!

    Guy H honored the sale price of $89 despite knowing this was worth
    hundereds more to the right collector when I brought this to his
    attention.

    The story itself was not only rare but had an unexpected twist.
    A man created a false story of buried prirate treasure to the attention
    of the king of portagal who sent ships to recover it on an island.
    Under pressure, he admitted he lied about the treasure to get a ship
    to come to the island and take him somewhere. He got his wish to leave
    the island, being placed in chains and taken away for punishment!

    Its really something that this false buried treasure story turned into a real
    treasure for me almost 300 years leter.

  3. Alan Pollack on October 17th, 2008 2:23 am

    A couple of years ago, a batch of newspapers from Deadwood, Dakota Territory came on the auction block. “The Black Hills Pioneer” I knew to be an extremely rare and desirable title from an iconic Old West location. This newspaper, I believe, was the earliest paper published in Deadwood, first published in 1876. The issue I really wanted had a report on the killing of Wild Bill Hickok in Deadwood, but that went for several thousand dollars. I felt quite lucky when I was able to purchase what I thought was just an atmosphere issue with nothing too newsworthy for just over $200, dated March 3, 1877. When I looked inside the newspaper, I was surprised to find a headline “Execution of Jack McCall” along with a short article reporting the execution in Yankton, Dakota of the murderer of Wild Bill. A later report of the execution in the same newspaper had just been auctioned for over $700. Nice bargain for me…..

  4. Robert L. Hamm on October 17th, 2008 5:50 pm

    I found this interesting tidbit in a Portland, Ore., newspaper called “The New Northwest.” It was a women’s suffrage newspaper from the 1880s and 1890s. A story ran:

    A peculiar story is told by the Baker City Blade of a woman of that place, Mrs. Mary A. Morris, vomiting up a snake twelve inches long and one inch in circumference in the largest part. Its head was shaped like that of a rattlesnake and its body was spotted like the same kind of reptile. Mrs. Morris says that when she was 10 years old, while drinking at a spring of water she swallowed the reptile and has retained it for the space of probably fifteen years. For several years she has been in poor health, which she thinks was caused by the uneasy position of his snakeship. The reptile died as soon as it was vomited up, but has been preserved in alcohol and is shown to all curious and disbelieving persons in Baker City.

  5. Jim Wheeler on October 17th, 2008 10:23 pm

    Temped to make my first “major” purchase covering the 1906 San Francisco Earthquake but still a little uncomfortable about the cost, I managed to find a batch of four San Francisco papers on eBay that were advertised simply as “from the aftermath of the Quake”. With a bid of $60, I received two copies of the SF Examiner and a copy of the SF Chronicle dated April 21st and 22nd. But to my surprise, the fourth paper was the April 18th SF Chronicle, the “Ghost Paper” printed just before the early morning disaster shut down all three major presses in the city. This stroke of luck was all the motivation I needed to step up and make that first “big” purchase, a fine copy of the infamous April 19th Call-Chronicle-Examiner from Tim H. Later, after having assembled these papers, I was able to fill out my collection with the recent 100th anniversary copy of the SF Chronicle that included not only a fine reprint of the 4/19 Call-Chronicle-Examiner, but also a reprint of the front page of the 4/18 Chronicle to describe life in the City by the Bay before tragedy struck. I am sure that there are plenty more unknown treasures out there and hope that my instincts help me to find a few more in the future.

  6. David Hallmark on October 20th, 2008 11:29 am

    In researching Calbraith Perry Rodgers and the first transcontinental flight of 1911, I uncovered some wonderful gems. Two authors have covered the tale, E.P. Stein and Eileen Lebow, neither had nor disclosed this bit of historic trivia.

    The flight became known as the flight of the Vin Fiz due to Cal’s agreement with the Armour Meat Packing Company’s newest soft drink offering, a horrible tasting grape soda. They’d fund the flight in exchange for advertising promotional consideration during the flight. Painted wings and tail of the bi-plane with the logo etc. The flight and story was well documented. What I found was not.

    After Cal’s winning bid for staying aloft the longest during the August 1911 Grant Park Chicago International Air Meet, taking the top cash prize, the papers report that Cal was originally under agreement “with a well known cash register company” to sponsor the attempt.

    This may not be history changing news, but uncovering a detail of this epic, historic flight, one that was made with a bottle of pop strapped to the wing vs. a cash register, was remarkable. Why he chose Vin Fiz over a cash register one can only ponder since the one report was all that was found.

    Following one story line via old newspapers is and has been an incredible journey. Are we all news prospectors panning for news gold? I like to think so. For my value it’s not in the actual paper but the content within and that which I am sharing with the world.

  7. Chris on October 20th, 2008 12:50 pm

    Earlier this year, during one of my usual internet searches I came across a full complete bound year of the Gentleman’s Magazine for the year 1770 being sold by a book seller in Germany for a little over $200. I was not at first sure of what the content might be, but I had high hopes for some Good American Colonial content. The piece arrived in near mint condition, and to my great delight contained a full account of the Boston Massacre, a story of colonial women refusing to drink tea from England and an addition signed “The Sons of Liberty” and to make this find even better I around the same time saw just the April issue for sale on this very website for $397!!! This is my greatest find to date.

  8. Joe Rainone on October 20th, 2008 6:34 pm

    I’d like to submit 3 stories all which have taken place this year and all would appear to be first, first or earliest known or unknown! Let’s start with the first, first, first!
    My first “story” involved buying a very rare bound volume of story papers. The person selling did not account for the content just the date range. I was happy to find this title, Uncle Sam, whatever the content…..while checking it out I noticed a Kit Carson story!
    After investigating further, I can now say that this is the first recorded appearance of Kit Carson in American fiction…and the story title even fits the theme here, a real GOLD NUGGET!
    The story is KIT CARSON, THE PRINCE OF THE GOLD HUNTERS! (early 1849) What couls be better than that?!! Well, see my other stories and you decide;)
    Note: The earliest known account of this story came out shortly after this serialized paper ended (and II have all the weekly parts too!). Then in pamplet form it was issued in total at 25 cents. Some illustrations too!

  9. Joe Rainone on October 20th, 2008 6:43 pm

    Here is my second find, the earliest “known?”
    Again, I bought on a lark a group of Police Gazette and Police Illustrated News. The only information given was overall grade and year range. There were about 40 issues overall in different grades, most lower grade. so, I bought quite cheap the years from about 1876 – 1883, most in the 1880s….
    After going through about 15 issues, one page at a time what do I see? A picture of BILLY THE KID! As far as I know this is one of perhaps two times his famous “photo” image appeared in any paper! Wait it gets better!!
    Another 15 or so, I see an image of JESSE JAMES getting shot in the back of the head by FORD…BUT, this time Jesse is not on a chair although being shot from behind….OK, I have the POLICE GAZETTE vesion already but both of these are POLICE ILLUSTRATED NEWS….and the most important aspect is that the illustration was done for the April 15 release, not the typical April 22…after contacting Steve Goldman who was quite suprised…..it is now confirmed that this issue of PIN, not the PG issue is the first illustration to depict the DEATH OF JESSE JAMES!
    Wait, think that is good there is one more story!!! Now the next one is more spectacular…well to me at least…

  10. Joe Rainone on October 20th, 2008 6:52 pm

    Finally, the last story the UNKNOWN entity which I now submit….
    This is actually a British paper and more important perhaps to those who are more interested in the PENNY BLOODS….
    Again, I bought a bound volume on a lark…the seller never mentions the Key element although he did depict other images less important…for of course he would not know.
    This actually came up on ebay….first time it did not meet his opeing reserve, so he relisted….this time I said to myself what the heck seems interesting and if I can get it cheap enough why not….as I collect some British story paper and the like, so I win….As I got through this VOLUE of the FRANKLIN MISCELLANEY I spot a strange looking illustartion with some narrative done in verse…..This is 1836 mind you! After confirming, finding the experts, it is confirmed that this is the first illustration and first narrative, previoulsy UNKNOWN, that begain the fictional account of SPRING HEEL JACK based on the “actual” sigtings thought to be seen by a few just weeks before. This is the first time I have revealed this publicly….SHJ is one of the icons of the Penny Bloods along with Varney the Vampire and Sweeney Todd.
    Ya gott love it! I know I do!!!! 🙂

  11. Richard Buchko on October 20th, 2008 9:07 pm

    My favorite Golden Nugget was also my first, over 20 years ago. I purchased a copy of THE NEW TIMES from July 11, 1821. I don’t remember why I bought it, having never collected newspapers before, but something made me pay $18 for it. I read it for a few days before noticing a small article near the bottom of page three. Suddenly, in the midst of all this common and vague news, was an article about the death and autopsy of Napoleon!

    The article detailed his final days and his ultimate death, which was all fascinating enough – but then went into the details of what they found when they did the autopsy, a historical nugget I’ve never seen anywhere else. It turned out that Napoleon, the self-proclaimed Emperor of the civilized world, had a fist-sized hole in his stomache, an ulcer of massive size. When I read that my mind immediately went to the pictures you see of Napoloen standing with his hand inside his jacket. Could it be he wasn’t posing in a confident manner, but was really in a lot of pain?

    This was a nugget that hooked me. Over the last twoety years I have bought and sold that same newspaper three different times, selling when economics required that I raise cash, and buying it back when I could afford it. I bought it for $18, then sold it for $20. A few years later I tracked the guy down and bought it for $30, but a while later had to sell it again, for $40. The last time I bought it was for $55, and hopefully I’ll always hold onto it – not only as the beginning of my newspaper collecting life, but because every time I buy it, the darn thing costs more!

  12. Lawrence Garrett on October 22nd, 2008 8:54 pm

    I need to add my pirate newspaper message above was a Postboy October 22-24, 1723

  13. David Cunningham on October 23rd, 2008 11:43 am

    About a year ago I purchased the public Ledger from 12/17/1890 for $29.00. This paper had a front page headline of Sitting Bull’s methods. It mentioned his prior battles including the Battle of Little Big Horn, Custer, Buffalo Bill and the ghost dance. I thought that was the main content of the paper. After reading I found the following. Still on the front page dispatch 12/16/1790 death of Sitting Bull. It proceeds with a fairly detailed account of how he died. Inside the paper had a smaller article about his death. There was also a letter from Red Cloud talking about the ghost dance. Two other items that I found interesting was a front page mention of Theodore Roosevelt chairman of the national civil service doing an investigation against Captain Pierce. Under the obituary section is the death of Major General Alfred Terry. It goes on in detail about his accomplishments in the civil war and indian wars. Ironically I believe his unit was the first to arrive shortly after the Battle of Little Big Horn and discover the bodies of Custer’s men. He also negotiated with Sitting Bull in 1877.

  14. C. F. William Maurer on October 26th, 2008 2:45 pm

    While I was the director of the Gomez Mill House, Marlboro, NY, a magazine, “Frank Leslie’s Popular Monthly” dated November 1884 was advertised on e-bay. The interesting thing described was an article on wine making and a picture of the vineyards – “The Vineyard and the wine-press – Trimming and packng grapes for Market near Marlboro on the Hudson” I purchased this for my collection and zeroxed the picture and article for further research and later display at the “house.” http://www.gomezmillhouse.org.

    My personal interest, though, is the American Revolution. In the magazine was a great article (and in great detail) of “Washington’s Surrender at Fort Necessity” . Also there was one that paralleled my research on New York’s evacuation titled, “New York City after the War of 1812.” Both subjects in more than I ever needed.

    The reason I picked this magazine today is because it was on my desk! My daughter in law is in the wine business and just finished her Master’s in “hospitality” and her subject was, of course, wine. I asked her if she needed an article on New York wine from the 1880s and she answered, “Great!”

    I have found that newspapers and, of course, magazines have such a wide range of subjects included and that you may purchase it for one reason and be surprised by what else you may discover.

    Let me tell you about the newspaper that helped in publishing my book!

  15. Thomas Rowley on October 26th, 2008 2:51 pm

    A recently found “nugget” turned up in a a copy of the Semi-Weekly Standard from Santa Ana, CA. dated January 5th 1882. Living in Orange County, CA. I wanted to pick up a local paper from that era. With my interest in Western history, I was pleased to find in that issue a short article saying…” Virgil Earp, the wounded Tombstone official is reported to be in a very weak condition and his death is momentarily expected.” Virgil survived this ambush but lost the use of one arm for the rest of his life.

  16. Paul Sarna on October 26th, 2008 3:03 pm

    One item a bought that caught me by surprise was a May 7, 1945, either Boston Record or Boston American, a tabloid newspaper featuring Germany’s inevitable surrender in World War II in the headline. I decided to look at the inside pages and about 15 or 17 pages deep into the newspaper was an atricle written by Lieutenant John Kennedy with a picture of the youthful future President.

  17. C. F. William Maurer on October 26th, 2008 3:05 pm

    In 1978, when the local community was getting ready to celebrate the 200th anniversary of the Baylor Massacre, a disaster in Bergen County, NJ where the British surprised a Virginia cavalry unit, a friend in the local historical society told me that he had purchased a newspaper that covered the massacre. I offered to buy it from him. No, he was saving it for the historical society. A short time later he said he had found another newspaper and this one too, he was going to give to another historical society.

    Christmas was coming and my wife asked me what I wanted for Christmas. I said, “See if Jim will sell you one of those two newspapers.” I still don’t know what she paid for it!

    Anyway, using this primary source of newspapers, I began researching the Third Dragoons. This led to collecting (and reading) as many newspapers as I could on the American Revolution. A little sharp looking helped me find papers that covered this unit and went beyond the description provided for the buyer by the seller. For example, one time a newspaper picture of a section showed a mention of the dragoons on the side and the article when I purchased the paper was of big help in my research. And this led to finally publishing my research as “Dragoon Diary.”

    One other remark, if I may. I am now volunteering in a NPS museum with a display of pamphlets from 1750 to 1800. I discovered a quote from John Adams to Mr. Jefferson in 1815 that makes a heck of a lot of sense – “What do we mean by the Revolution? The war? That was no part of the Revolution; it was only an effect and consequence of it. The Revolution was in the minds of the people, and this was affected, from 1760 to 1775, in the course of fifteen years before a drop of blood was shed at Lexington. The records of thirteen legislatures, the pamphlets, newspapers in all the colonies, ought to be consulted during that period to ascertain the steps for which the public opinion was enlightened and informed concerning the authority of Parliament over the colonies.”

    What a great way to look at this popular field of research by consulting the “records, the pamphlets, and the newspapers in all the colonies.” Good luck in your research and enjoy it!!

  18. Thomas Rowley on October 26th, 2008 3:14 pm

    The very first newspaper I bought that started me in this hobby was a” Bache’s Philadelphia Aurora” from January 11, 1800. I thik it was $11.00 or so. On the front of the single page was an announcement …”General Washington has left Mount Vernon and all his papers to Judge Washington. His negroes are to be set free after the death of Mrs. Washington, who during her lifetime retains possession of the whole estate…”
    I thought this was a great find and got me hooked on the hobby!

  19. Paul Sarna on October 26th, 2008 3:27 pm

    Another item that caught me off guard was a bound volume of the Altoona Mirror from 1912. It was newspapers that unfortunately did not feature pictures or illustrations, but did have a decent 4 or 5 column headline on the Titanic sinking and alot of subsequent single-column headings on the aftermath of the sinking. Later in the volume I discovered a nice frontpage that had coverage of both Wilbur Wright’s death and the 2nd Indianapolis 500. I pretty much forgot about the volume after those issues were removed….I even put it into my storage unit. At least 1-1/2 or maybe 2 years later (this was I guess in the early 90’s) I was at my storage and decided to look through the volume again because someone I knew collected “minstrel show” ads. I was looking at the issues before the batch I removed with the Titanic coverage. The issue immediately prior had a single column heading at the upper right …”TITANIC CRAWLS TO HALIFAX” !!It had a great article about all the passengers being rescued and (as I remember) tugboats bringing the Titanic into Halifax harbor…..Needless to say, you can imagine my shock after almost burying this item.

  20. Joe Rainone on October 27th, 2008 10:26 am

    One more story: The ILLUSTRATED WEEKLY out of New York ran for only about a year and a half. I bought a number of issues because on occassion it has comics.

    However, I did not know at the time they would also contain, what I beleive to be, the earliest illustrated account of the Death of Custer! There are two sequential issues. The first dated July 15, 1876 has the account and a nice photo image of Custer on first page center of story.
    The other (week later) has a great scene of Custer on his horse charging his attackers, a memorial issue that takes up the entire front page! Seems both are unknown versions of the massacre.

    BTW
    Just want to include the dates as not to disqualify myself, of my other entries.
    Jan 27, 1838 Franklin’s Miscellany is the first appearance EVER of Srping Heel Jack
    March 3, 1849 UNCLE SAM is the first part of the first KIT CARSON story.

  21. David Sounik on October 28th, 2008 11:59 pm

    A number of years ago when eBay was still quite young I placed a bid on an issue of the Connecticut Courant from July 30, 1787. The description contained generic comments like “historical”, “rare” and “over 200 years old” but not much else on the content. I was interested in the paper because it was printed during the constitutional convention which was being held in Phiadelphia and I was hoping for some news discussions or debates going on in the convention (my interest is in the formative years of the U.S. government). As I found out later, very little information actually left the convention and as it tuned out there was no mention of the convention in the newspaper. However, to my surprise, I found a printing of the Northwest Ordinance, passed on July 13, on the front page. This has been my most interesting find to date, though I have had many others. Good luck to you all in the hunt!

  22. Emmanuel Paraschos on October 30th, 2008 9:21 pm

    A few weeks ago I purchased a December 1737 issue of the British Gentleman’s Magazine because I was interested in an article it had about the trial of the colonial printer John Peter Zenger. At the end of the magazine there was a list of the year’s births, baptisms, deaths, marriages, etc. Also, to my surprise, there was a list that I had never seen before, entitled “Diseases and Casualties this Year.”

    That list includes deaths from a variety of diseases ranging from “ague” and “apoplexy” to “consumption” and “grief.” Many of the names of the diseases are unusual or exotic, but I verified that they were accurate with medical historians.

    I teach in a college that has a program in health communication and my colleagues love the list so much that they are using it in their classes as evidence that the press even at that early stage, covered health issues. What an education and what a find!

  23. Paul E. Sturdevant on October 30th, 2008 9:42 pm

    I was at an estate sale years ago with lots of books. As I was looking through the old newspapers being used to wrap items I found the Dallas, Texas Newspapers for November 22 and 23 1963. The Assignation dates of Kennedy and the papers of the city in which it happened. I use these in my college history classes to help get the student into the times.

  24. Brett Barker on October 30th, 2008 11:53 pm

    The collecting of old newspapers is a bit more challenging in Australia with very little available.We normally have to build collections buying overseas.Our best sources locally are what we call “op shops”,stores selling second habd goods for charity and “Garage sales” when people sell off there old goods from home.Any finds at all, which are rare are purchased.Looking through books at a garage sale at a place called Cockatoo I found pressed within a large atlas 2 copies of “Nature” dated 1880 in excellent A grade condition.I paid $8 and headed off to read and glean,with ads by famous scientists and articles on science of the day it was enthralling.
    Then I found it…..”Edison’s Electric Light” announcing “Mr.Edison’s new form of electric lighting and the steps by which he has led to its discovery” The article announcing perhaps the greatest discovery ever has the most beautiful descriptive article on how Edison achieved the feat.Wording such as “..and if you pick out from the crowd the grimiest and most woe-begone of the whole part of overworked alchemists it will be Edison himself” moves and exhilerates.Value…priceless.

  25. Andrew Robinson on October 31st, 2008 2:03 pm

    After almost thirty years of collecting antique newspapers I have many tales of nuggets great and small, but will restrict my submissions to five.

    I purchased a volume of York (UK) newspapers – York Courant, York Chronicle, York Herald and Yorkshire Gazette from 1821 knowing they should contain the death of Napoleon and details of his will. Looking through the volume I noticed an intriguing letter published in one of the issues. It was from a parish priest in the north east of England who described in great detail a walk along a deserted beach where he saw in the shallows of the sea a creature that he believed most definitely was a mermaid! Such was the respect given to the clergy in those days that the letter was published in all seriousness and without comment. One must surmise that he had enjoyed a drink that day and probably saw a seal which are occasional visitors to those shores, but then again…….

  26. Andrew Robinson on October 31st, 2008 2:06 pm

    In the same lot was a volume of the same York papers from 1824. I discovered in the September and October issues of all of these York papers, details of the sale of a whole town! The market town of Wetherby in Yorkshire, population now around 10,000, was owned then in its entirety by the Duke of Devonshire and in 1824 he decided to sell it. In the weeks prior to the auction, the newspapers contained details of the 170 lots consisting of every street and building, or set of buildings in the town that were to be sold. And after the sale there are full details of the lots that were sold. The auction realised £168,561. The York Herald of October 16 1824 tells the story of James Horner at the auction. He rented a garden and when this lot was announced by the auctioneer, he stood up and addressed the auctioneer claiming that he had transformed the land from an infertile bog by his own efforts and that he had in effect purchased it by the sweat of his brow. When the auctioneer asked for a bid, Horner proposed the sum of £400 and apparently his unassuming speech had such an effect that no other bids were made. The auctioneer brought down his hammer to the loud applause of all those assembled.

  27. Andrew Robinson on October 31st, 2008 2:07 pm

    I acquired the London Gazette October 9 – 13 1684 from you earlier this year. The contents of London Gazettes from this period are very much ‘pot luck’ and vary from the dull and uninteresting to the fascinating and intriguing. This issue contained the following advertisement: “A very strange Beast called a Rhynoceros, lately brought from the East Indies, being the first that ever was in England, is daily to be seen at the Bell Savage Inn op Ludgate-Hill, from Nine a Clock in the Morning till eight at Night”.

  28. Andrew Robinson on October 31st, 2008 2:15 pm

    Marketing is often thought to have begun in the twentieth century, but advertisements from the past do sometimes show a creative and entrepreneurial spirit that would do credit to businesses of today. In Jackson’s Oxford Journal of May 10th 1817, Mr Hopkins’s Coach Manufactury advertised, for one week only at its premises in Broad Street Oxford, that it would be exhibiting “Bonaparte’s military carriage and its valuable contents as taken at Waterloo and sent to the Prince Regent by Marshal Blucher. The Coachman of Bonaparte, one who was wounded and lost an arm and was captured with the carriage at Waterloo and the one who went with him to Elba are both in attendance with the carriage. Admittance is one shilling and a book may be purchased for one shilling and sixpence – The life of Jean Hornn, ten years military coachman to the ex emperor.” I went to Oxford, which is near to where I live, in the unlikely hope that there might be a garage in the same location run by a Hopkins descendent! But no such luck and unsurprising as the city is now very vehicle unfriendly.

  29. Andrew Robinson on October 31st, 2008 2:18 pm

    And finally! Renting country cottages for holidays in the UK is very popular but you can also rent out country houses for a large group of friends which is just as cheap per person. A few years ago my family and five other families went to stay for a week’s holiday in Devon at a large former stately home called Buckland House – http://www.bucklandhouse.co.uk/. The history link on the web site shows that the original House burnt down in 1790 and was rebuilt in 1810 at great expense (£40,000 at that time). A year later I acquired at auction a volume of The Morning Herald from 1805 as I wanted original Trafalgar newspapers. It was a large lot and included many volumes from the 1820’s and 1830’s. I intended to put these aside for a rainy day to concentrate on the Trafalgar papers and just had a cursory glance through each volume. On the front page of the first paper in one volume – The Morning Post of July 1 1834 – there was a full column advertisement for The Buckland Filleigh Estate in North Devon stating that the magnificent stone structure had been erected at an expense of forty thousand pounds! How exciting to find a full and detailed description of a house and grounds, from 1834, where very little had changed from then to the time that I spent my week’s holiday 170 years later.

  30. Joe Rainone on October 31st, 2008 7:43 pm

    Well Happy Halloween all!
    Here is my last entry, now 5…..
    I am a collector of an Illustrated scandal papers such as the Police Gazette, from generally pre 1900 as I mentioned earlier. I was called by a dealer who knew of my wants. He said he had a bound volume of of the Day’s Doings a scarce Frank Leslie paper which was indeed a scandal type paper. Also, bound in he said was a few Police Illustrated News and another paper…this other paper I had been looking for, for a few years…ever since I read about it’s existance. This rarity was another Frank Leslie paper although he does not give his name similar to the Days Doings. Although very similar to the Days Doings it was touted to be, in numerous ads, the most spectacular of all! Anthony Comstock was already on to it before it came out and is probably the main reason for responsibility for it’s lack of existance…..in fact , only I and the Library of Congress own one issue….I’ll drink to that!…Oh, the title….CHAMPAGNE…;)
    joe

  31. David Cunningham on October 31st, 2008 9:51 pm

    One other that I just remembered. I purchased the Gazette of US from 8/11/1790. I purchased based on two acts and two resolutions signed by Washington, Jefferson and Adams. It turned out that also on the same page was mention of Ben Franklin’s death and who he left his fortune to. Mr Heilenman mentioned it was rare to have all four on the same page. Dave.

  32. Golden Nugget Discovery Contest… : History’s Newsstand Blog on November 3rd, 2008 4:39 pm

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    […] and certificates will be mailed on Tuesday, November 11th.  To view all entries, please go to:  Contest – Share your best “golden nugget discovery” with the world! If you liked this post, you may also enjoy… Contest – Share your best “golden nugget […]

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