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My collecting story… B.D. in Thornhill, Ontario…
June 5, 2020 by GuyHeilenman · Leave a Comment
Below we continue our series in which we post the “stories” graciously submitted by our collecting friends during the pandemic of 2020.
Some years ago, maybe fifteen, I purchased a London Chronicle newspaper from Timothy Hughes newspapers. This was mainly for the fun of having an old newspaper from ‘the old country’. I have purchased quite a few since then and actually got round to reading some for the fascinating items that the contain. One such item concerns the creation of the chronometer by John Harrison in the 1700s. I had seen his chronometers displayed at the observatory in Greenwich, produced by Harrison in response to Queen Anne’s contest offering a huge reward for a successful timepiece but I could not find out for certain if Harrison was ever paid by the British Government.
LONDON CHRONICLE, London, 1765. Volume XVIII from Saturday, November 2 to Tuesday, November 5, 1765. Contains, on page 436, A Copy of the Certificate of the Commissioners of the Longitude … relating to Mr John Harrison’s Time Keeper, authorizing the payment to him of the 7,500 pounds, less the 2,500 already paid out. According to Wiki, Harrison received 8750 pounds in 1773 when he was 80 years of age but the “official award (from year 12 of Queen Anne’s reign) of 7,500 pounds was never given to anyone”. Dava Sobel in her wonderful book Longitude (London, Fourth Estate, 1995) says that Harrison’s son, William, sought the king’s intervention (George III) resulting in a payment to John Harrison of 8,750 pounds in June 1773, noting that ‘this amount nearly totaled the remainder of the prize due to him, but that it was a bounty awarded by the benevolence of Parliament – in spite of the Board of Longitude, instead of from it.’ Elsewhere, I have read that his son received this after his father’s death but I cannot recall in which newspaper (one in my collection, I think). This seems to set my questions to rest. It would appear that he was and he wasn’t, depending on how you look at it! He received the cash but not the ‘prize’.
Making the effort to read the newspapers is extremely rewarding but not without it’s difficulties. Some of the older papers, before 1700 are not so easy, especially those using ‘old English’ but it is very rewarding to plunge into the atmosphere created by ‘on the spot reporting’. Some of the items are quite extensive and take a while to plough through. I recently came across the item shown below:
The Supplement for the Year 1793 (to The Gentleman’s Magazine), London, includes on page 1208 an extract of a letter written by an Officer of the Agamemnon of 64 guns, Captain Horatio Nelson, and dated at Tunis, November 8, 1793 (see below). I have had this item for several years and only just spent some time (during this pandemic) reading it properly. I have hundreds yet to scrutinize! Perhaps I will find something that leads to a great historical revelation, or perhaps I will just enjoy reading about history from the pens of people who lived that history!
As additional “stories” are posted they will be available at: MY COLLECTING STORY. We did this many years ago as well – and their posts are also included.
Announcing: Catalog #295 (for June, 2020) is now available…
May 29, 2020 by GuyHeilenman · Leave a Comment
- Catalog 295 (in its entirety)
- Noteworthy Catalog 295 ($250+)
- Combined Catalogs (current, w/ remnants of previous)
Don’t forget about this month’s DISCOUNTED ISSUES.
The links above will redirect to the latest catalog in approx. 30 days,
upon which time it will update to the most recent catalog.
My collecting story… D.L. in Cranbury, NJ…
May 4, 2020 by GuyHeilenman · Leave a Comment
Below we continue our series in which we post the “stories” graciously submitted by our collecting friends during the pandemic of 2020.
I have always been a collector, I guess it is in my genes. It started with coins when I was very young, I think it was when I was in the second grade. Like most collectors, I migrated within a category, from coins to error coins, to U.S. paper currency, to foreign currency, then to U.S.error currency, and so on. Next came the migration from category to category, from numismatics to scripophily to autographed manuscripts and then rocks & minerals (including arrow heads and meteorites). Finally, about 40 years ago, I stumbled across historical newspapers. Specifically, I collected newspapers concerning the stock market (panics and crashes), as well as news stories concerning the Robber Barrons (people like Jim Fisk, Jr., Daniel Drew, Commodore Vanderbilt, Jay Cooke, and the Rockefeller’s to name a few).
My mother was interested in the women’s movement and I decided to make her a nice presentation piece which included, a historical newspaper (“The Revolution” which was created and published by Susan B Anthony, and Elizabeth Cady Stanton), along with their autographs and a picture of Susan B Anthony, (presentation piece picture shown below).
So after I had purchased all the items to be framed, I started looking through the Revolution newspapers and was stunned by the quantity but especially the quality of the Robber Barron coverage in the newspaper. It was extraordinarily detailed and insightful as can be seen by some of the commentary I have attached. Their ability to dig up scuttlebutt on what shenanigans the key players were up to and the intimate detail with which it was reported was extraordinary. Well, I had no idea that information was in those newspapers, and it delighted me beyond what words can express. Old newspapers are pieces of history you can keep, they are time machines which allow us to look back in past. They also make you think. You can hold them in your hand and learn from them, and sometimes they move you and end up not just in your, hand and brain but also in your heart.
As additional “stories” are posted they will be available at: MY COLLECTING STORY. We did this many years ago as well – and their posts are also included.
Announcing: Catalog #294 (for May, 2020) is now available…
May 1, 2020 by GuyHeilenman · Leave a Comment
- Catalog 294 (in its entirety)
- Noteworthy Catalog 294 ($250+)
- Combined Catalogs (current, w/ remnants of previous)
Don’t forget about this month’s DISCOUNTED ISSUES.
Note: after approximately 30 days the links above will redirect to the latest catalog.
My collecting story… B.R. in Grosse Ile, Michigan…
April 20, 2020 by GuyHeilenman · Leave a Comment
Below we continue our series in which we post the “stories” graciously submitted by our collecting friends during the pandemic of 2020.
Several years ago I ‘discovered’ the wonderful world of rare newspapers offered by Tim Hughes on eBay. I couldn’t believe what he had! Amazing rarities that I’ve never seen offered by anyone else anywhere else! I quickly became hooked.As additional “stories” are posted they will be available at: MY COLLECTING STORY. We did this many years ago as well – and their posts are also included.
The April (2020) Newsletter from Rare & Early Newspapers…
April 17, 2020 by GuyHeilenman · Leave a Comment
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Which issue within your collection do you value the most and why?
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Have you ever found something you consider special within an issue you’ve collected that you did not know was present prior to your decision to obtain it? If so, what did you find?
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Why do you collect rare/historic newspapers? How did you get started? Tell us your story.
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See what’s happening on our social sites
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My collecting story… R. L. in Daytona Beach, Florida…
April 13, 2020 by GuyHeilenman · Leave a Comment
Below we continue our series in which we post the “stories” graciously submitted by our collecting friends during the pandemic of 2020.
Newspapers Offer A Glimpse Into the Past
I don’t know if some things never change, or if history simply has a habit of repeating itself. As I watch today’s TV news in the era of the Corona Virus, I see many of the same challenges to society today that faced a particular society 76 years ago. Both then and now, people were searching for normalcy in their everyday lives.
Harper’s Weekly, September 11, 1858
Fall 1944 was a time when World War 2 was still raging across the globe. My period newspaper reports that “members of the International and Swedish Red Cross have been obliged to discontinue their activities…” Today, we hear of the possibility of hospitals becoming over-run and shutting their doors.
In 1944, an article headlined Enormous Drain On Resources feels just as relevant now as it did back then. As we see images of grocery stores with empty shelves, I am reading about food shortages which existed in 1944, with potato thieves being fined — or even going to jail. Yet despite shortages and community hardship, then and now, everyday life carried on. While Jeffrey Morris was born on November 4, an 85 year old widow, Marie Guilbert, died on the 6th. The cycle of life still rolls on today.
Meanwhile, one subscriber offered a billiard table for sale to help pass the long winter nights. The editor offered a column titled How to Enjoy Long Evenings. Reading, creating arts & crafts, or even doodling sounds just as good to folks quarantined today, as it did to folks back then in a time of war.
What I find really amazing is that the wartime newspaper so relevant today is the Guernsey Evening Press published on November 22, 1944. It was written in English, under Nazi supervision, on one of the German-occupied Channel Islands. I believe its readers would certainly know how to face the current hardships we are enduring, and then some.
Newspapers from the past offer a glimpse into everyday lives. For me, that is the lure of collecting old newspapers. They are our personal connection to the people who lived while history was unfolding. Many of their hopes and fears and challenges were the same then, as ours are today.
As additional “stories” are posted they will be available at: MY COLLECTING STORY. We did this many years ago as well – and their posts are also included.
March through the years via the lens of Rare & Early Newspapers…
March 6, 2020 by GuyHeilenman · 4 Comments
Walk with us back through time to see what noteworthy, historic and collectible events occurred during the month of February. In so doing, we hope you’ll agree: “History is never more fascinating than when it’s read from the day it was first reported.”
March Through Time
Announcing: Catalog #292 (for March, 2020) is now available…
March 2, 2020 by GuyHeilenman · Leave a Comment
- Catalog 292 (in its entirety)
- Noteworthy Catalog 292 ($250+)
- Combined Catalogs (current, w/ remnants of previous)
Don’t forget about this month’s DISCOUNTED ISSUES.
(The links above will redirect to the latest catalog in approx. 30 days, upon which time it will update to the most recent catalog.)
Snapshot 1926… They said she would never make it…
February 24, 2020 by GuyHeilenman · Leave a Comment
We recently came across an August 6th Leominster Daily Enterprise which had an article stating that a young woman was attempting to swim across The English Channel, and while acknowledging her spirit, made it clear she was soon to fail as many woman had done so prior to her effort. Of course this inspired us to check the issue for the following day to see whether this young girl, or her doubters would come up short. The headline tells it all. 