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The Civil War… September 21, 1861…
September 21, 2011 by GuyHeilenman · Leave a Comment
This week we continue with the our reflection upon the Civil War events of 150 years ago… as seen through the eyes of the original readers of the Harper’s Weekly issue printed for September 21, 1861.
Note: The following commentary was written by Dr. James Robertson* as part of a weekly review for the reprint edition of the “Harper’s Weekly” which was done at the 100th anniversary of the Civil War. It provides much insight into the events of the day and scholarly commentary on both the illustrations and reporting found in the original 1861 newspaper:
* The Virginia Tech website provides the credentials of Dr. James Roberson:
“One of the most distinguished names in Civil War history, Dr. Robertson was Executive Director of the U.S. Civil War Centennial Commission and worked with Presidents Truman, Kennedy, and Johnson in marking the war’s 100th anniversary. Today his Civil War Era course at Virginia Tech, which attracts 300 students per semester, is the largest of its kind in the nation.
The Danville, Va., native is the author or editor of more than 20 books that include such award-winning studies as “Civil War! America Becomes One Nation”, “General A.P. Hill”, and “Soldiers Blue and Gray”. His massive biography of Gen. “Stonewall” Jackson won eight national awards and was used as the base for the Ted Turner/Warner Bros. mega-movie, “Gods and Generals”. Robertson was chief historical consultant for the film.”
The Civil War… September 14, 1861…
September 14, 2011 by GuyHeilenman · Leave a Comment
This week we continue with the our reflection upon the Civil War events of 150 years ago… as seen through the eyes of the original readers of the Harper’s Weekly issue printed for September 14, 1861.
Note: The following commentary was written by Dr. James Robertson* as part of a weekly review for the reprint edition of the “Harper’s Weekly” which was done at the 100th anniversary of the Civil War. It provides much insight into the events of the day and scholarly commentary on both the illustrations and reporting found in the original 1861 newspaper:
* The Virginia Tech website provides the credentials of Dr. James Roberson:
“One of the most distinguished names in Civil War history, Dr. Robertson was Executive Director of the U.S. Civil War Centennial Commission and worked with Presidents Truman, Kennedy, and Johnson in marking the war’s 100th anniversary. Today his Civil War Era course at Virginia Tech, which attracts 300 students per semester, is the largest of its kind in the nation.
The Danville, Va., native is the author or editor of more than 20 books that include such award-winning studies as “Civil War! America Becomes One Nation”, “General A.P. Hill”, and “Soldiers Blue and Gray”. His massive biography of Gen. “Stonewall” Jackson won eight national awards and was used as the base for the Ted Turner/Warner Bros. mega-movie, “Gods and Generals”. Robertson was chief historical consultant for the film.”
The Civil War… September 7, 1861…
September 7, 2011 by TimHughes · Leave a Comment
This week we continue with the new format for our reflection upon the Civil War events of 150 years ago… as seen through the eyes of the original readers of the Harper’s Weekly issue printed for September 7, 1861. As mentioned in a previous post, Dr. James Robertson did a weekly review for the reprint edition of the “Harper’s Weekly” which provides much insight into the events of the day and scholarly commentary on both the illustrations and reporting in the newspaper.
The Virginia Tech website provides the credentials of Dr. James Roberson:
“One of the most distinguished names in Civil War history, Dr. Robertson was Executive Director of the U.S. Civil War Centennial Commission and worked with Presidents Truman, Kennedy, and Johnson in marking the war’s 100th anniversary. Today his Civil War Era course at Virginia Tech, which attracts 300 students per semester, is the largest of its kind in the nation.
The Danville, Va., native is the author or editor of more than 20 books that include such award-winning studies as “Civil War! America Becomes One Nation”, “General A.P. Hill”, and “Soldiers Blue and Gray”. His massive biography of Gen. “Stonewall” Jackson won eight national awards and was used as the base for the Ted Turner/Warner Bros. mega-movie, “Gods and Generals”. Robertson was chief historical consultant for the film.”
Dr. James Roberson’s commentary:
The Civil War… August 31, 1861…
August 31, 2011 by TimHughes · Leave a Comment
Beginning this week we begin a new format for our reflection 150 years ago on events of the Civil War through the eyes of the original readers of the Harper’s Weekly issue printed for August 31, 1861. Dr. James Robertson did a weekly review for the reprint edition of the “Harper’s Weekly” which provides much insight into the events of the day and scholarly commentary on both the illustrations and reporting in the newspaper.
The Virginia Tech website provides the credentials of Dr. James Roberson:
“One of the most distinguished names in Civil War history, Dr. Robertson was Executive Director of the U.S. Civil War Centennial Commission and worked with Presidents Truman, Kennedy, and Johnson in marking the war’s 100th anniversary. Today his Civil War Era course at Virginia Tech, which attracts 300 students per semester, is the largest of its kind in the nation.
The Danville, Va., native is the author or editor of more than 20 books that include such award-winning studies as “Civil War! America Becomes One Nation”, “General A.P. Hill”, and “Soldiers Blue and Gray”. His massive biography of Gen. “Stonewall” Jackson won eight national awards and was used as the base for the Ted Turner/Warner Bros. mega-movie, “Gods and Generals”. Robertson was chief historical consultant for the film.”
Dr. James Roberson’s commentary:
From the publisher of the Harper’s reprints…
August 29, 2011 by TimHughes · Leave a Comment
While Timothy Hughes Rare & Early Newspapers’ archives contain nearly every issue of Harper’s Weekly… available for purchasing… all original… I suspect more collectors are aware of the “reissue” editions of Harper’s Weekly from the Civil War years, easily noted by: “THE REISSUE OF” printed just above the “H” in “Harper’s…” on the front page. Done 100 years after the Civil War, they were a successful educational tool in classrooms across the country.
I recently found this letter from the President of the firm which did the reprints, and thought it offers some interesting insight into the history of the reprint series. It is not dated, but I suspect it was written in December, 1861.
Very early automobile…
August 27, 2011 by TimHughes · Leave a Comment
This “Warrington’s Road Engine” appeared in the Jan. 1, 1881 issue of “Scientific American” magazine with a related article headed: “Novel Road Engine”. It predates the work of Karl Benz, generally accepted as the creator of the modern-day automobile, who produced some of his earlier work around 1885.
The article notes that: “…the fuel, which is at the same time the motive agent, is common illuminating gas which is mixed with a certain proportion of air & exploded in the cylinder in the manner common to well known gas engines…”.
The Civil War… 150 years ago today… August 24, 1861
August 24, 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:
I am intrigued by the front page print of my August 24, 1861 issue: “Presentation of Prince Napoleon by Sec. Seward to the President” as it portrays Abraham Lincoln as a very tall, lean man. I know he is tall, but I think this print is not to proportion based on other prints of him I have seen. Elsewhere in the issue is a nice full page of: “General McClellan & His Staff” plus a very dramatic print of a: “Splendid Charge of U.S. Cavalry at the Battle of Dug Spring, Missouri” .
I am intrigued by the print of “Scenes in the Brooklyn Navy Yard”, as among the 7 prints is one of a large gunboat under construction. What a massive undertaking! Other prints in this issue include “Camp Warren, Burlington, Iowa…”, a dramatic double page print of a naval battle: “The U.S. Frigate St. Lawrence Sinking the Privateer Petrel At Sea”, plus I was surprised to see a nice print of: “The Rebel General Lee”, the first time I ever saw a print of this famous Confederate general.
The Civil War… 150 years ago today… August 17, 1861
August 17, 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:
This week’s edition (for August 17, 1861) has more prints of some leading officers in the war, including Generals McDowell & Mansfield, and Flag Officer Stringham and Col. Blair. Sometimes war-related prints include prints of famous places I’ve never seen, such as the print of Boston soldiers marching off to war, in front of the famous Faneuil Hall. There are some follow-up prints concerning the Battle of Bull Run, including a print of “A Fire Zouave Relating His Experience of the Battle of Bull Run in the Street at Washington.” Their uniforms are fascinating.
Speaking of uniforms the doublepage centerfold is a great display of 23 different types of uniforms worn by the Confederate Army–an interesting array of costumes! There is an interesting full page print of a: “Stampede of Slaves From Hampton to Fortress Monroe”, but the most sickening print I’ve seen this far is a full page of: “The Rebels Bayoneting Our Wounded on the Battlefield at Bull Run”. Such brutality!
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 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?