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The Civil War… 150 years ago… January 4, 1862…
January 4, 2012 by GuyHeilenman · Leave a Comment
We continue our weekly series of reflections on the Civil War with a new twist for 2012. Each week we will provide access to descriptions and images of newspapers (and occasionally other periodicals) printed exactly 150 years ago… to-date. While many are no longer available for sale, reading a snap-shot of what was printed for the given day will hopefully provide a glimpse of life during the critical period in American history. Each link shown will take you to the full description w/ images of authentic issues which were held by those living during the Civil War. Today’s selections are:
HARPER’S WEEKLY, January 4, 1862 Full front page by Homer: “Christmas Boxes in Camp, 1861” does show some mild wear, as this was the first page in the volume. Fullpg. with 3 scenes of “Ship Island”. Fullpg: “Bird’s-eye View of the Coast from Savannah, Ga. to Beaufort, S.C.” Nice dblpgctrfld. is a large: “General Bird’s-Eye View of Washington & Vicinity”. Small print of: “Green River Bridge, Kentucky” & a fullpg. with 2 scenes of: “Gen. Burnside’s Expedition” showing many ships. This issue also contains “Charles Dickens’ New Christmas Stories – 1. Picking Up Evening Shadows, and 2. Picking Up A Pocket-Book”, by Charles Dickens, taking nearly 5 entire pages of text.
BOSTON EVENING TRANSCRIPT, Boston, MA, January 4, 1862 * Fort Pickens Florida FL – Prestonburg, Kentucky… and much more. This 4 page newspaper is in nice condition due to the use of cotton and rag paper during this very historic time in U.S. history.
South Carolina’s first newspapers…
January 2, 2012 by TimHughes · Leave a Comment
The first two newspapers of South Carolina had feeble beginnings. In fact it is not known for certain which of the two was first.
Eleazer Phillips was named the official printer of the colony on Feb. 3, 1732, the son of a Boston bookseller & binder. He would die a few months later on July 10, 1732 & when his father traveled to Charleston to settle his son’s estate he address to its debtors the fact that his son had founded a newspaper, the “South Carolina Weekly Journal” sometime in January, 1732. But all copies of it have disappeared, also confirmed by Brigham.
Thomas Whitmarsh began his “South Carolina Gazette” on January 8, 1732 which continued until his death in September of the following year. Did it begin before the “South Carolina Weekly Journal“? Odds are it did but with no issues of the latter existing it is not known for sure. Whitmarsh’s paper would begin again in February, 1734 by Lewis Timothy. He would die at the end of 1738 when it would be continued by his widow, Elizabeth Timothy. This newspaper would ultimately last until December, 1775 under this title.
A reason to drink?
December 31, 2011 by TimHughes · Leave a Comment
This front page item from the “Prescott Journal-Miner” of Arizona, October 29, 1929, is self-explanatory. Perhaps some can commiserate. There’s a New Year’s resolution here somewhere…
The Civil War… December 28, 1861…
December 28, 2011 by GuyHeilenman · Leave a Comment
This week we return to 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 December 28, 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.”
Curious names of newspapers…
December 26, 2011 by TimHughes · Leave a Comment
There is a piece in Oswald’s “Printing In The Americas” which discusses early names of newspapers which is interesting and worth sharing with fellow collectors:
“The names selected for early American newspapers afford material for interesting study. The world “News”, now so common, was not used except in combination with some other name. Such names as “Museum” and “Repository”, that would in these hustling journalistic days be fatal designations, appear frequently in the colonial list. The most overworked word among them all was “Gazette”. Every district & nearly every town had a “Gazette”. Several had more than one. Three numbers under that name were published under different ownerships at the same time in Williamsburg, Virginia, & three with the same title but with different subtitles were published at the same time at both Richmond, Virginia and Charleston, South Carolina.
The “Mercury”, signifying alertness and swiftness, was a popular newspaper name. There were militant titles like the “Scourge”, “Inquisitor”, “Anti-Monarchist and Republican Watchman” “Sun of Liberty” and “Tree of Liberty”, and conciliatory titles like the “Olive Branch”, the “Philanthropist” and the “Missionary”. The “Lighthouse” and the “Intelligencer” would each seem to give promise of a certain amount of intellectuality, while at the opposite pole we find the “Idiot”, published in 1810 in Boston…”.
Other interesting titles of the pre-1820 era found in Brigham include: “Federal Spy” “Genius of Liberty” “Mirror of the Times” “Minerva” “Oracle of Dauphin” “People’s Friend” “Polar Star” “Rural Visiter” “Torch Light” “American Constellation” “Post-Angel” “Anti-Aristocrat” “Asylum” “Backwoodsman” “Kaleidoscope & Literary Rambler” “Boston Satirist” “Strength of the People” “Bye-Stander” “Candid Review” “Cornucopia” “Crisis” “Mountain Echo” “Engine of Liberty” “Political Banquet & Farmer’s Feast” “Honest American” “Magic Lantern” “Occasional Reverberator” “Spirit of ’76” “Temple of Reason” “Trump of Fame” “Wasp” “Temperate Zone” and so many more.
A Christmas thought… loving our enemies…
December 25, 2011 by GuyHeilenman · 1 Comment
As we reflect on all we’ve been given, the following historic account seems quite timely. The coverage, from WWI, appeared in the New York Times, December 31, 1914. I believe no commentary is needed:
Merry Christmas!
One never knows… Merry Christmas!
December 24, 2011 by GuyHeilenman · Leave a Comment
The Christmas Season is a wonderful time of reflection for many… of love… of giving… of sacrifice. A few weeks ago a man came to us with a story involving rare newspapers (indirectly) which reminded us of the importance of caring for others. The icing on the cake is the involvement of a soldier who had given much… and received so little, until…
Richard Storrs was in the military in 1950 and had the unfortunate fate of being on a train as it traveled through Ohio when it was rammed by another. “221 Guardsman Dead” was the headline of the “Detroit News” of Sept. 11, 1950. Richard Storrs was among the survivors, but he injured his leg causing a disability.
He never received pension benefits from the incident, perhaps not believing it was possible as the years passed. But a prompt from others to pursue let to the need to prove the incident happened. Searching online in 2010 the Storrs’ found our website, which by good fortune happened to have the mentioned newspaper with details of the report on the front page. With this evidence his proof was secured and he was not only able to get pension benefits, but payments missed over the previous 60 years.
One never knows how our newspapers are actually used. We assume only collectors treasure them for historical information related to their interests, but obviously they can provide to be the missing link to family events, solve historical conundrums, and evidence needed to right a wrong from many years past.
The heros of this story are the “others” who will likely forever remain nameless, who saw a friend in need and prompted him to take action. Who can we be an “other” to during this wonderful season? We may never know the results of our kindnesses, but there is Someone who certainly will… and regardless, a child of God will be blessed.
Merry Christmas (Luke 10:25-37)!
The Staff of Timothy Hughes Rare & Early Newspapers
The Civil War… December 21, 1861…
December 21, 2011 by GuyHeilenman · Leave a Comment
This week we return to 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 December 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 Traveler… promise to pay…
December 19, 2011 by The Traveler · Leave a Comment
Today I found myself in London, England with the Post-Boy dated December 20, 1711. I also found that even with traveling back three hundred years, a portion of this paper would fit right into today’s newsstands. An article on the front page of this issue was the reporting “…to Bribe an honest member of the Church of England, to vote against the interest of that church, and his own conscience…”. The text of the “promise to pay” note is included in the article as well.
On the back page of this issue also contains a notice posted by a husband, stating that he would no longer be responsible for his wife’s debts. The description of his wife is very interesting!!
Until next year, I wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
~The Traveler
Must have sounded better than gunshots…
December 17, 2011 by TimHughes · Leave a Comment
The “Norwich Gazette” of England had this notice (see below) in their August 23, 1729 newspaper. There must have been a heated rivalry between the bell ringers of Norwich and those of Eye in the county of Suffolk. Too bad YouTube wasn’t around then….would have liked to have seen the video.