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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.
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.
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.
Collector Historic Newspapers – A discussion with Tim Hughes…
March 27, 2020 by GuyHeilenman · Leave a Comment
On March 3, 2020 Mike Safo conducted a podcast with the Tim Hughes, founder of Timothy Hughes Rare & Early Newspapers. His textual intro. to the podcast states:
Joined today by the owner and founder of Rarenewspapers.com, Timothy Hughes. Tim and I talk about our weird passion of collecting newspapers and discuss the current state of collecting and the industry today. We chat about his infamous hometown of Williamsport, Pennsylvania, the home of the Little League World Series. How before the newspaper business Tim was employed by Little League International. He talks about the famous 1980 World Series and how that put the LLWS on the map and golfing with Mike Mussina. Tim takes us back to collecting coins and stamps and how buying a 3-dollar newspaper changed everything. From leaving employment with Little League International to how he acquired over a million newspapers from the 1600a to present day. He tells us which newspaper’s he’ll never sell, which are the most in demand and why the hobby is growing.
The entire, informative podcast can be heard at: Mike Safo’s Interview With Tim Hughes
Mike describes himself as: “Just a regular New York City guy who gets to interview some pretty amazing people… A conversation/hangout podcast with friends, athletes, authors, celebrities, fighters, and the world’s most fascinating people. ‘The greatest podcast ever’ – My Mom”
The February (2020) Newsletter from Rare & Early Newspapers…
February 17, 2020 by GuyHeilenman · Leave a Comment
Each month the staff of Timothy Hughes Rare & Early Newspapers sends out a newsletter to our members which includes special offers, discounts, alerts to new inventory, and information related to the rare newspaper collectible.
The February, 2020 newsletter:
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The January (2020) Newsletter from Rare & Early Newspapers…
January 27, 2020 by GuyHeilenman · Leave a Comment
Each month the staff of Timothy Hughes Rare & Early Newspapers sends out a newsletter to our members which includes special offers, discounts, alerts to new inventory, and information related to the rare newspaper collectible.
The October, 2019 newsletter:
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Welcome to the first member’s newsletter for 2020. Shown below are links to recently listed items (a great set – see below), newly discounted issues (50% off), the History’s Newsstand Blog, and our most recent catalog of original newspapers (Catalog 290). Please enjoy.
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I’m New Here: Week Forty-Two, Wishing You A Blessed Christmas!
December 21, 2019 by Stephanie Williams · Leave a Comment
As this is the first gift ordering season I have experienced in the Rare Newspaper world, there is much I have learned recently. However, I am on a personal quest to keep the bustle of the season from obscuring the spiritual value of these days. It is the third week of Advent on the Christian calendar and my morning reflections are on Joy. I appreciate the preceding meditations have been on Hope and Peace, because without them Joy might feel a bit contrived, at least to me.
My good intentions, however, usually don’t survive the details of life. Into all the elevated mindset about to be swept away by the Monday morning deluge of business activity, came an anchoring phone call. The gentleman was seeking information about an issue out of Honolulu, dated December 7th. It is one of the most available reprints as there were three versions in addition to the original. This fellow was mostly interested in telling the story of his newlywed mother who followed her spouse out to Hawaii in 1941, where he was stationed on a naval destroyer in Pearl Harbor. He told how his mom took a job in the shipyard so she could stay, and her birthday was unexpectedly marked by sirens and smoke. This woman, who wouldn’t open gifts until her husband returned days later, was blessed to spend more than seventy more years with him.
It’s a beautiful story, and it encompasses much of the mindset of WWII. The newspaper headlines surrounding those days are larger-than-life to me, standing decades later. But the people who responded with extraordinary courage and forbearance and loyalty and perseverance were ordinary men and women who put their concerns aside for something greater than immediate comfort or convenience or even personal safety. And the reports, columns, psa’s and advertisements of the time only serve to bring that point home.
Anyway, Hope comes before Peace which comes before Joy.
And then comes Love.
The following poem by Christina Rossetti, eventually titled “Christmastide” was published in 1885:
Love came down at Christmas,
Love all lovely, Love Divine,
Love was born at Christmas,
Star and Angels gave the sign.
Worship we the Godhead,
Love Incarnate, Love Divine,
Worship we our Jesus,
But wherewith for sacred sign?
Love shall be our token,
Love be yours and love be mine,
Love to God and all men,
Love for plea and gift and sign.
Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to all.
I’m New Here: Week Thirty-Nine…
November 27, 2019 by Stephanie Williams · Leave a Comment
Sometimes rabbit trails lead to revised destinations – particularly those that meander through the annals of history. This week is a big deal on the US calendar because of colonists and survival and a heritage of gratitude…and I am a person full of thanks this year, as I have been much of my life.
I obtained permission from Guy to be a bit personal in my post, which he graciously granted, but a communication with a favorite collector in NYC derailed my reflection. Ms. P told me about Evacuation Day, which commemorated the rousting of the British troops from their occupation of New York City following this nation’s fight for independence from England. I had never heard of the liberation of NYC, let alone the celebrations that occurred annually until Lincoln’s Thanksgiving Proclamation co-opted the seasonal celebrations. To be honest, I had never considered the duration of conflict following the 1776 declaration. Anyway, this information came to light in a peripheral way, and the collector who brought it to our attention, attended this year’s anniversary hoopla in the city that was liberated.
It’s a privilege to learn from the staff here, as well as those who are ordering papers. The collecting community is made up of a broad spectrum of interest and study, and I get to glean from the riches that move through the Rare and Early Newspapers archives.
I am thankful for the people who envisioned the United States of America — this great experiment. I am thankful for those who kept their convictions through a long, wearying stretch of conflict, and I am thankful for families and communities who continued to manage the stuff of life through the political upheaval.
If you have some time over the upcoming holiday, our catalog is much more fascinating than any Black Friday special. Whether you find the perfect gift for yourself or another, the time spent perusing the pages is a treat all by itself.
Cheers!