The Traveler… white man sentencing… six slaves conspiracy…

November 16, 2015 by · Leave a Comment 

I traveled to New York City by The New York Evening Post of November 15, 1815 where I found three men in North Carolina were tried and convicted for having cruelly whipped a black slave to death and one of the three men was sentenced to be hung. “…But as it was the first time a white man was condemned to death in the state for killing a slave, the governor thought proper to reprieve him when under the gallows…” (see image below).

In Maryland, six slaves had conspired to kill their master if any of them were to be whipped the next day. When Mr. Owings “called one of them to correct him”, their plan then ensued and a very brutal murder occurred. At the end of the report, all six were sitting in the new jail.

~The Traveler

Blog-11-16-2015-Slave-Uprising

 

The Traveler… not quite the intended effect…

November 2, 2015 by · Leave a Comment 

Blog-11-2-2015Today I traveled to London by the way of The Post Boy dated November 1, 1715. While peace in Lithuania now prevailed, Poland was being torn into pieces.  A proclamation was made “…that if any Gentleman should presume to mount on Horse-back, his House should be burnt, and his Wife and Children put to the Sword… However, it had a quite contrary Effect to what was expected; for the Nobility of the Palatinate of Cracow having mounted on Horseback, march’d towards Podgura and prevail’d with the Palatinate of Russia to join them; as several more are very ripe to do…The Muscovites, to the Number of 20000 Men, are arrived within 8 Leagues of this City, and pursue their March, with all speed, for Pomerania.”

~ The Traveler

The Traveler… suffrage is defeated… groom and bride-to-be divided…

October 19, 2015 by · Leave a Comment 

Blog-10-19-2015-Woman's-SuffrageToday I traveled to New York City by the way of the New York Times dated October 20, 1915. The headline is “New Jersey Beats Suffrage by 46,278; While President Wilson Votes ‘Yes,’ Mrs. Galt, his Fiancee, Is Out As Anti”. “Woman suffrage was defeated at the special election in New Jersey yesterday, when it had its first test in any Eastern State… President Wilson’s endorsement of the suffrage cause and his pledge to vote for the Constitutional amendment on which the suffragists of New Jersey had built such strong hopes did not help to carry the day for the suffragist even in the precinct where he himself cast his ballot yesterday… Mrs. Galt, the President’s fiancee, while Mr. Wilson was on his way to Princeton to vote “Yes,” let it be known in Washington that she is opposed to women voting…”.

While their opinion differed on the topic of suffrage, that did not hinder their relationship as they were married just two months later.

~The Traveler

Noteworthy newspapers – one person’s view (part I)…

October 15, 2015 by · Leave a Comment 

At Rare Newspapers, the most difficult to answer yet common question our staff is frequently challenged to answer is, “Do you having anything new to offer that’s interesting?” While some newspapers would certainly rise to the top of the heap and make the answer a no-brainer (Lincoln assassination, Declaration of Independence, an Oxford Gazette, a great Stock Market crash report, etc.), these issues are few and far between – and do not come along very often. What about the periods when no “best of the best” has come our way? Selecting great issues is often quite subjective – and ends up being heavily Blog-10-22-2015-Joe-Paternoinfluenced by one’s own interests and knowledge base. This truth makes answering this question nearly impossible. However, just for fun, from time to time we’ll ask the Rare & Early Newspapers’ staff to take turns looking at the issues listed month-to-date to select their choice for the most interesting new item.

I’ll get things started by taking a look at September (to-date), 2015. In my opinion, there are several good issues to choose from: The New York Yankees acquire Joe DiMaggio, the very 1st King Kong advertisement,  the announcing of the creation of a Jewish homeland, the execution of the Rosenbergs, and the death of William Randolph Hurst – to name a few. However, as a graduate of Penn State University, my selection of the month is an issue announcing Joe Paterno becoming a starter at Brown University. Just as beauty is in the eye of the beholder, I’m confident my selection may not be the same as yours.  You can weigh in on your own thoughts by looking at the first page of our Recent Listings. Enjoy.

Next stop: October, 2015.

The Traveler… unbelievable human brutality…

October 5, 2015 by · Leave a Comment 

This week I traveled back to New York City by the way of the Harper’s Weekly, October 7, 1865. Although this issue is filled with a variety of woodcuts [illustrations], the one that struck me the most was of the “Grounds at ABlog-10-5-2015-Andersonvillendersonville, Georgia, Where are Buried Fourteen Thousand Union Soldiers Who Died in Andersonville Prison” and the accompanying article. “…The graves of the soldiers starved and poisoned and brutally murdered there are not scattered about over the innocent hill-sides of our land, but are dug under the sod that drank their blood and bore witness to the cruelty of Wirz, Winder, and the rebel authorities at Richmond, who kept these demons at their posts… James M. Moore,Assistant-Quarter-master, and his party, returned from Andersonville, where they have been engaged for a month in identifying the graves and giving honored sepulture to the fourteen thousand victims of rebel barbarity, who suffered all manner of torture and death in that notorious prison-pen…”.

~The Traveler

The Traveler… a sweet business…

September 21, 2015 by · Leave a Comment 

Blog-9-21-2015-SugarToday I traveled to back London, England by The London Chronicle of September 21, 1765. I found the reporting of some sweet business happening in New England, the making of maple syrup! “Having chosen out a large maple-tree, suitable for the purpose, they with an axe box it…a kind of trough is prepared… in order to retain the sap as it runs down. By this means upwards of 30 gallons from one tree has been drawn in a day;…  produces a sugar, the grain of which is equal in fineness to the the Jamaica…  upwards of 600 lb. was made by one man the last season…”

~The Traveler

A West Coast collector amasses a large collection…

September 17, 2015 by · Leave a Comment 

Richard Robinson was a long-time collector of historic newspapers, having begun at the age of 10 in the mid-1940’s & continuing  to add to his collection until his passing earlier this year. He was one of a small number of serious Blog-9-17-2015-Richard-Robinsonnewspaper collectors from that era.

Having grown up in Beverly Hills, California, it is not surprising that a majority of his issues were from the Los Angeles area. Fortunately both the “Herald Express” and the “Examiner” typically used large, “screaming” headlines desired by collectors today. Although he had some issues from the 18th and 19th centuries, the lion’s share of his collection was made up with those from the era in which lived. How great it would have been to add to a collection reports on the end of World War II and later by simply paying the 10 cent price at the newsstand!

This front page article in the Feb. 26, 1952 issue of the “Beverly Hills Bulletin shows him as a 12 year old student when his collection included some 1000 newspapers. At the time of his passing the number had to have grown to 50,000 or more.

In a correspondence with him many years ago I recall him stating that he never paid more than $5 for any newspaper in his collection. Many were simply given to him. He noted as one of his prize editions the famous “Chicago  Daily Tribune” with the “Dewey Defeats Truman” headline, which the Tribune offered to buy back from him for $25. He refused.

Old Newspapers… New Value…

September 10, 2015 by · 6 Comments 

Blog-9-10-2015-New-Orleans-PicayuneWe just became aware of a post featured on The Atlantic in regards to a large collection of newspapers from New Orleans that is quite interesting. Please enjoy:

Old Newspapers, New Value – How 30,000 antique New Orleans newspapers listed on Craigslist found a new home.

The Traveler… the sinking of the Hesperian…

September 7, 2015 by · Leave a Comment 

Blog-9-17-2015-Hesperian-SinkingToday I traveled to New York City by the way of the New York Tribune of September 7, 1915. The headline is of the tragic sink of the Hesperian. “Hesperian Sinks; 26 Dead; No Excuse for Act Found; Disavowal Is Expected”. “With all of the twenty-give missing passengers and crew of the Hesperian, torpedoed Saturday evening, now given up as lost, the total death list… stands at twenty-six… Wesley Frost telegraphed today to the American Embassy that the Admiralty authorities had not been informed officially that the Hesperian had been torpedoed without warning, but that they believed this was the case. Persons so far seen stated that no warning was given…”

~The Traveler

A September stroll thru time… 1815… 1865… 1915… 1945…

September 1, 2015 by · Leave a Comment 

What news was reported in the month of September – 50, 100, 150, and 200 years ago? Such a walk back through time via the eyes of those who read the daily and weekly newspapers of the period can be quite revealing. This is why we often say, “History is never more fascinating than when it’s read from the day Blog-9-1-2015-Hesperian-Sinksit was first reported.” The following links will take you back in time to show the available newspapers from the Rare & Early newspapers website. There’s no need to buy a thing. Simply enjoy the stroll.
September, 1965 – 50 years ago
September, 1915 – 100 years ago
September, 1865 – 150 years ago
September, 1815 – 200 years ago

 

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