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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.
Nostradamus on the Civil War…
November 19, 2011 by TimHughes · 1 Comment
The “Stockton Daily Independent” newspaper of Oct. 28, 1861 includes an article headed: “A Strange Prophecy” concerning Nostradamus & the Civil War. In 1609 he predicted: “…About that time (1861) a great quarrel and contest will arise in a country beyond the seas…The war will not cease for four years…” and more (see).
Keep in mind it was in 1861, just 6 months after the start of the Civil War, that the write noted: “…in no way consoling for us poor devils and wretches…who will have to suffer this war for four years. Let us hope that the astrologer was mistaken, at least on this point.” (see) But the prediction would be true. The Civil War would run almost exactly 4 years after its beginning.
Documenting the Civil War…
September 26, 2011 by GuyHeilenman · Leave a Comment
David Chasanow, at Americollector.com, recently did a post regarding the valuable role rare & historic newspapers play in documenting the events of the Civil War. The post included an interview with Tim Hughes. Please enjoy!
Battle lines: Vintage newspapers documented the Civil War as it happened
Gen. John H. Morgan’s revenge…
July 9, 2011 by TimHughes · Leave a Comment
The following item from “The Crisis” newspaper from Columbus, Ohio, March 2, 1864, notes a curious revenge by General Morgan for having his whiskers shaved when in the Ohio penitentiary…
For a good cause… preserving our Civil War heritage…
June 13, 2011 by GuyHeilenman · Leave a Comment
While Rare Newspapers does not typically promote causes from this platform, we do have a collector friend who brought to our attention an item which will likely be of great interest to the History’s Newsstand family. The Central Virginia Battlefields Trust, America’s Premier Regional Civil War Battlefield Preservation Organization, is participating in a contest, which if victorious, would provide them with $25,000 to be used toward their battlefield preservation efforts. All they need is your vote. For additional information regarding how you can help, go to http://www.cvbt.org/. It only takes a few seconds to vote.
“…one of the vilest scoundrels that ever lived…”
May 21, 2011 by TimHughes · Leave a Comment
Samuel Medary was the publisher of the controversial newspaper “The Crisis” from Columbus, Ohio, a Civil War era newspaper from the North which was supportive of the Southern cause. Obviously it met with much opposition during its brief life, at one point raided by a hateful mob. When Medary died in1864 it was not surprising that his death would not be treated nicely by other Northern newspapers, but this report went to the extreme. Keep in mind that this appeared in the Jan. 25, 1865 issue of “The Crisis“, so the introductory paragraph would be expected:
The ultimate optimist…
May 7, 2011 by TimHughes · Leave a Comment
I’ve always enjoyed reading the editorial on page 2 of the “Richmond Examiner” newspaper, as the bias shown by the writer was often strongly in favor of the Confederate cause. But in the issue of July 25, 1863 the editor stretched his optimist about as far as it could reach. With the Confederate failure at Gettysburg and their advance into the North stopped, all might have seemed hopeless for the Confederate forces. But the editor tried to put a positive spin on the events by stating:
“…failed by a single accident, by a single mistake–that sad one at Gettysburg…But after all, the depression which its failure produced on the public mind was more than was warrantable. The result was not a defeat, it was not a loss; it was only not a victory, not one of the most brilliant triumphs ever recorded. It was little else than a disappointment of extraordinary expectations…”.
Please enjoy…
Eerie coincidences…
April 25, 2011 by TimHughes · Leave a Comment
The “”Southern Illustrated News” was a somewhat failed attempt by the Confederacy to bring to its citizens an illustrated newspaper similar to “Harper’s Weekly” and “Leslie’s Illustrated“. Although the presumed feature of the Dec. 5, 1863 issue was the front page engraving & biography of Captain William Downs Farley, time caused several innocuous items on the back page to intrigue the historical collector.
The back page has several reports which bring together many of the names involved in the Lincoln assassination that would happen more than a year in the future. Under the theatrical reports is mention that: “…Laura Keene, Mr. & Mrs. Charles Walcott…lately formed an alliance known as ‘Laura Keen’s Combination & have been t
raveling through the Northern States…On Monday last huge posters were put out announcing the ‘American Cousin’ with Charles Walcott in one of the principal parts…” Remember that Laura Keene starred in “Our American Cousin”, the performance at Ford’s Theatre the evening of the assassination. Also on the back page: “Edwin Booth is playing in Boston supported by Mrs. Anna Cornell & Mr. Marshall.” He was the brother of John Wilkes Booth. Even his name is here, performing at Ford’s Theatre no less: “The present week is announced as the last of J. Wilkes Booth…at Ford’s New Theatre, Washington, D.C.” And a bit further on is even mention of the President: “…preparatory to his appearance at Richmond in the character of one of President Lincoln’s special peace envoys as already announced…” (see). This single page brings together the names Laura Keene, the play “Our American Cousin”, John Wilkes Booth, Abraham Lincoln, and Ford’s Theatre, an almost eerie coincidence, particularly for a Confederate newspaper.
Confederate “Extra” with content from two eras…
April 18, 2011 by TimHughes · Leave a Comment
Finding oddities from the newspaper world is part of the fun of the hobby, and recently one came our way which I found to be very unusual.
The “Daily Appeal–Extra” newspaper from Memphis, Tennessee dated April 20, 1861, contains content which is over two years apart. This is a “broadside extra” edition meaning the narrow sheet was published to report a specific event, and printed on one side only. But in this case, the reverse is not entirely blank.
First, it’s curious that this is a newspaper from a city which was only “Confederate” until the battle of Memphis, June 6, 1862, after which it was in Yankee control. The front has a very nice graphic devise at the top of the first column showing a cannon and Confederate flag, with heads: “THE WAR NEWS ! ” “Star of the West Taken As A Prize ! “and other related heads & reports.
But the most intriguing aspect of this issue is the back page. Although I am convinced this was issued in 1861 with the reverse blank, it nonetheless has a print of a map of the Vicksburg vicinity, and nothing else. Now, let’s keep in mind that the siege of Vicksburg didn’t happen until mid-May, 1863 thru its fall to the Yankees on July 4, 1863. Note that the heading of the map reads: “Position of the Fleets Above and Below The City” showing the positions of both Porter’s and Farragut’s fleets. Their appearance in the Mississippi did not happen until 1863. I surmise this “Extra” edition was lying around the printing office and since the back side was blank they used it as a test sheet for printing this map, which likely appeared in a the “Memphis Appeal” newspaper at some point in May, June, or July, 1863. Consequently this becomes a truly fascinating curiosity to have printings from two different periods in a single issue, and one being a map.
Do any fellow collectors have another explanation?
War makes “sad havoc” among the newspapers…
April 2, 2011 by TimHughes · Leave a Comment
This item provides some interesting facts on what war does to newspaper publishing. It appeared in the “Daily Richmond Examiner” issue of February 4, 1864.