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I’m New Here: Week Thirty-Six…
November 1, 2019 by Stephanie Williams · Leave a Comment
This week I discovered another section of the archives previously unexplored — actually, I didn’t even realize it was there.
The walls in these connected buildings are shelved from floor to ceiling, as are the aisles and corridors. Inside those rigid 15′ dividers are movable racks that provide another layer of coordinates for filing archival folders of old and rare newspapers. It was here, highlighted by the angle of the tag, that I saw the title and date of voices for abolition. The Liberator issues that are housed here go as late as 1865, but I was interested in the ones that preceded the Emancipation Proclamation. What was being written and discussed by this publication from the “Anti-Slavery Office” in Boston in 1859? What was the tone prior to that April bombardment that marked the start of the Civil War?
The rag paper is full-sized (“folio”, in fact) and consists of four pages, mostly devoted to telling the stories of injustice and accounts that should provoke outrage. Headed by an illustration intricately representing people divided into groups based on the color of their skin, a banner curves along the bottom proclaiming, “THOU SHALT LOVE THY NEIGHBOR AS THYSELF” while a sign above a wooden structure crowded with human beings advertises, “Slaves, Horses & Other Cattle In Lots To Suit Purchase.” I feel the effectiveness of the graphics, of the pleading tone in the “Letter to Southern Ladies” and the headline which queries, “Shall Massachusetts Be Slave-Hunting Soil?” But what surprises me the most in this new acquaintance was the attitude toward the forerunner of Abraham Lincoln. A full front-page column is headed “PRESIDENTIAL FALSIFICATIONS”, and pulls no punches in its criticism of James Buchanan’s avoidance of the situation with the Free State Men of Kansas and the powerful politicians whose support of Slavery led to an effort summarized with, “The Missourians openly exulted in the sure prospect they had of making Kansas a slave state, in spite of the Free State men.”
I am looking forward to delving into the dates that discuss the events that followed — in all the permutations and compromises and regrets and triumphs. And I can’t help but wonder how much of a change anyone could have honestly expected after such a long period of such passionate division.
Announcing: Catalog #287 (for October, 2019) is now available…
October 1, 2019 by GuyHeilenman · Leave a Comment
- Catalog 287 (in its entirety)
- Noteworthy Catalog 287 ($250+)
- Combined Catalogs (current, w/ remnants of previous)
Don’t forget about this month’s DISCOUNTED ISSUES.
(The links above will redirect to the latest catalog in approx. 30 days, upon which time it will update to the most recent catalog.)
Announcing: Catalog #284 (for July, 2019) is now available…
July 2, 2019 by GuyHeilenman · Leave a Comment
- Catalog 284 (in its entirety)
- Noteworthy Catalog 284 ($250+)
- Combined Catalogs (current, w/ remnants of previous)
Don’t forget about this month’s DISCOUNTED ISSUES.
(The links above will redirect to the latest catalog in approx. 30 days, upon which time it will update to the most recent catalog.)
Snapshot 1862… Civil War inner-family strife takes its aim at Lincoln…
June 11, 2019 by GuyHeilenman · Leave a Comment
The following snapshot comes from The Crisis, Columbus, Ohio, dated May 7, 1862, which printed the death report of Abraham Lincoln’s brother-in-law, and includes considerable Lincoln-directed angst.
Announcing: Catalog #283 (for June, 2019) is now available…
June 4, 2019 by GuyHeilenman · Leave a Comment
- Catalog 283 (in its entirety)
- Noteworthy Catalog 283 ($250+)
- Combined Catalogs (current, w/ remnants of previous)
Don’t forget about this month’s DISCOUNTED ISSUES.
(The links above will redirect to the latest catalog in approx. 30 days, upon which time it will update to the most recent catalog.)
Announcing: Catalog #282 (for May, 2019) is now available…
April 30, 2019 by GuyHeilenman · Leave a Comment
- Catalog 282 (in its entirety)
- Noteworthy Catalog 282 ($250+)
- Combined Catalogs (current, w/ remnants of previous)
Don’t forget about this month’s DISCOUNTED ISSUES.
(The catalog links above will redirect to the latest catalog in approx. 30 days, upon which time it will update to the most recent catalog.)
Announcing: Catalog #281 (for April, 2019) is now available…
April 8, 2019 by GuyHeilenman · Leave a Comment
- Catalog 281 (in its entirety)
- Noteworthy Catalog 281 ($250+)
- Combined Catalogs (current, w/ remnants of previous)
Don’t forget about this month’s DISCOUNTED ISSUES.
(The catalog links above will redirect to the latest catalog in approx. 30 days, upon which time it will update to the most recent catalog.)
Did you know? Elections and Inaugurations…
March 26, 2019 by GuyHeilenman · Leave a Comment
You may already know U.S. elections and inaugurations have always fascinated citizens of the United States – which is probably typical throughout the world, but Did You Know the reporting of these historic moments within newspapers has traditionally been quite extensive, with most issues containing multiple articles surrounding these events – often including the entire text of the winner’s election and inauguration speeches? Many of these are available through our regular website, RareNewspapers.com. We’ve arranged these in chronological order for readers/explorers to enjoy: Inaugurations and Elections
I’m New Here, Weeks Five & Six…
March 22, 2019 by Stephanie Williams · Leave a Comment
It’s a great day when you locate an issue that someone is wanting, particularly when they really want it. Usually the request begins with, “There’s probably no chance you have this title, but…” Because of our significant database I can now ascertain the general direction a new search will go, and have learned to further diminish expectations with words like, “Well, you are correct — that is a highly desirable date…” Occasionally, my computer will display little notes or other indicators that this is possibly something I (with assistance) can find. Without raising hopes I mention that it doesn’t look promising but there is something I want to double-check before I give a definitive “no”.
This morning’s call from one of our cheery customers delivered a query for a Harper’s Weekly from 1863. He was looking for Emancipation Proclamation content, although many collectors want that particular issue for the full page Winslow Homer print or the double-page Thomas Nast “The War in the Border States”. I reverently turned the pages to investigate the text in question, and found it free of foxing or damp stains or tears. And then I found something else.
Just beside the historical, monumental words, the Harper’s editor placed or approved a first installment of Wilkie Collins’ No Name. Although I have read his fifth book, I didn’t know that Collins was another contemporary of Dickens and Whitman. I didn’t even know that “Wilkie” was a man. And these little rabbit trails clamored for my attention and had me skimming the assertion by William Makepeace Thackeray on The Woman in White: that it had him “transfixed” – a book that I’d found lengthy and melodramatic upon personal encounter.
I particularly enjoy this multi-layered discovery aspect of collecting/perusing early newspapers, and I grin over the notes back from purchasers describing the bonus treasures. One that came this week included an exclamation over a Gentleman’s Magazine: “R is over the moon as we discovered a paragraph about an intercepted letter from Alexander Hamilton complaining about congress and money! It’s just stunning to read these things as contemporary accounts.”
So, feel free to join the conversation and comment about the amazing things you unexpectedly have in your collection that you never intended to purchase. My own W.C. search is ongoing, as all the commentary I can find is that Collins was serialized in Dicken’s “All The Year Round”, with nary a mention of the great Harper’s. Incidentally, if you are new to this world it might either interest or frustrate you to know the brand encompasses “Harper’s Weekly”,” Harper’s Monthly” (which is also sometimes called “Harper’s New Monthly”), and then the non-newspaper titles of “Harper’s Bazaar” and the various Harper’s books. The Timothy Hughes Rare & Early Newspaper inventory contains the first two titles and it is there I will be searching for Chapter Two.
At least, that is how it will begin.
Announcing: Catalog #280 (for March, 2019) is now available…
March 4, 2019 by GuyHeilenman · Leave a Comment
- Catalog 280 (in its entirety)
- Noteworthy Catalog 280 ($250+)
- Combined Catalogs (current, w/ remnants of previous)
Don’t forget about this month’s DISCOUNTED ISSUES.
(The catalog links above will redirect to the latest catalog in approx. 30 days, upon which time it will update to the most recent catalog.)