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The Traveler… treaty ratified…
April 20, 2015 by The Traveler · Leave a Comment
Today I traveled to Baltimore, Maryland via Niles’ Weekly Register of April 22, 1815. There I found significant coverage on the Battle of New Orleans as the end of the War of 1812 was drawing to the end. Also within the content was “…Copy of a letter from major general Jackson to secretary of war, dated New-Orleans, March 16, 1815… Sir — I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the 16th ultimo, advising me of the ratification of the treaty of peace between Great Britain and the United States. In conformity with your directions, I have forwarded to the officer commanding his Britannic majesty’s forces in this quarter information of that event… I have the honor to be, sir, your obedient servant, ANDREW JACKSON, Maj. gen. commanding.”
Also reported is the battle encounter of the United States’ frigate Constitution and Britannic “ships Cyane and Levant, which she captured after an action of 50 minutes.”
~The Traveler
Discovering hidden treasure…
April 17, 2015 by GuyHeilenman · Leave a Comment
One of the many pleasures of the Rare Newspapers collectable is finding content which was unexpected. The following note from a collecting friend drives this point home:
Dear Guy,
Thank you for sending the recent “History’s Newsstand” [newsletter]. Good stuff.
I wanted to share with you, assuming that you are also a history “nut”, a news item that I came across in a recent purchase.
From the Daily National Intelligencer, Washington, August 9, 1860 (see attached) a mention of a “Miss. A. Surratt” of Prince George’s County (Surrattsville now Clinton, MD.) Although I may never know for sure, the name, place and date seem to match up correctly with Elizabeth Susanna “Anna” Surratt (1843-1904), daughter of Lincoln assassination co conspirator Mary Surratt.
I became interested in the tragic life of little Anna through my research on the Chapman sisters of Ford’s theater fame.
Love these old newspapers. Historical goldmines each and every one.
Once again: History is never more fascinating than when it’s read from the day it was first reported.
The Civil War… April, 1865
April 10, 2015 by GuyHeilenman · 2 Comments
revealing. This is why we often say, “History is never more fascinating than when it’s read from the day it was first reported.” The following link 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 walk back in time:April, 1865
A National calamity… What is one to do?
April 3, 2015 by GuyHeilenman · Leave a Comment
What does one do when abruptly ushered into one, if not the, most powerful positions on earth by the untimely death of the President of the United States? Today, in honor of the Easter Holiday Weekend, we reach back to 1841 to see how newly elevated President John Tyler responded when placed in this situation. The following proclamation, which begins in part, “When a Christian people feel themselves to be overtaken by a great public calamity, it becomes them to humble themselves under the dispensation of Divine Providence, to recognize His righteous government over the children of men, to acknowledge His goodness in time past, as well as their own unworthiness, and to supplicate His merciful protection for the future…”, was printed in The Globe, Washington, D.C., April 15, 1841:
Happy Easter from the Rare & Early Newspapers Team
The things we take for granted… Let there be light…
March 30, 2015 by GuyHeilenman · Leave a Comment
Ludicrous advertising in the late 1800’s…
March 20, 2015 by GuyHeilenman · Leave a Comment
Hofstra University maintains a Facebook page where staff from their special collections department can post interesting finds. We recently discovered the following which illustrates one of the collecting strands of the hobby: sensational (or absurd) advertising:
The Civil War… March, 1865
March 5, 2015 by GuyHeilenman · Leave a Comment
his is why we often say, “History is never more fascinating than when it’s read from the day it was first reported.” The following link 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 walk back in time:March, 1865
The Traveler… peace…
February 16, 2015 by The Traveler · 2 Comments
Today I traveled to Boston by the means of the Columbian Centinel dated February 5, 1815. There I found the breaking news of the “A TREATY OF PEACE between this Country and Great Britain, signed on the 24th December last… I have undertaken to send you this by Express — the rider engaging to deliver it by Eight o’clock on Monday morning… I am with respect, Sir, your obedient servant, JONATHAN GOODHUE.”
This peace treaty ended the War of 1812 between the United States and Great Britain and Ireland. Due to lack of telecommunications and time travels at that time, even though the treaty was signed December 24, 1814, the Battle of New Orleans was fought and won on January 8, 1815 and the Treaty was not in effect until it was ratified by the U.S. Senate on February 18, 1815.
~The Traveler
They put it in print… First appearance of an American flag?
February 13, 2015 by TimHughes · Leave a Comment
Many in our hobby like to pursuit the very first time “they put it in print” and the “it” can be a very wide range of announcements, reports, or images. Certainly first reports of major 18th 
and 19th century battles have been among the favored issues of collectors, and most certainly the first printing of ht Declaration of Independence in a newspaper commands a considerable premium among those who are able to consummate that pursuit.
Two collectors, Michael Zinman and Steve Lomazow, raised an interesting question: what newspaper was the first to include a print of the U.S. flag within its pages? After discovering several newspapers from 1847 and then 1840 with flag engravings, we found in our database the “True American & Commercial Advertiser” from Philadelphia, 1806 which incorporates a U.S. flag (albeit a small engraving: see photo) within the masthead image (see sample). The newspaper actually began in 1798 but that didn’t mean the masthead engraving was there. Typically mastheads change, often several times, through the life cycle of a newspaper.
But a confirmation from Vincent Golden, newspaper librarian at the American Antiquarian Society, which has holdings of this title going back to issue number 1, confirms the engraving with the flag is, indeed, present with that very first issue.
So this sets the earliest appearance of the U.S. flag in a newspaper at July 1, 1798. But I’m not convinced this is the earliest date. Are any of you collectors aware of an earlier appearance? Check your collections and share with the rest of us!
The Traveler… the first admission… “black is beautiful” 1st coined…
February 2, 2015 by The Traveler · Leave a Comment
Today I traveled to New York City by the means of two different titles… The New York Times of February 2, 1865 and the Harper’s Weekly of February 25, 1865. In the New York Times I found “J. S. Rock (Colored,) of the Supreme Court of Massachusetts, was to-day, on motion of Senator Sumner, admitted an Attorney and Counselor in the Supreme Court of the United States.”
The Harper’s Weekly includes a nice illustration of “John R. Rock, Colored Counselor”. Within the article reads “…Mr. Rock is known in Boston as a first-class lawyer. This even, following two days after the passage by Congress of the proposition to amend the Constitution so as to abolish slavery in the United States, will be regarded by the future historian as a remarkable indication of the revolution which is going on in the sentiment of a great people. Mr. Rock has never been a slave. He represents the colored freeman, as Mr. Douglass represents the freeman. This extraordinary reversal of the Dred Scott decision is an act almost sublime…”
In doing further research on Mr. Rock, he is also credited with coining the phrase “black is beautiful” while giving a speech in Boston in March of 1858 as a refutation of the western idea that the physical features of African Americans were unattractive. However, further research has found that he did not say those exact words but did in essence about the beauty of the black people.
~The Traveler