How does your state’s Constitution compare?

October 14, 2024 by · 1 Comment 
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In simple terms, Constitutions are intended to be the framework which dictates how governments, institutions, and other various organizations are to function. They typically state both the rights of those whom they cover, along with the boundaries from which those in power must rule. They are not mere suggestions, and they nearly always make it VERY difficult to make modifications so as to prevent both the current winds of public opinion or over-reaching power-mongers to make changes to suite their own wants, desires, and opinions. However, as the U.S. Constitution, through the initial “Bill of Rights” and following Amendments clearly shows, revisions can be made. Of course, in doing so, the rules set forth within the constitution itself must be followed or the document itself means nothing.

When it comes to the very foundation of the U.S. – and dare I say its sustainability, no one can argue that the U.S. Constitution, along with its properly “agreed upon” amendments, is 2nd-to-none. In my opinion, each citizen should take personal ownership in becoming intimately familiar with its stated rights, privileges, and responsibilities granted to “We the People“, and the restrictions it places upon those who govern. While this plea will likely be met with general enthusiasm, sadly, doing so falls into the same bucket where “more exercise”, “eating better”, and a host of New Year’s resolutions are found. As the recently deceased philosopher David Crosby once said, “An ignorant [uniformed] populace is ripe for manipulation by despots [leaders who do not have their own best interests in mind]”.

Whew! Now I can step down from my soapbox and move on to the marginally related inspiration for the above rabbit trail.

State Constitutions

While most U.S. citizens still have a degree of familiarity with the Constitution which frames the Federal Government, thanks to recent events, many are just now becoming aware that the state in which they reside also has rock-sold guidelines from which they must function – i.e., their own constitution. I’ve always been fascinated by both the similarities and differences between my home state of Pennsylvania’s constitution and the U.S. Constitution, but I would guess I’m in a minority. Yet, “Knowlege is Power” – or at least a degree of protection. I was recently reminded of this as I came upon a pair of Nile’s Weekly Register’s from the 1820’s which printed the entire text of the newly ratified Constitution of Maine. Shown below are photos with portion of the text. When you think of the U.S. Constitution, does any of Maine’s sound familiar? Different? How about your own state’s constitution?

One of the opportunities/responsibilities we have as citizens at the national, state, and local levels, as dictated in both federal and state constitutions, is the right to vote. What a privilege! Yet, truth is, “We the People” have widely varied views of what we deem to be most important when it comes to those who govern us. While I am an advocate for open discourse in the face of diametrically opposed viewpoints, and can respect (and even care for) those who stand opposed to my own personal beliefs, my only hope as an American is that we all would continue to agree to live within the guidelines of the U.S. Constitution (and those of the state in which we each reside), and vote for leaders who will do the same – AND, when changes are warranted, will go through the prescribed channels for making modification.

Oops… I somehow stepped back up on my soapbox. Sorry about that. Well… not really. 🙂

Happy voting Oh, and in the meantime, why not have a little fun by pulling up your own state’s constitution and compare it to the one that rules us all (sorry for using a bit of Tolkeinese)?

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The reason I collected it: a movement that went nowhere…

October 11, 2024 by · 1 Comment 
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I remember when I first encountered this newspaper I thought it was in a foreign language. But it wasn’t in a  language we typically encounter. Then I took a more careful look.

The title of the newspaper is the: “AI ANGLO SACSUN” and is dated May 29, 1847. This  is the volume 1, number 11 issue of an attempt to exploit a movement to spell words phonetically, just as they sounded. So their motto in the dateline is: “Devoted Tu Ai Difyushun ov Nolej and Nuz, Tru Ai Medium of Fonotipi, or the Tru System ov Spelin Wurdz As Iz, Just Az ae are Pronnst.” (difficult to translate as they use some characters not in the traditional alphabet. Their alphabet is found on page 3).
The entire issue has various articles spelled phonetically, which takes some getting used to. But within a few minutes, it’s easy to fall into the rhythm of reading phonetically. Otherwise the layout is much like other newspapers of the era, with a very decorative masthead.
This was obviously a movement that never caught on, but it did leave behind this interesting curiosity to delight collectors close to 200 years later.

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This Month in History – October…

October 7, 2024 by · Leave a Comment 
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A continuation of our ongoing series: This Month in History – October Edition…

Not to be repetitive, however, we are often asked how we find newspaper reports covering such a wide variety of topics. Part of the answer is simply longevity. We’ve been collecting and offering issues for a half-century, and time itself as helped us amass an extensive database of notable events. Customer requests, what we’ve learned in school, the news, historical books and movies, etc. have all contributed to the cause. However, our capacity for discovery exploded with the development of the internet. Thanks to an abundance of historical websites, we can now search by day, week, month, era, event, and more in our quest to “mine” our archives. One such resource (among many) is The History Place. Through this online database one can find events by the day, week, month, and year.

As each month approaches, we often access this (or a similar) resource to search for new/fresh topics to explore. In our most recent effort, we search for historic events, discovers, accomplishments, etc. which occurred in the month of August. Our results were found here: The History Place – Month of October.

If you take a few moments to scan their index of October events, perhaps you’ll see an overlap between some of those shown and our currently listed newspapers dated in October through time (see below). If you decide to explore, we hope you enjoy.

NEWSPAPERS PUBLISHED IN OCTOBER

 

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The Political Season Has Arrived. Next Up – An October Surprise (?)…

October 4, 2024 by · Leave a Comment 
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Since it only takes 2 items to count as a series, this is the 1st post in what I am confident will be a series leading up to the election in November. However, in lest anyone already be overcome by political angst, please know the series will only meet the minimum requirement of 2 – one in September and one in October, this being the first.

In anticipation of what might soon be filling the airwaves and making the rounds on social media ad nauseum, I was inspired to explore the history of the political tactic of using an “October Surprise”. With minimal effort (thanks to the internet), I found a report in THE GLOBE, October 23, 1840, which describes what many believe to be the first such occurrence.

“In mid-October 1840, shortly before the 1840 presidential election, federal prosecutors announced plans to charge top Whig Party officials with “most stupendous and atrocious fraud” for paying Pennsylvanians to cross state lines and vote for Whig candidates in New York during the 1838 [midterm] elections.” ~ Wikipedia

So, as we keep our eyes open for what is sure to rain down upon us in short order, let’s keep our heads about us as we recite the age-old adage: “There is nothing new under the sun”.

 

 

 

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Finding the Unexpected… Village Voice edition…

September 30, 2024 by · Leave a Comment 
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The Village Voice is known for many things, but articles which take a deep-dive into the history of the United States is not among them. So, when I came across a highlighted quote from Abraham Lincoln from his 1865 Inaugural Address within the issue dated July 12, 1976, my curiosity was piqued. Rather than describe my findings in words, I think it best to let the pictures (photos) below do the talking. If you are familiar with this publication, I hope you are intrigued about their presence as well. Enjoy.

Note: The Village Voice did a reflective article on this issue on June 28, 2023 which can be viewed here: Last Refuge of a Rock Critic…

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Announcing: Catalog #347 for October, 2024 – Rare & Early Newspapers…

September 27, 2024 by · Leave a Comment 
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The October catalog (#347) is now available. Shown below are links to various segments of the catalog, our currently discounted newspapers, and recent posts to the History’s Newsstand Blog. Please enjoy.

CATALOG #347 – This latest offering of authentic newspapers is comprised of over 300 new items, a selection which includes the following noteworthy issues: a great issue on Washington’s first inauguration, near final version of the Bill of Rights, a rare Royalist newspaper from New York, Clark’s letter to his brother on the Lewis & Clark Expedition, front page shows Lincoln being assassinated, a rare “camp” newspaper from the field of action, and more.

 

Helpful Links to the Catalog:
————–
DISCOUNTED ISSUES – What remains of last month’s discounted issues may be viewed at: Discount (select items at 50% off) 
————–
Thanks for collecting with us.

 

Sincerely,

 

Guy Heilenman & The Rare & Early Newspapers Team

570-326-1045

[The links above will redirect to the latest catalog in approx. 30 days

upon which time it will update to the most recent catalog.]

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This Month in History – September…

September 26, 2024 by · Leave a Comment 
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“History is never more fascinating than when it’s read from the day it was first reported.” (Timothy Hughes, 1975). Exploring events which have occurred in September as they appeared in rare & early newspapers are no exception. To view a selection of over 1000 such reports within the context of additional news of the day, go to:

NEWSPAPERS PUBLISHED IN SEPTEMBER

 

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The reason I collected it: with an eye-witness account of the invasion…

September 23, 2024 by · Leave a Comment 
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In some situations, the person from whom a newspaper is purchased adds a bit of flavor to the issue. Such is the case with the LIDOVA DEMOKRACIE newspaper of Prague, Czechoslovakia (now Czech Republic), dated Aug. 21, 1968.
This issue is from this historic day of the Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia.
Warsaw Pact member countries, except Romania and Albania, were led by the Soviet Union to repress the reforms being pressed by the Czech people through the invasion of Czechoslovakia and the capital, Prague, on August 21. The invasion, chiefly by infantry and tanks, effectively suppressed any further attempts at reform. The military occupation of Czechoslovakia by the Red Army would not end until 1991.
The banner headline (translated) pleads: “To All The People of Czechoslovakia! Keep Calm and Balanced !“
But it’s the accompanying typewritten letter from the collector-friend that enhances the value. A few portions of his letter include: “I lived this momentous event as I heard the Russian planes on the night of August 20, 1968 as I couldn’t sleep due to the heat… drove to the city center to the radio building…There I saw dozens of Soviet tanks and masses of soldiers and people. No Czech soldiers or police! I snatched up some of these papers as they were handed out by speedy taxis and autos. Also dropped from windows…it was extremely dangerous…there was much confusion as you can imagine…Luckily, the ‘LIDOVA DEMOKRACIE’ is on the day of the invasion and proclaims the Warsaw Pact nations of the USSR, Hungary, GDR, East Germany, Bulgaria and Poland have invaded Czechoslovakia…”.

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We missed it – Nellie Bly edition…

September 20, 2024 by · Leave a Comment 
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No matter how hard our staff at Timothy Hughes Rare & Early Newspapers tries not to, inevitably we occasionally miss gems buried within the collectible newspapers we offer. Dozens of issues of the New York Tribune left our premises with undiscovered (unsigned) articles by Karl Marx. A real heartbreak was missing one of the first (1st?) published articles by a journalist with the initials S.C. Unfortunately, we were unable to get in touch with the recipient of the newspaper, but we sure hope they discovered this precious, early work from Mark Twain. Today we are aware that many of the issues of The Village Voice which pass through our hands have a good chance of containing an ad for one of the very first appearances of an iconic musician or band. As they say, “it is what it is”. What is it? One of special pleasures of the hobby: discovering unidentified treasures within the pages of old, rare, and historic newspapers.

We’ve mentioned this before, so why bring it up now? IT HAPPENED AGAIN!

Not too long ago a collector-friend mentioned they had an issue of The World (Pulitzer’s paper from New York) which contained a puzzle-game based on journalist Nellie Bly’s “Round the World” trip. The (New York) World followed her travels during her glorious excursion and printed the full-page puzzle soon after she returned home. The collector told us the date, and we immediately checked our database to see if we had a monthly volume of The World which spanned the date of the issue. We did. Next, we checked to see if our records revealed a previous sale for the issue? No! So, armed with great enthusiasm we headed off to the archives with anticipation. The volume was about 18 feet off the ground and buried under 5 other volumes (which is always a bit tricky when our feet are not firmly planted on the ground). Still within about 15 minutes from start to finish we were confronted by our worst-case scenario. The volume was present, but the issue was gone. It had very likely sold as a “birthday newspaper” (issues sold primarily to be used to give as gifts to recipients which highlight they day they were born). Bummer.

One may wonder how we could we have missed something so large… and so precious. Actually, it was as easy as 1, 2, 3 (or if you prefer, a, b, c):

  1. (a) We had no idea such an item existed, so we weren’t looking for it.
  2. (b) The sale probably took place prior to the ramp-up of the internet, so we didn’t have the capacity to make even a generalized search for content.
  3. (c) We would have been reluctant to page through the issue looking for special items since many newspapers from this era are rather brittle – and the puzzle-game was on an inside page.

Does this upset us? Not really. This aspect is one of the traits which make this collectible so rewarding.

Note: You can read more about Nellie Bly here and find a free downloadable high-resolution digital print of the puzzle here.

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Snapshot 1820 – Considering a Cure for Hard Times…

September 6, 2024 by · 6 Comments 
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One would need to search far and wide to find someone who doesn’t acknowledge that we’re living in hard times. Harder than those who lived through any major war… any great famine… any weather-born catastrophe… any form of slavery (or similar form of oppression)… any horrific accident… any economic depression… any…??? Most would say no, but “felt” hard times are often relative, and “counting our blessings and naming them one by one” – a practice well-known to be an effective pain-soothing salve for “felt needs” and more, is not often our default response to hardship. To be honest, I’m not among the few who often get this right. Perhaps this is why an article (not a key report by any means) in a Niles’ Register for July 1, 1820 caught my attention. It features a portion of a judge’s rather unusual admonition to the members of the grand jury set before him. If you decide to take a gander at the article (which is posted below), while contemplating his advice, please try to read it through the contextual eyes of the era in which he gave it. Whether you agree with his counsel or not, it would be hard to argue that the setting seems quite familiar. I’d love to hear what others think. 

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