Introductory Newspaper Catalog: 19th Century Americana

Presented for sale by Phil Barber, Cambridge, Mass. 02139 Telephone (617) 492-4653

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Catalog Page 4

All items in this catalog are unconditionally guaranteed to be genuine and accurately described. Each catalog entry is briefly described for its general appearance, historical significance, and content. Every one contains hours of additional historic reading, much more than I could find the space to describe here.

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Please consult my collector information pages and glossary of terms page linked below, if you are not sure what the descriptions mean. Your comments are always welcome, as are your inquiries, if you have questions about these historic collectibles.Enjoy your browsing!

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Extra postage for the HARPER'S WEEKLY that follow is 0.95 per issue.

The True Old West - Slavery's Aftereffects - Barbara Fritchie Legend - Portland Burns
G4-012. [SINGLE ISSUE] HARPER'S WEEKLY, July 28, 1866. [Complete issue of 16 pages, large quarto size, published at New York, by Harper Brothers & Co.]
Classic fullpage woodcut "Commercial Street, Atchison, Kansas" (see detail scan below) depicts the primitive conditions and restless denizens of the true Old West, where so many men traumatized by their service in the war are now drifting to try a new life. "Marks of Punishment" heads a gruesome picture of the wounds on a slave's back in Richmond. "The Heroine of Frederick" heads a very early printing of Whittier's classic poem, "Barbara Fritchie," accompanied by a portrait of the elderly Fritchie, from a Mathew Brady photo, who, legend had it, defied Stonewall Jackson himself at the age of 95. There are also fully four pages of views of the destruction of Portland, Maine, by fire. Quite dramatic. Much more. Extra domestic postage for this issue is 95¢
Condition of this issue is very fine [4] . . . 20.00

Loss of the Treasure Ship Central America
G4-015. [SINGLE ISSUE] HARPER'S WEEKLY, September 26, 1857. [Complete issue of 16 pages, large quarto size, published at New York, by Harper Brothers & Co.]
This issue contains a detailed two-column account of the wreck of the steamship Central America, caught in a hurricane off the Carolina coast. Carrying tons of gold bars and newly-minted coins from California, she took 426 souls to the bottom with her. This report gives a gripping moment by moment account of the loss, from survivors' testimony. Editorial on the tragedy in wonderful gushing era prose, parses the brave captain and crew, bemoans man's smallness in the face of nature's might. The ship's golden cargo was salvaged some twenty years ago and has fetched in the billions on the collector market. Also in the issue a superb doublepage woodcut of the newest ocean-going steamer of the renowned Collins Line, the Adriatic. At 354 feet in length she was the largest vessel ever launched in the U.S. A visit to Palestine, then a province of the Ottoman Empire, includes views at Galilee. Grisly fullpage woodcut shows a classic wartime atrocity, East Indian rebels strapped to cannons, to be blown to pieces by vengeful Englishmen enraged by their failed rebellion.
Condition of this issue is nice clean very fine, carefully removed from a bound annual volume. . . . 30.00

First Glimpse of the Small Cent and the First Harper's Mention of Coin Collecting!
G4-0016. [SINGLE ISSUE]. Harper's Weekly, February 7, 1857. [Complete issue of 16 pages, large quarto size, published at New York, by the Harper Brothers]
A life-size illustration of the pattern 1856-dated Flying Eagle Cent graces a good article entitled "Not A Red Cent" on the new copper nickel coin with a nostalgic farewell to the old, smelly, dirty and impractical large cent. It had been nicknamed "red" because its first issue was struck in almost pure copper and was a dazzling red when fresh from the mint. Also present an account of early coin collectors, some of whom are eccentric enough to give "its weight in gold" for certain old coppers. Classic numismatica. Also a two-page illustrated visit to China and more in this Vol. I No.7 issue of the great classic. (Extra postage 95¢)
Condition is bright clean fine . . . 35.00

Tammany Hall in All Its Glory
G4-0094. [SINGLE ISSUE]. FRANK LESLIE'S ILLUSTRATED NEWSPAPER, November 08, 1856. [Complete issue of 16 pages, large quarto size, published at New York, by Frank Leslie]
Expatriate English newsman Frank Leslie (1821 - 1880) began this, the first great illustrated newsweekly, after years of experience on the staffs of the Illustrated London News, Gleason's and the Illustrated News. On the cover of this issue is a large woodcut of Tammany Hall, home of New York's infamously corrupt political machine, decked out with a big Buchanan for President banner, and on the back cover is a scene of "Naturalization of Foreign Immigrants" (and new voters) there. Lengthy article explains the goings-on there. Also views at the great St. Louis Fair, two woodcuts of the Czar arriving at Moscow, long piece on the sport of "Alligator Shooting" in Louisiana and plenty more reading and viewing matter Surviving examples are far more difficult to locate than rival Harper's Weekly and offer more spirited content than that paper.
Condition is nice fine, some light offsetting, carefully removed from a bound annual volume. Extra postage for this issue is 45¢ . . . 25.00

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