1877 Brooklyn Bridge Tower, Black Philadelphia Sketches, Nast — Mar 31
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🗞️ HARPER'S WEEKLY · March 31, 1877
Complete Issue + Supplement Pages · New York
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A historically rich issue — the Brooklyn Bridge tower under construction, Hayes's new Cabinet portraits, the new US Frigate Trenton, a Nast double-page centerfold, Philadelphia street sketches prominently featuring African Americans, and a supplement with two powerful maritime scenes and a charming geese-chasing genre piece. Strong content across New York engineering history, Black Americana, and Victorian maritime art.
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🖼️ THE FRONT PAGE
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🏛️ FULL FRONT PAGE — "THE CABINET"
A full front-page grid of portraits of President Hayes's newly formed Cabinet — a significant piece of American political history, documenting the men who would lead the country through the post-Reconstruction era.
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🌉 THE BROOKLYN BRIDGE
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🏗️ FULL PAGE — "THE BROOKLYN ASCENT TO THE BRIDGE TOWER"
A full-page illustration of the Brooklyn Bridge tower under construction — showing the ascent up the famous Gothic stone tower as it rose above the East River. The Brooklyn Bridge was the great engineering marvel of the age, and in 1877 its towers were the tallest structures in the Western Hemisphere. A highly collectible piece of New York City history and American engineering history.
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✊ BLACK AMERICANA
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👥 NEARLY FULL PAGE — "RANDOM STREET SKETCHES IN PHILADELPHIA"
A nearly full-page spread of three street sketches from Philadelphia, predominantly featuring African Americans — a significant piece of Black Americana and post-Reconstruction urban social history. Philadelphia had one of the largest and most established Black communities in the United States, and these street sketches document ordinary Black life in the city during the first year of the post-Reconstruction era. A primary document of African American urban history.
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⚓ INSIDE THE ISSUE
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🚢 FULL PAGE — "THE NEW U.S. FRIGATE TRENTON"
A full-page illustration of the USS Trenton — a new American sailing frigate, beautifully rendered under full sail. A handsome piece of American naval history and a spectacular display piece.
✏️ DOUBLE-PAGE CENTERFOLD — THOMAS NAST POLITICAL CARTOON
A Thomas Nast double-page centerfold — his full compositional scale deployed across the open breadth of the newspaper in sweeping Gilded Age political commentary.
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🌊 THE SUPPLEMENT
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⚓ FULL PAGE — "'THEREFORE WE COMMIT HIS BODY TO THE DEEP'"
A solemn and atmospheric full-page illustration of a burial at sea — sailors gathered around a shrouded body at the ship's rail, the open ocean stretching behind them. A deeply moving piece of Victorian maritime illustration, the title drawn from the traditional Anglican burial at sea service. Atmospheric and very frameable.
🐟 FULL PAGE — "THE WONDERFUL MAN-FISH"
A second maritime supplement illustration of sailors at the ship's rail, examining something remarkable in the water — a Victorian maritime curiosity scene with a sense of wonder and mystery.
🪿 FULL PAGE — "THE WAY OF THE WORLD" (from a painting by S.E. Waller)
A wonderfully humorous and charming full-page supplement illustration — a figure in old-fashioned dress being chased and harassed by an aggressive gaggle of geese outside a barn door. From a painting by S.E. Waller. A lively, warm, and eminently frameable piece of Victorian rural genre art.
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📋 CONDITION
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I photograph every page of every issue so you can inspect the condition closely before purchasing. Please review all images carefully and don't hesitate to ask any questions — I'm happy to provide additional detail or close-up shots of any page, illustration, or area of concern before you buy.
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📌 DETAILS
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Publication ········ Harper's Weekly
Date ··············· March 31, 1877
City ··············· New York
Item Number ········ 174126
Pages ·············· Complete Issue + Supplement
Format ············· Illustrated folio newspaper
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📦 SHIPPING & PRESERVATION
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• Housed in an acid-free archival folder with Mylar overlay to protect the 148-year-old newsprint
• Flat-shipped with heavy-duty reinforcement to ensure safe arrival of the centerfold and supplement
• Fully tracked for your peace of mind
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🔍 SEO TAGS
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1877 Brooklyn Bridge Tower, Black Philadelphia Sketches, Nast — Mar 31
$98.76