1877 Death of Fletcher Harper, Founder of Harper's Weekly β Jun 16
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ποΈ HARPER'S WEEKLY Β· June 16, 1877
Complete Issue Β· New York
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A uniquely self-referential and historically significant issue β Harper's Weekly memorializing Fletcher Harper, the last surviving founder of Harper & Brothers, the very publishing house that created this newspaper. With a front-page portrait and full biographical tribute to the man who founded Harper's Weekly itself, this issue is a primary document of American publishing history, made all the more poignant by the fact that it was produced by the institution he built. Supplemented by a foreboding Russo-Turkish War double-page centerfold, scenes from aboard a Pacific Mail steamship, a portrait of Hobart Pasha, and supplement pages featuring Cape Kalagria on the Black Sea and five Hudson Bay sketches.
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π° FLETCHER HARPER β FOUNDER OF HARPER'S WEEKLY
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π¨οΈ FRONT PAGE PORTRAIT & FULL BIOGRAPHY β "FLETCHER HARPER"
The front page is devoted to a portrait and detailed biography of Fletcher Harper (January 31, 1806 β May 29, 1877) β the youngest of the four brothers who founded Harper & Brothers, and the last of them to die. With his brothers James, John, and Joseph Wesley, Fletcher co-founded what became the most important publishing house in 19th-century America, established in 1817 in New York City. Fletcher is personally credited with founding three of the great pillars of American journalism and culture: Harper's Weekly (1857), Harper's New Monthly Magazine (1850), and Harper's Bazar (1867). It was Fletcher who gave Thomas Nast his start at Harper's Weekly and who granted Nast the editorial freedom β at great personal business risk β to pursue his devastating cartoons against Boss Tweed's Tammany Hall, even when Tweed threatened to pull lucrative school textbook contracts from the firm. President Abraham Lincoln called Harper's Weekly "the greatest recruiter for the United States Military" during the Civil War. Fletcher's death on May 29, 1877, marked the end of the founding generation at Harper & Brothers β poignantly, a Latin edition of Seneca's Morals, the very first book ever printed by the Harper brothers in 1817, was issued just days before his death. This issue, published by the institution he created as a tribute to its own founder, is a rare and significant piece of American publishing and cultural history.
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πΌοΈ INSIDE THE ISSUE
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π FULL PAGE β "READING THE BIBLE TO GRANDPAPA"
A full-page domestic genre illustration of a family Bible-reading scene β a warm and tender piece of Victorian family life.
π’ FULL PAGE β "SUNDAY SERVICE ON BOARD A PACIFIC MAIL STEAMSHIP"
A full-page illustration of Sunday religious services held aboard a Pacific Mail steamship β a vivid document of shipboard life in the Gilded Age, when Pacific Mail operated the principal passenger and mail routes between the United States and Asia and South America.
π DARK DOUBLE-PAGE CENTERFOLD β "ON THE RED DANUBE β 'BLESS YOU, MY CHILDREN!'"
A dark and foreboding double-page centerfold on the Russo-Turkish War β a sardonic or allegorical image presenting the Danube as "red," implying the blood of those fighting along its banks. A significant and atmospheric piece of Victorian war commentary.
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β RUSSO-TURKISH WAR ILLUSTRATIONS
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π¨ββοΈ SMALL PORTRAIT & BIOGRAPHY β "HOBART PASHA"
A portrait and biography of Hobart Pasha β Augustus Charles Hobart-Hampden, the British-born naval officer commanding the Ottoman fleet during the Russo-Turkish War. One of the great Victorian naval adventurers, Hobart had previously run Confederate blockades during the American Civil War before entering Ottoman service in 1867. In 1877, commanding the Ottoman squadron in the Black Sea, he completely dominated the Russian fleet, blockading South Russian ports and the mouths of the Danube. He later became the first Christian ever appointed to the Ottoman rank of Mushir (Marshal). A significant piece of Victorian naval and Ottoman history.
π« SMALL ILLUSTRATION β "RUSSIAN FIELD GUNS COMMANDING THE DANUBE AT THE MOUTH OF THE PRUTH"
Russian artillery positioned at the mouth of the Pruth River where it meets the Danube β a key strategic position in the opening moves of the Russian campaign against Ottoman territory.
π SMALL ILLUSTRATION β "RUSSIAN TROOPS AT THE RAILWAY STATION, JASSY"
Russian troops at the railway station at Jassy (modern IaΘi, Romania) β the key Romanian rail hub through which Russian forces and supplies moved toward the Danube front. A significant piece of Russo-Turkish War logistics history.
β SMALL ILLUSTRATION β "DISCUSSING WAR NEWS IN A CAFΓ AT CONSTANTINOPLE"
A street-level human document of the war's impact on daily life in the Ottoman capital β Constantinopolitans gathered in a cafΓ© debating the war news, capturing the anxiety and uncertainty of life in the city at the center of the conflict.
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π THE SUPPLEMENT
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π° ILLUSTRATION β "CAPE KALAGRIA, BAY OF VARNA, BLACK SEA"
A supplement illustration of Cape Kalagria on the Bay of Varna, Bulgaria β the great Black Sea port that had been a key Ottoman naval base and strategic prize since the Crimean War, now directly in the path of the Russian advance. A significant piece of Black Sea military geography at the height of the Russo-Turkish War.
𦦠FIVE ILLUSTRATIONS WITH TEXT β "HUDSON BAY SKETCHES"
Five supplement sketches of life around Hudson Bay β a vivid and rare documentary of the remote Canadian subarctic, where the Hudson's Bay Company had operated its fur trade empire for over two centuries. A delightful and unusual piece of Canadian northern history seldom depicted in the American illustrated press.
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π 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 β 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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π DETAILS
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Publication Β·Β·Β·Β·Β·Β·Β·Β· Harper's Weekly
Date Β·Β·Β·Β·Β·Β·Β·Β·Β·Β·Β·Β·Β·Β·Β· June 16, 1877
City Β·Β·Β·Β·Β·Β·Β·Β·Β·Β·Β·Β·Β·Β·Β· New York
Item Number Β·Β·Β·Β·Β·Β·Β·Β· 174148
Pages Β·Β·Β·Β·Β·Β·Β·Β·Β·Β·Β·Β·Β·Β· Complete Issue + Supplement
Format Β·Β·Β·Β·Β·Β·Β·Β·Β·Β·Β·Β·Β· Illustrated folio newspaper
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π¦ SHIPPING & PRESERVATION
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β’ Housed in an acid-free archival folder with Mylar overlay to protect the 148-year-old newsprint
β’ Flat-shipped with heavy-duty reinforcement to ensure safe arrival of the centerfold
β’ Fully tracked for your peace of mind
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π SEO TAGS
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1877 Death of Fletcher Harper, Founder of Harper's Weekly β Jun 16
$36.93