1877 Great Railroad Strike Baltimore & Pittsburgh, Danube Crossing — Aug 11
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🗞️ HARPER'S WEEKLY · August 11, 1877
Complete Issue + Supplement Pages · New York
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One of the single most historically important issues in the entire Harper's Weekly run — five full illustrations documenting the Great Railroad Strike of 1877 in Baltimore and Pittsburgh, the violent climax of America's first nationwide labor uprising, captured within weeks of the actual events. The supplement adds major Russo-Turkish War content with detailed views of the Russian crossing of the Danube at Sistova. An essential issue for any serious collection of American labor history.
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🚂 THE GREAT RAILROAD STRIKE OF 1877
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⚔️ FULL FRONT PAGE — "THE GREAT STRIKE — 6TH MARYLAND REGIMENT FIGHTING ITS WAY THROUGH BALTIMORE"
The full front page depicts one of the defining and most violent moments of the strike: on July 20, 1877, the outnumbered men of the 6th Maryland Regiment, marching to Camden Station under orders to suppress the strike, were attacked by a crowd of thousands on Baltimore Street. When the regiment fired into the crowd, they killed at least ten civilians and wounded twenty-five more — the bloodiest single episode of the entire national strike to that point. This famous illustration, based on a photograph by D. Bendann, was published just three weeks after the event and remains one of the most widely reproduced images of the Great Railroad Strike in American historical scholarship today.
🏚️ TWO ADDITIONAL FULL PAGES — THE BALTIMORE STRIKE
Two further full-page illustrations expanding on the Baltimore riot — additional scenes of the confrontation between strikers, rioters, and the Maryland National Guard during the chaotic days of July 20-21, 1877, when President Hayes ultimately dispatched 2,000 federal troops and 600 Marines to restore order in the city.
🔥 DOUBLE-PAGE CENTERFOLD — "THE GREAT STRIKE — THE WORK OF DESTRUCTION IN PITTSBURGH"
The visual centerpiece of the issue — a sweeping double-page illustration of the devastation in Pittsburgh, where the strike reached its most violent and destructive climax. After Philadelphia militia fired on the crowd on July 21, killing as many as 20 people, enraged strikers and sympathizers fought back, forcing the soldiers to retreat into a railroad roundhouse under a two-day siege. Rioters then set fire to the Pennsylvania Railroad's yards, ultimately destroying 39 buildings, 104 locomotives, and over 1,200 freight cars — the worst urban destruction in Pittsburgh's history to that point. This centerfold is a primary visual document of that catastrophic event.
🏭 TWO ADDITIONAL FULL PAGES — THE PITTSBURGH STRIKE
Two further full-page illustrations of the Pittsburgh strike, rounding out Harper's Weekly's comprehensive eyewitness coverage of the most destructive labor uprising in 19th-century American history. Together, the five strike illustrations in this single issue make it one of the most significant primary documents of American labor history available to collectors — covering the strike's two deadliest and most consequential flashpoints in a single, complete issue.
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⚔️ THE SUPPLEMENT — RUSSO-TURKISH WAR
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🌊 DOUBLE-PAGE PANORAMA — "CROSSING THE DANUBE — VIEW OF THE BRIDGE AS EXPERIENCED FROM SISTOVA"
A sweeping double-page panoramic view of the Russian military pontoon bridge across the Danube, seen from Sistova (Svishtov) — the town the Russian army had seized at the end of June 1877 immediately after its historic crossing at nearby Simnitza. This bridge was the vital supply link sustaining the entire Russian invasion of Bulgaria. A detailed and historically significant piece of military engineering documentation.
🏕️ DOUBLE-PAGE PANORAMA — "ON THE DANUBE — A VIEW ON THE MOUNTAIN SIDE FROM BELOW SISTOVA," WITH LETTERED KEY
A second detailed double-page panorama with a lettered key (A through E) identifying military camps, fortifications, and geographic features along the riverside terrain below Sistova. Together with the bridge view, these two panoramas form an exceptionally detailed cartographic and pictorial record of the Russian army's logistics in the opening weeks of the campaign.
🐻 LARGE ILLUSTRATION — "A PERFORMING BEAR IN A RUSSIAN VILLAGE"
A large and charming illustration of a trained bear performing for a crowd in a Russian village — a delightful piece of Russian folk entertainment and rural culture, offering a warm human counterpoint to the war coverage elsewhere in the supplement.
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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 ··············· August 11, 1877
City ··············· New York
Item Number ········ 174164
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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1877 Great Railroad Strike Baltimore & Pittsburgh, Danube Crossing — Aug 11
$44.44