1877 London Workhouse, Schliemann Mycenae, Young Lions, Nast — Apr 28
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🗞️ HARPER'S WEEKLY · April 28, 1877
Complete Issue + Supplement Pages · New York
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A historically and visually exceptional issue — a moving London workhouse centerfold, a Thomas Nast civil service cartoon, New York charity scenes, young lions in Central Park, and a supplement of extraordinary archaeological depth: two illustrations of Schliemann's Mycenae excavations including a large centerfold, a portrait of Schliemann himself, the site of ancient Eleusis, and an imperial festival in British Burma. One of the strongest issues of the spring 1877 run.
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🖼️ THE FRONT PAGE
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✝️ FULL FRONT PAGE — "THE LATE REV. DR. W.A. MUHLENBERG"
A full front-page portrait of the Reverend William Augustus Muhlenberg — one of the most influential Episcopal clergymen in 19th-century America, founder of St. Luke's Hospital in New York and a pioneer of the institutional church movement. His death in 1877 marked the end of a remarkable life of social ministry. A significant piece of American religious and social history.
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🏚️ THE CENTERFOLD
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👴 TWO-THIRDS DOUBLE-PAGE CENTERFOLD — "THE EVENING OF LIFE — SCENE IN A LONDON WORKHOUSE"
A deeply moving centerfold spread depicting life in a London workhouse — the Victorian institution that housed the destitute elderly, the sick, and the unemployed in exchange for labor. The workhouse was a defining and much-debated feature of Victorian social life, made famous by Charles Dickens in Oliver Twist. This Harper's Weekly centerfold brought the reality of the British workhouse to American readers with emotional force. A significant piece of Victorian social history and transatlantic documentary illustration.
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✏️ THOMAS NAST
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⚖️ FULL PAGE — THOMAS NAST: "IN MEMORIAM — OUR CIVIL SERVICE AS IT WAS"
A full-page Nast cartoon mourning the state of the civil service — published as President Hayes was making civil service reform a centerpiece of his new administration following the corruption of the Grant years. A significant piece of Gilded Age political reform history.
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🖼️ INSIDE THE ISSUE
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🍞 TWO HALF PAGES — "FEEDING THE HUNGRY — HOLY TRINITY CHURCH, MADISON AVENUE, NEW YORK"
Two half-page illustrations of the charity food program at Holy Trinity Church on Madison Avenue — a vivid document of Gilded Age urban poverty and the role of the institutional church in addressing it. A significant piece of New York social history.
🏮 HALF PAGE — "CHINESE LANTERN FEAST"
A half-page illustration of a Chinese lantern celebration — a colorful piece of Chinese cultural history published during the height of the anti-Chinese political controversy in the American West.
🦁 FULL PAGE — "YOUNG LIONS IN CENTRAL PARK"
A full-page illustration of young lions at the Central Park Menagerie — a delightful and popular subject that gave New York readers a glimpse of the exotic animals in their own city's zoo. The Central Park Menagerie was the precursor to the modern Bronx Zoo.
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🏺 THE SUPPLEMENT — SCHLIEMANN & THE ANCIENT WORLD
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The supplement is an extraordinary document of Victorian classical archaeology:
👤 QUARTER PAGE — "DR. SCHLIEMANN, THE EXPLORER OF TROY AND MYCENAE"
A portrait of Heinrich Schliemann — the self-made German businessman who taught himself archaeology and proceeded to excavate both Troy and Mycenae, transforming the world's understanding of Bronze Age civilization. His Mycenae excavations of 1876 had just electrified the scholarly world when this issue was published.
🏛️ TWO-THIRDS DOUBLE-PAGE — "DR. SCHLIEMANN'S EXCAVATION IN THE ACROPOLIS OF MYCENAE"
A large centerfold-format illustration of Schliemann's excavations at the Acropolis of Mycenae — published in the immediate aftermath of his landmark 1876 dig that unearthed the shaft graves and the so-called Mask of Agamemnon. A primary document of one of the most significant archaeological discoveries of the 19th century.
🏟️ HALF PAGE — "SITE OF ANCIENT ELEUSIS, GREECE"
A half-page illustration of the site of ancient Eleusis — home of the Eleusinian Mysteries, the most sacred religious rites of ancient Greece. A significant piece of classical Greek archaeological history.
🎪 TWO HALF PAGES — "IMPERIAL FESTIVAL IN BRITISH BURMA"
Two half-page illustrations of a royal or imperial festival in British Burma — a vivid document of the British Empire's ceremonial culture in Southeast Asia.
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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 ··············· April 28, 1877
City ··············· New York
Item Number ········ 174134
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 London Workhouse, Schliemann Mycenae, Young Lions, Nast — Apr 28
$36.63