1877 Virginia City Chinese Quarter, Justice Harlan, Nast — Dec 29
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🗞️ HARPER'S WEEKLY · December 29, 1877
Complete Issue + Supplement Pages · New York
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A rich and varied year-end issue — a full-page view of the Chinese quarter in Virginia City, Nevada, a Thomas Nast political cartoon, a St. Nicholas Society dinner, a Cyprus archaeology illustration, fresh portraits of newly confirmed Supreme Court Justice John Marshall Harlan and General Cesnola, and a festive Christmas baby front page. Strong content for collectors of Chinese Americana, Western mining history, legal history, and Gilded Age social life.
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🏮 CHINESE AMERICANA
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🏮 FULL PAGE — "CHINESE QUARTERS, VIRGINIA CITY, NEVADA"
A full-page illustration of the Chinese quarter of Virginia City, Nevada — at the heart of the Comstock Lode silver mining district, one of the most significant Chinese immigrant communities in the American West. Chinese workers had been essential to the mining and railroad industries of Nevada since the 1860s, and Virginia City's Chinatown was a thriving, self-contained community at the height of the silver boom. Published at a time of rising anti-Chinese sentiment that would culminate in the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882, this illustration is a significant piece of Chinese American history and Western Americana — a documentary record of a community under increasing pressure.
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🖼️ THE FRONT PAGE
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👶 FULL FRONT PAGE — "THE CHRISTMAS BABY"
A charming and festive full front-page Christmas illustration — a warm seasonal piece closing out Harper's Weekly's year.
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✏️ NAST & PORTRAITS
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✏️ FULL PAGE — THOMAS NAST: "DEATH ON ECONOMY"
A full-page Thomas Nast political cartoon — a dark and pointed commentary on the dangers of fiscal austerity at the end of a turbulent year marked by the Great Railroad Strike, depression-era poverty, and political conflict.
⚖️ QUARTER-PAGE PORTRAIT — "THE HON. JOHN M. HARLAN"
A portrait of John Marshall Harlan — just weeks after his confirmation as Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court on November 29, 1877, appointed by President Hayes. This portrait was published at the very outset of what would become one of the most celebrated judicial careers in American history. Known as "The Great Dissenter," Harlan would serve for thirty-four years and write the lone dissent in Plessy v. Ferguson (1896), declaring "our Constitution is color-blind, and neither knows nor tolerates classes among citizens" — a position history fully vindicated when Brown v. Board of Education overturned Plessy in 1954. A significant piece of American legal and civil rights history.
🏺 QUARTER-PAGE PORTRAIT — "GENERAL LOUIS PALMA DI CESNOLA"
A portrait of General Luigi Palma di Cesnola — Italian-born American Civil War Medal of Honor recipient, U.S. Consul to Cyprus (1865–1877), and the man whose extraordinary archaeological excavations of some 70,000 ancient Cypriot tombs provided the founding collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. In 1877 he had just returned to New York with approximately 35,000 ancient artifacts and was about to become the Met's first director (1879–1904). His companion illustration in this same issue shows him at work in the field.
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🖼️ INSIDE THE ISSUE
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🏺 HALF PAGE — "GENERAL CESNOLA MAKING EXPLORATIONS IN CYPRUS"
A half-page illustration of Cesnola at work excavating in Cyprus — companion to his portrait in the same issue. At the time of publication Cesnola's book Cyprus: Its Ancient Cities, Tombs and Temples (1877) had just appeared, and his collection was transforming the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
🌀 DOUBLE-PAGE CENTERFOLD — "THE STORY OF A GIANT" — MANY ILLUSTRATIONS
A double-page centerfold containing many illustrations pertaining to "The Story of a Giant" — please review all photographs for full details of this spread.
🦅 FULL PAGE — "ANNUAL DINNER OF THE ST. NICHOLAS SOCIETY OF NEW YORK — BRINGING IN THE OLD DUTCH WEATHER COCK"
A full-page illustration of the St. Nicholas Society of New York's annual dinner — one of New York's oldest and most exclusive social organizations, founded in 1835 to celebrate the city's Dutch heritage. The ceremonial bringing in of the Old Dutch Weathercock was a beloved Society tradition. A vivid piece of Gilded Age New York social history.
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⚔️ THE SUPPLEMENT
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🪖 HALF PAGE — "A TURKISH OUTPOST"
A half-page supplement illustration of a Turkish military outpost — a final piece of Russo-Turkish War content as the conflict was approaching its conclusion in late 1877, with the fall of Plevna in December opening the road to Constantinople.
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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 ··············· December 29, 1877
City ··············· New York
Item Number ········ 174204
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 Virginia City Chinese Quarter, Justice Harlan, Nast — Dec 29
$76.54