1881 America's Cup Race, Grand Street Tenement Disaster, Shore Shooting — Nov 19
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1881 America's Cup Race, Grand Street Tenement Disaster, Shore Shooting — Nov 19
📜 ABOUT THIS PIECE OF HISTORY 📜
This November 19, 1881 issue of Harper's Weekly is a richly varied fall number — a catastrophic tenement disaster, the celebrated America's Cup yacht race, a grand metropolitan ball for French and German guests, shore shooting in the field, the new Astor Library, and a moving genre scene of Southern rural life. For collectors of America's Cup history, New York City disaster history, Victorian sporting life, and Gilded Age Americana, this is a visually engaging and historically significant issue.
🏚️ FULL FRONT PAGE — "THE GRAND STREET TENEMENT HOUSE DISASTER"
The full front page delivers a dramatic and historically significant illustration of the Grand Street Tenement House Disaster — one of the urban catastrophes that punctuated Gilded Age New York life and kept the tenement reform movement in the public eye. The collapse or fire of an overcrowded tenement building on Grand Street — home to dozens of immigrant families — rendered with the full visual power of Harper's Weekly's crisis reporting. A primary source document of New York City tenement history, disaster history, and the ongoing struggle for housing reform in the era before building codes and fire safety regulations.
⛵ "THE RACE FOR THE 'AMERICA' CUP — COMING UP FROM SANDY HOOK"
A half-page illustration of the America's Cup yacht race — one of the most prestigious and eagerly followed sporting events in the Gilded Age world, pitting the finest American yachts against foreign challengers for the oldest international sporting trophy in existence. The image captures the yachts coming up from Sandy Hook in the final dramatic stages of the race — a vivid and collectible piece of America's Cup history and American yachting history of great appeal to collectors of sailing history and Gilded Age sporting culture.
🎭 "BALL IN HONOR OF OUR FRENCH AND GERMAN GUESTS AT THE METROPOLITAN CASINO"
A full-page illustration of a magnificent formal ball held at the Metropolitan Casino in honor of distinguished French and German visitors — a glittering document of Gilded Age New York high society at its most elegant and internationally minded. The Metropolitan Casino was one of the grandest entertainment venues in New York, and this ball — with its European guests of honor and its assembled cream of New York society — is a vivid primary source document of Gilded Age diplomatic social culture.
🎣 "SHORE SHOOTING"
A full-page illustration of shore shooting — hunters along the Atlantic shoreline pursuing shorebirds and waterfowl in the great sporting tradition of the 19th-century American coast. A beautifully rendered and fully displayable piece of Victorian sporting illustration and American hunting history of great appeal to collectors of field sports history and coastal Americana.
⚖️ "THIRTY-TWO POUNDS, MASSA"
A full-page genre illustration — "Thirty-Two Pounds, Massa" — a warmly observed scene of Southern rural life capturing a moment of pride, humor, and human connection in the post-Reconstruction South. A significant and humanly engaging piece of Victorian American genre illustration and Southern social history.
🏛️ "THE NEW PORTION OF THE ASTOR LIBRARY BUILDING"
A half-page illustration of the new addition to the Astor Library — one of New York City's most important cultural institutions, the predecessor of the New York Public Library, whose collections formed the foundation of the city's public intellectual life. A primary source document of New York City library history and Gilded Age cultural philanthropy.
🗳️ "THE OFF YEAR IN POLITICS — A FALLING OFF OF VOTES"
A half-page illustration commenting satirically on the low voter turnout of the off-year election — a sharp and timely piece of Gilded Age political commentary on civic disengagement and the periodic exhaustion of the American electorate.
🖼️ PORTRAITS — "NEW GOVERNORS"
Four small portraits of the newly elected governors of their respective states — a documentary record of the Gilded Age's shifting political landscape in the immediate aftermath of the Garfield assassination and the transition to the Arthur administration.
🔍 CONDITION & TRANSPARENCY 🔍
Completeness: Complete issue.
Authenticity: Guaranteed original woodblock printing from November 19, 1881 — not a reproduction.
Condition Report: Presents well for its 144-year age. Natural toning to the newsprint consistent with age. The Grand Street tenement disaster front page, the America's Cup illustration, the Metropolitan Casino ball full page, the shore shooting print, and the Astor Library illustration are all clear and displayable.
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.
📦 SHIPPING & PRESERVATION 📦
Housed in an acid-free archival folder with Mylar overlay to protect the 144-year-old newsprint
Flat-shipped with heavy-duty reinforcement
Fully tracked for your peace of mind
🏷️ TAGS
1881 Harpers Weekly, America's Cup Race Sandy Hook, Grand Street Tenement Disaster, Metropolitan Casino Ball French German, Shore Shooting Victorian, Thirty Two Pounds Massa, Astor Library New York, New Governors Portraits 1881, America's Cup History 1881, New York Tenement Disaster, Gilded Age High Society Ball, Antique Newspaper 1881, 19th Century Americana, Victorian Yachting History, New York City Social History 1881Sonnet 4.6
1881 America's Cup Race, Grand Street Tenement Disaster, Shore Shooting — Nov 19
$38.88