{"product_id":"1881-nast-double-issue-california-bee-ranch-czar-assassination-scene-apr-23","title":"1881 Nast Double Issue, California Bee Ranch, Czar Assassination Scene — Apr 23","description":"1881 Nast Double Issue, California Bee Ranch, Czar Assassination Scene — Apr 23\n\n📜 ABOUT THIS PIECE OF HISTORY 📜\nThis April 23, 1881 issue of Harper's Weekly is a collector's showcase — two Thomas Nast political illustrations, the fascinating world of California beekeeping, a dramatic eyewitness scene of the wounded Czar Alexander II being carried from his assassination, a W.A. Rogers farm scene, and a gripping Plains incident. For collectors of Thomas Nast, Russian imperial history, California agricultural history, American frontier life, and Gilded Age Americana, this issue delivers exceptional variety and historical weight in sixteen beautifully preserved pages.\n\n🎨 FULL FRONT PAGE — THOMAS NAST: \"HAIR-SPLITTING AMONG REPUDIATORS\"\nThe full front page delivers a Thomas Nast political cartoon titled \"Hair-Splitting Among Repudiators\" — a sharp commentary on the political and financial debates surrounding debt repudiation in the post-Reconstruction South, where several states sought to escape their Civil War and Reconstruction-era bond obligations. Nast's characteristically precise allegorical imagery skewers the sophistry and bad faith of the repudiators with devastating wit. A fully displayable Nast original for collectors of American political cartooning, Reconstruction financial history, and Gilded Age political debate.\n\n⚡ FULL PAGE — THOMAS NAST: \"THE POLITICAL AJAX DEFYING THE GODS\"\nA second full-page Thomas Nast illustration — \"The Political Ajax Defying the Gods\" — draws on the Greek myth of the warrior Ajax, whose arrogant defiance of the gods brought his destruction, to deliver a pointed warning to the political hubris of the Gilded Age. Two complete Nast illustrations in a single issue make this a particularly prized find for Nast collectors and substantially elevate the issue's collectible significance.\n\n🐝 FULL PAGE — \"A CALIFORNIA BEE RANCH\" — TEN SCENES\nOne of the most charming and historically fascinating full pages in the Harper's Weekly run: \"A California Bee Ranch\" — ten separate scenes documenting the world of commercial beekeeping in California, from the hive yards and honey extraction operations to the daily life and work of the bee ranchers themselves. California's commercial honey industry was a wonder of the agricultural world in the 1880s, and this ten-scene document is a rare and delightful primary source of California agricultural history, beekeeping history, and Victorian American rural life. A richly detailed and fully displayable piece of great appeal to collectors of California history, agricultural history, and Victorian natural history illustration.\n\n🖌️ W.A. ROGERS — \"ARRAREEK FARM\"\nA full-page illustration by W.A. Rogers — one of Harper's Weekly's most gifted and prolific staff illustrators — depicting \"Arrareek Farm\" with his characteristic clarity, warmth, and narrative intelligence. A prized piece for collectors of W.A. Rogers illustration and Victorian American rural life.\n\n🌾 \"THE MISSING MAIL — AN INCIDENT OF THE PLAINS\"\nA dramatic half-page illustration capturing one of the countless incidents of danger, mystery, and hardship that attended mail delivery across the American frontier — a stagecoach, a missing rider, the vast emptiness of the Plains stretching in every direction. A vivid piece of Western frontier history and Victorian adventure illustration.\n\n👑 \"AFTER THE ASSASSINATION — COLONEL DVORKETSKY CONVEYING THE WOUNDED CZAR TO THE WINTER PALACE\"\nA striking and historically significant full-page illustration documenting the immediate aftermath of the assassination of Czar Alexander II — Colonel Dvorketsky, Chief of Police, conveying the mortally wounded Czar through the streets of St. Petersburg to the Winter Palace on March 13, 1881. Published just six weeks after the assassination, this engraving is a vivid primary source document of one of the most dramatic political murders of the 19th century — the moment that ended the era of Russian reform and set the stage for the repressive reign of Alexander III. A deeply historically significant piece for collectors of Russian imperial history, assassination history, and 19th-century world affairs.\n\n🔍 CONDITION \u0026amp; TRANSPARENCY 🔍\nCompleteness: Complete 16-page issue.\nAuthenticity: Guaranteed original woodblock printing from April 23, 1881 — not a reproduction.\nCondition Report: Very good condition as shown. The Nast front page, the Ajax illustration, the California Bee Ranch ten-scene page, the W.A. Rogers farm scene, the Czar assassination aftermath illustration, and the Plains incident print are all clear and displayable.\nI 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.\n\n📦 SHIPPING \u0026amp; PRESERVATION 📦\n\nHoused in an acid-free archival folder with Mylar overlay to protect the 144-year-old newsprint\nFlat-shipped with heavy-duty reinforcement\nFully tracked for your peace of mind\n\n\n🏷️ TAGS\n1881 Harpers Weekly, Thomas Nast Hair Splitting Repudiators, Nast Political Ajax Defying Gods, California Bee Ranch Ten Scenes, Czar Alexander Assassination Aftermath, Colonel Dvorketsky Winter Palace, WA Rogers Arrareek Farm, Missing Mail Incident Plains, California Beekeeping History 1881, Russian Imperial Assassination 1881, Thomas Nast Double Issue, Gilded Age Political Cartoon, Antique Newspaper 1881, 19th Century Americana, California Agricultural History Sonnet 4.6","brand":"My Store","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":52264016183516,"sku":null,"price":38.88,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0849\/4759\/9580\/files\/4d42b084-il_fullxfull.7900799457_2yd9.jpg?v=1786496658","url":"https:\/\/thekeenantiquarian.com\/products\/1881-nast-double-issue-california-bee-ranch-czar-assassination-scene-apr-23","provider":"My Store","version":"1.0","type":"link"}