{"product_id":"1881-nast-god-save-the-president-garfields-final-journey-elberon-sep-17","title":"1881 Nast \"God Save the President,\" Garfield's Final Journey, Elberon — Sep 17","description":"1881 Nast \"God Save the President,\" Garfield's Final Journey, Elberon — Sep 17\n\n📜 ABOUT THIS PIECE OF HISTORY 📜\n\nThis September 17, 1881 issue of Harper's Weekly is one of the most historically significant and emotionally devastating issues in the entire publication's run — published just two days before President Garfield's death on September 19th, capturing the nation's final desperate prayers for his survival. Thomas Nast's centerfold cry of \"God Save the President\" and the detailed documentation of Garfield's agonizing journey from Washington to the New Jersey shore make this a primary source document of profound historical weight. For collectors of presidential assassination history, Garfield history, Thomas Nast, and Gilded Age Americana, this issue is simply irreplaceable.\n\n📜 FRONT PAGE — \"THAT SWAMP OF DEATH: A CITY BALLAD\"\n\nThe front page opens with \"That Swamp of Death: A City Ballad\" — a poem or literary piece reflecting the city's grief, anxiety, and the dark atmosphere of the national vigil over the dying president. The title's evocation of death and the swamp captures the mood of a nation that had been waiting for seventy-nine days and was beginning to lose hope.\n\n🚂 TWO FULL PAGES — \"FROM WASHINGTON TO ELBERON\" — FIVE LARGE ILLUSTRATIONS\n\nTwo full pages presenting five large illustrations document one of the most dramatic and poignant episodes of the Garfield assassination ordeal — the desperate effort to move the gravely ill President from the sweltering heat of Washington to the cooler air of Elberon, New Jersey on the shore of the Atlantic, in the hope that the sea breeze might aid his recovery. The journey required an extraordinary feat of railroad engineering — 2,000 workers laboring through a single night to lay a special branch line to the door of the Elberon cottage — and captured the imagination of the entire nation. These five illustrations document the preparations, the journey, the arrival at the shore, and the setting where Garfield would spend his final days — a primary source document of extraordinary historical and human significance. Published just two days before his death, these images carry the unbearable weight of a nation's last hope.\n\n🗽 DOUBLE-PAGE CENTERFOLD — THOMAS NAST: \"GOD SAVE THE PRESIDENT\"\n\nThe crown jewel of this issue — and one of the most historically significant and emotionally powerful Thomas Nast illustrations ever published — is the double-page centerfold: \"God Save the President.\" Nast's desperate prayer rendered in allegorical imagery captures the nation at its most vulnerable and most united — all political divisions dissolved in the shared anguish of a country watching its president die by inches. Published two days before Garfield's death, this centerfold is a primary source document of the final chapter of the assassination crisis — Nast's visual voice joining the millions of Americans who prayed in vain for the President's survival. Among the most historically resonant Nast illustrations in the entire Harper's Weekly archive and a deeply moving piece of American presidential history.\n\n⛪ \"NEW LONDON AND GROTON CENTENARY\"\n\nA full-page illustration documenting the centenary celebrations of New London and Groton, Connecticut — commemorating the 1781 British raid led by Benedict Arnold that burned New London and resulted in the massacre at Fort Griswold. A historically significant piece of Connecticut history and American Revolutionary War memorial culture.\n\n🔥 \"DESTRUCTIVE FIRES — PANIC IN A FRONTIER VILLAGE\"\n\nA half-page illustration of a devastating fire sweeping through a frontier village — the terror, the chaos, and the helplessness of a frontier community facing the most feared disaster of the age without the fire-fighting resources of the established cities.\n\n🍽️ \"LORENZO DELMONICO\"\n\nA half-page portrait of Lorenzo Delmonico — the legendary restaurateur whose Delmonico's Restaurant on Beaver Street was the most celebrated dining establishment in America and the social hub of Gilded Age New York society. A prized portrait for collectors of New York City culinary history, restaurant history, and Gilded Age social culture.\n\n🔍 CONDITION \u0026amp; TRANSPARENCY 🔍\n\nCompleteness: Complete 16-page issue.\n\nAuthenticity: Guaranteed original woodblock printing from September 17, 1881 — not a reproduction.\n\nCondition Report: Presents well for its 144-year age. Natural toning to the newsprint consistent with age. The Nast \"God Save the President\" centerfold, the Washington to Elberon illustration pages, the front page ballad, and the Delmonico portrait are all clear and displayable.\n\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 to ensure safe arrival of the centerfold\nFully tracked for your peace of mind\n🏷️ TAGS\n\n1881 Harpers Weekly, Thomas Nast God Save the President, Garfield Washington to Elberon, Garfield Final Journey Shore, Garfield Assassination Final Days, New London Groton Centenary, Lorenzo Delmonico Portrait, Frontier Village Fire, Garfield Death Primary Source, Thomas Nast Presidential Prayer, Two Days Before Garfield Death, Antique Newspaper 1881, 19th Century Americana, James Garfield Harper's Weekly, Presidential Assassination History","brand":"My Store","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":52264012972252,"sku":null,"price":38.88,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0849\/4759\/9580\/files\/b521d439-il_fullxfull.7923913583_4gkm.jpg?v=1786496626","url":"https:\/\/thekeenantiquarian.com\/products\/1881-nast-god-save-the-president-garfields-final-journey-elberon-sep-17","provider":"My Store","version":"1.0","type":"link"}