Original Harpers Weekly's & Atlantic Monthly's

[BishopLynch]

Pards,
Today for Literature class our class was moved to the Library work room to watch a video. The library workroom has some very old books in it that have been donated. There are tons of encyclopedias in the room as well which are never EVER used due to the room always being locked. I started looking through them and to my amazement I came across volume upon volume of hardback books filled with every issue of Harpers Weekly as well as Atlantic Monthly newspapers from the 1850's through the 1860's. Due to my education major I am allowed to use this room at my pleasure. I glanced at a few articles in the book, a few because class was starting, and they are very very good sources for everyday life activities of the period. For instance there was an article on the game of chess and its popularity. I am going to ask permission to use the room after school, and will try and post some interesting articles for your pleasure. If anyone would like me to look for a specific topic let me know. Cheers.

[dusty27]

Re: Original Harpers Weekly's & Atlantic Monthly's

Greg,

Thanks for sharing your find. Just make sure you cite your sources when posting exerpts.

[BishopLynch]

Re: Original Harpers Weekly's & Atlantic Monthly's

Ok I got a chance to look through most of the books and here is what I found. First of all the Harpers' Weeklys are really Harpers Monthlys. They go from 1852 to 1858. Sorry no war years, but that is ok. The Atlantic Monthly's start at 1865. Now in the Harpers Monthlys there are short stories , continuations of stories from the previous month, one being Chas. Dickens' Little Dorrit. Then there are current events, which are very interesting. One of the events listed the Brooks attack on Sumner. Then there are The Editors Chair, and The Editors Drawer, which contain popular ideas and discussions about events of the time. There are cartoons and drawings throughout the books, for example a cartoon on how to celebrate the Fourth of July, and a cartoon making fun of photography. The cartoon has a man who wants his picture taken go through like 10 different shots before one is right b/c the photographer either zooms too much or too little, he cuts his hat off etc. Then there is the monthly fashion page, sorry guys no mens fashions, but different specs and descriptions of womens dresses and clothing items, along with drawings and how they should fit. There was an interesting article on photography and transfering its to paper i think. It had to do with scientific photos of specimens being transferred to books. There was even something on the Minie Ball.
The Atlantic Weekly had two articles that I barely had time to skim b/c of class. The first was about Gettysburg two years after the battle and an observers account of what he saw. In teh next issue the same man visits the Wilderness battlefield a year after the fight. Moderators, the print in these books are small and would take up alot of room on this site, however, I feel that the Gettysburg and Wilderness articles should be posted for all to read, learn from and enjoy. Would it be ok to post these two articles in daily installments i.e Part 1, 2, 3? The other articles I could put excerpts, all cited of course.

[Hank Trent]

Re: Original Harpers Weekly's & Atlantic Monthly's

Oh how I hate to say this. I don't want to squelch enthusiasm, but...

Harper's Monthly from 1850 to 1899 is all online free, available either for browsing page by page or with searchable text, at:

http://cdl.library.cornell.edu/moa/browse.journals/harp.html

The Atlantic Monthly, from 1857 to 1901 is online here, same set-up:

http://cdl.library.cornell.edu/moa/browse.journals/atla.html

There are also a few other magazines at:

http://cdl.library.cornell.edu/moa//browse.html

and more at:

http://www.hti.umich.edu/cgi/t/text/text-idx?tpl=browsejournals.tpl&c=moajrnl&cc=moajrnl&sid=ec4ac6e50d5f925d0723d7b843f3eada

Hank Trent
hanktrent@voyager.net

[BishopLynch]

Re: Original Harpers Weekly's & Atlantic Monthly's

Thanks, I realized this after reading through several magazines. Yes the harpers monthly & Atlantic monthly are all online. I would suggest reading the articles in them, they are a great source of knowledge for the period we portray and can add to the 1st person impression imensely. I encourage "The Field of Gettysburg" article in The Atlantic Monthly, Volume XVI of November 1865. The story provides a glimpse into what the history books dont tell us of the Battle. There are also articles on The Wilderness, Andersonville, a Union soldiers 2nd capture, as well as many others well worth your time.