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Founded in 1857, Harper’s soon became one of the most influential papers in the United States. Its images continue to shape our visual interpretation of nineteenth century America.
Printed in New York, it covered national and international events, such as the developments of the Civil War, presidential elections, foreign wars, and even sports. Harper's pages are also filled with political cartoons, editorial essays, "Humors of the Day," and advertisements. Each issue contains approximately ten engravings, with a doublepage centerfold illustration. Harper's are printed on rag paperdifferent in weight and quality than the pulp paper used for today's news. Harper's became famous in part due to the illustrations of Thomas Nast, who began contributing drawings soon after the newspaper's founding in 1857 and became its staff artist in 1862. By the end of the war, and through the 1880s, Nast was one of the most influential journalists in America. In addition to his scathing cartoons that brought an end to the notoriously corrupt New York "Tweed Ring" in 1872, he also created the Democratic Donkey, the Republican Elephant, and the modem image of Santa Claus. Winslow Homer also contributed to Harper's beginning in 1858. Homer's The Sharpshooter is one of the most famous images of the war, illustrating the first war in which the technology of impersonal killing became effective. Homer continued to contribute drawings to Harper’s until 1875. Though original Harper’s are inexpensive, they contain some of the best images of the Lincoln and the Civil War.
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