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Follow the course of the war and the Lincoln presidency the way Americans did then
Below are complete original issues of Harper’s relating to Lincoln.
Harper’s Weekly reported Civil War developments, foreign affairs, and sports, and included political cartoons, editorial essays, “Humors of the Day,” and advertisements. Harper’s became famous for its illustrations. Each issue contains approximately ten woodcut engravings, with a double-page centerfold. Thomas Nast began contributing drawings soon after the magazine’s founding; he is remembered for creating the modern images of the Democratic Donkey, the Republican Elephant, and Santa Claus. Winslow Homer also contributed throughout the war. Harper’s were printed in great quantity, on rag paper, which allowed many to be preserved. Thus, original Harper’s are still relatively inexpensive, though they contain some of the best Lincoln and Civil War images.
Lincoln Raises the Flag
President Lincoln hoisting the 34-star American flag on Independence Hall, Philadelphia, with his speech. United States arsenal at Little Rock, Arkansas surrendered to the state troops. Interior of the new dome of the capitol at Washington. Front view of Fort Pickens, Pensacola. Inauguration of Pres. Jefferson Davis at Montgomery, Alabama. March 9, 1861. $160
The Inauguration of President Lincoln
“touched... by the better angels of our nature…”
Lincoln’s inaugural address. Winslow Homer illustrations include: Inaugural Procession… Passing the Gate of the Capitol; Presidents Buchanan and Lincoln Entering the Senate Chamber Before the Inauguration; The Inauguration of Abraham Lincoln, March 4, 1861. The Navy Yard at Norfolk, Virginia. Fort Davis, Texas. The Washington Arsenal. March 16, 1861. $395
Lincoln Reviews the Army of the Potomac
Collecting confiscated rebel cotton. Ironclad Keokuk sinking after the battle at Charleston. Pres. Lincoln, General Hooker, and their staff at a review of the Army of the Potomac. Bombardment of Fort Sumter. May 2, 1863. $100
President Lincoln Commissions General Grant
Death of Colonel Ulric Dahlgren. Ulysses S. Grant receiving his commission as lieutenant general from President Lincoln. Centerfold: General Custer’s late movement across the Rapidan. Mobile, Alabama. March 26, 1864. $120
Lincoln and His Secretaries
Philadelphia Great Central Fair buildings. General Warren rallying the Marylanders. President Lincoln and his secretaries. Struggle for the Salient near Spotsylvania, Virginia. Sherman’s advance. General Logan’s skirmishes advancing toward the railroad at Resaca. June 11, 1864. $100
‘Rally round the Flag, Boys!’ President Lincoln Centerfold
Thomas Nast illustration: The Halt. General Sherman’s victory. Rebel prisoners being conducted to Atlanta from Jonesborough. Centerfold: ‘Rally round the Flag, Boys!’ showing President Lincoln. Monument to Stephen Douglas. General Sherman’s army destroying the Macon Railroad near Jonesborough, Georgia. October 1, 1864. $225
The Preliminary Emancipation Proclamation
“All persons held as slaves within
any state... the people whereof shall then be
in rebellion against the United States shall be then, thenceforward, and forever, free…”
Thomas Nast illustration: McClellan entering Frederick, Maryland. The Preliminary Emancipation Proclamation, September 22, 1862. View of Harpers Ferry and Maryland Heights. War map of Kentucky. Capitol grounds at Harrisburg, Pennsylvania turned into a camp. Centerfold: Battle of Antietam. Grand depot for General Grant’s army at Columbus, Kentucky. October 4, 1862. $250
The Emancipation Proclamation
Front page: African-American teamsters duel. Text of Emancipation Proclamation on p. 2. Mankato, Minnesota. Thomas Nast illustrations: the war in the West; the war in the border states. Centerfold: Winslow Homer illustrations: A Shell in the Rebel Trenches, African-Americans fighting. Map of Mississippi. Reception of the authorities of New Orleans by General Butler. General Banks’s forces landing at Baton Rouge, Louisiana. January 17, 1863. $250
President Lincoln’s Second Inauguration
“… until every drop of blood drawn by the lash shall be paid with another drawn with the sword”
Front page: President Lincoln taking oath at his second inauguration. Editorial quoting Lincoln’s second inaugural address (though not printing the full text). Visit to Fort Sumter office by General Gilmore. “55th Mass. colored regiment singing John Brown’s march in streets of Charleston.” Centerfold: President Lincoln’s second inauguration at Capitol. Generals Porter and Dahlgren landing troops at Bull’s Bay, South Carolina. Rebel General Ewell’s headquarters. Exchanging prisoners at Aiken’s Landing. March 18, 1865. $350
Lincoln’s Assassination
Front page: John Wilkes Booth. Small diagram of Ford’s Theatre interior. Booth shooting Lincoln in the head. Running away inside the theatre. Siege of Mobile. Thomas Nast illustrations: The Eve of War, The Dawn of Peace, Sumter 1861 to 1865. April 29, 1865. $625
The Death Bed and Funeral
Lincoln and son Tad at home. Scene at the death bed of Pres. Lincoln. Funeral service at the White House. Centerfold: Ford’s Theatre. Attempted assassination of Secretary Seward. Citizens viewing the body at City Hall, New York. May 6, 1865. $595
Funeral Procession in New York City
Front page: Andrew Johnson. General Boston Corbett. Herold and Booth’s capture inside burning barn. Post-mortem examination of Booth’s body on board the monitor Montauk. Centerfold: President Lincoln’s funeral procession in New York City. May 13, 1865. $250
Lincoln’s Former Home, and Lee’s Surrender
Front page: Ruins of Garrett’s barn where Booth was shot. Building erected for the reception of Lincoln’s remains at Cleveland, Ohio. Reception of Lincoln’s remains at Chicago. President Lincoln’s former home in Springfield, Illinois. Thomas Nast illustrations: Palm Sunday, the Savior’s Entry into Jerusalem, The Surrender of Gen. Lee and His Army to Lieut. General Grant. May 20, 1865. $175
Historical Background:
Harper's Weekly was founded by Fletcher Harper in 1857. The magazine gained great political influence during the Civil War and soon became one of the most influential papers in the United States with an enormous circulation. Its images continue to shape our visual interpretation of nineteenth‑century America.
Printed in New York, Harper's became famous for the cartoons of Thomas Nast, who 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. His scathing cartoons helped bring an end to the notoriously corrupt New York "Tweed Ring" in 1872.
Winslow Homer began drawing for Harper's in 1858. His The Sharpshooter is arguably the most famous image of the war, illustrating the first war in which the technology of impersonal killing became effective. Homer continued contributing to Harper’s until 1875.
Condition: Needs rebinding; appears complete, but not collated.
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