“UNIQUE IN AMERICAN GRAPHIC ART”

(HOMER, Winslow). Harper's Weekly: A Journal of Civilization. Volume II. New York: Harper & Brothers, 1858. Thick folio, modern black cloth gilt. $750.

Entire run for the second year of Harper’s Weekly, richly illustrated with hundreds of wood engravings, including 16 by Winslow Homer.

Begun in 1857, Harper's Weekly stands as one of the most valuable primary sources of 19th-century American life. "The old files of Harper's Weekly are a delight to the casual reader and a rich treasury for the historical investigator. Here is a vital illustrated history… The combination of pictures, politics, essays and fiction gives [Harper's] first-rate importance" (Mott, 469). The 16 illustrations by Homer— six of which are full page— include a series of four illustrations for Thanksgiving and four for Christmas. "The linear integrity and the sculptural substance made [Homer's engravings] unique in American graphic art of the 19th century" (Goodrich, 19). Without pages 151-55, including the double-page engraving of the steamship Leviathan (not by Homer). Beam 22-37. Mott, 469-87.

Occasional faint foxing only. An excellent copy.