Harper’s Weekly – Complete Issue w/ Supplement August 5, 1871 | Salem Witch Trials, Buffalo & "Indian" Scenes, Nast Cartoon

Original and complete issue (Etsy limits me to 10 pictures, but their are 20+ pages total) of Harper’s Weekly : Journal of Civilization, dated August 5, 1871 (Vol. XV, No. 792). This issue is one of the most visually and thematically compelling of 1871, with dramatic engravings of frontier life, Native American culture, and detailed coverage of Salem’s witch trial history—alongside Thomas Nast’s famous political satire.

✨ Key Content & Illustrations:

Western Frontier & Wildlife:

Striking full-page engraving “Buffaloes Attacked by Wolves” (Karl Girardet).


Native American Life:

Payment of Indian Annuities – Coming Up to the Pay Table

Birch-Bark Indian Wigwams

Indians Making Birch-Bark Canoes


Salem Witch Trials Special Feature:

Portrait of Governor John Endicott

Views of Witch Hill and historic Salem landmarks (Rebecca Nurse House, Proctor House, East India Marine Hall, Market House, Salem Village Parsonage, Birthplace of Nathaniel Hawthorne, etc.).

Facsimiles of original 1692 witch trial documents, including the examination of Rebecca Nurse and warrants for Bridget Bishop.


Thomas Nast Political Cartoon: “Now We Go Up, and Now We Go Down” — satire of Governor Hoffman and Tammany Hall corruption.

Serialized Fiction & Poetry:

Lord Kilgobbin (Charles Lever).

A Terrible Temptation (Charles Reade).

Fish in the West Indian Seas by Charles Kingsley.

Essay: The Domestic Life of Thomas Jefferson (by his great-granddaughter, Sarah N. Randolph).


Departments: Scientific Intelligence, Humors of the Day, Domestic and Foreign News, Bird Plumage (essay), Mazzini on the Paris Commune.

Advertising: Rich period ads for Waltham watches, Helmbold’s Buchu & Sarsaparilla, Ward’s Shirts, magic lanterns, printing presses, corsets, and more.


📜 Condition:

Complete issue with supplement.

Good overall; toned paper, light edge wear, and binding holes from prior bound volume.

A few archival tissue repairs.

Sold as is – see photos for details.


📏 Dimensions: approx. 11” x 16”

🎁 Why Collect This Issue?
This single issue brings together frontier Americana, Native American life, Salem Witch Trial facsimiles, and Nast’s Tammany Hall satire. It offers one of the richest mixes of 19th-century themes, making it highly collectible for both historians and Americana enthusiasts.