1859 Cuba Purchase Satirized, Sickles Case, Vera Cruz Foreign Fleets — Mar 26

🗞️ HARPER'S WEEKLY · March 26, 1859
Complete Issue · New York

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A richly varied Antebellum issue — nine satirical scenes on America's desire to purchase Cuba, foreign fleets at Vera Cruz, the Sickles case continuing, a Kentucky prison murder and mob chase, Boston fencers, flying foxes, and the execution of murderers at Jeddah. Strong content for Cuba history collectors, political satire enthusiasts, and Victorian crime history buffs.

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🇨🇺 CUBA PURCHASE — SATIRIZED IN NINE SCENES
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😂 FULL PAGE — "PURCHASE OF CUBA PICTORIALLY CONSIDERED" — NINE CARTOONISH SCENES
A full-page satirical treatment of America's obsession with purchasing Cuba from Spain — nine cartoonish scenes mocking the various arguments, schemes, and fantasies surrounding the Cuban annexation question that had dominated American foreign policy debates since the Ostend Manifesto of 1854. President Buchanan's administration was actively trying to purchase Cuba for $30 million, and Southern politicians were eager to add another slave state to the Union. The proposal was bitterly opposed by Northerners who saw it as a naked expansion of slavery. This nine-scene satirical cartoon is a primary document of that debate at its most heated — published just three years before the Civil War resolved the underlying question. A vivid, humorous, and significant piece of Antebellum American political satire and Cuban history.

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⚖️ THE SICKLES CASE CONTINUES
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📰 TEXT ARTICLE — "THE SICKLES CASE"
A text article updating readers on the Sickles murder trial — continuing from the two previous issues' front-page coverage, as the trial of the century proceeded toward Sickles's landmark acquittal on temporary insanity grounds. The ongoing coverage across three consecutive Harper's Weekly issues makes this run a comprehensive primary document of the first insanity plea in American legal history.

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🌊 FOREIGN FLEETS AT VERA CRUZ
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⚓ HALF PAGE — "FOREIGN FLEETS BEFORE VERA CRUZ"
A half-page illustration of foreign naval vessels assembled before Vera Cruz, Mexico — a significant piece of Mexican and international diplomatic history at a moment of intense foreign pressure on Mexico, just two years before the French intervention that would install Maximilian as Emperor.

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🖼️ INSIDE THE ISSUE
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🚢 FRONT PAGE — "THE WRECK OF THE ADONIS"
A front-page illustration of the wrecked ship Adonis — a vivid piece of Victorian maritime disaster history.

💀 TWO ILLUSTRATIONS — "THE TERRIBLE HOMICIDE AT HAWESVILLE, KENTUCKY" — "MURDER OF LOWE IN HIS CELL IN PRISON" AND "THE CHASE OF LOWE BY THE MOB AT HAWESVILLE"
Two dramatic illustrations of mob violence in Hawesville, Kentucky — a prisoner murdered in his cell and the subsequent mob chase, a vivid piece of Antebellum frontier crime and vigilante justice in the Ohio River border region.

⚔️ HALF PAGE — "THE EXECUTION OF THE MURDERERS AT DJEDDAH"
A half-page illustration of a public execution at Jeddah — a significant and rare piece of Victorian coverage of Arabian Peninsula justice, capturing a public beheading in the holy city's market square. A significant piece of Victorian Middle Eastern history.

🦇 ILLUSTRATION — "FLYING FOXES ASLEEP — THE COMMON BAT"
An illustration of flying foxes and bats — a vivid piece of Victorian natural history illustration capturing two of the era's most fascinating nocturnal creatures.

🤺 NEARLY HALF PAGE — "EXHIBITION OF THE BOSTON FENCING CLUB"
A nearly half-page illustration of the Boston Fencing Club's exhibition — a vivid piece of Antebellum American sporting and martial culture, capturing the gentlemanly art of fencing at its American peak.

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📋 CONDITION
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I photograph every page of every issue so you can inspect the condition closely before purchasing. Please review all images carefully and don't hesitate to ask any questions — I'm happy to provide additional detail or close-up shots of any page, illustration, or area of concern before you buy.

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📌 DETAILS
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Publication ········ Harper's Weekly
Date ··············· March 26, 1859
City ··············· New York
Format ············· Illustrated newspaper, complete in 16 pages

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📦 SHIPPING & PRESERVATION
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• Stored in an acid-free protective bag and flat-shipped in a padded envelope with heavy cardboard reinforcement
• Fully tracked for your peace of mind

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