1859 Sickles Trial Anonymous Letter, Hawaii Volcano Mauna Loa, Milan — Apr 16

🗞️ HARPER'S WEEKLY · April 16, 1859
Complete Issue · New York

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A historically remarkable issue combining the most intimate document of the Sickles trial — a facsimile of the anonymous letter that informed Sickles of his wife's infidelity and triggered the murder — with four illustrations of the eruption of Mauna Loa in Hawaii, and the funeral of Italian patriot Emilio Dandolo in Milan on the eve of the Risorgimento. One of the most varied and collectible issues of the entire 1859 run.

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⚖️ THE SICKLES TRIAL — THE ANONYMOUS LETTER
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📜 FAC-SIMILE — "THE ANONYMOUS LETTER INFORMING HON. DANIEL E. SICKLES OF THE INFIDELITY OF HIS WIFE"
The most intimate and explosive document of the entire Sickles trial — a facsimile reproduction of the anonymous letter that Sickles received informing him that his wife Teresa was having an affair with Philip Barton Key, the act of reading which triggered the murder that became the most sensational crime of the 19th century. The anonymous letter — believed to have been written by a fellow congressman — was the central exhibit in establishing Sickles's state of mind when he shot Key in Lafayette Square. Its publication in Harper's Weekly as a facsimile gave American readers an unprecedented look at the private correspondence that had set a chain of events in motion ending in murder, a historic trial, and the first successful temporary insanity defense in American history. A primary document of the most sensational legal case of the Antebellum era — and one of the most unusual pieces of primary source journalism in the early Harper's Weekly run.

⚖️ ARTICLE — "THE SICKLES TRIAL" — WITH QUARTER PAGE PORTRAIT OF "JAMES T. BRADY, ESQ."
A detailed trial report under "Domestic Intelligence" plus a separate Sickles Trial article with a portrait of James T. Brady — one of the most celebrated trial lawyers in America, who served alongside Edwin Stanton on the Sickles defense team. Brady's florid oratory and courtroom theatrics were as famous as the case itself. A significant piece of American legal history.

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🌋 HAWAII — MAUNA LOA ERUPTION
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🌋 FOUR ILLUSTRATIONS — "ERUPTION OF THE VOLCANO OF MAUNA LOA, HAWAII" — INCLUDING "VILLAGE OF WAINANALII"
Four illustrations of the eruption of Mauna Loa — the world's largest active volcano, on the Big Island of Hawaii, which was still an independent kingdom in 1859 under King Kamehameha IV. Four illustrations of a single Hawaiian volcanic eruption is an extraordinarily generous visual treatment — capturing the lava flows, the affected villages, and the dramatic landscape in a comprehensive documentary that is among the earliest illustrated coverage of Hawaiian volcanic activity in the American press. The village of Wainanalii, shown in one of the illustrations, was one of the Hawaiian communities threatened by the eruption. A rare and significant piece of Hawaiian natural history and early Hawaiian documentation — published thirty-nine years before Hawaii's annexation by the United States. An unusual and very collectible piece for Hawaii collectors.

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🇮🇹 THE FUNERAL OF EMILIO DANDOLO — MILAN
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🏛️ FULL PAGE — "THE FUNERAL OF EMILIO DANDOLO AT MILAN, ITALY"
A full-page illustration of the funeral of Emilio Dandolo in Milan — the young Italian patriot and author who had fought with Garibaldi in the defense of the Roman Republic in 1849 and whose memoir "Gli ultimi fatti di Venezia e di Roma" had become a celebrated document of the Italian independence movement. Dandolo died of tuberculosis in 1859 at just 28, and his funeral in Milan became a nationalist demonstration — published just weeks before the Second Italian War of Independence began. A significant piece of Italian Risorgimento history.

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🖼️ INSIDE THE ISSUE
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👗 HALF FRONT PAGE — "OPENING OF THE SPRING FASHIONS"
A half front-page illustration of the spring fashion opening — a vivid piece of Antebellum American fashion and social culture.

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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 ··············· April 16, 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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