1859 Winslow Homer Double-Page Centerfold, Lowe's Transatlantic Balloon — Sep 24

🗞️ HARPER'S WEEKLY · September 24, 1859
Complete Issue · New York

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A collector's issue combining a Winslow Homer double-page centerfold — his seventh and most ambitious work in this extraordinary 1859 run — with the first major press coverage of Thaddeus Lowe's mammoth City of New York balloon, the largest balloon ever built, designed to cross the Atlantic Ocean. The Smithsonian Institution holds the Thaddeus Lowe Family Photographs Collection; Lowe would go on to found the Union Army Balloon Corps in the Civil War. Two of the most significant Victorian adventures — in art and in aeronautics — in one complete original issue.

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🎨 WINSLOW HOMER — DOUBLE-PAGE CENTERFOLD
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🎖️ DOUBLE-PAGE CENTERFOLD — "THE GRAND REVIEW AT CAMP MASSACHUSETTS, NEAR CONCORD, SEPTEMBER 9, 1859" — BY WINSLOW HOMER
A double-page centerfold by Winslow Homer — his seventh and largest illustration in Harper's Weekly in 1859, and his most ambitious composition to date, depicting the grand military review at Camp Massachusetts near Concord on September 9, 1859. The Massachusetts militia encampment and review was one of the great public spectacles of the New England military calendar, drawing thousands of spectators to watch the assembled troops on parade. Homer's panoramic double-page composition — capturing the sweep of the review ground, the massed troops, and the crowds of onlookers — represents a significant advance in his compositional ambition from the single-page seasonal illustrations that had marked his earlier 1859 work. This is Homer's most impressive Harper's Weekly composition to date in 1859, published just months before his move to New York City that would transform his career. An original double-page centerfold — not a reproduction — of a work by one of the greatest American painters of the 19th century.

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🎈 THADDEUS LOWE — THE CITY OF NEW YORK BALLOON
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🎈 FULL FRONT PAGE + FULL PAGE — "TRANSATLANTIC BALLOONING" AND "THE NEW AIR SHIP CITY OF NEW YORK" — PROFESSOR C. LOWE AND INTERIOR OF THE BALLOON BASKET
A front-page article and full-page illustration documenting Thaddeus Sobieski Constantine Lowe and his mammoth City of New York balloon — directly cited by aeronautical historians as sourced from "a Harper's Weekly story dated September 24, 1859." Lowe's City of New York was the largest balloon ever built at that date — 725,000 cubic feet in volume, 103 feet in diameter, designed for a transatlantic crossing — a staggering engineering ambition. The 8-man gondola was canvas-covered, and a suspended lifeboat was named for his wife Leontine. This Harper's Weekly coverage — including a portrait of Professor Lowe and an interior view of the balloon basket — is the primary press documentation of the City of New York balloon at the moment of its construction, cited by multiple aeronautical history sources. Lowe would go on to found and command the Union Army Balloon Corps during the Civil War, pioneering aerial reconnaissance and telegraphic communication from the air — making him one of the most important figures in American military and aviation history. The Smithsonian Institution's National Air and Space Museum holds the Thaddeus S. C. Lowe Family Photographs Collection. A significant and rare piece of American aviation history, the Civil War precursor, and Victorian aeronautical ambition at its most spectacular.

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🚢 THE GREAT EASTERN — TWO MORE VIEWS
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🚢 TWO ILLUSTRATIONS — THE GREAT EASTERN — INCLUDING AN INTERIOR SCENE
Two more illustrations of the Great Eastern — continuing Harper's Weekly's comprehensive documentation of the world's largest ship, including an interior scene. A vivid companion to the previous week's centerfold and saloon illustration.

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📚 CHARLES DICKENS — "A TALE OF TWO CITIES" CONTINUES
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✍️ CONTINUING SERIALIZATION — "A TALE OF TWO CITIES" BY CHARLES DICKENS
A continuing installment of A Tale of Two Cities — now in its final weeks of serialization.

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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 ··············· September 24, 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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🔍 SEO TAGS
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