1896 Library of Congress Centerfold, McKinley Civil War Regiment, Newport — Aug 29

🗞️ HARPER'S WEEKLY · August 29, 1896
Complete Issue · New York

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A historically rich and varied issue — a double-page centerfold of George Maynard's celebrated decorations in the newly completed Library of Congress, McKinley addressing his Civil War regiment at Canton, the annual Newport coaching parade, Yaqui Indian warriors in retreat, Li Hung-Chang, a Hebrew Institute roof garden, and the presidential campaign's political machinery. Strong content for American art history collectors, Civil War history enthusiasts, and Newport social history lovers.

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🏛️ THE LIBRARY OF CONGRESS — MAYNARD'S DECORATIONS
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🎨 DOUBLE-PAGE CENTERFOLD — "GEORGE W. MAYNARD'S DECORATIONS IN THE CONGRESSIONAL LIBRARY, WASHINGTON, D.C."
A magnificent double-page centerfold of George Willoughby Maynard's celebrated decorations in the Library of Congress — published just months before the building's official opening in November 1897. The Library of Congress building (now the Thomas Jefferson Building) was one of the most ambitious American architectural and decorative projects of the Gilded Age, its interior decorated by the finest American painters and sculptors of the era in an explosion of allegorical murals, mosaics, and sculptures that made it the most ornate public building in America. Maynard's contributions — including his celebrated series of allegorical figures representing Civilization, and his paintings for the Rotunda — were among the most admired of the building's many decorative programs. This centerfold is a primary document of one of the great American decorative art projects of the 19th century at the moment just before its public unveiling. A beautiful, significant, and very frameable piece of American art history and Washington, D.C. architectural history.

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🎖️ McKINLEY ADDRESSES HIS CIVIL WAR REGIMENT
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🪖 FULL PAGE — "MR. McKINLEY ADDRESSING THE SURVIVORS OF HIS OLD REGIMENT (TWENTY-THIRD OHIO VOLUNTEERS) AT CANTON, OHIO, AUGUST 13"
A full-page illustration of William McKinley addressing the veterans of the 23rd Ohio Volunteer Infantry — his Civil War regiment, in which he had served from 1861 to 1865, rising from private to brevet major, and in whose ranks Rutherford B. Hayes had served as his commanding officer. McKinley's Civil War service was a cornerstone of his political identity, and this reunion at Canton — his hometown and the base of his famous front porch campaign — is a vivid piece of presidential campaign history, Civil War veterans' culture, and Ohio political history.

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🐎 THE NEWPORT COACHING PARADE
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🐎 FULL PAGE — "THE ANNUAL COACHING PARADE AT NEWPORT, RHODE ISLAND — THE START FROM NARRAGANSETT AVENUE"
A full-page illustration of the annual coaching parade at Newport — the great summer resort of America's wealthiest families, where the coaching parade along Narragansett Avenue was one of the most fashionable events of the Gilded Age social season. Newport in 1896 was at the absolute pinnacle of its Gilded Age glory — the Breakers had just been completed the previous year, Marble House was open, and the social set that Edith Wharton would later immortalize in The Age of Innocence was parading its coaches, horses, and fashions along the avenues of America's most exclusive summer resort. A beautiful and very frameable piece of Gilded Age social history and Newport history.

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🖼️ INSIDE THE ISSUE
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🏹 TWO-THIRDS PAGE — "UPRISING OF THE YAQUI INDIANS — YAQUI WARRIORS IN RETREAT"
A two-thirds page illustration of Yaqui warriors retreating after an uprising — a significant piece of Mexican and Southwestern Native American history. The Yaqui people of Sonora, Mexico had been fighting Mexican federal forces for decades in defense of their lands and autonomy, and the Yaqui Wars were one of the most sustained indigenous resistance movements in North American history. A significant piece of Native American and Mexican frontier history.

🗳️ FULL FRONT PAGE — "THE DEADLY PARALLEL"
A full front-page political illustration titled "The Deadly Parallel" — a Harper's Weekly political commentary on the 1896 presidential campaign, drawing a damaging comparison between two positions or figures. A vivid piece of Gilded Age political satire.

🏛️ FULL PAGE — "HANGERS-ON AT THE HEADQUARTERS OF A NATIONAL COMMITTEE DURING A PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGN"
A satirical full-page illustration of the political hangers-on who congregated at campaign headquarters during a presidential election — a vivid and humorous piece of Gilded Age political culture and the machinery of American democracy.

🎵 FULL PAGE — "THE SECOND ANNUAL MUSICAL FESTIVAL AT OCEAN GROVE, NEW JERSEY"
A full-page illustration of the Musical Festival at Ocean Grove — the Methodist camp meeting community on the New Jersey shore that had become one of the great centers of American religious music. A significant piece of Victorian American religious and musical history.

🏘️ HALF PAGE — "EAST SIDE ROOF GARDEN FOR THE POOR AT THE HEBREW INSTITUTE, RUTGER'S SQUARE, NEW YORK CITY"
A half-page illustration of the Hebrew Institute's roof garden for the poor on the Lower East Side — a vivid and moving piece of Jewish immigrant social welfare history, capturing the charitable institutions that served the teeming immigrant communities of New York's Lower East Side.

👤 QUARTER PAGE — "LI HUNG-CHANG"
A portrait of Li Hongzhang — the most powerful Chinese statesman of the late Qing dynasty, who was visiting the United States in the summer of 1896 on his famous world tour. A significant piece of Chinese-American diplomatic history.

👤 QUARTER PAGE — "LORD RUSSELL"
A portrait of Lord Russell — likely Lord Russell of Killowen, the Lord Chief Justice of England, one of the most distinguished jurists of the Victorian era.

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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 ··············· August 29, 1896
City ··············· New York
Format ············· Complete issue

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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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