1860 Winslow Homer Prince of Wales Front Page, Grand Ball Centerfold — Oct 20

🗞️ HARPER'S WEEKLY · October 20, 1860
Complete Issue · New York

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A collector's issue combining a Winslow Homer front-page illustration with a magnificent double-page centerfold of the Grand Ball given by the citizens of New York for the Prince of Wales — the most celebrated social event in New York City in a generation. Homer's cartoonish "Welcome to the Prince of Wales" is one of his most topical and politically engaged early works, and the Grand Ball centerfold is one of the finest social illustrations in the 1860 Harper's Weekly run.

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🎨 WINSLOW HOMER — "WELCOME TO THE PRINCE OF WALES"
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🎭 FULL FRONT PAGE — "WELCOME TO THE PRINCE OF WALES" — BY WINSLOW HOMER — CARTOONISH ILLUSTRATION
A full front-page cartoonish illustration by Winslow Homer — one of his most topical and socially engaged early works, depicting the American welcome to Prince Albert Edward in the warm, humorous style that Homer was developing alongside his more formal genre scenes. This Homer front page is part of the extraordinary 1859-1860 run of Homer illustrations in Harper's Weekly that began with "Skating at Boston" (March 1859, Metropolitan Museum of Art and Smithsonian) and had included the celebrated "Skating on the Ladies' Skating Pond in Central Park" centerfold (January 28, 1860, held in five major museum collections). Homer's ability to turn from the quiet observation of "The Drive in Central Park" to the broad social comedy of "Welcome to the Prince of Wales" in the same year demonstrates the remarkable range of his early Harper's Weekly work. An original early Homer illustration in a complete original issue — not a reproduction.

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🎊 THE GRAND BALL FOR THE PRINCE OF WALES
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💃 DOUBLE-PAGE CENTERFOLD — "GRAND BALL GIVEN BY THE CITIZENS OF NEW YORK TO THE PRINCE OF WALES"
A magnificent double-page centerfold of the Grand Ball given by New York's citizens for the Prince of Wales — the most celebrated social event in New York City in a generation, held at the Academy of Music on October 12, 1860. The ball drew 3,000 invited guests — the cream of New York society — plus the Prince and his suite, in an evening of dancing, supper, and spectacle that was the climax of the royal visit to New York. The Prince himself danced until nearly 4 a.m. This centerfold — showing the magnificent Academy of Music ballroom in full dress, the dancers sweeping across the floor, the galleries packed with spectators — is one of the most beautiful and vivid social illustrations in the entire 1860 Harper's Weekly run. A beautiful, warm, and very frameable piece of New York City social history and Anglo-American royal history.

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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 ··············· October 20, 1860
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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