1860 Winslow Homer Thanksgiving Centerfold, Fort Sumter Pre-Civil War — Dec 1

🗞️ HARPER'S WEEKLY · December 1, 1860
Complete Issue · New York

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A historically exceptional issue combining a Winslow Homer double-page Thanksgiving centerfold with front-page illustrations of Fort Sumter and Charleston just nineteen days before South Carolina's secession — making this simultaneously one of the finest Homer seasonal works and one of the most historically charged pre-Civil War issues in the entire run. The Homer Thanksgiving centerfold and the Fort Sumter front page together make this a premium collecting issue.

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🎨 WINSLOW HOMER — THANKSGIVING CENTERFOLD
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🦃 DOUBLE-PAGE CENTERFOLD — "THANKSGIVING DAY, 1860 — THE TWO GREAT CLASSES OF SOCIETY" — BY WINSLOW HOMER
A magnificent double-page Thanksgiving centerfold by Winslow Homer — one of his most ambitious and socially pointed early compositions, contrasting "the two great classes of society" in their very different Thanksgiving Day experiences. The composition — likely showing the wealthy at their abundant Thanksgiving table alongside the poor in their meager circumstances — reflects Homer's emerging interest in social observation and class contrast that would define his mature work. This is Homer's most ambitious Thanksgiving subject and one of his most socially engaged early compositions — a vivid piece of American social history published at the most charged Thanksgiving in the nation's history, just nineteen days before South Carolina's secession. An original double-page Homer centerfold in a complete original issue — not a reproduction — of an early work by one of the greatest American painters of the 19th century.

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🏰 FORT SUMTER AND CHARLESTON — PRE-CIVIL WAR
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💥 FRONT PAGE — "CHARLESTON SCENES" — INCLUDING "PALMETTO TREE AND OLD CUSTOM HOUSE AT CHARLESTON" AND "FORT SUMTER FROM SULLIVAN'S ISLAND"
A front-page documentary of Charleston — including a view of Fort Sumter from Sullivan's Island — published just nineteen days before South Carolina's secession on December 20, 1860, and just five months before Confederate artillery would open fire on the fort on April 12, 1861, beginning the Civil War. Fort Sumter — the unfinished federal fortress in Charleston Harbor — was already at the center of the gathering crisis; its garrison under Major Robert Anderson would make their fateful move from Fort Moultrie to Fort Sumter on December 26, 1860. This front-page view of Fort Sumter from Sullivan's Island — published while the fort was still at peace — is a primary document of the Civil War's flashpoint at its most charged pre-war moment. A significant and historically extraordinary piece of Civil War origins history. Combined with Homer's Thanksgiving centerfold in the same issue, this is one of the most historically resonant issues in the entire antebellum Harper's Weekly run.

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🌳 SAVANNAH AND COLUMBIA — SOUTHERN SCENES
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🌿 ILLUSTRATIONS — "ENTRANCE TO BONAVENTURE CEMETERY, SAVANNAH, GEORGIA" AND "BONAVENTURE CEMETERY, SAVANNAH"
Two illustrations of Bonaventure Cemetery in Savannah — the magnificent live oak and Spanish moss-draped burial ground that is one of the most beautiful cemeteries in America, made famous in the 20th century by John Berendt's Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil. A vivid piece of Georgia and Southern funerary and landscape history.

🏛️ ILLUSTRATION — "THE NEW STATE HOUSE AT COLUMBIA, SOUTH CAROLINA"
An illustration of the new South Carolina State House in Columbia — the building from which South Carolina would declare its secession from the United States just nineteen days after this issue. This illustration of the State House captures it at the last moment before it became the seat of Confederate South Carolina. A significant and poignant piece of Civil War origins history.

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📚 GREAT EXPECTATIONS — DICKENS CONTINUES
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✍️ CONTINUING SERIALIZATION — "GREAT EXPECTATIONS" BY CHARLES DICKENS
A continuing installment of Great Expectations — Pip's story unfolding in the same pages as Fort Sumter and a Homer Thanksgiving in one of the most historically charged issues of the entire 1860 run.

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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 ··············· December 1, 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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