1860 Homer: Seceding South Carolina Delegation — Two Days After Secession Dec 22

🗞️ HARPER'S WEEKLY · December 22, 1860
Complete Issue · New York

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A historically exceptional issue — a Winslow Homer full front-page illustration of the seceding South Carolina congressional delegation, published just two days after South Carolina became the first state to secede from the Union on December 20, 1860. Homer depicting the men who had just triggered the Civil War — in the same issue as Santa Claus and Christmas shopping — is one of the most striking juxtapositions in the entire Harper's Weekly run. A primary document of the first act of the Civil War, illustrated by one of the greatest American painters.

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🎨 WINSLOW HOMER — THE SECEDING SOUTH CAROLINA DELEGATION
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🏛️ FULL FRONT PAGE — "THE SECEDING SOUTH CAROLINA DELEGATION" — BY WINSLOW HOMER
A full front-page illustration by Winslow Homer of the South Carolina congressional delegation that had resigned from the United States Congress following South Carolina's secession on December 20, 1860 — just two days before this issue. These are the men who walked out of Congress — senators and representatives who had represented South Carolina in the federal government and now renounced their allegiance to the United States, the first formal act of Confederate state-building. South Carolina's secession — the first state to leave the Union — was the direct trigger of the Civil War; without it, the Confederacy could not have formed and Lincoln's authority would not have been challenged. Homer's front-page group portrait of the seceding delegation — published within forty-eight hours of the event — is a primary document of the opening act of the Civil War, illustrated by the artist who would go on to document the conflict for Harper's Weekly throughout the war years. A significant, historically charged, and highly collectible piece of Civil War history, Black American history, and Winslow Homer art history. Price this as a premium issue.

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🎄 CHRISTMAS 1860 — THEN AND NOW
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🎄 FULL PAGE — "CHRISTMAS-DAY — THEN AND NOW"
A full-page paired illustration of Christmas Day then and now — the last Christmas before the Civil War, published in the same issue as the secession that would make the next four Christmases wartime holidays. A warm and poignant piece of Victorian American Christmas culture at its most historically charged moment.

🎅 FULL PAGE — "SANTA CLAUS" — SMALL PRINT OF SANTA AND LARGER SCENE OF CHRISTMAS SHOPPING
A full-page illustration of Santa Claus and Christmas shoppers — a vivid and charming piece of Victorian American Christmas culture, capturing the holiday shopping and gift-giving traditions of the Gilded Age in their most festive form. Published in the same issue as the South Carolina secession portrait, this Christmas shopping scene captures America in the last days of its antebellum innocence. A warm, festive, and very frameable piece of Victorian Christmas 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 of identity and transformation continuing as America's own identity is being transformed by the secession crisis unfolding in the same pages.

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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 22, 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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