Harper, James (1795-1869) Harper's weekly. [Vol. 9, no. 436 (May 6, 1865)]
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Gilder Lehrman Collection #: GLC08426 Author/Creator: Harper, James (1795-1869) Place Written: New York, New York Type: Newspaper Date: 6 May 1865 Pagination: 16 p. ; 40 x 29 cm. Order a Copy
Includes articles on the late President Lincoln's funeral and various engravings of scenes of the funeral in New York. ALso includes scenes from the funeral procession in Washington D.C., Lincoln in his deathbed, and other assassination related images.
In 1817, 22-year old James Harper and his 20-year old brother, John, set up a small printing firm in New York City called J. & J. Harper. Joined later by their younger brothers, Joseph Wesley and Fletcher, the firm became the largest book publisher in the United States by 1825. The name was changed to Harper & Brothers in 1833, and survives today as Harper-Collins.
Under Fletcher’s guidance, the firm started Harper’s Monthly in June 1850. The first managing editor was Henry Raymond, who soon went on to help found and then publish the New York Times. Fletcher Harper published the first issue of Harper’s Weekly on January 3, 1857. Harper’s was aimed at the middle and upper socio-economic classes, and tried not to print anything that it considered unfit for the entire family to read. In addition to the importance of illustrations and cartoons by artists like Winslow Homer and Thomas Nast, the paper’s editorials played a significant role in shaping and reflecting public opinion from the start of the Civil War to the end of the century. George William Curtis, who was editor from 1863 until his death in 1892, was its most important editorial writer.
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