🗞️ HARPERS WEEKLY · November 12, 1859
Complete Issue · New historically exceptional issue at one of the most charged moments of the antebellum era — the full-page trial scene of John Brown with portraits and article, alongside one of the earliest published American illustrations of gorillas based on actual animals brought to the United States by explorer Paul Du Chaillu, whose discovery ignited one of the great Victorian scientific controversies. John Browns trial and Darwins evolution debate — both reaching their climax in November 1859 — appear in the same pages. A primary document of two of the defining intellectual and moral crises of JOHN BROWN — THE TWO FRONT-PAGE PRINTS — "THE PRISONER BROWN AND HIS BOSTON COUNSEL" AND "THE ARRAIGNMENT" — WITH ARTICLE "WILL JOHN BROWN BE HANGED?"
Two front-page illustrations of John Brown — showing him with his Boston legal counsel and at his arraignment — accompanied by the charged article "Will John Brown be Hanged?" Published in the week between his sentencing (November 2) and his execution (December 2), this front page captures the nation at the exact moment of maximum tension over Browns fate. His Boston counsel — prominent abolitionist lawyers including George Sennott — had attempted every legal avenue to save him, while Brown himself refused to plead insanity and used every court appearance as an abolitionist platform. A primary document of the trial that made John Brown a martyr.🏛️ FULL PAGE — "THE TRIAL OF JOHN BROWN FOR TREASON AND MURDER" — WITH LENGTHY ARTICLE
A full-page illustration of John Browns trial scene — the Charles Town, Virginia courtroom where Brown lay on a cot during proceedings, having been wounded during his capture — with a lengthy related article. This comprehensive visual and textual documentation of the trial is one of the most significant pieces of Civil War origins history in the antebellum Harpers Weekly run. Browns composure, his moral arguments, and his refusal to recant made him the most talked-about man in America. Emerson called him "a new saint awaiting his martyrdom." A primary document of one of the most consequential trials in American history.🔫 ILLUSTRATIONS — "SWIVEL GUN AND PIKE USED BY THE HARPERS FERRY OUTLAWS" AND "THE SCHOOL HOUSE IN THE MOUNTAINS USED BY BROWN AS AN ARSENAL"
Two documentary illustrations of Browns weapons and headquarters — the pikes he had manufactured to arm freed slaves and the mountain schoolhouse where he had staged his supplies before the raid. A significant piece of forensic documentation of the Harpers Ferry PAUL DU CHAILLUS GORILLAS — THE EVOLUTION ILLUSTRATION — GORILLAS FROM PAUL DU CHAILLUS DISCOVERY
One of the earliest published American illustrations of gorillas based on actual specimens — brought to the United States by the French-American explorer Paul Belloni Du Chaillu, who is credited as the first Western scientist to document gorillas in the wild, during his expeditions to equatorial Africa in 1856-59. Du Chaillu returned to America in 1859 with gorilla skins and skeletons — the first physical evidence of the great ape ever brought to the United States — and his dramatic accounts of gorillas as ferocious, man-like creatures generated enormous public fascination and scientific controversy. Published in November 1859 — the same month Charles Darwins On the Origin of Species appeared in London — these gorilla illustrations arrived at the most explosive possible moment in the Victorian debate about human evolution and our relationship to the great apes. As the item description notes, illustrations like this were instrumental in creating a firestorm of debate regarding evolution, and were later criticized for exaggerating gorillas human-like features. A significant and rare piece of American natural history, evolutionary science history, and Victorian scientific controversy — a primary visual document of one of the most consequential scientific debates of the 19th CHARLES DICKENS — "A TALE OF TWO CITIES" CONTINUING SERIALIZATION — "A TALE OF TWO CITIES" BY CHARLES DICKENS
A continuing installment of A Tale of Two Cities — the novel about revolutionary violence and redemption, whose themes resonate powerfully alongside both the Brown trial and the evolution debate in this photograph every page of every issue so you can inspect the condition closely before purchasing. Please review all images carefully and dont hesitate to ask any questions — Im happy to provide additional detail or close-up shots of any page, illustration, or area of concern before you ········ Harpers Weekly
Date ··············· November 12, 1859
City ··············· New York
Format ············· Illustrated newspaper, complete in 16 SHIPPING & Stored in an acid-free protective bag and flat-shipped in a padded envelope with heavy cardboard reinforcement
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