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Harper's Weekly

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Not to be confused withHarper's Magazine,Harper's Bazaar,orHarpers Wine & Spirit.

Harper's Weekly
The November 10, 1860 cover ofHarper's Weekly,featuring an illustration ofPresident-electAbraham LincolnbyWinslow HomerandMathew Brady
Illustrators
CategoriesNews, politics
FrequencyWeekly
FounderFletcher Harper
Founded1857(1857)
First issueJanuary 3, 1857(1857-January-03)
Final issueMay 13, 1916
CompanyHarper & Brothers
CountryUnited States
Based inNew York City,New York,U.S.
LanguageEnglish

Harper's Weekly, A Journal of Civilizationwas an American political magazine based inNew York City.Published byHarper & Brothersfrom 1857 until 1916, it featured foreign and domestic news, fiction, essays on many subjects, and humor, alongside illustrations. It carried extensive coverage of theAmerican Civil War,including many illustrations of events from the war. During its most influential period, it was the forum of the political cartoonistThomas Nast.

History[edit]

Inception[edit]

The four founders ofHarper & Brothers:Fletcher,James,John, and Joseph Wesley Harper in 1860
Harper's WeeklyartistAlfred Waudsketching theGettysburg battlefield,the bloodiest and most decisive battle of theAmerican Civil War
George Harvey,the magazine's editor from 1901 until 1913

Along with his brothers James, John, and Wesley,Fletcher Harperbegan the publishing companyHarper & Brothersin 1825. Following the successful example ofThe Illustrated London News,Harper started publishingHarper's Magazinein 1850. The monthly publication featured established authors such asCharles DickensandWilliam Makepeace Thackeray,and within several years, demand for the magazine was great enough to sustain a weekly edition.[1]

In 1857, his company began publishingHarper's Weeklyin New York City.[1]By 1860, the circulation of theWeeklyhad reached 200,000. Illustrations were an important part of theWeekly's content, and it developed a reputation for using some of the most renowned illustrators of the time, notablyWinslow Homer,Granville Perkins,Porte Crayon,andLivingston Hopkins.

Among the recurring features were thepolitical cartoonsofThomas Nast,who was recruited in 1862 and worked with theWeeklyfor more than 20 years. Nast was a feared caricaturist, and is often called the father of American political cartooning.[2]He was the first to use an elephant as the symbol of theRepublican Party.[3]He also drew the legendary character ofSanta Claus;his version became strongly associated with the figure, who was popularized as part of Christmas customs in the late nineteenth century.

Civil War coverage[edit]

Harper's Weeklywas the most widely read journal in the United States during theAmerican Civil Warera of the mid-19th century.[4][5]Harper'stook a moderate editorial position on the issue ofslaveryprior to the Civil War's outbreak in 1861, earning it the label "Harper's Weakly" by critics.

19th century[edit]

During the1860 U.S. presidential campaign,the magazine supportedStephen A. Douglasin his campaign againstAbraham Lincoln.But as theAmerican Civil Warbroke out, the magazine fully supported Lincoln and theUnion.A July 1863 article inThe Weeklyon the escaped slaveGordonincluded an illustration taken from a photograph of his back, severely scarred from whippings. The image provided many readers in theNorththeir first visual evidence of slavery's brutality. The image and story inspired many free blacks in the North to enlist in theUnion Army.[6]

Many of the most important articles and illustrations inHarper'swere related to the American Civil War. Besides illustrations by Homer and Nast, the magazine published illustrations byTheodore R. Davis,Henry Mosler,and the brothersAlfredandWilliam Waud.[citation needed]

Beginning in 1863 until his death in 1892,George William Curtis,one of the founders of theRepublican Party,served as the magazine's political editor. His editorials advocatedcivil servicereform, lowtariffs,and adherence to thegold standard.[7]

President maker[edit]

After the end of the Civil War,Harper's Weeklymore openly supported theRepublican Partyin its editorial positions, and supported the presidential candidacy ofUlysses S. Grantin 1868 and again in 1872. It supported theRadical Republicanposition on Reconstruction. In the 1870s, the cartoonist Thomas Nast began an aggressive campaign in the journal against the corrupt New York political leaderWilliam "Boss" Tweed.Nast turned down a $500,000 bribe to end his attack.[8]Tweed was arrested in 1873 and convicted of fraud.

Nast andHarper'salso played an important part in securingRutherford B. Hayes' 1876 presidential election. Later on Hayes remarked that Nast was "the most powerful, single-handed aid [he] had".[9]After the election, Nast's role in the magazine diminished considerably. Since the late 1860s, Nast and George W. Curtis had frequently differed on political matters and particularly on the role of cartoons in political discourse.[10]Curtis believed that mockery by caricature should be reserved for Democrats, and did not approve of Nast's cartoons assailing Republicans such asCarl SchurzandCharles Sumner,who opposed policies of the Grant administration.Harper'spublisher Fletcher Harper strongly supported Nast in his disputes with Curtis. In 1877, Harper died, and his nephews, Joseph W. Harper Jr. and John Henry Harper, assumed control of the magazine. They were more sympathetic to Curtis' arguments for rejecting cartoons that contradicted his editorial positions.[11]

In 1884, however, Curtis and Nast agreed that they could not support the Republican candidateJames G. Blaine,whose association with corruption was anathema to them.[12]Instead they supported the Democratic candidate,Grover Cleveland.Nast's cartoons helped Cleveland become the first Democrat to be elected president since 1856. In the words of the artist's grandson, Thomas Nast St Hill, "it was generally conceded that Nast's support won Cleveland the small margin by which he was elected. In his last national political campaign, Nast had, in fact, 'made a president.'"[13]

Nast's final contribution toHarper's Weeklywas his Christmas illustration in December 1886. JournalistHenry Wattersonsaid that "in quittingHarper's Weekly,Nast lost his forum: in losing him,Harper's Weeklylost its political importance. "[14]Nast's biographer Fiona Deans Halloran says "the former is true to a certain extent, the latter unlikely. Readers may have missed Nast's cartoons, butHarper's Weeklyremained influential. "[15]

On January 14, 1893,Harper's Weeklybecame the first American magazine to publish aSherlock Holmesstory, "The Adventure of the Cardboard Box".[16]

20th century[edit]

After 1900,Harper's Weeklydevoted more print to political and social issues, and featured articles by some of the more prominent political figures of the time, such asTheodore Roosevelt.Harper'seditorGeorge Harveywas an early supporter ofWoodrow Wilson's candidacy, proposing him for the Presidency at aLotos Clubdinner in 1906.[17]After that dinner, Harvey would make sure that he "emblazoned each issue ofHarper's Weeklywith the words 'For President—Woodrow Wilson'".[18]

Roderic C. Penfieldserved as the managing editor ofHarper's Weeklyfrom 1912 to 1914.[19][20]The magazine published its final issue on May 13, 1916.[21]It was absorbed byThe Independent,which in turn merged withThe Outlookin 1928.

In the mid-1970s,Harper's Magazineused theHarper's Weeklytitle for a spinoff publication, which was published biweekly from itsNew York Cityheadquarters and depended on contributions from readers for much of its content.

See also[edit]

Notes[edit]

  1. ^abPalmquist & Kailborn 2002, p. 279.
  2. ^Halloran 2012, p. 289.
  3. ^Halloran 2012, p. 214.
  4. ^"Harper's Weekly archives".onlinebooks.library.upenn.edu.RetrievedMarch 23,2018.
  5. ^Heidler et al 2002, p. 931.
  6. ^Goodyear III, Frank H."Photography changes the way we record and respond to social issues".Click! Photography Changes Everything.Smithsonian Photography Initiative. Archived fromthe originalon May 1, 2013.
  7. ^Halloran 2012, p. 254.
  8. ^Paine 1904,pp. 181–182.
  9. ^Paine 1904,p. 349.
  10. ^Halloran 2012, p. 228.
  11. ^Halloran 2012, p. 230.
  12. ^Halloran 2012, p. 255.
  13. ^Nast & St. Hill 1974, p. 33.
  14. ^Paine 1904,p. 528.
  15. ^Halloran 2012, p. 270.
  16. ^Panek 1990,p. 53.
  17. ^Link 1970, p. 4.
  18. ^Throntveit 2008,p. 30.
  19. ^James Wright Brown, ed. (April 16, 1921)."R. C. Penfield Dies in Japan".Editor & Publisher.53(46): 44.
  20. ^"Roderic C. Penfield Dies in Japan".The Inland Printer.Sigmund Ullman Company: 375. June 1921.
  21. ^Mott 1938,p. 469.

References[edit]

External links[edit]

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