Harper's New Monthly Magazine (4) Bound Volumes, 1853 - 1854, 1859 - 1860

Publication: Harper's New Monthly Magazine

Publisher:  Harper & Brothers, New York, NY

Publication Dates:  1853-1860

Construction:  Paper, board, leather

Dimensions (Each):  9 3/4" Tall x 6 3/4" Wide x 2 1/8" Thick (approx, varies)

Condition:  Fair to good.  Volumes VIII and IX are in good condition for the age, with minor shelf wear, foxing and toning throughout, sound binding, but degrading leather.  Volume XIX is in fair condition with sound inner binding, the spine is very worn with a couple of corners missing.  Volume XX is narrower, binding is sound, but leather is very worn.  In all cases the spine is legible, although the leather is very dry.

Details: Monthly literary and political magazine bound in six-month lots.  Half-bound with light brown leather spines and corners.  Volume VIII has red marbled paper cover boards, the rest have blue marbled coverboards  Lightly tooled with gilt titles and minimal decoration.  Plain endpapers, some dog ears.  Foxing and toning of paper throughout.  Bindings are sound.  There are very few scattered notes by previous owners, 

The oldest general-interest monthly magazine in America and first published in 1850, Harper's New Monthly Magazine was initially meant to introduce European Literature to the American audience.  Soon American authors and artists' works began to take their places among the pages.  Herman Melville, William Makepeace Thackeray and Charles Dickens were joined by Horatio Alger, Horace Greeley and Mark Twain.  Frederic Remington and Winslow Homer were among the illustrators featured.  Travelogues and ladies' fashions were also included.  In the early 20th century politics and social reform began to make their way among the pages with writers such as Winston Churchill, Woodrow Wilson and Theodore Roosevelt.  Through format changes and ownership turnover, Harper's Magazine remains to this day an exemplar of fine writing and original thought.