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🗞️ HARPERS WEEKLY · May 5, 1860
Complete Issue · New collectors issue of exceptional sporting significance — a double-page centerfold and half-page article on the Heenan vs. Sayers prizefight of April 17, 1860, considered the first world boxing championship in history, combined with scenes from the continuing Charleston Democratic Convention and Bellevue Hospital overrun by rats. The Heenan-Sayers centerfold is one of the most historically significant sporting illustrations in the antebellum Harpers Weekly HEENAN VS. SAYERS — THE FIRST WORLD BOXING DOUBLE-PAGE CENTERFOLD — "BLOODY, BRUTAL, AND BLACKGUARD PRIZE-FIGHT IN ENGLAND, BETWEEN HEENAN AND SAYERS, ON APRIL 17, 1860" — SHOWING HUNDREDS OF SPECTATORS
A magnificent double-page centerfold of the Heenan-Sayers prizefight — considered the first world boxing championship in history. John Carmel Heenan — "The Benicia Boy" of California, the American champion — crossed the Atlantic to challenge Tom Sayers — "The Brighton Teetotaler," the British champion — in a bare-knuckle bout fought on April 17, 1860, at Farnborough in Hampshire before a crowd of thousands who had arrived by special train from London. The fight lasted 37 brutal rounds over two hours and twenty minutes before the crowd broke into the ring to prevent what appeared to be Heenans imminent victory by strangulation — the referee declared a draw. The bout was the sporting sensation of the year on both sides of the Atlantic — covered by every major newspaper and illustrated press — and is universally recognized as the first contest for a world boxing championship. Harpers Weeklys own headline — "Bloody, Brutal, and Blackguard Prize-Fight" — reflects the eras ambivalence about prize-fighting, which was technically illegal but enormously popular. The double-page centerfold showing hundreds of spectators ringside is one of the finest and most historically significant sporting illustrations in the antebellum Harpers Weekly run. A primary document of the birth of the world boxing championship. Price this as a premium sporting issue.📰 NEARLY HALF PAGE — ARTICLE: "THE BRUTAL PRIZE-FIGHT"
A nearly half-page article on page 2 reporting the details of the Heenan-Sayers fight — round by round coverage of one of the most celebrated sporting events of the Victorian era. Combined with the double-page centerfold, this comprehensive text and image coverage makes this issue the primary American press document of the first world boxing THE CHARLESTON DEMOCRATIC CONVENTION — FULL PAGE — CHARLESTON CONVENTION SCENES — ST. ANDREWS HALL, HIBERNIAN HALL, YATES HALL — PORTRAITS OF JOHN MINOR BOTTS AND ERASTUS BROOKS
A full page of portraits and scenes from the continuing Charleston Democratic Convention — including views of St. Andrews Hall, Hibernian Hall, and Yates Hall (the three venues used by the fractured convention) and portraits of John Minor Botts of Virginia and Erastus Brooks of New York. A significant continuing primary document of the convention that split the Democratic Party.🛏️ ILLUSTRATION — "SLEEPING ROOM OF THE NORTH WESTERN DELEGATION, HIBERNIAN HALL, CHARLESTON"
An illustration of the delegates sleeping arrangements at Hibernian Hall — a vivid and humanizing piece of convention history, capturing the cramped and uncomfortable conditions of the delegates at the most consequential convention of the Antebellum era.🏛️ ILLUSTRATION — "MEETING OF THE REJECTED WOOD DELEGATION"
An illustration of the meeting of the rejected Wood delegation — Fernando Woods New York delegation, which had been refused seating at the convention in a dispute over delegate credentials, adding another layer of chaos to an already fractured BELLEVUE HOSPITAL — OVERRUN BY FRONT PAGE — "THE SICK WOMEN IN BELLEVUE HOSPITAL, NEW YORK, OVERRUN BY RATS" — WITH ARTICLE
A front-page illustration of the sick womens ward at Bellevue Hospital in New York overrun by rats — one of the most shocking public health exposés in antebellum American journalism. Bellevue Hospital — the oldest public hospital in America, founded in 1736 — was by 1860 severely overcrowded and underfunded, its wards plagued by vermin and its patients subjected to conditions that outraged reformers. This Harpers Weekly front-page exposure is a primary document of Victorian hospital conditions and urban public health reform. A significant piece of New York City public health and hospital 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 ··············· May 5, 1860
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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