#148-CIVIL WAR SALE: OUTSTANDING ISSUE OF HARPER'S WEEKLY WITH STORY ON THE SANITARY FAIR

We have a large inventory of war dated (and other) newspapers, but not room for everything I would like to include in this sale. This 1864 issue of Harper's caught my researcher's eye...as I have a keen interest in both the Sanitary Commission and the Sanitary fairs.

The reporting on the Sanitary fair occupies a large portion of the paper, with illustrations of different exhibits and sales. The last photo listed here was just a fairly inconspicuous ad in the paper, but it seems to be moving in the direction of "dog tags." Offered in coin silver (quality on a par with what was circulating in the country), the New York company noted it could engrave a soldier's name, company and regiment, with the finished product just $1.50. There were no government "dog tags" at that time, and many soldiers had one privately made for themselves.

Also noted in this small ad are "pins" noting Cavalry, Artillery, Monitor, Engineer and Signal Corps. I don't know just what this would look like. Only a price is noted for the "dog tag" but this seems to indicate that a soldier could also get a pin specifically calling out his service. Or perhaps this could be a MEDAL and a PIN in tandem. Popular at the time were a variety of official and unofficial pins, such as on a header bar, with a medal dangling below.

The number of bodies found on battlefields with no identification was very high or with such severe wounds that they were destined for a grave containing 5, 10 or more "Unknown" soldiers--Union and Confederate.

This is an outstanding newspaper, thick with illustrations that was Harper's hallmark.

If you have interest in war-dated newspapers, including information on troop movements, enemy activity and more, we have an outstanding inventory of such papers, most from New York daily papers. We simply do not have room to include more listings but you may have noted the listing immediately before this one, offering such publications.

AND PLEASE NOTE that shipping can get a bit tricky when someone buys, for example, a medal or token, a newspaper, a medical instrument, and so on, it becomes impractical to send bulky 3D items with flat items such as a document or a newspaper. We try our best to combine shipping whenever possible. It is quite common to have four or five items with just one postal charge. If you order a large flat item such as this Harper's we would likely charge you one amount (combined) for the other items and a separate package and charge for the paper. If we discover during packaging that we can combine several items and the newspaper together we will refund any overcharge for postage/shipping.