1850s

Title

1850s

Subject

Sources and resources pertaining to the 1850s and literary works concerning this period.

Collection Items

Ad for the New York Ledger, Harper's Weekly, 1858
Robert Bonner was the publisher of the New York Ledger, a story-paper that published poetry, fiction, and other miscellaneous content for the entire family. This advertisement, which appeared in the more news-oriented Harper's Weekly, uses blocks of…

The Fire Of July 19, 1845 -- The View At Bowling Green
Nathaniel Currier's lithograph titled "The Fire of July 19, 1845 -- The View At Bowling Green" depicts the spread of a massive fire in downtown New York City. The blazing fire, beginning just at dawn on Saturday, July 19, 1845, erupted into a…

University of the City of New York, Washington Square.
This "University of the City of New York, Washington Square" water color print illustrates the landscape of Washington Square in 1850. According to websites of New York University and the Washington Square Park Conservancy, the Gothic Revival…

The Burning of the City Hall, New York, August 18, 1858.
The image on the cover of the August 28th, 1858 issue of Harper’s Weekly depicts a fire at City Hall in New York City caused by fireworks honoring the success of the laying of the transatlantic telegraph cable. According to PBS, this cable ran from…

The Burning of the City Hall, New York, August 18, 1858
This illustration was dated August 18, 1858 from New York. The image depicts a large crowd gathered around the City Hall and watching firefighters put out a fire that has already semi-destroyed the building. The audience for this specific item is…

Husband-Hunting
“Husband Hunting” from the Miscellany section of “Harper’s Weekly” is an excerpt from Jane Eyre a novel written by Charlotte Bronte in 1847. This excerpt refutes that women should live their lives for men. The author shows that women should show…

"Atlantic Cable Celebration-Presentation to Cyrus W. Field in the Crystal Palace," Harper's Weekly, 1858
This illustration, featured in the September 11, 1858 issue of Harper's Weekly, depicts a large gathering of people celebrating the establishment of the Atlantic Cable. Cyrus W. Field, creator of the Atlantic Telegraph Company, successfully laid down…

“Marriage.” Harper’s Weekly, 1858
This item is an article on marriage. The article is clearly directed at men, and does not discriminate by age, race, or economical background. It encourages a man to get married because it will make his life better. The item, although there is no…

The Burning of The City Hall, New York, August 18, 1858
The illustration of the burning of New York’s City Hall was featured on the cover of the Harper’s Weekly Magazine published on August 28, 1858. The fire took place on the night of Tuesday, August 17, 1858 and lasted until three, the morning of the…

A Section of Harper's New Monthly Magazine Monthly Record of Current Events
This item is a section of some of the small short blurbs featured in the Harper’s New Monthly Magazine “Monthly Record of Current Events”. This stories highlighted in this section is the torrential weather in Belgium, the political on goings in…

"Weekly Market Summary," Harper's Weekly, 1858
The Weekly Market Summary offers an insight of what life was like in the 1850’s. A weekly market summary outlines the important points on a marketing report so someone does not have to read through the whole plan to learn significant information.…

"Weekly Market Summary"
The article I chose depicts the “Weekly Market Summery” in New York. It describes the prices of many different types of commodities back in the 1850’s. It provides national and local trends of goods that many people bought each week. The audience of…

How Destruction of Trees Affects the Rain, Harpers Weekly, 1856
How the Destruction of Trees Affects the Rain is an article that talks about the long run impacts of the unchecked destruction of trees and forests. The readers of the article could be people who have probably seen the impact of brutality to the…

Coming Out Of A Fashionable Church
The Item chosen for this section is the front-page illustration titled, Coming Out Of A Fashionable Church. The Audience of this item is presumably New Yorkers who attend church and want to see how their regalia compares to their peers. The audience…

The Delights of Spending the Summer in the Country
The illustration is a satire of country life from the perspective of a New York City Resident. In the 1850’s, New York City was growing rapidly. Manhattan was becoming more urban in a northward direction. Some chose to move away from the metropolitan…

The Red Petticoat and Its Pedigree
The article, “The Red Petticoat and its Pedigree,” is a timeline of sorts for the hoop skirt for women. The article seems to be dedicated to “...Mrs. Selby, the inventor of the hooped petticoat.” who apparently died from a fever caused by an…

One piece of the weekly that stood out to me as I read along, was the ad addressed to the companies and business owners in other words aristocracy. To me it was strange to see space taken up to advertise the weekly’s offerings because in today’s…

The Recipient of a Comic Valentine
This illustration accompanies an article describing St. Valentine’s day. The image is of an upset man, looking as if he has been the victim of a cheap trick. The caption of the image is “The recipient of the comic valentine”. The article describes…

"Brooke's Deep Sea Sounding Instrument & Core-Sampling Device"
The item I chose to be further analyzed in this issue was the illustration provided of “Brooke’s Deep Sea Sounding Instrument,” which was the device used on the cable of the Transatlantic Telegraph Cable in order to trade communication. This was…

Brandreth’s Pill's Ad, Harper's Weekly, 1858
The item chosen is an advertisement from Harpery’s Weekly that presents a new medication called “Brandreth’s Pill”. The advertisement claims that the pill prevents and protects an individual from getting Yellow Fever. It includes the specific…
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