Another "Our" African American Magazine. Our Grapevine

I have written previously if the list of magazines that I have collected with the word "our" in the title that are publications intended for the African American community prior to the mid 1950's

http://magazinehistory.blogspot.com/2010/05/lena-horne-1917-2010-african-american.html

I just obtained another exquisitely rare example on eBay. While undated it is from late 1955 0r early 1956 (referring to Willie Mays as 24 years old) and published by Perrin Publications in New York, being the equivalent of Confidential.

There is only one reference to it on the web and it probably never made it to a second issue. Another exquisitely rare magazine and yet another wonderful reason to collect and appreciate magazines. Enjoy!

Here are some other rare related first issues.

Happy 100th Birthday Boy Scouts. Boy's Life. Norman Rockwell

Sorry for not posting more recently. I've been immersed in a new book on General Albert C. Wedemeyer.

One cannot discuss the history of the Boy Scouts without referencing their magazine Boy's Life, begun in 1911. The Boy Scouts have issued a number of more specialized periodicals, but Boy's Life is their flagship.Early issues are exceedingly rare. Rockwell's first ever magazine appearance (December 1912) and his first magazine cover (unsigned September 1913) are highlights.

I had Rockwell sign a copy of this for me and traded it away.

I still own the first three issues and a volume from 1914 that was art edited by Rockwell (his first job in illustration) that contains dozens of his illustrations. Rockwell did illiustration from the magazine well into the 1970's. I don't believe that there has been a longer association between an illustrator and a magazine in publishing history.

See you again soon.

June 6th

I can"t let this day pass without at least a little magazine tribute to the sacrifice made by our gallant troops sixty four years ago. Nothing here is specifically related to D-Day, but I think you'll get the point.

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow and Paul Revere in Magazines.

I just love how everything seems to fit together at times. The original idea for this post was to start a series of the first appearances of famous American literary figures in magazines; then it took on a life of its own. To wit:

I first wrote of Longfellow's first appearance in 1996 in the first book I self-published (item 174). The image was of low resolution, as megabytes and software were sparse, cumbersome and expensive at the time.

When Longfellow was a student at his beloved Bowdoin College in Maine, his first two published works appeared in the fourth issue, April 1824, of James McHenry's American Monthly Magazine (one of three of the same title that appeared within a decade, distinguished by me by the editor).

The first appearance was anonymous and quite lengthy for the time,the second a mere two stanzas signed H.W.L.

One of America's most revered poets, Longfellow enjoyed great celebrity during his lifetime and his work appeared in over a dozen different magzines during his lifetime. See: Bibiography of American Periodicals by Richard West and yours truly (copies available directly from Periodyssey).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Wadsworth_Longfellow

Perhaps the most famous af all is Paul Revere's Ride that appeared in the venerable Atlantic Monthly in January 1861. This epic essentially rewrote history and still today defines Revere as an American legend. Before the poem he was best remembered as a talented but obscure silversmith and engraver.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Revere%27s_Ride_(poem)

Now listen my readers and you shall hear
of the wonderful engravings of Paul Revere.

The images he made in the magazine Royal

gave patriots cause to be no longer loyal.

While he may be remembered for his famous ride

his artwork did more for the colonist's pride.

The most important contribution Revere actually made to American independence were the graphic images he engraved that incited the anti-British factions in colonial society. Perhaps the most notable is his image of the Boston Massacre.

but the "evil doctor" was, as you can see, was quite inflammatory.

Revere's engravings in magazines are rare and quite valuable ($500 to $20,000 depending on the image) and appear exclusively in the Royal American Magazine, published between January 1774 and March 1775.

The first issue rare wrappers

I have been fortunate to obtain all the issues except the last two and the balance of the Revere engravings, a feat which today would be very difficult to duplicate

Here is the most valuable. It appeared in the first issue. I've never had the opportunity to purchase this one and cringe at how much a nice copy would bring today. Royal American Magazine and Revere's engravings did much to incite the colonial fervor for independence.

When Revere rode to warn Sam Adams and John Hancock in Boston he surely knew what they looked like, having engraved them in 1774!

next: Nathanial Hawthorne

periodically, SL

The Illustrated California News. Illustrated Newspapers

I am often asked what is the most I've ever spent on any individual item. The answer is that in 2007 I purchased a complete run of The Illustrated California News (ICN) for $15,000.

As you can see it is a great rarity, only two holdings are listed in the Union List of Serials.

I owned one issue previously (and still do) , which I bought from Periodyssey but the opportunity to obtain a complete file of six issues was too hard to resist. As the first of its genre it represents a key title to obtain.

It is remarkable that America's first illustrated newspaper (IN) began in the brand new state of California, spurred no doubt, as many other commercial ventures, out of the boom of the gold rush. This magazine then gives me an opportunity to discuss the entire genre and, of course, show off some of the highlights of my collection.

The first publication to use the term "illustrated news" was the British London Illustrated News in 1842.

Here's one of the great illustrations from ICN.

and a nice discussion of illustrated newspapers, and in particular Gleason's and Ballou's, commonly encountered titles from the 1850's.

http://www.baxleystamps.com/litho/gleason_gen.shtmllitho/gleason_gen.shtml

The most commonly encountered IN's are Harper's Weekly and Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper, the latter being somewhat less common and, in some cases, having more graphic images.

Here, for instance, is the issue following the assassination of Abraham Lincoln.

The issues depicting early baseball are particularly valuable. Harper's Weekly's claim to fame are the illustrations of Winslow Homer ("Snap the Whip" the most valuable) and Thomas Nast, the creator of the Republican elephant, Democratic donkey and Tammany tiger, as well as the modern image of Santa Claus.

Successful magazines invariably produce clones. Here is a rare title, Kelley's Weekly, that bears a strong resemblence in format to Harper's Weekly. Interestingly, this issue contains an original contribution by Mark Twain, the earliest of any part, containing unique illustrations, of what became "Innocent's Abroad".

Some early and rare examples of IN's. Illustrated News was published by none other than the irrepressible showman P.T Barnum.

There were even titles published in German.

The format also was used for specialty magazines as well.

and, of course, the Confederates (after all these magazines are American, albeit of the secessionist variety) were soon to publish an IR of their own, having less pages due to a lack of raw materials. These issues are obviously quite rare, the earliest and latest even moreso.

After California, many cities (some relatively small) had their own titles. The Chicago title is quite rare as is, obviously, the one from Sioux Falls. Note the image of the great Walt Whitman, just one of the many benefits of collecting periodicals.

So, you see, there really is a method to my madness!

Periodically yours,

SL