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At the Institute’s core is the Gilder Lehrman Collection, one of the great archives in American history. More than 85,000 items cover five hundred years of American history, from Columbus’s 1493 letter describing the New World through the end of the twentieth century.

Harper, James (1795-1869) Harper's weekly. [Vol. 9, no. 447 (July 22, 1865)]

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Gilder Lehrman Collection #: GLC08748.04 Author/Creator: Harper, James (1795-1869) Place Written: New York, New York Type: Newspaper Date: 22 July 1865 Pagination: 16 p. ; 40 x 28 cm. Order a Copy

Includes engravings of the execution of Lincoln conspirators, portraits of Lewis Payne, David Harold, J.W. Atzerodt, and Mary Surratt, and image of Surratt's home in Washington, D.C.
Highlights the consecration of the Gettysburg monument of July 4, 1865. Inlcudes engravings of Major-General Howard, the Gettysburg battlefield, and laying of the cornerstone. All the Gettysburg monument and execution engravings are based on Alexander Gardner's photographs.

In 1817, 22-year old James Harper and his 20-year old brother, John, set up a small printing firm in New York City called J. & J. Harper. Joined later by their younger brothers, Joseph Wesley and Fletcher, the firm became the largest book publisher in the United States by 1825. The name was changed to Harper & Brothers in 1833, and survives today as Harper-Collins.
Under Fletcher’s guidance, the firm started Harper’s Monthly in June 1850. The first managing editor was Henry Raymond, who soon went on to help found and then publish the New York Times. Fletcher Harper published the first issue of Harper’s Weekly on January 3, 1857. Harper’s was aimed at the middle and upper socio-economic classes, and tried not to print anything that it considered unfit for the entire family to read. In addition to the importance of illustrations and cartoons by artists like Winslow Homer and Thomas Nast, the paper’s editorials played a significant role in shaping and reflecting public opinion from the start of the Civil War to the end of the century. George William Curtis, who was editor from 1863 until his death in 1892, was its most important editorial writer.

Harper, James, 1795-1869
Harper & Brothers, 1833-1962
Atzerodt, George A., 1835-1865
Herold, David E., 1844-1865
Payne, Lewis, 1845-1865
Surratt, Mary E. (Mary Eugenia), 1820-1865

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