Question on 1859 Harper's Weekly

[smotan_02]

Hi all,
I was curious if you could help me with this 1859 Harper's Weekly featuring the cricket match and baseball match at Elysian Fields. I searched the archives here on the forum and all I found was black and white versions. This version woodcut has some beautiful color to it.

Any idea to value?

http://i1103.photobucket.com/albums/g473/smotan_02/HarpersBaseball.jpg

http://i1103.photobucket.com/albums/g473/smotan_02/baseballathoboken.jpg

[barrysloate]

It's not unusual to find these hand colored. Color was added to them after they were issued. They are worth roughly the same as the black and white ones; some collectors actually preferred them colored, others want them in their original state. I'll let someone else chime in about their value.

[Old Hoss]

The thing about the added color is that it is very difficult to know when it was added. Theoretically, if the color was added close to the time of issuing, and done well, that would be okay; but for me, if the hand-coloring was added significantly later, that would hurt the value of the item.

I agree with Barry. Some people prefer them with hand-color, some do not. Some people also prefer the prints to be part of a full, intact issue of Harper's, while others only want the sheet with the print so that they can display it more easily.

Harper's prints are pretty common, and yours does not look to be in great shape--from a quick look, I see staining and tears along the perimeter. To me, it would be worth anywhere from $30 to $70. If you check eBay regularly, these are the type of prices you will see. But here are a couple of decent comparable sales outside of eBay for you:

http://www.auctionscc.com/archive/200606/baseball/19th-century/421/#a

http://www.rarenewspapers.com/view/172302?list_url=%2Flist%3Flist_results_format%3Dst andard%26page%3D4%26q%255Bis_active%255D%3D1%26q%2 55Bitem_types%255D%255B%255D%3DWebItem%26q%255Bsea rch_method%255D%3DComma%2BList%26q%255Btext%255D%3 Dballous%252Cballou%2527s%252Cgleasons%252Cgleason %2527s%252Charpers%2Bweekly%252Charper%2527s%2Bwee kly%252Cleslies%2Billustrated%252Cleslie%2527s%2Bi llustrated%252Cillustrated%2Blondon%2Bnews%26sort% 3Dprice%26sort_direction%3Ddesc (this newspaper dealer has one for $125 and one in lesser condition for $64).

I have no idea what happened here, and would not consider this a viable comparative sale: http://monthly.scpauctions.com/LotDetail.aspx?lotid=16741

It is a great image, as are many of the wood engravings from Harper's and Leslie's, but it is not worth a lot of money.

Hope this helps,
Charles

[drc]

Yes, people in the olden days sometimes liked to color their Harper's Woodcuts, though these colors were likely added years after the print was made.

If it's well done, it adds a little value to it. It's in the eyes of the buyer. I'm sure some buyer will pay more just due to the eye appeal.

[aquarius31]

I would estimate ~$75 even though it's the first Harper's weekly publication depicting a baseball woodcut and definitely one of the more striking images. Some will argue that the entire publication is more valuable than just the single sheet and there have been a few threads on this very topic. My view is that it really depends on the collector. The same thing can be said about 'color' vs 'black and white.' I have a mix of woodcuts that are hand-colored and black and white and enjoy both of them equally. So it comes down to personal preference. Regardless, it's a beautiful piece and the coloring on it is great! If you keep it, you may want to frame it or just get it matted to focus on the center image and avoid looking at some of the tears and staining. If you do have the full publication, you have probably already found that it includes another neat woodcut, The English Cricketeers.

[barrysloate]

I was thinking at least $100, because it is the first baseball engraving issued by Harper's and the cricket match is attached too. But $75-100 seems like a fair range for it.

[smotan_02]

Thanks for the info, I appreciate it. The seller seems to be a little high so I'm going to back off. Thanks!

[doug.goodman]

Keep your eyes open, they are frequently listed on ebay.

Doug