Harper's weekly. Full issues or just the woodcuts?

[doug.goodman]

Originally Posted by novakjr

I've noticed that if you know what you're looking for, you can get the full issues for dirt cheap on ebay, due to many simply being listed generically by date rather than by content. I picked up the full 1869 issue with the Red Stockings team for less than $15 that way. I still kinda feel like I stole that one for the price.

Exactly.

I picked up the Sept 10, 1887 with the amazing double-page "Thrown Out At Second" in a similar fashion for a similar price.

Any time it costs more to frame a piece, than for the piece itself, I feel like I'm doing pretty good. Charlie Sheen would probably call it "winning".

Doug

[Woundedduck]

I'm also a big fan of the Harper's Weekly Woodcuts. For collectors on a budget like myself they're great. They offer very old baseball collectibles with great images of top tier HoFers for relatively low prices.

I got started with a few that had the woodcuts cut out, but then started picking up full pages. They look great. I've got several at the framer right now and at least another one that will be getting framed as well. When I get them all back, I'm hoping to take some pictures to show them off .

Right now, I've really been trying to get full pages. I'm not as concerned with having the full issue, but I'd like to have the full page, if possible, even if the rest of the page isn't baseball related.

So far I've picked up:

Oct 15, 1859 - both full pages showing the baseball and the cricket matches
July 3, 1869 - Red Stocking baseball club, only the woodcut (about 1/2 page)
Oct. 17, 1885 - Chicago Baseball club, full page
Oct. 27, 1888 - Comiskey, Latham, full page
Nov. 9, 1889 - Ewing Cover, full page
May3, 1890 - opening of the baeball season, 2 full pages with woodcuts on both sides

I'm not going for a full run, but I'd still like to find June 27, 1874 (boston), Oct. 14, 1882 (Chicago), and Oct. 20 1888 (Keefe, Ewing).

I do have one question for other Harper's Weekly collectors. Some of the pages I've picked up have been colored prior to making it to me. They are done very nicely with watercolor and look great in my opinion. As I understand it, coloring the woodcuts is pretty common, but I wanted to know what others think about it. Would you rather have the original images without any coloring? Does it diminish or add to the value at all? Do you seek them uncolored or colored or does it matter to you? I'll hopefully have some pics to show what mine look like soon to give a better idea.

[novakjr]

Hi Woundedduck, looks like you've got a nice start to the woodcuts. I'm on a budget too, and that one of the main reasons that I'm starting to love the woodcuts. For some reason, it feels like you're getting something of historical importance for next to nothing. I'm still kinda at the start of my collection of these. So far I only have three.

Oct 15, 1859 - both full pages with a missing corner and a few small tears.
May 16, 1868 - George Sands Cover, full issue.
July 3, 1869 - Red Stocking baseball club, full issue.

Now as far as the colored ones, I think I may keep my collection strictly uncolored. But then again, since I'm really wanting to do full issues, I don't think there's alot that have been colored that are still in tact with the rest of the issue.

Sometime down the road it would be nice to get ahold of the Leslie's Creighton. That is one beautiful woodcut..

[doug.goodman]

Originally Posted by Woundedduck

For collectors on a budget like myself they're great. They offer very old baseball collectibles with great images of top tier HoFers for relatively low prices.

I do have one question for other Harper's Weekly collectors. Some of the pages I've picked up have been colored prior to making it to me. They are done very nicely with watercolor and look great in my opinion. As I understand it, coloring the woodcuts is pretty common, but I wanted to know what others think about it. Would you rather have the original images without any coloring? Does it diminish or add to the value at all? Do you seek them uncolored or colored or does it matter to you? .

My budget is exactly what aimed me at woodcuts. I am happily amazed at the lack of interest from the collecting community.

All of mine are without color, although I have seen some beautifully colored, I think Ted Z recently posted one.

Here are (most) of mine :
http://www.flickr.com/photos/douggoo...7612023646769/

Doug

[novakjr]

Doug, I've actually been looking at your page for a while at these. I think I originally found the link on one of the archived threads. Honestly, your collection of woodcuts only made me want 'em more. I know I was thinking about only full issues, and I'm extremely low on funds at the moment, but luckily I just picked up another 3 woodcuts for next to nothing. All 3 for under $20. You can't really beat that price. It looks like I may just settle for full pages, rather than issues after reading deeper into the opinions here and in some older threads. I'm really dead set on "full pages" as my bare minimum though. Full issues would just be an added bonus for me, and I may upgrade to strictly full issues at a later date. I really won't know for sure until that time comes though. I guess I'll just play it by ear.

[doug.goodman]

Originally Posted by novakjr

I'm really dead set on "full pages" as my bare minimum though.

I agree, mine are all full pages, at least, I think.

One of these days I need to research woodcuts in other issues, like Leslie's, etc.

Doug

[novakjr]

Originally Posted by doug.goodman

I agree, mine are all full pages, at least, I think.

One of these days I need to research woodcuts in other issues, like Leslie's, etc.

Doug

Yeah, I'd like a little more info on the others myself. The Leslie's have been very intriguing since the first time I saw the Creighton woodcut, but I don't think I've ever heard of another one mentioned. Info seems to be hard to come by on the net. I believe there's one online store that has a whole bunch of old mags and papers, but I've never really scoured the site yet to research anything..

http://www.rarenewspapers.com/

[Woundedduck]

I've picked up several prints from this site:

http://www.printsoldandrare.com/baseball/

Their customer service has been great. Most have had color added which may bug some people but they look great.

[doug.goodman]

Originally Posted by novakjr

Yeah, I'd like a little more info on the others myself. The Leslie's have been very intriguing since the first time I saw the Creighton woodcut, but I don't think I've ever heard of another one mentioned. Info seems to be hard to come by on the net. I believe there's one online store that has a whole bunch of old mags and papers, but I've never really scoured the site yet to research anything..

Here are the Leslie's that I know of :

11/04/1865 - Creighton
06/06/1885 - Illinois - The Chicago Baseball Club
07/10/1886 - Portraits of the Manager & Members NY Baseball Club
06/23/1888 - Baseball in New York - A general view of the Polo Grounds
09/01/1888 - BB Craze - Climax at Polo Grounds
07/27/1889 - The Popular Interest in Base-Ball
08/31/1889 - A Baseball Incident - caught between the bases
09/07/1889 - John Ward (quarter page)
08/29/1891 - The Struggle For The League Championship (cover)
09/16/1897 - Base-Ball At The Polo Grounds, In New York (cover)

There must be many more, I would guess a similar amount as in Harpers (which I count as 78 different thru 1900).

"The Daily Graphic" may be an earlier version of "The Graphic", and both had baseball woodcuts, starting at least as early as 04/18/1874 thru at least 01/24/1891.

Many of those mentioned above are scanned in my "misc stuff" section on my flickr page.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/douggoo...7612032628945/

Doug