The Acquisitions Table: New-York Clipper

New-York Clipper (New York, NY).  Apr. 13, 1863 – Apr. 8, 1865.

At a recent book fair, AAS was offered two bound volumes of this extremely rare sporting and entertainment periodical.  It began in 1853 as a periodical covering sporting events.  By the time of the Civil War the New-York Clipper included coverage of the theatrical scene.  Some issues contained literary pieces and short stories.  While the circulation was fairly high, few files survive today due to its low-brow content.  Some of the advertisements are for risqué books and photographs though they were not explicit (e.g. one ad for photographs described them as “Le petite figurante!”).  Each issue also contains a woodcut on the front page, usually the portrait to accompany a biographical article.

Published by

Vincent Golden

Curator of Newspapers and Periodicals, American Antiquarian Society

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