Ladies' American Magazine. Devoted to Literature, Fashion, Amusement and Instruction. Vol. 1.

New York: Henry White, 1859. First Edition. Containing the first six monthly issues, January–June 1859. Octavo, ii, 416 pages, period blue cloth covered boards with ornate gilt decoration to spine and blind-stamped decoration to boards. Scarce first volume of Ladies’ American Magazine, containing the January through June 1859 numbers of this short-lived antebellum women’s periodical published in New York by Henry White. The volume is notably illustrated with 8 hand-colored plates, additional black-and-white plates, and numerous in-text illustrations, offering a rich visual record of mid-19th-century fashion, domestic culture, literary entertainment, and genteel American magazine publishing. Contemporary notices advertised the magazine for its colored fashion plates, steel engravings, and other illustrations, placing it firmly within the flourishing market for illustrated ladies’ magazines before the Civil War. A desirable bound half-year volume, with appeal for collectors of women’s periodicals, fashion history, costume, domestic culture, Victorian illustration, and 19th-century American illustrated magazines. Some slight rubbing and wear, corners bumped, scattered foxing and discoloration, some soiling to the cloth, slight damage to top and bottom of the spine, else in good + condition. Item #350

Price: $650.00