HARPWEEK

n 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... The ancestral seed for Harper's Weekly germinated in 1842 in London when the management of the London Illustrated News figured out how to illustrate the latest news stories on a timely basis. Traditionally, woodblock printing of illustrations was a labor-intensive process requiring three steps. First, a boxwood block, which was the exact thickness of the type, was polished smooth. Next, an artist used a pencil to draw his picture on the block in reverse, creating a mirror image. Then an engraver, using a graver and chisels, cut away all the wood not covered by pencil lines... Motivated by the success of Leslie's, Fletcher..

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