The Young People's Mirror -

New York, 1848. Vol. 1, No. 1 (January 1848) to No. 12 (December 1848), comprising the first twelve of twenty-four issues, bound in brown quarter leather and marbled boards. Quarto. Binding good, with front hinge starting. Contents VG, fresh. In 1848, when The Young People's Mirror commenced, its editor, Benjamin Lossing, was a 35-year-old journalist and wood engraver. He created a well-illustrated and eclectic miscellany, which, despite the name, was intended to be a paper for the entire family. Highlights of this volume include illustrated articles on Chinese water craft (two parts), whale fishing, a profile of Albany with a half-page view, and more. There were also regular features on natural history and astronomy. Lossing had a keen appreciation of American history, which he conveyed through numerous articles, especially focusing on the American Revolution. It might have been his experience as editor of The Mirror that prompted him to approach Harper and Brothers about publishing a book on the American Revolution. The result, A Pictorial Field Book of the American Revolution, issued in parts from 1850 through 1852 was a publishing sensation that launched Lossing's long and distinguished career as an American historian. This volume was the property of Joseph B. Goodrich, whose name appears on the cover of the volume and is written at the top of the title page. In 1848, he was a ten-year-old boy living in South Scituate, MA. He would later fight in the Civil War as a private in the 18th Massachusetts Infantry and then make his living as a shoemaker, dying in Norwell, MA, in 1893. Only four US libraries hold the first volume.. Brown 1/4 Leather & Boards. See Description. Quarto.