Ballou's Pictorial Drawing-Room Companion, April 14, 1855. Aurora Borealis; Nice and the Chartreuse of Val Pesio; Malay Pirates; Newark, NJ; Finland; Mrs. John A. Wood; Trinity College; Female College in Dubuque, IA; Chicago Court House; Capturing a Condor; Pittsburgh

Boston: Ballou, M.M., 1855. First Edition . Soft cover. Very Good. Elephant Folio - over 15" - 23" tall. From Engravings. Boston: M.M. Ballou, 1855. First Edition. The April 14, 1855 issue, Volume VIII, No. 15, Whole No. 197. Numerous illustrations from engravings. Elephant folio size, sewn newsprint wraps, 16 pp. Very Good; some darkening, small patches of soil (see scans); some edge wear, and of course a bit of age-toning to the newsprint paper (not excessive), and not much else to point to here. See scans. High grade. Maturin Ballou's paper was quite supple, not at all fragile, and it shows. Sharp, healthy, well-preserved. This issue contains stories, articles, and / or the diverse and now somewhat legendary engravings - regarding as follows: The Aurora Borealis, cover story, with a beautifully executed engraving; Secrets of the Cells, or Leaves From My Diary (continuing) by Rev. J.H. Ingraham; massive two-page spread on Nice and the Chartreuse of Val Pesio, text and four large engravings; My Landlady, by Alice Carey; Encounter with Malay Pirates, an apparently true account by Frederick Ward; two full pages on Newark, NJ with no less than eight striking engravings; Sketches of Finland (text only); short piece plus portrait engraving of Boston actress Mrs. John A. Wood; Trinity College in Hartford, text on one page with a large, tranquil engraving on the next; Female College in Dubuque, IA, with engraving; Chicago Court House, with engraving; Capturing a Condor (text only); rear cover carries text and an engraving on Pittsburgh as well as a "Home Revisited" engraving, to go with an earlier short piece; and of course a number of short editorials, news pieces, poems, and ads. Please see all scans. Maturin Ballou's 16-page newsprint periodical was already a piece of American history when he, as managing editor of Gleason's Pictorial, bought that - the first successful illustrated weekly newspaper in America - from owner Frederick Gleason in 1855. An early issue under this name. lLng1