1833 illust. paper: the WILD TURKEY; Rochester Cathedral; Trajan's Column, Rome

Description

THE PENNY MAGAZINE
Oct. 5, 1833
the Wild Turkey
This is a weekly London paper which is over 185 years old
.
It is printed in a small format, measuring 7” by 11” in size, and is 8 pages long. It came from a bound volume and has typical minor disbinding marks at its spine, but is otherwise in excellent and very attractive condition.
The most interesting article in this paper is 2 full pages on
THE WILD TURKEY.
This includes a lovely 6x6-inch woodcut engraving on the back page, captioned
“Wild Turkeys.”
Its accompanying text is over 200 lines, and comes from C. Bonaparte’s
American Birds
. It says, in part:
“The native country of the wild turkey extends from the north-western territory of the United States to the isthmus of Panama; south of which it is not to be found. In Canada, and the now densely-populated parts of the United States, this bird was formerly very abundant; but the progress and aggressions of man have compelled them to seek refuge in the remote interior. . . The Mandan Indians, who a few years ago visited the city of Washington, considered it one of the greatest curiosities they had seen, and prepared a skin of one to carry home for exhibition.
“It is not necessary to be particular in describing the appearance of a bird so well known in its tame state. The difference consists chiefly in the superior size and beauty of plumage in the wild turkey; for, under the care of man, this bird has greatly degenerated. . . . When full grown, the male wild turkey is nearly four feet in length and nearly five feet in extent, (from wing to wing) and presents in its plumage a rich assortment of colours, brown predominating, which might be vainly sought in the domesticated bird. . .
“. . . When an unusually profuse crop of acorns is produced in a particular section of country, great numbers of turkeys are enticed from their ordinary haunts . . . The time of this irruption is known to the Indians by the name of the Turkey month.
“The males, usually termed gobblers, associate in parties numbering from ten to one hundred . . . They are all intent on avoiding the old males, who, whenever opportunity offers, attack and destroy the young by repeated blows on the skull.”
The story goes on at length to describe the birds’ behavior throughout the year; their breeding and whole they raise their young.
The paper’s front page is entirely devoted to a full-page engraving of
TRAJAN’S COLUMN, AT ROME
, with a full page of accompanying text.
Inside is an article of 2/3rds of a page, on
ROCHESTER CATHEDRAL,
with a 6x8-inch illustration of the Cathedral’s
“Principal Entrance and Interior.”
******************
Background on this publication:
The
Penny Magazine
was a weekly 8-page paper put out by London’s “Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge.” Throughout the 1830s, an American edition was very popular in the United States, only to dwindle into extinction during the following decade. The paper did not cover the current news of the day, and carried no advertising. Instead, the
Penny Magazine
provided excellent essays on a wide array of subjects, such as architecture, science, geography and natural history. The paper was a compact 7.5 x 11 inches in size, and every issue was illustrated with several fine woodcut engravings.
97 [gsp10206]
_gsrx_vers_856 (GS 7.0.20 (856))