Harper’s Weekly was the most popular illustrated newspaper of the 1800’s. Prior to Harper’s publication, newspapers were primarily text. During the late 1850’s, Harper’s Weekly pioneered an exciting new process that enabled them to include illustrations with the text. A team of carvers could carve a wood block for a given illustration in a short period of time.

Some of the most renowned artists of the 1800’s got their start as illustrators for Harper’s Weekly, including Winslow Homer. He would sketch scenes of the battles that he witnessed. These sketches would then be went back to Harper’s to be printed in the upcoming paper.