Search
The Rare & Early Newspapers Hobby
Receive the Newsletter
Buy Historic Newspapers
The “top ten”: 18th century…
December 14, 2009 by TimHughes · 9 Comments
Continuing with our “top ten events to be found in newspapers” for various periods of time, today we consider the 18th century.
What an event-filled one hundred years it was. As you can tell by the list my focal point is on the American Revolution, but there are other events or specific newspapers which made it into my top ten.
Again I offer apologies to our non-American friends as this list has a decidedly American bias, primarily because the vast majority of those who purchase from us are American.
Here we go, starting with number ten:
10) Death of George Washington, 1799 (Front page, preferably in a Virginia Gazette)
9) Hanging of Captain Kidd, 1701 (Just can’t resist a great pirate hanging, he being perhaps the most famous of all time)
8.) Any newspaper with the first installment of Paine’s “The Crisis” (“These are the times that try men’s souls…” has to be one of the more famous beginnings of all time)
7) Full text of the Stamp Act (Certainly a trigger event that would lead to the Revolution)
6) Boston Tea Party (In a Boston newspaper. An event every school kid knows about)
5) The Pennsylvania Journal, Nov. 1, 1765 “skull & crossbones” engraving (Replaced its normal masthead on this date: seen in most history books)
4) Battle of Lexington & Concord with mention of Paul Revere’s ride (The beginning of the Revolutionary War. I had one once with mention of Revere–exceedingly rare–great to have in a Boston area newspaper)
3) The Boston News-Letter, 1704 (Great to have issue #1 of America’s first successful newspaper, but any issue from 1704 would do)
2) The Pennsylvania Packet, Sept. 19, 1787 (First newspaper to print the Constitution, & done in broadside format. Need I say more?)
1) The Declaration of Independence, 1776 (Ideally the Pennsylvania Evening Post, July 6, 1776, but the Packet of July 8 would work too as it contains the Declaration entirely on the front page: better for display).
Top ten: 16th and 17th centuries…
December 7, 2009 by TimHughes · 3 Comments
As Guy introduced a few days ago, we will use the Mondays of December to consider the top ten events to be found in newspapers for various periods of time. In a few cases the desired “event” is actually a specific newspaper.
Today we consider the 16th & 17th centuries, which is a bit difficult as the mere existence of newspapers–or even their predecessors: newsbooks–is limited. And all would be European, as no American newspapers existed in this time period (only exception noted below). Nonetheless I’ve created what I consider to be the top ten historical events or newspapers collectors would love to add to their collections.
I do offer apologies to our non-American friends as this list, and those to follow, have a decidedly American bias, primarily because the vast majority of those who purchase from us are American. But there are a few European events noted.
Here we go, beginning with number ten and ending with the most desired event or newspaper:
10) Coronation of William & Mary, 1689 (after all, they were the king & queen of colonial residents as well. Almost like a very early Presidential “inauguration”)
9) King Philip’s War, 1675-6 (America’s first war)
8.) William Penn’s charter for land in the New World, & his settlement there, 1682 (an issue of the London Gazette includes: “…Mr. Penn bound for Pennsylvania with a great many Quakers to settle there…”)
7) Capture of Capt. Kidd near Boston, 1699 (who wouldn’t want a period report of this very famous pirate)
6) Defeat of the Spanish Armada, 1588 (my one entry from the 16th century; available in period newsbooks)
4) The volume 1 number 1 issue of the Oxford Gazette, Nov. 16, 1665 (great to have the first issue of the world’s oldest continually published newspaper: become the London Gazette with issue #24)
3) Salem Witchcraft trials, 1692 (famous event, but try to find period reports of it!)
2) Settlement in the “New World” from 1607-1630 (from the very earliest period of European settlements in America, predating newspapers but newsbooks did exist)
1) Public Occurrences Both Foreign and Domestick, Boston, Sept. 25, 1690 (America’s first newspaper. To this date only one issue has surfaced. Could there be another?)
Top 10 lists…
December 3, 2009 by GuyHeilenman · Leave a Comment
Top 10 lists are always fun to consider. Their strength is in their ability to generate thought, reflection, and opinion. We all acknowledge that no two top ten lists are the same, and whereas going to experts in the field may add a certain level of credibility to a list, even an amateur/novice can bring food for thought to the discussion. Everyone has an opinion, and each and every opinion has some some value. In the end, the greatest benefit may well be in the journey traveled as we formulate and consider both our own views as well as the views of others.
It is with this in mind we plan to offer 4 top ten lists over the course of the next four Mondays. The focus will be on giving thought to the top ten most historic newspapers from each of the following eras: 17th century and earlier (12/7/2009), 18th century (12/14/2009), 19th century (12/21/2009), and 20th century & beyond (12/28/2009). In some cases we may choose a specific newspaper title (any date), realizing that having any issue of the title is of note. In other instances we may focus on a specific title and date of a newspaper – these being the “holy grails” of the hobby. Yet in other cases we’ll include a more general top ten entry, focusing on the event itself, acknowledging that finding any newspaper coverage of the event is noteworthy.
As we proceed through the month, we invite both reactions to our lists and the submission of your own “top tens”.
In an effort to help kick-start your walk into the past, we invite you to enjoy a recent post which appeared on OnLineSchool.net titled, “100 Great Moments in American History You Can Catch on YouTube”, by Amber Johnson: (http://onlineschool.net/2009/11/18/100-great-moments-in-american-history-you-can-catch-on-youtube/).
Old news is good news for collectors…
November 19, 2009 by GuyHeilenman · Leave a Comment
David Chesanow recently interviewed Timothy Hughes for a post at Americollector.com titled, “Old news is good news for collectors”. Some of the questions asked were:
- What newspapers do you yourself collect: ones from a specific region or era or pertaining to a certain subject? Or are newspapers in general your collecting “area” and you just like the rarest, most historic items?
- What are the collecting areas within the hobby?
- What are some of the interesting collecting areas of some of your customers?
- How extensive is the hobby of collecting rare newspapers? Are there any other dealers at all who specialize in this?
- What are the “Holy Grails” of newspaper collecting?
- Are newspapers ever forged? For example, aren’t there a lot of professionally done reprints in England?
- What have newspapers been made of over the years, and how perishable are they? Are the high-acid papers necessarily hard to preserve?
- When was the transition from rag content to high-acid paper in the U.S. and abroad?
- AND… many more!
The entire post is available for viewing at: Americollector.com. Thank you David for your contribution to the collectible.
The first newspaper in Alabama…
October 19, 2009 by TimHughes · 1 Comment
Credit must be given to John Oswald’s “Printing In The Americas” for the following on first newspaper printed in Alabama:
“Samuel Miller and John B. Hood started the ‘Centinel” at Mobile, Alabama, on May 23, 1811, but there is some doubt as to whether it was actually printed there. It was a troublous time for the town. The district in which it was located was claimed by Spain as a part of Florida, which she owned, and it was not until 1812 that the Congress of the United States annexed the Mobile district to what was then called the Mississippi Territory. The following year Gen. James Wilkinson occupied it with a military force, which was not resisted by the Spaniards. It is probable that the printing of the “Centinel” was done at Fort Stoddert, further up the river in American territory. In 1817 the territory was divided, the eastern portion being named Alabama, after a tribe of Creek Indians which inhabited the district, with St. Stephens as its capital. The territory became a state in 1819.”
Some more prices, then and now…
October 6, 2009 by TimHughes · 1 Comment
Some months ago I reflected upon the value of newspapers we have sold years ago compared to more current values for the same title and event. Having published catalogs since 1977 it is interesting to pull out some of the early editions and see what we sold newspapers for many years ago.
Although we are careful to never recommend early or historic newspapers as investments, many have done well over the years. Not surprisingly, those which are most historic and less common have appreciated the best, while others—particularly titles which tend to come available from time to time—have appreciated but not at an exceptional pace. A few examples:
Within our catalogs created in 1980, twenty-nine years ago, are several entries which we still are able to keep in inventory such as “Harper’s Weekly” of July 22, 1876 with coverage of the Custer massacre. We sold it then for $32, and offer it today for $112. Using an inflation calculator the $32 would have inflated to $82.57 today. Also in “Harper’s Weekly” we sold Oct. 4, 1862 with a printing of the Emancipation Proclamation for $52 ($134.28 in today’s dollars), while today we sell it for $125. The same title for March 22, 1862 on the Monitor vs. the Merrimack sold then for $38 ($98.05 in today’s dollars) and for $113 today.
Although “Harper’s Weekly” remains a very desirable title and has most certainly become more scarce as the years have gone by, I would not consider it a rare title. Consequently some prices have exceeded inflation while some have not.
But somewhat less common titles, and more significant events, have had more interesting price changes. In 1980 we sold the “New York Tribune” of April 4, 1865 which reported the fall of Richmond and had a huge eagle engraving on the front page, for $48 ($123.85 in today’s dollars). Not long ago we sold the same issue for $477. And in 1980 we sold the “Gazette of the United States” of March 2, 1791 on the creation of the Bank of the United States, for $19 ($49.03 in today’s dollars) and a more recent sale was for $775.
Of courses naivete (or perhaps stupidity) was the reason for many low prices years ago. Back in the “early years” I simply didn’t have the experience of knowing how desirable some events would be for collectors. If I bought an item for $20 and sold it for $30 I was happy.
Pricing has become much more sophisticated the last ten years or so, but I’m sure we still offer some interesting gems of history at relatively low prices which will take on much greater desirability as the years progress. Part of the fun of the hobby is seeking them out.
Wrappers and no wrappers…
October 1, 2009 by TimHughes · 1 Comment
As regular customers have noticed, our only foray into the world of magazines is pretty much limited to 18th century titles. Magazine collecting of the 19th and 20th centuries is a world onto itself and there are many other dealers who make such items their specialty. I never felt a need to venture there.
Occasionally one will see our listings of magazines which note “with original wrappers” and perhaps wondered what this meant. Most magazines which were sold “on the street” came with a wrapper, or front and back cover, which was in addition to the typical title page of the magazine. Typically the wrapper would have a blue or blue-green tint. Some wrappers had a decorative embellishment and some had the table of contents. The reverse side of the front wrapper and both sides of the back wrapper commonly had advertisements, often for books or other publications offered by the printer.
But magazines with wrappers are rarely found. At least 98% of the 18th century magazines on the market today came from bound volumes. The volumes were created when libraries–whether personal or institutional–had an entire year’s edition of a title bound into book form for efficient storage & display on a bookcase. And many magazine publishers set aside extra copies of each month’s edition for binding and sale to patrons at the conclusion of each year. Since wrappers were considered superfluous they were almost always removed from the issues before being bound. The binding process also involved trimming the three exposed margins for a neater appearance. Consequently when loose issues became available to collectors centuries later through library deaccessionings, they were lacking the wrappers.
Those fortunate enough to find a magazine which survived the last several centuries without being bound may experience the great pleasure of having a magazine “as issued”, or with the wrappers intact and without the margins trimmed. Such find are quite rare.
I have discovered many over the course of the last 33 years, and have even had the pleasure to find an occasional bound volume of an 18th century title with the wrappers bound in, either with each of the monthly issues or grouped collectively at the back of the volume. Such wrappers would have trimmed margins, which is less then ideal, but wrappers with trimmed margins are far better than no wrappers at all. And perhaps in just one or two instances I encountered a volume with wrappers bound in and margins untrimmed.
In any case, magazines with wrappers intact are the goal for serious collectors of 18th century magazines. Not surprisingly such issues command a premium price, but their rarity also creates a high level of desirability.
Collectible themes… additional thoughts…
September 28, 2009 by GuyHeilenman · Leave a Comment
There is an endless variety of ways to collect early newspapers.
- The vast array of newspaper dates, titles, sizes and content would seem almost formidable should one decide to collect newspapers without a theme or focus. Even a small percentage of every newspaper title published would not only be a formidable task to assemble but would be too cumbersome to organize and store.
- But collecting by theme offers a fascinating challenge to cut through the forest of available titles to add only those issues to a collection which fit the scope of a special interest. And the areas of interest can be endless.
- Whatever one’s interest might be a newspaper collection can be assembled as an interesting complement. You like old radios? Collect newspapers reporting the development of the radio and its antecedents from the telegraph to satellite radio. Or collect newspapers with advertisements of the radios in your collection. You like military history? Collect newspapers reporting major battles of each of America’s conflicts from the French & Indian War to the Gulf War. Politics? Collect issues covering the elections, or inaugurations of each president from George Washington to the present. Or collect at least one of each of the annual state-of-the-union addresses beginning with Washington (yes, he started the tradition which continues today). Or perhaps presidential deaths, or significant policy pronouncements.
- The Wild West, 20th century gangsters, sports heroes, the weird & bizarre, major tragedies, scientific developments are just a few themes. More specific topics can result in a very focused collection themed on just the Civil War or World War II or Western exploration or 19th century baseball to name a few.
- Less event-focused collections can also result in an intriguing variety of issues, such as one newspaper from every decade from the 1650’s to the present showing the progression & evolution of newspaper publishing from its infancy to the internet. Huge headlines of any event can provide for a very dramatic & displayable collection, or erroneous reports (Dewy Defeats Truman” is the most famous, but there are many more), printing errors (wrong dates, upside-down type, misspelled headlines, etc.) can result in an interesting collection.
- Given the tens of thousands of titles and the 400 year span of newspaper publishing the themes of collecting are virtually endless. Explore and widen your interest by adding newspapers to your collection. A fascinating world of collectibles awaits you.
Note: If you are still having trouble deciding on a theme upon which to begin centering your collection, consider the History’s Newsstand Store’s or the Rare & Early Newspapers’ list of categories as potential starting points. Many collectors began their collections by amassing a low-end (low priced) issue from each decade from the mid-1700’s through the mid-20th century. A basic issue from each U.S. President’s term of office is also a popular theme.
The list of collecting strategies is endless. Feel free to contribute ideas of your own.
Early printing in the New World…
September 10, 2009 by TimHughes · Leave a Comment
Another book I find very useful, although out of print, is “Printing In The Americas” by John Clyde Oswald, 1937. From time to time I will print excerpts from it which hopefully will be of interest to collectors, including the following which touches upon the very earliest years of printing in the “new world”.
“Printing in the English colonies began during the first half of the 17th century, at which time the art was at a low ebb in Europe, and it is therefore not surprising that the printers who came to the western shore of the Atlantic Ocean were not of outstanding ability; they were but representative of the class from which they sprang.
The first person to print in what is now the United States was a boy 18 years of age, upon whose immature shoulders had unexpectedly been thrown a heavy burden of responsibility. This boy, Matthew Daye (later in life he dropped the final ‘e’), began to print in a newly built house on the bleak shore of New England, on the edge of the forbidding wilderness that surrounded it on all sides but that which faced the sea. The year was 1638, just 18 years after the Pilgrims landed.
A new nation was in the making, in which life eventually came to embrace everything worth while, but in which in the beginning, as was to be expected, artistic accomplishment & progress were almost wholly absent. The settlers were too much occupied with the immediate necessity of clearing away the forests, harnessing the water power, building homes, founding towns and setting up local governments, to be able to find time to devote to the refinements of daily living. The primal wants had first to be satisfied. Then came the Revolutionary War, with its strain upon their resources, and later the need of facing and solving the world problems that accompanied the birth of the new nation.
The scarcity of great printers in Europe during the 17th century is to be ascribed to the fact that printing, controlled by Church and State, had ceased to be a means of art expression and had become merely a vehicle for the transmission of information (and misinformation). In England the number of printers and type founders was limited, and they were licensed and operated under strict surveillance. Restrictive measures of a somewhat similar nature were enforced in other countries.
The ruling powers endeavored to stretch a restraining army across the Atlantic to the colonies newly planted there, and they were at first partly successful because they were represented by governors subservient to their whims. the oft-quoted remark of Sir William Berkeley, governor of Virginia, will be recalled:
But, I thank God, there are no free schools nor printing, and I hope we shall not have these hundreds years; for learning has brought disobedience, and heresy, and sects into the world, and printing has divulged them, and libels against the best government. God keep us from both.”
King James II, on ascending the English throne in 1685, sent this instruction to Governor Dongan, in New York:
“And for as much as great inconvenience may arise by the liberty of printing within our province of New York; you are to provide by all necessary Orders that noe person keep any press for printing, nor that any book pamphlet or other matters whatsoever bee printed without your special leave & license first obtained.”
For 40 years thereafter this paragraph appeared in the instructions to colonial governors. Great was the respect paid by the common people of Europe to constituted authority. The bowed head and bended knee were therefore attitude familiar to the colonists; but contact with this constituted authority came to them only through the local governors and their minions, and often the closeness of the contact disclosed the fact that the supposed gods were in reality made of clay. Respect, reverence even, might for a time be publicly shown for a governor in gold lace, who proved on acquaintance to be vain, shallow, and incompetent, but it could not be privately felt, and under such circumstances the public showing was certain in time to come to an end.”
“New Series” of a newspaper…
September 7, 2009 by TimHughes · Leave a Comment
A recent inquiry by a concerned customer about the words “fifth series” printed in the dateline of his “Niles’ National Register” prompted me to share my comments with our blog readers should you have similar concerns of such notes atop this and other titles held in your collection.
Through the life of any newspaper which lasted beyond ten years it would not be uncommon for the title to change, either slightly or dramatically. This could happen for a number of reasons, such as the merging with another newspaper, the purchase of the paper by a new publisher, new city of publication, an altering in the size, theme, or format of the newspaper, etc. While some titles made no note of such changes in their volume and issue numbering, some chose to create a “new series” and start anew with the volume & issue numbering.
“The Weekly Register“, which began in Baltimore, chose the latter. The photos show five of the title or location changes in a 38 year time spread, not to mention size and type font changes as well. Note that its location moved from Baltimore to “Washington City” to Philadelphia.
Fortunately Niles chose to also retain the original volume numbering as well (right side of the dateline) as well as the “whole number”, or the number since the very first issue was published. Other titles did not choose to do so, making it more difficult to determine the newspaper’s age.