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A reference book for your shelves…
March 30, 2009 by TimHughes · Leave a Comment
There are very few reference books which are exclusive to newspapers, so some of the better ones are about printing in general, peppered with historical accounts of newspaper publishing as well.
One of my favorites is such a book, titled “Printing In The Americas” by John Clyde Oswald. Done by the Gregg Publishing Company in 1937 it unfortunately is out of print, however copies can be found on book dealer shelves across the country. With the broad scope of internet sites abebooks.com and alibris.com I suspect it would not be difficult to find a copy.
There are 91 chapters totaling over 560 pages but it can essentially be considered to have three parts. first: a general history of printing in colonial America which includes much on early newspapers; second: a state by state review of the their first printing efforts, most of which were newspapers rather than books or pamphlets; and third: printing history in other countries of the Western hemisphere including Canada, Central America, South America and the West Indies, typically not dealt with in most printing history efforts.
I find the Midwest and Western states to have the most intriguing histories, filled with stories of tragedy & hardship in trying to operate a printing establishment in the wilds of America. There were far more failures than successes. Early printers must certainly have come from hearty and optimistic stock.
This is a title I would suggest you pursue. Given its format it doesn’t have to be read cover to cover, but rather chapters of interest stand alone as little histories in just a few pages.
Genuine or reprint?
March 26, 2009 by TimHughes · 31 Comments
A great fear of any novice collector is knowing whether an item purchased is genuine or not. It’s a valid concern, as the other collectibles have been infested by reproduction,s reprints, or deceivingly fake material from furniture to coins to baseball collectibles.
The world of rare newspapers is not immune but it is not a serious problem either. With a few helpful hints almost every collector can avoid the pitfalls of having non-genuine newspapers end up in their collection.
Fake material of any collectible seems to become an problem when popularity and values grow. Since rare newspaper collecting remains a relatively unknown hobby with relatively low prices there is little incentive to create fake editions. And the requirements to recreate a 200 year old newspaper to have it look like a genuine edition can be complex and expensive.
With but one exception, I am not aware of any reprinted newspapers which were created to deceive. Virtually all facsimile issues on the market were created as souvenirs of historic events (Honolulu issues on Pearl Harbor can still be purchased at the memorial), on anniversaries of the first issue printed (many volume one, number one issues are reprints), as curious give-aways or “premiums” (major events such as the Boston Massacre, Declaration of Independence, etc. were reprinted), or as teaching tools in an educational environment (Harper’s Weekly issues from the Civil War were reprinted on their 100th anniversary: look for “a reissue of” above the “H” in “Harper’s Weekly” on page 1).
The lone exception is a collection of the “Pennsylvania Gazette” from the 1730’s – 1787 with issues turning up in small auction halls throughout the East some 20 years ago. The issues were aged to look 200 years old and the paper was very close to genuine newsprint from the era. Beware of this title if it contains a “Tontine Coffee House” inked stamp on the front page & if it looks a bit washed out.
The number of reprint newspapers on the market is exceedingly small so collectors have little to worry about. But keep these points in mind:
1) The most common reprint newspapers are on the Library of Congress check-list. Go here to keep the list handy. It also includes helpful tips on how to tell if genuine or a reprint.
2) Be aware of what 200 year old and 100 year old newsprint should look like. Almost all reprints were done on paper which is not reflective of the era.
3) Be suspicious of exceedingly historic newspaper turning up in illogical places. The likelihood of a genuine Declaration of Independence report being in flea market or amongst of group of papers from a non-collecting family is very remote. In other words if the find seems too good to be true, it likely is.
4) Be careful with volume one, number one newspapers. Such first editions were commonly reprinted by the publisher on the 50th or 100th anniversary.
5) Above all, buy from reputable dealers whose expertise, experience and reputation stand behind all they sell.
The “Honolulu Star-Bulletin” of Dec. 7, 1941 mentioned above is not on the Library of Congress check-list, however it’s easy to spot a reprint. The genuine issue has an ink smear between the “A” and “R” in the huge word “WAR!” on the front page (see photo). They cleaned it up on the reprint so it won’t be present.
And a news flash–I just learned that the “Dallas Morning News” issue of Nov. 23, 1963 reporting Kennedy’s assassination has been reprinted. Look for the word “Reprint” in the dateline just after the four stars. Do note those we have on our website & have sold for over 20 years are all genuine!
Common sense can be the best guide. The requirements to reprint an 8 page Civil War newspaper with a minor battle report could cost hundreds of dollars while the genuine issue might sell for $20, so chances are good such finds are genuine. For this reason our hobby is a fascinating one not prone to the pitfalls of other collectibles.
Our community of collectors is quite small which has worked in our favor. All of us are in an enviable position of being able to assemble great collections of historic material before the world at large “discovers” our hobby and changes the environment in years to come.
Enjoy!
Coffee House newspapers: a brief history…
February 26, 2009 by TimHughes · 2 Comments
A number of titles on our website are referred to as “coffee house newspapers” with little explanation as to what they are. I think we owe our customers a bit of history on this interesting era.
During most of the 17th century newspaper publishing was very heavily regulated. All printing offices in England were under the control of the Surveyor of the Imprimery, or Press. Roger L’Estrange held the position in the latter half of the century and had the sole privilege of writing, printing & publishing newspapers, being involved in the “Intelligencer”, “The News”, the “City Mercury” and the “Observator“. His monopoly was broken in 1665 with the creation of the “Oxford Gazette”, renamed the “London Gazette” when it removed there after 23 issues in Oxford.
With the arrival of William of Orange in 1689 came a reduction of state control over the press. This new-found freedom gave the independent press a real impetus. Readers’ interests widened. Politics & religion were no longer everyone’s cup of tea, for it was in the post-1689 years that the coffee house as a meeting place for exchanging merchandise & ideas came into its own. Newspapers provided stimulus for conversations and gossip & entertainment became accepted & then demanded.
The London coffee-houses provided a gathering place where any man who was reasonably dressed could smoke his long, clay pipe, sip his coffee, read the newsletters of the day, or enter into conversation with other patrons. At this period when journalism was in its infancy and the postal system was unorganized and irregular, the coffee-house provided a center of communication for news and information. Runners were sent round to the coffee house to report major events of the day, such as victory in battle or political upheaval, and the newsletters and gazettes of the day were distributed chiefly in the coffee house. Most of the establishments functioned as reading rooms. In addition, bulletins announcing sales, sailings, and auctions covered the walls of the establishments, providing valuable information to the businessman who conducted much of his business from a table at his favorite coffee house.
During thie era, particularly the early years of the 18th century, newspapers such as the “Tatler“, “Spectator“, “Guardian” “Athenian Mercury” & “Rehearsal” among others were very much in vogue in the coffee houses, and were more dialogue in format with back & forth discussion of a specific topic rather than reporting of news of the day.
By the latter half of the 18th century coffee house culture had run its course, but left in its wake much interesting literary work by some notable names including Daniel DeFoe (wrote for “A Review Of The State Of The Nation“, Joseph Addison & Richard Steele among others. Newspaper format tended more towards reporting news events of the day with presses being established outside the boundaries of London as well as increased activity within the city. One of the more successful titles which flourished in the latter half of the 1700’s was the “London Chronicle“, many issues of which we offer on our website, catalogs and supplements.
Removing old newspapers from bound volumes (disbinding)…
February 19, 2009 by TimHughes · 3 Comments
At some point along your collecting journey you may have purchased a bound volume because a particular issue was of interest, not the entire lot of 100 or more found within. Perhaps you’ve given though to taking the volume apart to secure that single issue but were afraid to cause damage. It can be done and with some practice you can find the process that works best for your particular volume.
There were hundreds of ways newspapers were bound and each requires a personalized approach, but in general almost all have glue at the spine with various strings interwoven among the various issues. Most 18th & 19th century volumes used glue which is water soluble so Ideally it’s good to apply warm water to the exposed spine (scrape off as much of the leather as possible) and as the glue softens, scrape it off. This can take 30 minutes or more so it requires some patience. It may leave minor evidence of of water staining at the spine but the alternative of not removing glue is often leaving chunks of the spine with volume which is much more damaging.
Then use an exacto-type knife and cut as many of the strings as possible. Typically there are 4 or 5 cords running across the width of the spine around which the smaller strings, which run lengthwise down the volume, are wound. Cut at both sides of these cords and it will fall away. Then carefully lift each issue and “peel” them off much like pages of a tablet, keeping the knife handy to cut strings as they become more exposed.
Typically the first several issues will have some damage at the spine but the remaining issues should remove more cleanly as you get the knack of the process. Best to start work on the issues as far removed from the issue you are wanting so that by time you get to your special issue you’ll have the experimenting work behind you.
Twentieth century volumes are more problematic in that the glue is often not water soluble so softening & scraping away the glue may not be an option, but give it a try anyway. In such cases be as diligent as possible in cutting the strings, and as each issue reveals itself in the “peeling away” process you’ll discover the process of how the volume was bound & consequently the tricks of how best to remove the remaining issues with little or no damage.
Bound or unbound: what’s the difference?
February 17, 2009 by TimHughes · 3 Comments
Many of our listings include a comment “never bound nor trimmed” and you may have wondered what that meant, or what the alternative might be. The alternative is what is mostly found in the market of early newspapers today: issues which have been “disbound” with trimmed margins.
For hundreds of years it was common practice for institutions, typically libraries and historical societies, to maintain a complete set of newspapers which were within their scope of interest, commonly the locally published newspaper. And to make such storage easy so patrons could easily access issues of a specific year, newspapers were gathered together and bound into what was essentially a large book, typically 3, 6 or possibly 12 months to the volume depending on the number of pages per issue. The New York Times and other dailies of the mid-20th century bound just 15 issues per volume.
When microfilming became popular in the 1950’s institutions found this alternative a dramatic improvement over the “hard copy”, as microfilm took considerably less space, was much easier to handle, and easier to access the specific date or article needed. As a result, institutions “deaccessioned”, or got rid of the heavy, dusty volumes in favor of microfilm causing huge quantities of newspapers to come on the market. I would guess 98% of the early newspapers available today came from such bound volumes, as they can be carefully disbound, returning the newspapers once again to single-issue status. But with most institutions having already gone through this deaccessioning process, volumes of newspapers are getting increasingly difficult to find.
In the binding process, much like the book binding process, the edges of the newspapers were trimmed with a guillotine cutter causing all 3 exposed edges to be neat & uniform. If a few of the newspapers were not neatly bound into their proper location some of the text might be lost when the volume was trimmed. You may have a few such issues in your collection.
This process explains why so many newspapers 100+ years old might look in near mint condition without a fold & with straight, even edges. They have been protected within the volume and likely sat on a shelf for over 100 years without being touched by human hands. Such issues are nice additions to newspaper collections.
But lucky is the person who is able to find a newspaper purchased off the street so many years ago and put away until being discovered, avoiding the binding and trimming process. The margins will be wider and most 8 page issues fold out to be one huge sheet of newspaper. Typically the downside to such issues is they are more heavily worn not having been protected within a bound volume, exposed to the elements, and typically handled much more frequently through the years.
In my opinion a never-bound, untrimmed issue would be preferable to a bound & trimmed issue as they are definitely more rare and exhibit their natural state as sold on the the date of issue. Finding such an issue in nice, clean condition is the best of both worlds, but condition is usually the trade-off: if you want your issues to be beautiful and clean, you’ll have more luck with disbound issues; if you want your issues to be “as issued” you’ll likely have to accept wear, soiling and ruffled margins.
How do you deal with the disbound or never-bound dilemma for issues going into your collection?
An Interview with Timothy Hughes…
February 16, 2009 by GuyHeilenman · 1 Comment
BakerTowne Collectibles recently filmed an interview with Tim Hughes on their Collectibles Corner TV website. Tim appears about midway through the show at the 4:38 time stamp. Once the program fully loads you can drag the time tracker to this spot; however, if you have the time, Tammy’s (the host) entire program is enjoyable to view.
The interview may be found at: http://www.collectiblescornertv.com/?p=114; even better, view the interview below.
Thanks Tammy for your addition to the Rare Newspapers Community.
Stepping back: old catalogs show amazing prices…
February 12, 2009 by TimHughes · 3 Comments
Being a collector, it is no surprise that I have kept at least one copy of every catalog we’ve published from the very first in 1976. I find it interesting to occasionally pull an old catalog off the shelf and browse through the offerings and marvel at some of the prices. They were competitive at the time. Although we emphasize collecting newspapers for the sake of collecting, as there is never a guarantee values will increase by the year, some old listings reflect some amazing prices.
Catalog 77 was issued in early 1990. At that time our catalogs were just 5 1/2 by 8 1/2 inches with 32 pages and a total of two photos (actually photocopies). Here are a few listings and their prices you might find intriguing. No, they are no longer available for purchase!
Philadelphia Inquirer, Nov. 9, 1864 with ftpg. coverage of Lincoln’s 2nd election. $46
Chicago Tribune, Nov. 3, 1948 “Dewey Defeats Truman” (excellent condition) $160
Niles’ Weekly Register, 1816 Supplement with the Star Spangled Banner. $68
The Boston Gazette, Dec. 11, 1775 A rare issue published in Watertown. $395
Cherokee Phoenix & Indians’ Advocate, New Echota, Georgia, Dc. 23, 1830 Very rare Cherokee newspaper. $155
New York Herald, Jan. 3, 1863 Printing of the Emancipation Proclamation. $115
Gazette, Paris, 1635 $68
Niles’ Weekly Register, April 16, 1836 Battle of the Alamo. $135
As much as you might like to buy these newspapers at these prices I’d like to have them back. Their values have increased dramatically through the years.
By the way, many of our old catalogs, going back to our very first, are available for purhase. Inquire.
Thoughts on the collecting of Obama inauguration newspapers…
January 21, 2009 by TimHughes · 2 Comments
It seems that with every election or inauguration I get asked about the collectability of such newspapers, so I thought I might share my thoughts with you, and encourage you to do the same.
USA Today – Obama Election & Inuguration
As for pure collectability, sure, election and inauguration issues are collectible because they document a very important part of American history and the democratic process. The smooth transfer of power from one person or administration to another does not come easily to many countries today. And to be able to add such historic issues to a collection for 50 cents or a buck is a great opportunity.
But I suspect the real interest of many who inquire about the collectability (of Barrack Obama election and inauguration issues) is the potential for such issues to increase in value. My opinion is, in general, no. They will not increase much in value in years to come. Now I’m speaking of “recent” history, say the last 30 years or so. I feel the public has become very collector-focused the last several decades, and many, many “historic” newspapers have been set aside in attics and drawers only to be found by their children many years later.
For a newspaper to appreciate dramatically in value I believe it requires several things: 1) Historic content. Yes, elections and inaugurations are historic; 2) Rarity. No, elections and inaugurations of the past 30 years are not rare because they were hoarded in large quantities and will always be relatively common; and 3) Something unique or dramatic. A “screaming” headline in tall, bold letters, or a cleverly worded headline, or something else which makes the issue unusual.
Supposedly the New York Times printed an extra one million issues of its January 21 inauguration issue, and I suspect most of them will be hoarded in quantity. The Washington Post printed a much larger quantity than normal, but they didn’t comment on the exact quantity. I’m sure it was sizable, and many of those issues will be hoarded. All this means that 20 years from now issues will be showing up on eBay (or its equivalent at that time) and anywhere else people might try to sell collectibles. With millions of such newspapers in the marketplace will the values get higher and higher? I doubt it.
Issues which tend to increase in value are those which were NOT saved. Most major headlines pre-World War II have appreciated nicely in value because they were not hoarded in quantities. I just don’t think the American public was collector-conscience then, so consequently they are genuinely rare in additional to being historic. And add a huge headline or terrific graphic and you have the potential for a very desirable newspaper; one which has appreciated nicely in value.
As an interesting side note, I understand that the New York Post printed a special afternoon inauguration edition on January 20. Given that most major newspapers are morning publications, coverage of the inaugural proceedings would be in their September 21 issue. But the Post had coverage in their January 20 issue, the same day as the election. A friend, stopping by a newsstand in New York city bought several issues of the Times of January 21 and noted a stack of other issues in the back. Inquiring what they were he was told it was the Post of the 20th, “…but they came in too late to be sold on the newsstand, so they will be returned. We can’t sell a day old newspaper…” the friend promptly purchased them all. I’d be curious to hear how many of the January 20 afternoon edition were actually sold on the streets and not returned for destruction. Perhaps that edition will have a real rarity component.
But don’t let this deter you from collecting historic events of the last 30 years and events yet to come. One of the great aspects of this hobby is the ability to assemble a great collection of truly historic newspapers at a nominal cost–at the newsstand price if you are lucky.
What are your thoughts?
Note: The Times News (out of Lehighton, PA) interviewed Tim concerning this topic. The article may be accessed at: http://www.tnonline.com/about
Most historic: 1784 thru 1800…
January 20, 2009 by TimHughes · Leave a Comment
Continuing with our discussion on the “most historic” reports to be found in newspapers, we have been discussing the events of American history by era, the last being the 1801-1860 era. This post will discuss the most significant event in American history of the post-Revolutionary War, 18th century era from 1784 thru 1800.
Much happened in American history during this brief 17 year period but I’m not so sure there are many events which qualify as the “most historic”. From 1784 to 1787 much effort was made to organize the loosely attached colonies into a cohesive whole (see Articles of Confederation as an example), which ultimately led to the Constitutional Convention and the resultant Constitution which remains to this day. Through the ratification process it was evident that more rights needed to be clarified, resulting in the Bill of Rights of 1789. During this same year the first presidential election happened and the federal government was established, and in subsequent years a permanent site was created for the federal government, the Native Americans’ concerns were dealt with as the nation crew beyond the original 13 states, The Whiskey Rebellion challenged the collection of federal taxes, Jay’s Treaty with England was consummated, and growing troubles with France & other nations put greater focus on formalizing a federal military. All these events and more played a role in molding America during these critical formative years.
The Constitution of the United States of America
But the most historic? My vote has to go with the creation of the Constitution. And a newspaper with the printing of this document would be a very prized addition to any collection.
What is your thought?
Most historic pre-Civil War 19th century event…
December 15, 2008 by TimHughes · 3 Comments
Continuing with our discussion on the “most historic” reports to be found in newspapers, we have been discussing the events of American history by era, the last being the Civil War. This post will discuss the most significant event in American history of the 1801 – 1860 era.
Much in American history happened during these 60 years: from the Louisiana Purchase in 1803, the War of 1812 from 1812-1815, the Texas war for independence of 1836, the Mexican War of 1846-1848, the California Gold rush of 1949+, and the events leading up to the Civil War to name just a few.
But what single event during the period of 1801 – 1860 would rank as the most significant in American history? If you could only have one newspaper from the pre-Civil War era in your collection, what one event would you most desire to best represent the era and–in your opinion–most affected the future of American history?
Arguments could be made for many events including those noted above, but also perhaps also the Monroe Doctrine of 1823, maybe a single event from the War of 1812, or the battle of the Alamo, or the treaty ending the Mexican War, or the Cherokee Trail of Tears, or perhaps even John Brown’s raid at Harper’s Ferry that would happen just before the outbreak of the Civil War.
In my opinion the Louisiana Purchase was the most significant. This purchase from France would double the land area of the United States and in time 13 states would be carved from it. The explorations of Lewis & Clark and the subsequent Westward migration of so many from the East would transform the nation in so many ways that its significance cannot be ignored. To me it was the most significant event in American history from 1801 to 1860.
What’s your thought? We would all love to hear.