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The Traveler… Celebrating the 4th…
July 1, 2010 by The Traveler · 1 Comment
Happy 4th of July to all!! In reading through newspapers for this week, I decided not to select today’s date, but yesterday’s instead. The Boston Patriot, dated June 30, 1810, contains a large announcement of the “Republican Celebration!” for the Celebration of the
4th of July, 1810 — it being the 34th Anniversary of American Independence. This issue shows the the progression of the Bunker-Hill festivities which would proceed from the State House to Bunker-Hill. There are also other articles within the issue in reference to the Fourth of July.
On a side note, while scanning through the issue I noticed within the “Died” notifications an amazing announcement. One brief reports that “Ann Sylvester, a free black woman, died on Tuesday the 14th at Falmouth, Jamaica, at the very advanced age of 133 years“. A very advanced age indeed!! It also provided information on her children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren, all 82 of them!… with additional amazing information about her as well. Quite a lady! ~The Traveler
First newspapers in Michigan…
June 28, 2010 by TimHughes · Leave a Comment
The first settlement in present-day Michigan was in Sault Ste. Mari in 1668, yet it was about one hundred years later before the first printing press arrived in the territory. Detroit was founded in 1701 and it was here in 1809 when the Rev. Father Gabriel Richard brought with him a printing press upon which Jame M. Miller, a printer from Utica, New York, would published the first issue of “Michigan Essay; Or, The Impartial Observer” on August 31. A portion of the issue was printed in French. Only four issues of this newspaper have survived and they are all the first issue so it is possible it may have been also the last.
The second newspaper in Michigan was also in Detroit, the “Detroit Gazette” which began on July 25, 1817. Three of the pages were in English while one was in French. It succeeded for about thirteen years, expiring on April 22, 1830. The third newspaper was again in Detroit, the “Michigan Herald“, which began in 1825 and lasted for four years. the first French newspaper in Michigan was the “Gazette Francaise, which also began in 1825, which was also the year the first newspaper outside of Detroit was begun, being the “Michigan Sentinel” in the town of Monroe. By the 1830’s newspapers in the Michigan Territory became more commonplace.
Historic printing press returns home…
June 24, 2010 by TimHughes · 1 Comment
The following appeared in the May/June issue of “The History Channel Magazine“. Given its focus I thought it worth sharing with our collectors:
“The ‘Cherokee Advocate‘ became the first newspaper published in Indian Territory (now Oklahoma) on Sept. 26, 1844. Published weekly, in both Cherokee and English, it provided Cherokees with information about their people and the United States. When it first started publication it was the country’s only tribal-owned newspaper; it would later be joined by the “Choctaw Intelligencer” in 1850 and the “Chickasaw Intelligencer” in 1854.
The last issue of the Advocate was published in 1906 after the federal government dissolved the Cherokee Nation. The printing office, press, and other equipment were sold to a Fort Gibson, Oklahoma, publisher in 1911, and the Cherokee syllabary typeset was sent to the Smithsonian Institution for preservation.
After nearly 100 years, the Cherokee Advocate printing press returned to its original home at the Cherokee National Supreme Court Museum in Tahlequah, Oklahoma, in early 2010. The printing press will be one of the museum’s centerpieces. For more information, visit cherokeetourismok.com.”
Minnesota’s first newspapers…
June 21, 2010 by TimHughes · 3 Comments
The first “Minnesota” newspaper has the curious distinction of never being printed in Minnesota. Dr. Andrew Randall, a U.S. government employee from Ohio engaged in a geological survey of the Minnesota district, decided to become a printer. He returned to his home town of Cincinnati, purchased printing equipment, and produced in Cincinnati the volume 1, number 1 issue of the “Minnesota Register“. There was but one number, but existing copies bear different dates of April 7 and 27, 1849.
Another outsider, James Goodhue, a lawyer-turned printer from Lancaster, Wisconsin, worked for a newspaper in Wisconsin before carting his equipment and heading north for St. Paul’s Landing in the Minnesota Territory. There he planed on printing what was to be named the “Epistle of St. Paul”, but after advice of friends the first issue was actually titled the “Minnesota Pioneer“, appearing on April 28, 1849. Not only was this the first newspaper actually printed in Minnesota, it was the first piece of any printing done in the territory.
The next newspaper was done by another Ohioan, James Hughes, who on May 31, 1849 printed the “Minnesota Chronicle” on May 31, 1849. Third in line was the “Minnesota Register“, now moved from Cincinnati to Minnesota to become a legitimate Minnesota newspaper when it printed its July 14, 1849 issue in St. Paul. Just over a month later the “Chronicle” and “Register” combined to produce the “Chronicle & Register” on August 25.
The Traveler… “The Apprentice (s)”…
June 17, 2010 by The Traveler · 1 Comment
While reading through The Post Boy (London) dated June 17, 1710, I came across a few articles pertaining to the news of the day that were interesting. One was related to a current topic of interest, “job security”, being a petition from Master Gun-Smiths for and on-behalf of themselves (Dublin and Ireland) stating they were to be the ones to making the Arms for themselves – perhaps a conflict of interest??? Another was the report of the returning of the Majesty’s ships, “as prize, a French Privateer.”
However, it was an advertisement which really caught my eye. It begins with “Went away from their Master…” and continues on to describe two young lads, their clothing, provides their names and states that they “suppos’d to be straggled on Ship Board”, and that anyone who helps to find them “shall be kindly rewarded”. Interesting contrast between those who were trying feverishly to preserve their livelihood with those who were running from it. ~The Traveler
One never knows what will be found…
June 7, 2010 by TimHughes · 4 Comments
I suspect I have reflected several times upon the great wealth of interesting information which can be found in a seemingly “generic” issue. Recently I came across an item which was unfound for over 30 years until time permitted a closer look.
I have always touted the value of London’s “Gentleman’s Magazine” as a great periodical, as few world events of the 18th century escaped its pages, including American events from after the Revolutionary War. As a title which has always be somewhat common in a relative sense, when American titles of the 18th century have become almost impossible to find, key issues in “Gentleman’s Magazine” offer an excellent opportunity to add period, historic reports to a collection at a relatively modest cost.
Admittedly, volumes of this title have become more difficult to come by in recent years, prompting us to take a closer look at some issues which used to go out the door almost as quickly as they came in. The June, 1790 issue was seemingly just another innocuous magazine from the post-war era, and which I suspect we sold dozens of times for $15 to $25 or so. But a week ago I took a more careful look and found an excellent obituary of Benjamin Franklin, taking over 1 1/2 pages, even including is very famous self-written obituary which includes: “The body of Benjamin Franklin, Printer, like the cover of an old book, its content torn out & stript of its lettering & gilding, lies here food for worms…”.
You may have purchased this June, 1790 issue from us in years past. If you have, take a look at pages 571-3 and elevate the status of this issue from generic to significant. Even with this wonderful content, we still offer this issue for less than 1/3 the price of comparable reports in American newspapers.
I wonder how many other significant issues we’ve sold over the past 34 years not fully knowing what was inside? Hopefully you have discovered some gems which escaped my eye….it’s all part of the thrill of collecting!
The Traveler… Let the journeys begin…
June 3, 2010 by The Traveler · Leave a Comment
After reading Tim’s recent blog posting on digging into an article that was not the “meat and potatoes” of the issue, I decided it would be interesting and intriguing to see what could be found within issues 100, 200 or 300 years ago. As we work with the newspapers, we are constantly being side-tracked with different articles and advertisements that catch our eye and these will be share with you from time to time. Welcome to This Day In History…
On June 3, 1910, within the issue of the Christian Science Monitor (Boston), I found the amazing news reporting of the round-trip aviation feat of flying across the English Channel — a total of 53 miles as Capt. Charles Rolls took it upon himself to circle twice over Sangatte before his return flight to Dover. And to think that we are actually flying to space stations and landing just like an ordinary flight!
However, another intriguing article was of a young Cossack woman who had started to ride from Hargin, Manchuria to St. Petersburg on a Mongolian pony. The distance was 5,420 miles. I wonder if she ever made it??
As I was about to put the issue down I also happened to notice a mention of the famous aviation pioneer, Glen Curtiss. Who knows what other “treasures” might be buried within this issue???
~The Traveler
Early reports can be unassuming…
May 17, 2010 by TimHughes · Leave a Comment
As many collectors have found, the earliest report of an historic or significant event is often not the best or more detailed. Usually the report of a day or two later is best, when all the particulars were known and the accuracy more credible. Yet there is still the fascination of reading of a major event before it would become part of world history.
The first report of the Great Fire of London–one of the more notable events in 17th century British history–is somewhat unassuming. The bottom of the back page of “The London Gazette“, September 3, 1666, has a report datelined the day before noting: “About two a clock this morning a sudden and lamentable Fire brake out in this City, beginning not far from Thames Street, near London Bridge, which continues still with great violence, and hath already burnt down to the ground many houses thereabouts, which sad accident affected His Majesty with that tenderness, and compassion, that he was pleased to go himself in Person with his Royal Highness to give order that all possible means should be used for quenching the fire, or stopping its further spreading…” with a bit more (see).
The next several issues would provide more detail, but this first report gives some indication this was to be more than a small event. Indeed, it would grow to consume some 13,200 houses, 87 parish churches, and make homeless 70,000 of the city’s 80,000 inhabitants.
Rare Newspapers – distracting?
May 6, 2010 by GuyHeilenman · 2 Comments
One of the most common questions our Rare Newspapers’ staff is asked is, “How do you ever get anything done? Don’t you get distracted by the interesting content within the issues?” The answer is an enthusiastic, “YES!” One of the most enjoyable aspects of our daily interaction with early newspapers are these very “distractions”. Hardly a day goes by where we aren’t fascinated by or engaged in conversation resulting from the content within the issues we find.
One such discussion (distraction) was recently inspired by an issue of the Omaha Daily Bee dated June 28, 1919, which originally caught our attention because of its dramatic WWI headline, “PEACE TREATY SIGNED”, with a corresponding subhead, “China Alone Refuses To Sign Covenant That Ends Greatest War in History”. However, what caused our “distraction” was the front page text (shown in the image) regarding the “World’s Ten Greatest Peace Treaties“. Although this issue is no longer available, it can be viewed at: http://www.rarenewspapers.com/view/570082?acl=781584385. Much has occurred since the early 20th century. We wonder what such a list might include if it were printed on the front page of a tomorrow’s newspaper?
Resources of collectors…
April 29, 2010 by GuyHeilenman · 2 Comments
One of the most frequently asked questions regarding the rare newspaper hobby concerns available resources. Awhile back we posted a general response to this on eBay titled, “What Resources are Available for Newspaper Collectors?”. Although we’ll continue to look at this question in detail, we thought newcomers might appreciate a general overview. An excerpt of this post is as follows:
1) Price Guide For Rare & Historic Newspapers?
2) Storage & Display Options For Colonial, Civil War & 20th Century Newspapers?
3) Reference Books On The History Of Old Newspapers?
4) A Club Of Collectors Of Old Newspapers?
Collecting rare & early newspapers from the colonial era through the Civil War & 20th century is a fun & fascinating hobby, but questions often arise: Is their a price guide, or a club of collectors? What storage & display options are recommended for the old newspaper hobbyist? How about reference material on the hobby?
1) Being a relatively unknown hobby has its advantages…
To view the entire post, please go to: “What Resources are Available for Newspaper Collectors?“