Search
The Rare & Early Newspapers Hobby
Receive the Newsletter
Buy Historic Newspapers
In the beginning…
June 8, 2009 by TimHughes · 1 Comment
Some collectors like to pursue a newspaper from each of the original thirteen colonies, and ideally one dated as close as possible to the beginning of that colony’s first newspaper. For those active in this pursuit, we offer this list of the earliest in each.
Although the first newspaper in America was published in Boston in 1690, Benjamin Harris’ “Publick Occurrences Both Forreign & Domestick” lasted by a single issue before being suppressed by the Royal authorities. The first successful Massachusetts newspaper–and the first in all of the colonies–started 14 years later in 1704, also in Boston, titled “The Boston News-Letter” which continued until the British occupation of the city in 1776.
Here are the remaining colonies and the newspaper titles. As you see, originally in titles was not a strength among the newspaper publishers:
American Weekly Mercury (Penna.), 1719
The New York Gazette, 1726
The Maryland Gazette, 1728
The Rhode Island Gazette, 1732
The South Carolina Gazette 1732
The Virginia Gazette, 1736
The North Carolina Gazette, 1751
The Connecticut Gazette, 1755
The New Hampshire Gazette, 1756
The Newport Mercury (Rhode Is.), 1758
The Georgia Gazette, 1763
The New Jersey Gazette, 1777
It may seem curious that New Jersey was the last of the colonies to have its own newspaper, however given its location between the major metro areas of New York and Philadelphia there likely wasn’t an incentive to create its own until much later than the others.
Responding to the patriotic call…
April 25, 2009 by TimHughes · Leave a Comment
The Columbian Centinel newspaper from Boston, April 28, 1792 contains a very inconspicuous notice at the bottom of the front page which calls for recruits for the military. It’s the wording which is a delight, as the call was put forth:
“To the sons of ambition—Those noble fellows whose courage and superiority of soul dictate to them to enter the list of Fame…Her field is now open and filled with every inducement for a Soldier; every necessary of life and every chance for fortune. It will be your fault if she does not stamp on your names HERO to be caught by every ear…” with more.
See the photo for the full text of this delightful little gem from the 18th century.
Newspapers are not the only place to find buried treasure…
March 13, 2009 by GuyHeilenman · Leave a Comment
During the past several months we have enjoyed exploring the hidden gems often found within rare and historic newspapers. One of our friends drew our attention to another recently discovered treasure which relates to our beloved historic collectible, specifically, the Revolutionary War era. There appears to be a new finding involving Bunker Hill in Boston, as reported by the Boston Globe:
Bunker Hill dead may lie under gardens… (read more)
A related graphic may be found at: http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2009/03/08/history_of_the_remains/.
Although history may never be more facinationg than when it’s read from the day it was 1st reported, current discoveries certainly add depth to our walk through the past.
Note: If you’ve never taken a Walking Tour of Historic Boston, it is worthy of your time. The next time your in the Boston area, this tour is a must.
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.
The Articles of Confederation formally united the 13 colonies…
December 18, 2008 by TimHughes · 1 Comment
For a collector of historic American documents as printed in period newspapers a printing of the “Articles of Confederation” would be a very significant issue. With much credit to Wikipedia, the creation & importance of this document provides some fascinating reading:
The Articles of Confederation was the governing constitution of the alliance of thirteen independent and sovereign states known as the “United States of America.” The Articles’ ratification, proposed in 1777, was completed in 1781, legally uniting the states by agreement into the “United States of America” as a union with a confederation government. Under the Articles (and the succeeding Constitution) the states retained sovereignty over all governmental functions not specifically deputed to the central government.
The last draft of the Articles was written in the summer of 1777 and adopted by the Second Continental Congress on November 15, 1777 in York, Pennsylvania after a year of debate. The Articles set the rules for operations of the “United States” confederation. The confederation was capable of making war, negotiating diplomatic agreements, and resolving issues regarding the western territories; it could not mint coins (each state had its own currency) nor could it borrow money, whether inside or outside the United States. An important element of the Articles was that Article XIII stipulated that “their provisions shall be inviolably observed by every state” and “the Union shall be perpetual”.
The Articles were created by the chosen representatives of the states in the Second Continental Congress out of a perceived need to have “a plan of confederacy for securing the freedom, sovereignty, and independence of the United States.” Although serving a crucial role in the victory in the American Revolutionary War, a group of “federalists” felt that the Articles lacked provisions for a sufficiently effective government. The key criticism by those who favored a more powerful central state (the federalists) was that the government lacked taxing authority; it had to request funds from the states. Another criticism of the Articles was that they did not strike the right balance between large and small states in the legislative decision making process. Due to its one-state, one-vote structure, the larger states were expected to contribute more but had only one vote. The Articles were replaced by the United States Constitution when created in 1787.
Our issue of the Pennsylvania Ledger dated March 11, 1778 contains the complete printing of the Articles of Confederation. The many photos will allow you to enjoy the significance of the newspaper and to appreciate how those who held this actual edition some 230 years ago might have felt knowing the independent colonies were joining together for a common cause–to not only provide a foundation for a united country which might some day–hopefully–become a world player, but for more immediate purposes, to survive the incursions of the British during the ongoing Revolutionary War. In 1778 no one knew how either effort might turn out.
Enjoy the issue!
The Green Mountain Boys…
October 30, 2008 by Historys Newsstand · 1 Comment
A few years ago while looking for Revolutionary War content for the catalog, I was both surprised and delighted to discover a report in the February, 1781 issue of Gentleman’s Magazine that mentioned the
famous Green Mountain Boys of Vermont, and their equally famous leader Ethan Allen. The report reads: “Letters of a late date from America, formerly a rebel colonel, who resided at Bennington, in the upper part of New York, not well used, as he thought, by the Congress, has marched off with six hundred Green-mountain Boys, as they style themselves, and joined Major Carlton at Ticonderoga; and it is thought other townships will follow their example.” Although I have seen various newspaper reports mentioning Ethan Allen, this was the first and maybe the only reference to the Green Mountain Boys that I have seen in my twelve years at Hughes Rare & Early Newspapers.
If you’ve come across another report mentioning the Green Mountain Boys by name, feel free to share it.
Editor’s Note: Marc Pompeo is one of our in-house historians who has been on staff for more than a decade.
Finding those unexpected historical nuggets.
October 13, 2008 by TimHughes · 5 Comments
Few thrills are greater in the rare newspaper collecting hobby than finding the unexpected historic gem. Those moments of serendipity are the treasures we all hope for at some point in our quest for new additions to our collection.
I have come across many in my years of collecting with two among the more interesting.
Long before the days of the internet I subscribed to the catalogs of the prestigious Sotheby’s auction house in New York City as they occasionally ran Americana sales which included newspapers. One sale offered an 
issue of the SOUTH CAROLINA GAZETTE from August of 1776. Trying to assemble one newspaper of all thirteen colonies from the Revolutionary War, this would be a new addition to that set. The lengthy catalog description noted some war skirmishes but nothing significant. But that was not a concern to me as I was only seeking a title from that colony from during the war, and the date of 1776 made it that much better. I placed my bid and was excited to learn I won the issue.
Several weeks later the issue arrived. In preparing it for my collection I casually looked over the content, and you can imagine my shock upon finding on page 2 a complete printing of the Declaration of Independence! I couldn’t imagine the incompetence of the cataloger–employed by Sotheby’s no less–who missed this report.
Not many years ago we purchased the newspaper holding of a public library in Massachusetts which includes a lengthy run of a Springfield newspaper, in fact two truckloads of volumes ranging from the mid-1800’s thru the latter part of the 20th century. Knowing the wealth of historical material which could be culled from this collection we put our attention to those events for several months upon its return to our
office & warehouse in Williamsport. Some time later we realized that the sport of basketball was founded in Springfield. Could we be so fortunate to to find a report off the very first game every played? Did the local newspaper even report what is now an extremely significant event in the history of basketball?
Indeed they did. The Springfield Republican, March 12, 1892 issue reported somewhat inconspicuously on page 6 an event headed “Basket Football Game” played the day before (which we now recognize as the first public basketball game), with mention of James Naismith who is recognized as the founder of the sport. It was a thrill to find the report which languished for over 100 years, unbeknown to anyone, in the back shelves of a library. Curiously the curator of the Basketball Hall of Fame didn’t appreciate its significance, however the Smithsonian Institution did as it now is part of their collection.
What historical gems have you discovered serendipitously in issues purchased for another reason, or as part of a collection where nothing special was expected? Feel free to share your stories with other collectors!