The reason I collected it: a movement that went nowhere…

October 11, 2024 by  
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I remember when I first encountered this newspaper I thought it was in a foreign language. But it wasn’t in a  language we typically encounter. Then I took a more careful look.

The title of the newspaper is the: “AI ANGLO SACSUN” and is dated May 29, 1847. This  is the volume 1, number 11 issue of an attempt to exploit a movement to spell words phonetically, just as they sounded. So their motto in the dateline is: “Devoted Tu Ai Difyushun ov Nolej and Nuz, Tru Ai Medium of Fonotipi, or the Tru System ov Spelin Wurdz As Iz, Just Az ae are Pronnst.” (difficult to translate as they use some characters not in the traditional alphabet. Their alphabet is found on page 3).
The entire issue has various articles spelled phonetically, which takes some getting used to. But within a few minutes, it’s easy to fall into the rhythm of reading phonetically. Otherwise the layout is much like other newspapers of the era, with a very decorative masthead.
This was obviously a movement that never caught on, but it did leave behind this interesting curiosity to delight collectors close to 200 years later.

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One Response to “The reason I collected it: a movement that went nowhere…”

  1. The October (2024) Newsletter from Timothy Hughes Rare & Early Newspapers… : History's Newsstand Blog on November 7th, 2024 11:24 am

    […] The reason I collected it: a movement that went nowhere… […]

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