New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1915-03-07

fer surpassed the latter as vendors Of patent
medicines.
When did New York have its first weekly
newspaper Its daily papers of to-day have
been too busy increasing their number of pages
and bringing out editions at almost every hour
of the day to pay any attention to the little
local sheets Of two small pages to the issue
and of only two columns to the page which
circulated weekly among few hundred sub
scribers in the late eos ard the early COS of
the eighteenth century. This fact is not sur
prising, for the fingers of the modern news
paper press, having written, move on.
RESURRECTING OLD DATES IN THE
NAME OF HISTORY.
But il is surprising that the historians, both
national and local. should have kept on all
these years repeating an error-made IN the
year I8Io-concerning the time the first news
paper was established in New York. When
in that year Isaiah Thomas published his His
tory of Printing in America" he undoubtedly
knew at first hand about the early journalism
OF New England, but upon what data he based
the assertion that The New York Gazette"
printed by William Bradford, made its appear
ance on October 10, 1925, is matter of doubt
There does not seem to be the slightest evil
dence for such date. Yet historians, in spite
of the evidence, persist in putting it into their
looks.
While three copies and part of another Of
the first issue of THE Boston NEWSLETTER"
the first newspaper in this country, are still in
existence, copy of the first issue of The
New York Gazette" is known. There are,
however, copies of the paper published in the
first half of 1926. Taking any one of these
and figuring backward from the printed num-
Der given for that issue, one finds that Volume
l. No. /. should be dated November to No
vember 8, 1725. In other words, it was pub
lished on November g. l725.
Bradford's day of publication was on Mon
day. Any almanac for 1925 shows that Octo-
Der 10, the date given by Thomas, falls, not
on Monday, but on Saturday "The Boston
News etter" set the fashion when it brought
out it's first number on Monday. CThe sec
ond newspaper in Gotham, THE New-York
Weekly Journal" was started on Monday
or Munday, as Peter Zenger spet it)
THE ANTIQUARIAN SOCIETY REACHES
A CONCLUSION.
When called these facts to the attention Of
the American Antiquarian Society at Worces-
fer Mass.-the revised edition of History Of
Printing in America" by Thomas, was issued
under the auspices Of that organization-l re-
ceved the following letter from its librarian
Clarence S. Brigham:
We have Isaiah Thomass annotated and cor
rected copy for a second edition of his History
of Printing" but practically none of the notes
and letters which he must have gathered III '"e
compiling of his work. | confess that we cannot
answer definitely your query regarding the ms'
issue of "The New York Gazette" Since ne repro
duces the heading of the second number OF the
naper showing concusively that 1t is dated
October o. 1926 should be inclined to accept
the date of October 16 as the first issue until 1t
was absolutely proved to the contrary. | have
found Thomas generally correct in his state
ments regarding the dates of papers which he
had personally seen, and from the TACT that ne
goes to the unusual length of reproducing the
title Of the paper | would be inclined TO credit
his statement largely because of this ocular proof
II is true that the first issue located in recent
years that Of March 7, 1885, No. 49, would seem
to show that the paper had started on November
s. 1925 yet il is very common TO find publisher
of any one OF these early papers Skipping ISSUES
or postponing publication for fortnight or more.
because of lack of paper, Sickness etc. In pre-
paring my autobiography Of American newspa-
pers" have progressed only as far, alphabetically,
as Massachusetts,. Since this autobiography" at
tempts to list files, or even stray copies, OF all
carly newspapers possessed by all Libraries in
the country it is possible that some earlier copy
of "The New York Gazette" may turn up looked
through our file of "The Boston Newsletter" of
1885 and of "The American Weekly Mercury" of
Philadelphia for 1885 to if there might
he some mention of the early numbers of 1.-THE
New York Gazette" but found nothing.
THE EDITOR NEEDED ENCOURAGE
MENT, AND SAID SO.
The point made by Mr.. Brigham is we'll
taken. In discussing the matter with Will
berforce Eames, of the New York Public
Library, who has made special study OF the
earlv New York papers, / found that he had