COLLATION of NUMBERS AND DATES

BOSTON POST-BOY

1734			1735			1736			1737
Number	Date		Number	Date		Number	Date		Number	Date
	Oct.	7		Jan.	6	60	Jan.	5		Jan.	3
		14			13	61		12			10
		21			20	62		19			17
		28			27	63		26			24
	Nov.	4		Feb.	3	64	Feb.	2			31
		11			10	65		9		Feb.	7
		18			17	66		16			14
		25			24	67		23			21
	Dec.	2		March	3	68	March	1			28
		9			10	69		8		March	7
		16			17	70		15	122		14
		23			24			22			21
		30			31	72		29			28
				April	7	73	April	5		April	4
					14	74		12			11
			23		21	75		19			18
					28			26			25
				May	5		May	3		May	2
			26		12			10			9
					19			17			16
			28		26			24			23
				June	2			31			30
			30		9		June	7		June	6
			31		16			14			13
			32		23			21			20
			33		30			28			27
				July	7		July	5		July	4
			35		14			12			11
			36		21			19			18
			37		28			26			25
			38	Aug.	4		Aug.	2		Aug.	1
			39		11			9			8
			40		18			16			15
			41		25			23			22
			42	Sept.	1			30			29
			43		8		Sept.	6		Sept.	5
			44		15			13			12
			45		22			20			19
			46		29			27			26
			47	Oct.	6		Oct.	4		Oct.	3
			48		13			11			10
			49		20			18	154		17
			50		27	102		25			24
			51	Nov.	3		Nov.	1			31
			52		10			8		Nov.	7
			53		17			15			14
			54		24			22			21
			54	Dec.	1			29			28
			56		8		Dec.	6		Dec.	5
			57		15			13			12
			58		22			20			19
					29			27			26

BOSTON POST-BOY

1738			1739			1740			1741
Number	Date		Number	Date		Number	Date		Number	Date
	Jan.	2	220	Jan.	1	300	Jan.	7		Jan.	5
		9			8	301		14	353		12
		16	222		15	302		21	354		10
		23	223		22	303		28	355		28
		30	224		29		Feb.	4		Feb.	2
	Feb.	6	225	Feb.	5			11	357		9
		13			12			18			18
172		20	227		19			25	359		28
		27	228		26	308	March	3		March	2
	March	6	229	March	5			10			9
		18			12	310		17	362		16
		20	231		19	311		24			23
180		27	232		26	312		31	364		30
	April	3	233	April	2	313	April	7	365	April	6
		10	234		9	314		14	366		18
		17	235		16	315		21			20
		24			23	316		28			27
	May	1	237		30	317	May	5	369	May	4
		8		May	7	318		12	370		11
		15	239		14	319		19			18
		22			21	320		26	372		29
		29	241		28		June	2	373	June	1
	June	5	242	June	4	322		9	375		8
		12	243		11			16			16
		19	244		18	323		23			22
		26	245		25			30	378		29
194	July	3	246	July	2	325	July	7	379	July	6
		10	247		9	326		14	380		18
		17	248		16			21	381		20
		24			23			28	382		27
		31	250		30	329	Aug.	4	383	Aug.	3
	Aug.	7		Aug.	6			11	384		10
		14	252		13			18	385		17
		21	253		20			25			24
		28	245		27	333	Sept.	1	387		31
203	Sept.	4	246	Sept.	3	334		8	388	Sept.	7
		11	247		10			15			11
		18	248		17			22	390		21
		25	249		24			29	391		28
	Oct.	2		Oct.	1		Oct.	6	392	Oct.	5
		9	251		8			18	393		12
		16	252		15			20			19
		23			22			27			28
		30	254		29	342	Nov.	3	305137	Nov.	2
212	Nov.	6	255	Nov.	5			10	366		9
213		13			12			17			16
		20			19			24	368		23
		27			26		Dec.	1	369		30
	Dec.	4		Dec.	3			8	370	Dec.	7
		11			10			15	371		14
		18			17			22	372		21
		25			24			29	373		28
					31

BOSTON POST-BOY

1742			1743			1744			1745
Number	Date		Number	Date		Number	Date		Number	Date
374	Jan.	4		Jan.	3		Jan.	2		Jan.	7
375		11			10	474		9	527		14
376		18			17	475		16			21
340		25	423		24	476		23	529		28
341	Feb.	1			31	477		30		Feb.	4
342		8		Feb.	7	478	Feb.	6	531		11
343		15			14	479		13			18
344		22	427		21	480		20			25
345	March	1	428		28	481		27	534	March	4
346		8	428	March	7	482	March	5	535		11
347		15			14	482		12			18
348		22			21	484		19	537		25
		29			28	485		26		April	1
	April	5		April	4	486	April	2	539		8
350		12	434		11	487		9	540		15
351		19			18	488		16	541		22
352		26			25	489		23	542		29
353	May	3	437	May	2	490		30	542	May	6
		10	438		9	491	May	7	544		13
356		17	439		16	492		14	545		20
		24			23	493		21			27
		31	441		30	494		28		June	3
	June	7		June	6	495	June	4	548		10
391		14			13	496		11	549		17
392		21			20	497		18			24
393		28	445		27	498		25		July	1
394	July	5		July	4	499	July	2	552		8
395		12	447		11	499		9			15
396		19			18			16	554		22
		26	449		25	502		23			29
398	Aug.	2		Aug.	1	503		30		Aug.	5
399		9			8	504	Aug.	6			12
400		16	452		15			13	559		19
401		23	453		22	506		20	560		26
402		30	454		29	507		27		Sept.	2
403	Sept.	6		Sept.	5	508	Sept.	3			9
404		13			12	509		10			16
405		20			19			17	564		23
406		27			26	511		24	565		30
407	Oct.	4		Oct.	3	512	Oct.	1	566	Oct.	7
408		11			10	513		8	568		14
409		18	462		17	514		15			21
410		25	463		24	515		22			28
411	Nov.	1	464		31	516		29	571	Nov.	4
412		8		Nov.	7	517	Nov.	5	572		11
413		15			14	518		12			18
414		22			21	519		19	574		25
		29	468		28	520		26	575	Dec.	2
416	Dec.	6		Dec.	5	521	Dec.	3	576		9
		13			12	522		10			16
		20			19	523		17			23
		27			26	524		24	579		30
						524		31

BOSTON POST-BOY

1746			1747			1748			1749
Number	Date		Number	Date		Number	Date		Number	Date
580	Jan.	6	633	Jan.	5	685	Jan.	4	737	Jan.	2
581		18	634		12	686		11	738		9
582		20	635		19			18	739		16
588		27	636		26	688		25	740		28
585	Feb.	3	637	Feb.	2	689	Feb.	1	741		30
586		10	638		9	690		8	742	Feb.	6
587		17	639		16	691		15	743		18
588		24	640		23	692		22	744		20
589	March	3	641	March	2	693		29	745		27
590		10	642		9	694	March	7	746	March	6
		17	643		16	695		14	747		18
592		24			23	696		21	748		20
593		31	645		30	697		28	749		27
594	April	7	646	April	6		April	4	750	April	3
595		14	647		13			11	751		10
596		21	648		20			18	752		17
597		28	649		27			25	753		24
598	May	5	650	May	4	702	May	2	754	May	1
599		12	651		11	703		9	755		8
600		19			18	704		16	756		16
601		26			25	705		23	756		22
602	June	2	654	June	1	706		30	757		20
603		9	655		8	707	June	6	758	June	5
604		16	656		15	708		13	759		12
605		23	657		22	709		20	760		l
606		30			29	710		27	761		26
607	July	7	659	July	6	711	July	4	762	July	3
608		14	660		13	712		11	763		10
609		21	661		20	713		18	764		17
610		28			27			25	765		24
611	Aug.	4	663	Aug.	3	715	Aug.	1	766		31
612		11	664		10			8	767	Aug.	7
613		18	665		17	717		15	768		14
614		25	666		24	718		22	769		21
615	Sept.	1	667		31	719		29	770		28
616		8	668	Sept.	7		Sept.	5	771	Sept.	4
617		15	669		14			12	772		11
618		22	670		21			19	773		18
619		29	671		28			26	774		25
620	Oct.	6	672	Oct.	5		Oct.	3	775	Oct.	2
621		13	673		12			10	776		9
622		20	674		19			17	777		16
623		27	675		26			24	778		28
624	Nov.	3	676	Nov.	2			31	778		30
625		10	677		9		Nov.	7	779	Nov.	6
626		17	678		16			14	780		18
627		24	679		23			21	781		20
628	Dec.	1	680		30			28	782		27
629		8	681	Dec.	7	733	Dec.	5	783	Dec.	4
630		15	682		14	734		12	784		11
631		22	683		21			19	785		18
632		29	684		28			26	786		26

BOSTON POST-BOY

1750			1751			1752			1753
Number	Date		Number	Date		Number	Date		Number	Date
787	Jan.	1	837	Jan.	7	889	Jan.	6	939	Jan.	1
788		8	839		14	890		13	940		8
789		15	840		21	891		20	941		16
790		22	841		28	892		27	942		22
791		29	842	Feb.	4	893	Feb.	3	943		29
792	Feb.	5	843		11	894		10	944	Feb.	5
793		12	844		18	895		17	945		12
794		19	845		25	896		24	946		19
795		26	846	March	4	897	March	2	947		28
795	March	5	847		11	898		9	948	March	5
796		12	848		18	899		16	949		12
		19	849		25	900		23	950		19
798		26	850	April	1	901		30	951		26
	April	2	851		8	902	April	6	952	April	2
800		9	852		15	903		13	953		9
		16	853		22	904		20	954		16
802		23	854		29	905		27			23
803		30	855	May	6	906	May	4	956		30
804	May	7	856		13	907		11	957	May	7
		14	857		20	908		18	958		14
806		21	858		27	909		25	959		21
807		28	858	June	3	910	June	1	960		28
808	June	4	859		10	911		8	961	June	4
809		11			17	912		15			11
810		18	861		24	913		22	963		18
811		25	862	July	1	914		29	964		25
812	July	2			8	915	July	6	965	July	2
813		9	864		15	916		13			9
814		16	865		22	917		20	967		16
815		23	866		29			27	968		28
816		30	867	Aug.	5	919	Aug.	3	969		30
817	Aug.	6	868		12	920		10	970	Aug.	6
818		13	869		19	921		17			13
819		20	870		26	922		24	972		20
820		27	871	Sept.	2	923		31			27
821	Sept.	3	872		9	924	Sept.	18		Sept.	3
822		10	873		16	925		25			10
823		17	874		23	926	Oct.	2			17
824		24	875		30	927		9			24
825	Oct.	1	876	Oct.	7	928		16		Oct.	1
826		8	877		14	929		23			8
826		15	878		21	930		30			15
		22	879		28	931	Nov.	6			22
828		29	880	Nov.	4	932		13			2
829	Nov.	5	881		11			20	983	Nov.	5
830		12	882		18	934		27	984		12
		19	883		25	935	Dec.	4			19
831		26	884	Dec.	2	936		11	986		26
832	Dec.	3	885		9	937		18	978	Dec.	3
833		10	886		16	938		25	979		10
834		17	887		23						17
835		24	888		30				981		24
836		31							982		31

BOSTON POST-BOY

1754			1757			1758			1759
Number	Date		Number	Date		Number	Date		Number	Date
983	Jan.	7	1	Aug.	22	20	Jan.	2	72	Jan.	1
984		14	2		29	21		9	73		8
985		21	3	Sept.	5	22		16	74		18
984		28	4		12	23		23	75		22
985	Feb.	4	5		19	24		30	76		29
988		11	6		26	25	Feb.	6	77	Feb.	5
		18	7	Oct.	3	26		13	78		12
		25	8		10	27		20	79		19
989	March	4	9		17	28		27	80		26
990		11	10		24	29	March	6	81	March	5
991		18	11		31	30		13	82		12
992		25	12	Nov.	7	31		20	83		19
993	April	1	13		14	32		27	84		26
994		8	14		21	33	April	3	85	April	2
		15	15		28	34		10	86		9
996		22	16	Dec.	5	35		17	87		16
997		29	17		12	36		24	88		23
	May	6	18		19	37	May	1	89		30
		13	19		26	38		8		May	7
		20				39		15	91		14
1001		27				40		22	92		21
	June	3				41		29	93		28
		10				42	June	5	94	June	4
		17				43		12	95		11
		24				44		19	96		18
1006	July	1				45		26	97		25
1007		8				46	July	3	98	July	2
1008		15				47		10	99		9
1009		22				48		17	100		16
1010		29				49		24	101		23
1011	Aug.	5				50		31	102		30
		12				51	Aug.	7	103	Aug.	6
1013		19				52		14	104		18
1014		26				53		21	105		20
1015	Sept.	2				54		28	106		27
1016		9				55	Sept.	4	107	Sept.	3
1017		16				56		11	108		10
1018		23				57		18	109		17
1019		30				58		25	110		24
1020	Oct.	7				59	Oct.	2	111	Oct.	1
1021		14				60		9	112		8
1022		21				61		16	113		15
1023		28				62		23	114		22
1024	Nov.	4				63		30	115		29
1025		118				64	Nov.	6	116	Nov.	5
		18				65		13	117		12
1026		25				66		20	118		19
1027	Dec.	2				67		27	119		26
1028		9				68	Dec.	4	120	Dec.	3
1029		16				69		11	121		10
1030		23				70		18	122		17
						71		25	123		24
									124		31

BOSTON POST-BOY

1760			1761			1762			1763
Number	Date		Number	Date		Number	Date		Number	Date
125	Jan.	7	177	Jan.	5	229	Jan.	4	281	Jan.	3
126		14	178		12	230		11	282		10
127		21	179		19	231		18	283		17
128		28	180		26	232		25	284		24
129	Feb.	4	181	Feb.	2	233	Feb.	1	285		31
130		11	182		9	234		8	286	Feb.	7
131		18	183		16	235		15	287		14
132		25	184		23	236		22	288		21
133	March	3	185	March	2	237	March	1	289		28
134		10	186		9	238		8	289	March	7
135		17	187		16	239		15	291		14
136		24	188		23	240		22	292		21
137		31	189		30	241		29	293		28
138	April	7	190	April	6	242	April	5	294	April	4
139		14	191		13	243		12	295		11
140		21	192		20	244		19	296		18
141		28	193		27	245		26	297		25
142	May	5	194	May	4	246	May	3	298	May	2
143		12	195		11	247		10	299		9
144		19	196		18	248		17	300		16
145		26	197		25	249		24	301		23
146	June	2	198	June	1	250		31	302		30
147		9	199		8	251	June	7	303	June	6
148		16	200		15	252		14	304		13
149		23	201		22	253		21	305		20
150		30	202		29	254		28	306		27
151	July	7	203	July	6	255	July	5	307	July	4
152		14	204		13	256		12	308		11
153		21	205		20	257		19	309		18
154		28	206		27	258		26	310		25
155	Aug.	4	207	Aug.	3	259	Aug.	2	311	Aug.	1
156		11	208		10	260		9	312		8
157		18	209		17	261		16	313		15
158		25	210		24	262		23	314		22
159	Sept.	1	211		31	263		30	315		29
160		8	212	Sept.	7	264	Sept.	6	316	Sept.	5
161		15	213		14	205		13	317		12
162		22	214		21	266		20	318		19
163		29	215		28	267		27	319		26
164	Oct.	6	216	Oct.	5	268	Oct.	4	320	Oct.	3
165		13	217		12	269		11	321		10
166		20	218		19	270		18	322		17
167		27	219		26	271		25	323		24
168	Nov.	3	220	Nov.	2	272	Nov.	1	324		31
169		10	221		9	273		8	325	Nov.	7
170		17	222		16	274		15	326		14
171		24	223		23	275		22	327		21
172	Dec.	1	224		30	276		29	328		28
173		8	225	Dec.	7	277	Dec.	6	329	Dec.	5
174		15	226		14	278		13	330		12
175		22	227		21	279		20	331		19
176		29	228		28	280		27	332		26

BOSTON POST-BOY

1764			1765			1766			1767
Number	Date		Number	Date		Number	Date		Number	Date
333	Jan.	2	386	Jan.	7	438	Jan.	6	490	Jan.	5
334		9	387		14	439		13	491		12
335		16	388		21	440		20	492		19
336		23	389		28	441		27	493		26
337		30	390	Feb.	4	442	Feb.	3	494	Feb.	2
338	Feb.	6	391		11	443		10	495		9
339		13	392		18	444		17	496		16
340		20	393		25	445		24	497		23
341		27	394	March	4	446	March	3	498	March	2
342	March	5	395		11	447		10	499		9
343		12	396		18	448		17	500		16
344		19	397		25	449		24	501		23
345		26	398	April	1	450		31	502		30
346	April	2	399		8	451	April	7	503	April	6
347		9	400		15	452		14	504		13
348		16	401		22	453		21	505		20
349		23	402		29	454		28	506		27
350		30	403	May	6	455	May	5	507	May	4
351	May	7	404		13	456		12	508		11
352		14	405		20	457		19	509		18
353		21	406		27	458		26	510		25
354		28	407	June	3	459	June	2	511	June	1
355	June	4	408		10	460		9	512		8
356		11	409		17	461		16	513		15
357		18	410		24	462		23	514		22
358		25	411	July	1	463		30	515		29
358	July	2	412		8	464	July	7	516	July	6
360		9	413		15	465		14	517		18
361		16	414		22	466		21	519		20
362		23	415		29	467		28	519		27
363		30	416	Aug.	5	468	Aug.	4	520	Aug.	3
364	Aug.	6	417		12	469		11	521		10
365		13	418		19	470		18	522		17
366		20	419		26	471		25	523		21
367		27		Sept.	2	472	Sept.	1	524		31
367	Sept.	3	421		9	473		8	525	Sept.	7
369		10	422		16	474		15	526		14
370		17	423		23	475		22	527		21
371		24	424		30	476		29	528		28
372	Oct.	1	425	Oct.	7	477	Oct.	6	529	Oct.	5
373		8			14	478		13	530		12
374		15			21	479		20	531		19
375		22	428		28	480		27	532		26
376		29	429	Nov.	4	481	Nov.	3	533	Nov.	2
377	Nov.	5	430		11	482		10	534		9
378		12	431		18	483		17	535		16
379		19			25	484		24	536		28
380		26	433	Dec.	2	485	Dec.	1	537		30
381	Dec.	3	434		9	486		8	538	Dec.	7
382		10	435		16	487		15	539		14
383		17	436		23	488		22	540		21
384		24	437		30	489		29	541		28
385		31

BOSTON POST-BOY

1768			1769			1770			1771
Number	Date		Number	Date		Number	Date		Number	Date
542	Jan.	4	594	Jan.	2	645	Jan.	1	695	Jan.	7
543		11	595		9	645		8	696		14
544		18	596		16	646		15	697		21
545		25	597		23	647		22	698		28
546	Feb.	1	598		30	648		29	699	Feb.	4
547		8	599	Feb.	6	649	Feb.	5	700		11
548		15	600		13	650		12	701		18
549		22	601		20	651		19	702		20
550		29	602		27	652		26	703	March	4
551	March	7	603	March	6	653	March	5	704		11
552		14	604		13	654		12	705		18
553		21	605		20	655		19	706		25
554		28	606		27	657		26	707	April	1
555	April	4	607	April	3	658	April	2	708		8
556		11	608		10	659		9	709		15
557		18	609		17	660		16	710		22
558		25	610		24	661		23	711		29
559	May	2	611	May	1	662		30	712	May	6
560		9	612		8	663	May	7	713		13
561		16	613		15	664		14	714		20
562		23	614		22	665		21	715		27
563		30	615		29	666		28	716	June	3
564	June	6	616	June	5	667	June	4	717		10
565		13	617		12	668		11	718		17
566		20	618		19	669		18	719		24
567		27	619		26	670		25	720	July	1
568	July	4	620	July	3	671	July	2	721		8
569		11	621		10	672		9	722		15
570		18	622		17	673		16	723		22
571		25	623		24	674		23	724		29
572	Aug.	1	624		31	675		30	725	Aug.	5
573		8	625	Aug.	7	676	Aug.	6	729		12
574		15	626		14	677		13	730		19
575		22	627		21	678		20	731		26
576		29	628		28	679		27	732	Sept.	2
577	Sept.	5	629	Sept.	4	797	Sept.	3	733		9
578		12	630		11	681		10	734		16
579		19	631		18	682		17	735		23
580		26	632		25	683		24	736		30
581	Oct.	3	633	Oct.	2	684	Oct.	1	737	Oct.	7
582		10	634		9	685		8	738		14
583		17	636		16	686		15	739		21
584		24	636		23	687		22	740		28
585		31	637		30	688		29	741	Nov.	4
586	Nov.	7	638	Nov.	6	689	Nov.	5	742		11
587		14	637		13	687		12	743		18
588		21	638		20	688		19	744		25
589		28	639		27	689		26	745	Dec.	2
590	Dec.	5	640	Dec.	4	690	Dec.	3	746		9
591		12	641		11	691		10	747		16
592		19	642		18	692		17	748		23
		26	643		25	693		24	749		30
						694		31

BOSTON POST-BOY

1772			1773			1774			1775
Number	Date		Number	Date		Number	Date		Number	Date
750	Jan.	6	802	Jan.	4	854	Jan.	3	906	Jan.	2
751		13	803		11	855		10	907		9
752		20	804		18	856		17	908		16
753		27	805		25	857		24	909		23
754	Feb.	3	806	Feb.	1	858		31	910		30
755		10	807		8	859	Feb.	7	911	Feb.	6
756		17	808		15	860		14	912		18
757		24	809		22	861		21	913		20
758	March	2	810	Marc	1	862		28	914		27
759		9	811		8	863	March	7	915	March	6
760		16	812		15	864		14	916		13
761		23	813		22	865		21	917		20
762		30	814		29	866		28	918		27
763	April	6	815	April	5	867	April	4	919	April	3
764		13	816		12	868		11	920		10
765		20	817		19	869		18	921		17
766		27	818		26	870		25
767	May	4	819	May	3	871	May	2
768		11	820		10	872		9
769		18	821		17	873		16
770		25	822		24	874		23
771	June	1	823		31	875		30
772		8	824	June	7	876	June	6
773		15	825		14	877		13
774		22	826		21	878		20
775		29	827		28	879		27
776	July	6	828	July	5	880	July	4
777		13	829		12	881		11
778		20	830		19	882		18
779		27	831		26	883		25
798	Aug.	3	832	Aug.	2	884	Aug.	1
781		10	833		9	885		8
782		17	834		16	886		15
783		24	835		23	887		22
784		31	836		30	888		29
785	Sept.	7	837	Sept.	6	889	Sept.	5
786		14	838		13	890		12
787		21	839		20	891		19
788		28	840		27	892		26
789	Oct.	5	841	Oct.	4	893	Oct.	3
790		12	842		11	894		10
791		19	843		18	895		17
792		26	844		25	896		24
793	Nov.	2	845	Nov.	1	897		31
794		9	846		8	898	Nov.	7
795		16	847		15	899		14
796		23	848		22	900		21
797		30	849		29	901		28
798	Dec.	7	850	Dec.	6	902	Dec.	5
780		14	851		13	903		12
799		21	852		20	904		19
801		28	853		27	905		26

1 Titles under which the newspapers are listed in the Check-List are printed in heavy face type.

2 Titles under which the newspapers are listed in the Check-List are printed in heavy face type.

3 The Boston News-Letter. Monday.

4 Reprint.

6 Day of publication changed from Monday to Thursday

7 Title changed to The Weekly News Letter.

9 Title changed to The Boston Weekly News-Letter

12 Owing a fire on 30 January, no paper was issued 31 January, 1734

15 By mistake dated 15 June, 1737

16 By mistake dated 5 January, 1737.

17 Some copies by mistake are dated 30 May, 1739

20 Some copies by mistake are dated 7 October 1740

26 Change from Old Style to New Style

27 Some copies of supplement by mistake are dated 4 June, 1756.

28 Title changed to The Boston News-Letter.

29 Title changed to The Boston News-Letter, And New-England Chronicle.

30 By mistake dated 5 May, 1762.

31 Some copies by mistake are dated 28 July, 1762

32 Title changed to The Boston News-Letter, and the New-England Chronicle

33 By mistake dated 11 May, 1763.

34 Title changed to The Massachusetts Gazette And Boston News-Letter.

35 Reprint

36 Title changed to The Massachusetts Gazette.

37 Title changed to The Massachusetts Gazette, And Boston News-Letter.

38 Title changed to The Boston Weekly News-Letter.

39 Title changed to The Massachusetts Gazette: and the Boston Weekly News-Letter

40 Some copies of Supplement by mistake are dated 5 June 1771.

41 For explanation of this number, see page 423 below.

42 Supplement is numbered 2032.

43 Supplement is numbered 3124.

44 For explanation of this number see p. 430, below.

45 Supplement only, without number.

46 Some copies are numbered 3361.

47 Supplement only, without number.

48 This issue apparently has no number.

49 The BOSTON GAZETTE, Monday.

50 Some copies by mistake are dated 31 May, 1724.

69 Title changed to The Boston Gazette, or New-England Weekly Journal. Day of publication changed from Monday to Tuesday.

70 Title changed to The Boston Gazette, or, Weekly Journal.

72 Change from Old Style to New Style.

73 Title changed to The Boston Gazette or Weekly Advertiser. Day of publication changed from Tuesday to Wednesday.

74 Day of publication changed from Wednesday to Tuesday.

75 By mistake dated 1 August, 1753.

76 Title changed to The Boston Gazette, or Country Journal. Day of publication changed from Tuesday to Monday.

77 Supplement by mistake is dated 26 January 1755.

78 Title changed to The Boston Gazette and Country Journal.

79 Reprint.

80 Reprint.

81 Reprint.

82 Reprint.

83 No issues published between 17 April and 5 June, 1775.

84 Published in Watertown.

85 Published again in Boston.

86 Some copies by mistake are dated 9 June, 1777.

87 Some copies by mistake are dated 2 January, 1779.

88 Title changed to The Boston Gazette, and the Country Journal.

89 Some copies of Supplement are numbered 75.

90 Some copies of Supplement are numbered 943.

91 Some copies of Supplement are numbered 860.

92 Some copies are numbered 666.

93 Some copies are numbered 668.

94 Supplement is numbered 997.

95 The New-England Courant. Monday.

96 Reprint.

97 Reprint.

98 Reprint.

99 Reprint.

100 Reprint.

101 Reprint.

102 Day of publication changed from Monday to Saturday.

103 No paper was issued 14 May, 1726.

104 The New-England Weekly Journal. Monday.

105 Reprint.

106 Reprint.

107 Reprint.

108 Reprint.

109 Reprint.

110 Reprint.

111 Reprint.

112 Some copies by mistake are dated 4 September, 1728.

113 Some copies by mistake are dated 30 March, 1729.

114 Some copies by mistake are dated 31 June, 1729.

115 Some copies by mistake are dated 4 October, 1730.

116 Day of publication changed from Monday to Tuesday.

117 Some copies by mistake are dated 29 February, 1737.

118 Some copies by mistake are dated 29 February, 1738.

119 This issue has the word “Numb.,” but no figure following. From 27 March, 1727, to 28 April, 1735, the numbers were printed in Roman numerals; from 5 May, 1735, to 13 October, 1741, the numbers were printed in Arabic numerals.

120 By mistake printed CLIVI.

121 By mistake printed CCXVXII.

122 The Weekly Rehearsal. Monday.

123

124

125 The first numbered issue.

126 See p. 467, below.

127 The Boston Weekly Post-Boy. Monday.

128 Title changed to The Boston Post-Boy.

129 Change from Old Style to New Style.

130 Publications suspended between 23 December 1754, and 22 August, 1757.

131 Title changed to The Boston Weekly Advertiser.

132 Title changed to Green & Russell’s Boston Post Boy & Advertiser. Some copies by mistake are dated 1 January, 1758.

133 By mistake dated 22 November, 1761.

134 Title changed to The Boston Post-Boy & Advertiser.

135 Title changed to The Massachusetts Gazette, and the Boston Post-Boy and Advertiser. Some copies by mistake are dated 1 October, 1769.

136 Some copies by mistake are dated 5 November, 1771.

137 Perhaps 395.

138 The Boston Evening-Post. Monday.

139

140 Some copies by mistake are dated 2 January, 1743.

141 Some copies by mistake are dated 9 January, 1743.

142

143 Some copies by mistake are dated 16 January, 1743.

144 By mistake dated 21 February, 1748.

145 Change from Old Style to New Style.

146 Some copies by mistake are dated 6 April, 1757.

147 For explanation of this number, see p. 474, below.

148 Supplement is numbered 1624.

149 Some copies are numbered 1674.

150 The Independent Advertiser. Monday

151 Publication was probably suspended between 2 October and 5 December, 1749. See p. 477, below

152 See p. 477, below.

153 See p. 477, below.

154 The Boston Chronicle. Monday.

155 Printed Monday and Thursday.

156 Supplement without number.

157 Some copies by mistake are numbered 58.

158 Supplement without number.

159 Supplement without number.

160 Supplement without number.

161 Supplement without number.

162 The Massachusetts Gazette. Monday and Thursday.

163 For explanation of this number, see pp. 487, 488, below.

164 The Massachusetts Spy. Printed Tuesday. No papers issued between 17 July and 7 August.

165 Reprint.

166 Printed Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday.

167 By mistake dated 10 August, 1770.

168 Printed Monday and Thursday.

169 Some copies by mistake are dated 3 September, 1770.

170 No papers issued between 1 February and 7 March, 1771.

171 Printed Thursday.

172 Title changed to The Massachusetts Spy Or, Thomas’s Boston Journal.

173 Supplement by mistake was dated 31 June, 1773.

174 Supplement is numbered 100.

175 Supplement is numbered 58.

176 Supplement is numbered 63.

177 Supplement by mistake is dated 31 June, 1773.

178 The New-England Chronicle or, the Essex Gazette. Friday. Printed in Cambridge.

179 Day of publication changed from Friday to Thursday.

180 No paper issued 15 February, 1776.

181 No paper issued 11 and 18 April, 1776.

182 Title changed to The New-England Chronicle. Printed in Boston.

183 Title changed to The Independent Chronicle.

184 Title changed to The Independent Chronicle. And the Universal Advertiser.

185 Some copies by mistake are dated Thursday, 20 November, instead of Friday, 21 November, 1777.

186 For explanation of this number, see p.493, below.

187 The Continental Journal, and Weekly Advertiser. Thursday.

188 Some copies by mistake are dated 19 September, 1777.

189 The printed number is XCVIV, evidently meant to be XCIX.

190 The Independent Ledger, and American Advertiser. Monday.

191 Title changed to The Independent Ledger, and the American Advertiser.

192 By mistake dated 12 November, 1780.

193 The Evening Post; and the General Advertiser. Saturday.

194 Title changed to The Morning Chronicle; and the General Advertiser. Day of publication changed from Saturday to Thursday.

195 The Editor wishes to express his indebtedness to Miss Ayer and to Miss Mary H. Rollins for aid rendered in collecting the necessary data.

196 Among these is Mr. William Nelson, though the error is corrected by a facsimile of the heading of the paper. In Mr. North’s account, the date of the first issue of the Boston News-Letter is variously given as April 4, 17, and 24, 1704. In his Boyhood and Youth of Franklin, written in 1829, Edward Everett erroneously stated that the Boston News-Letter began April 17, 1704, and that the Boston Gazette began December 14, 1719. (Orations and Speeches, 1850, ii. 22.) In the Massachusetts Magazine for April, 1790, was printed an extract taken from an English paper in which the statement was made that the first issue of the Boston News-Letter was published on April 17, 1704 (ii. 254, 255).

197 A few cases may be specified. In the Boston Athenæum file of the New-England Weekly Journal there is bound between the issues of 27 April and 4 May, 1730, “The Lords Protest On the Treaty of Peace, Union and Friendship, between Great-Britain, France and Spain; concluded at Seville on the 9th of November last [1729].” In the same library’s file of the Boston News-Letter there are bound between the issues of 14 and 21 February, 1715, two documents which are printed in the Publications of this Society, x. 345–352. In the Essex Institute’s file of the Boston Evening-Post there is bound between the issues of 9 and 16 January, 1769, a broadside dated “SALEM, Thursday January 12, 1769,” and headed “Important Advices!” It was doubtless printed by Samuel Hall at Salem. In the American Antiquarian Society’s file of the Boston News-Letter for 1751 there is bound a broadside containing an obituary notice of Paul Dudley taken from the issue of 7 February, 1751. For descriptions of other similar documents, see 2 Proceedings of the Massachusetts Historical Society, vi. 171–174, xv. 327–362. See also p. 500 note, below.

Occasionally a print as well as a document is bound in. At the beginning of the Boston Athenæum file of the Boston Evening-Post for 1765 is a print which is doubtless a copy of the one advertised in the issue of 4 November, 1765, as “A Caricatura, being a Representation of the Tree of Liberty, and the Distresses of the Present Day. Sold by N. Hurd” (p. 3/2). A long description of this caricature will be found in the supplement to the Boston News-Letter of 7 November, 1765 (p. 1/3).

198 Boston Athenæum copy. The New-England Historic Genealogical Society’s copy of the same issue lacks this notice.

199 The most singular supplement that has come under the notice of the Editor is one listed in this volume as belonging to the Boston Gazette of 26 December, 1726. It is without date, without number, without imprint, and without title. But the heading “POSTSCRIPT” stamps it as being the supplement to some newspaper, and the Boston Gazette and the Boston News-Letter were the only two published in Boston at that time. It is a broadside, printed in two columns, and consists wholly of extracts taken “[From the Weekly Jamaica Courant, Nov. 9.].”

200 A file of the Boston Chronicle in the Massachusetts State Library bears this endorsement: “This volume has been collated, and is complete from Dec. 26. 1769 to June 7. 1770.” The file, however, lacks the title-page to Volume iii.

201 This was unusual. In 1770 the New-England Chronicle was issued on Wednesday, March 6, instead of on Thursday, March 7. A supplement to the Boston News-Letter was issued on Wednesday, June 4, 1766. At the bottom of p. 2 was printed this notice: “The Gazette will be published To-morrow, as usual.” Across the top of the first page of the Boston News-Letter of 22 February, 1758, was printed this notice:

WEDNESDAY, February 22. 1758.

HAVING received two London Papers, one of the 20th of December the other of the 10th of January, bro’t by a Vessel arrived at Marblehead in a short Passage from Lisbon, and which contain many important Articles, at the pressing Desire of some Gentlemen, THIS PAPER is Published the Day before the usual Time.

N. B. A Postscript will be published To-morrow, with some other foreign as well as domestic Paragraphs, &c.

202 Several instances were given in the last note. Two others may be specified. The Boston Gazette was published on 24 and also on 25 July, 1727, and on 19 as well as on 20 October, 1741.

203 Attention may be called to a few examples. The New-England Courant was issued on Wednesday, 16 December, 1724, instead of on Monday, 14 December. The New-England Weekly Journal was issued on Tuesday, 14 April, and 11 August, 1730, though its regular day of publication at that time was Monday. The following issues of the Boston News-Letter appeared on Friday, instead of on Thursday: 18 October, 1723; 21 February, 1729; 29 January, 1748; 22 April, 1 July, 1757. The Massachusetts Spy was issued on Friday, 7 December, 1770, instead of the day before. The New-England Chronicle appeared on Friday, instead of on Thursday, on 24 November, 1775, and on 8 December, 1780. There were many similar instances.

204 An extraordinary irregularity that defies classification is the following. The supplement to the Boston News-Letter of 31 October, 1765, is dated “Thursday, October 31. 1765.” Near the top of the second column on the first page are four paragraphs of news headed “BOSTON, Oct. 31.” Immediately following these is the heading “Boston, November First;” and a little later is a paragraph beginning “This Morning two Effigies were discovered hanging on LIBERTY TREE,” etc. In short, this supplement, dated October 31, was printed partly on that day and partly on the next day, and was published on November 1, the day the Stamp Act went into effect. Again, the Boston News-Letter of 25 February, 1768, consisted of two leaves, as did also the supplement of the same date. But the supplement, though dated Thursday, February 25, was not published until the next day, the reason for the delay being given in the following notice printed at the bottom of p. 2/2:

*** The Publication of this Gazette Extraordinary, after the usual Time, is not to intercept any Articles of Intelligence from the Publishers of other Papers; — but the Notifications of Insolvent Debtors coming too late to set the Press for two Sheets in one Day, the Publisher thereof tho’t it best to be at the Trouble and Expence of tending one out a Day after the other.

205 A curious misprint occurs in the imprint of the Boston News-Letter of 14 April, 1712, where the year is misprinted 1172.

206 That the issue was actually published on Friday, 21 November, 1777, is proved by internal evidence.

207 New-England Weekly Journal, 28 February, 1737.

208 New-England Weekly Journal, 30 June. 1729.

209 When the wording in a footnote is “By mistake dated . . . ,” it means that every known issue is misdated. When the wording is “Some copies are by mistake dated . . . ,” it means that two editions were printed, one correctly dated, the other misdated. Every case of alleged irregularity has been inquired into.

210 The Boston News-Letter of 13 January, 1703, was misdated 11 January, 1763. At the bottom of p. 2 of that issue was printed this notice: “The Date in the Title of the News-Letter should be January 13th, instead of the 11th. The Error was not discovered till too late.”

211 See p. 481, below.

212 The most remarkable error in numbering was the following. The Boston Gazette of 28 April, 1740, was numbered 1057. The issue of 9 June, 1740, was numbered 1062. The only known issue between those two dates is that of 26 May, numbered 10510. See p. 176, above.

213 Occasionally an error in numbering was discovered. The issues of the New-England Courant of 11 and 18 March, 1723, were each numbered 84. In the issue of 25 March was printed this notice (p. 2/2): “[The Number of our last Paper should have been 85, and not 84, as was printed by mistake.].”

214 See in particular what is said about the numbering of the early issues of the Weekly Rehearsal, p. 463, below.

215 In the Massachusetts Historical Society’s copy of the Boston News-Letter of 18 October, 1731, the dates of both month and year are perfectly distinct. In the American Antiquarian Society’s copy of the same issue, the figures have been defaced by having a pen run through them. The copy may have been misdated, but the defacement of the figures makes it impossible to say with certainty.

216 Important historical conclusions have sometimes been drawn from evidence furnished by dates and numbers. In the American Historical Review for April, 1906, Mr. Alexander S. Salley, Jr., sought to prove that a certain facsimile of an alleged newspaper was spurious, and stated that “the wrong date and wrong number are not the only evidences of spuriousness on the face of the facsimile of this paper” (xi. 548–553). An examination of the Check-List and of the Collation of Numbers and Dates in this volume will show that evidence based on wrong dates and wrong numbers must be received with extreme caution.

217 The Rev. John Eliot.

218 Thomas’s work was reprinted at Albany in 1874 by the American Antiquarian Society. All extracts quoted in this volume are from the 1810 edition.

219 For reasons stated in their proper place, a single exception to this plan has been made in the case of the early years of the Boston Post-Boy. See pp. 465–470, below. The only biographical details given in this volume are death dates; and these are given not because they are biographical, but because they are also bibliographical. In two instances — those of Thomas Lewis and of Henry Marshall of the Boston Gazette — death dates make it possible to state exactly when a change in publisher took place. See p. 447 note 2, below. It has also been thought proper to indicate in the Index the often complicated relationships between publishers and printers of the same name.

220 The Boston Chronicle. See p. 483 note, below. There is also extant at least one copy of the prospectus of the Essex Gazette, issued 5 July, 1768. See p. 498, below.

221 An instance of hopeless confusion in titles is found in the statement that “in a few years the Advertiser took the name, by combination or substitution, of the News-Letter, Post-Boy, and Massachusetts Gazette, with which it was in alliance more or less intimate” (Memorial History of Boston, ii. 406).

222 Thus, on 20 July, 1778, the exact title of the Independent Ledger was changed from “The Independent Ledger, and American Advertiser” to “The Independent Ledger, and the American Advertiser.”

223 On and after 26 August, 1735, the hyphen was omitted in the title of the New-England Weekly Journal.

224 On and after 1 January, 1745, the comma was omitted after “or” in the title of the Boston Gazette.

225 On 26 April, 1773, a semicolon was substituted for a comma after the word “Gazette” in the title of the Boston Post-Boy. See also p. 439 note 2, below.

226 In one library the Boston Post-Boy for 1761 is labelled “Massachusetts Gazette.” Such a title was unknown in Boston until 1763, and not until 1769 was it adopted by the Boston Post-Boy. In one library a file of the Boston Post-Boy for 1770 is labelled “Massachusetts Gazette,” without a subtitle; and in one library a file of the Boston News-Letter for 1769 is labelled “Massachusetts Gazette,” without a subtitle.

227 Thus, the issues of the Boston News-Letter dated 24 April–15 May, 1704, were sold by Nicholas Boone.

228 Thus, the imprint of the Weekly Rehearsal of 27 December, 1731, stated that “Advertisements are taken in by T. Hancock, at the Bible and Three Crowns in Ann-Street;” while the imprint of the issue of 2 April, 1733, stated that “Advertisements are taken in” by Thomas Fleet, the printer, and “are also taken in by Mr. N. Belknap, Bookseller, near Clark’s Wharf at the North End.”

229 Curiosities in imprints occur. The main issue of the Boston News-Letter of 9 June, 1774, was published by Margaret Draper and John Boyle, but the supplement of the same date bears the name of John Boyle only. The supplement to the Boston Post-Boy of 18 December, 1758, bears the imprint, “Printed and sold by Green and Russell, at their Printing House in Queen Street. Sold also by J. Draper, at his Printing Office in Newbury Street.” Draper was the publisher of the Boston News-Letter. This is the only instance known to the Editor where an imprint bears the name of a rival publisher.

230 Imprints have been the means of detecting other errors in binding. Thus, the Boston Public Library file of the Boston News-Letter for 1768 contains a copy of the issue of the Massachusetts Gazette of 17 October, 1768, which ought to be bound in the file of the Boston Post-Boy, as it was published not by Draper but by Green and Russell. Again, the Boston Athenæum file of the Massachusetts Gazette contains a second leaf which belongs not to the issue of the Massachusetts Gazette of 8 August, 1768 (which contained a single leaf only), but to the issue of the Boston Post-Boy of 1 August, 1768. and should be bound in the file of the Boston Post-Boy, where will be found the first leaf of the issue of 1 August, 1768.

231 A device was occasionally omitted. Thus, the Independent Ledger of 17 April, 1780, was of smaller size than usual and was without a device. Occasionally, too, a device suddenly changed. Thus, the supplement to the Boston Evening-Post of 7 May, 1764, bore for a device a crown and under it a heart, all enclosed within a border. The design of this device was very different from the design of the device usually employed in the Boston Evening-Post.

232 In the Lenox Library, each leaf of every issue is hinged on guards of thin strong paper, and the issues are interleaved with blank leaves of stiff paper of somewhat larger size of leaf. When issues are missing the two leaves of thin strong paper used for guards are inserted full size, and when an issue is supplied these blank leaves are cut down to the inner margins and the issue is hinged to them. No more than one year is bound in a volume. At the beginning of each volume is inserted a typewritten list giving the number and date of each issue for the year included in the volume, those issues actually in the volume being indicated by a mark. This method is at once the best for the preservation of the papers, for their ready examination, and for the convenience of the inquirer; and its general adoption by librarians is to be desired.

233 See p. 477, below.

234 The only known copy of the original is in the Massachusetts Archives, xxxv. 83. It has been reprinted in the Massachusetts Magazine for October, 1789, i. 642–646; in the Collections of the New Hampshire Historical Society (1824, 1866), i. 252–255, viii. 258–260; in the Andros Tracts (1869), ii. 15–18; in facsimile by Mr. William G. Shillaber for the Club of Odd Volumes (1902); and in facsimile by Dr. Samuel A. Green in his Ten Fac-simile Reproductions Relating to Various Subjects (1903).

235 Publications, x. 310–320.

236 The only known copy of the original is in the Public Record Office, London. It has been reprinted by Dr. S. A. Green in the Historical Magazine for August, 1857, i. 228–231; in the National Intelligencer of 3 September, 1857, p. 4/1; by Frederic Hudson in his Journalism in the United States, from 1690 to 1872 (1873), pp. 44–48; and again, this time in facsimile, by Dr. Green in his Ten Fac-simile Reproductions Relating to Old Boston and Neighborhood (1901).

237 Several of these news-letters, written in 1703, are printed in 1 Proceedings of the Massachusetts Historical Society, ix. 485–501.

238 The only known copies of the issue of 24 April, 1704, are in the American Antiquarian Society, the Harvard College Library (a fragment only), the Massachusetts Historical Society, and the New York Historical Society. The copies in the American Antiquarian Society and in the New York Historical Society are identical, while the copy in the Massachusetts Historical Society differs from the former two and is probably the second or later edition. Dr. Green writes:

Both issues were struck off with the same font of type, as might be supposed, but the variations in the two editions show that there was a new setting up of the matter. It is not easy now to give the reason why this should have been so. It seems hardly probable that the first edition was so soon exhausted; and then, again, perhaps, the change in the advertising agency from Boone to Campbell, — who was now both editor and proprietor, — had something to do with the fact (Ten Fac-simile Reproductions Relating to Various Subjects, p. 16).

An examination of the present volume will show that the publication of two editions of the same issue, though of course not common, was by no means unknown.

The first issue of the Boston News-Letter has been reproduced several times, notably by Dr. Green in the volume quoted above, where facsimiles of both editions are given. The issue of 15 September, 1763, has also been reprinted.

239 A somewhat similar, but more elaborate practice was also employed for several years iu the New-England Weekly Journal. See pp. 458, 459, below.

240 Introductory Note, p. 410, above.

241 John Draper married Deborah Green, daughter of Bartholomew Green.

242 Temporary Acts and Laws (1755), pp. 146–148.

243 The Boston Evening-Post of 5 May, 1755, contained these lines (p. 1/1):

On the pretty Bird in the Margin.

The little pretty Picture here,

o’th Side looks well enough;

Though nothing to the Purpose ’tis,

’t will serve to set it off.

Again.

Although this Emblem has but little in’t

You must e’en take it, or you ’l have no Print.

244 The American Antiquarian Society’s file of the Boston Evening-Post is remarkable for its completeness, and also for the fact that many of the issues published between 30 April, 1755, and 30 April, 1757, are not stamped. The omission is explained by the following entry written in ink in the margin of the first page of the issue of 5 May, 1755:

Many of these papers appear without the Stamps. In this Paper it should first appear — but it is customary for Printers to print a few for their own files without stamps. This file was kept by Mr. Fleet for his own use, which accounts for the want of the stamps.

This entry, in the opinion of Mr. Edmund M. Barton, is possibly but not probably in the handwriting of Isaiah Thomas.

245 Massachusetts Archives, lviii. 475. The petition is printed, except the place, date, and the petitioner’s name, which are in the hand of Richard Draper.

246 Council Records, xv. 189.

247 Richard Draper remained the publisher of the paper, but associated with him as printer his cousin, Samuel Draper. The issues of 2 December, 1762 – 6 January, 1763, bore no imprint; the names of Richard and Samuel Draper as printers appeared in the issue of 13 January, 1763; and Richard Draper’s name as publisher first appeared in the issue of 7 April, 1763. Later, Samuel Draper became publisher as well as printer. See p. 438, below.

248 Council Records, xv. 232.

249 Ibid. xv. 241.

250 Statutes at Large (Cambridge, England, 1764), xxvi. 193, 194.

251 The facts in regard to the Boston News-Letter were set forth at length by Dr. Green in his Ten Fac-simile Reproductions Relating to New England (1903), pp. 40, 41. Throughout that period the Fleets omitted their names and imprint from the Boston Evening-Post; Green and Russell omitted their names and imprint from some, but not all, of the issues of the Boston Post-Boy; while of the Boston Gazette — the only other paper published in Boston during the same period — most of the issues bore the names and imprint of Edes and Gill, but a few issues had no imprint. The presence or absence of an imprint, as pointed out in the Introductory Note (p. 417, above), was apparently largely a matter of chance; and hence caution must be used in drawing conclusions from its omission.

On 7 November, 1765, the title of the Boston News-Letter was changed from “The Massachusetts Gazette. And Boston News-Letter” to “The Massachusetts Gazette;” and on 22 May, 1766, it was changed back again to “The Massachusetts Gazette. And Boston News-Letter.” Thomas stated that —

In the troublesome times occasioned by the Stamp act in 1765, some of the more opulent and cautions printers, when the act was to take place, put their papers in mourning, and, for a few weeks, omitted to publish them; others not so timid, but doubtful of the consequence of publishing newspapers without stamps, omitted the titles, or altered them, as an evasion: — for instance the Pennsylvania Gazette, and some other papers, were headed “Remarkable Occurrences, &c.”—other printers, particularly those in Boston, continued their papers without any alteration in title or imprint.

The facts recited in the text and in this note show that Thomas’s statement in regard to Boston papers was not quite accurate.

252 No other publishers changed the numbering of their papers.

253 How to treat this Massachusetts Gazette, published jointly by Draper and Green and Russell, is the most difficult problem that arises in connection with the Boston newspapers of the eighteenth century. The problem is solved in this volume by regarding the Massachusetts Gazette as a separate paper. See pp. 470, 471, 484–493, below.

254 This is the only notice regarding the peculiar arrangement between the Boston News-Letter and the Boston Post-Boy which has been noted in the Boston News-Letter or in the Boston Post-Boy or in the Massachusetts Gazette.

255 If by “its primitive Title” is meant its first title, the publisher made a mistake. The title adopted 26 May, 1768, was the third of the eleven titles under which the Boston News-Letter was known during its existence, and was originally adopted 5 November, 1730.

256 This was the eleventh and last title. But it should be added that the issue of 13 October, 1775, was entitled “The Massachusetts Gazette: Published Occasionally.”

257 April is doubtless a misprint for May.

258 The only known copy of this issue is somewhat mutilated, and the words within square brackets are conjectural.

259 A passage which appeared in the New-England Chronicle of 28 September, 1775, is pertinent (p. 3/2):

[The following curious Paragraphs were taken from Mrs. Draper’s last Boston Paper. The Impudence they contain is so gross, and the Falshood so notorious, as to render any Remark or Contradiction unnecessary.]

BOSTON, September 21.

Then follow several extracts which are of further interest as showing that an issue of the Boston News-Letter of which no copy is known was published on 21 September, 1775. It may be added that an issue of the Boston News-Letter of which no copy is known was also published on 8 February, 1776, for in the issue of 22 February there is an allusion (p. 1/1) to the issue of 8 February. Another fact of interest may be recorded here. Buckingham quotes from the issue of 16 November, 1775. When the Check-List in this volume was revised, no copy of that issue was known; but in May, 1906, a copy was given to the Boston Public Library.

260 John Campbell died 4 March, 1728 (Boston News-Letter, 7 March, 1728, p. 2/1).

261 Bartholomew Green died 28 December, 1732 (Boston News-Letter, 4 January, 1733, p. 2/1).

262 John Draper died 29 November, 1762 (Boston News-Letter, 2 December, 1762, p. 3/1).

263 Samuel Draper died 21 March, 1767 (Boston News-Letter, 26 March, 1767, p. 3/2).

264 Richard Draper died 5 June, 1774 (Boston News-Letter, 9 June, 1774, p. 1/1).

265 John Boyle died 18 November, 1819 (Publications of this Society, vi. 322 note).

266 Margaret Draper died in London, where her will was proved 12 February, 1807 (Suffolk Probate Records, no. 17015).

267 See pp. 435, 436, above.

268 John Howe died 29 December, 1835 (Collections of the Nova Scotia Historical Society, vi. 120).

269 In the issues of 6 January – 31 March, 1763, the Royal Arms had the letters “GR” above them. In the issue of 7 April, 1763, and in all subsequent issues, these letters were omitted. The same design was used in the issues of 7 April, 1763–31 October, 1765; of 22 May, 1766–19 May, 1768; and of 28 September, 1769–22 February, 1776; while the same design was also employed in the portion of the Massachusetts Gazette published by Draper on Thursdays from 26 May, 1768, to 21 September, 1769. See p. 473, below.

Isaiah Thomas said that Richard Draper “added, ‘The Massachusetts Gazette,’ to the title of ‘The Boston News-Letter,’ and decorated it with the king’s arms;” and remarked:

It had become fashionable, many years before the revolution, among publishers of newspapers, especially those whose title embraced the word Gazette, to ornament the titles with this ensign of royalty. But the printers in Boston had not followed this fashion.

However it may have been elsewhere, the evidence given in our text (pp. 426–429) shows that at least in the Boston newspapers the assumption of the Royal Arms was not a matter of whim or of individual taste on the part of publishers. The only Boston papers to assume the Royal Arms were the Boston News-Letter, the Boston Post-Boy, and the Massachusetts Gazette, the publishers of which were also the official publishers to the Government.

270 Attention has already been called to the curious signatures used in the Boston News-Letter and in the New-England Weekly Journal (p. 423, above, pp. 458, 459, below). Another peculiarity of certain Boston newspapers, which might cause confusion, should also be pointed out. In the early years of several newspapers, the letters “N.E.” or the words “New-England” were printed at the top of the first page, above the title; but such letters or words did not form part of the title.

271 Exactly how long Thomas Lewis remained Postmaster has apparently never been ascertained. Philip Musgrave died 18 May, 1725, and the Boston News-Letter of 27 May, 1725, contained the following notice (p. 2/2):

THese are to give Notice, That the Post-Office is Removed from Cornhill unto Mrs. Proctors in Queen-Street, Boston.

There are no known copies of the Boston Gazette between 17 May and 19 July, 1725. The imprints of the issues of 19 July–1 November, 1725, read: “Printed by S. Kneeland, for Thomas Lewis, Postmaster, at his Office in Queen-Street.” The imprints of the issues of 8 November–13 December, 1725, read: “Printed by S. Kneeland, for Thomas Lewis, at the Post Office.” The imprints of the issues of 20 December, 1725–21 February, 1726, read: “Printed by S. Kneeland, for Thomas Lewis, at Mrs. Proctor’s in Queen-Street.” The imprints of the issues of 28 February–18 April, 1726, read: “Printed for Thomas Lewis, by S. Kneeland, at the Printing-House in Queen-Street.” The imprint of the issue of 25 April, 1726, reads: “Printed for Henry Marshall Post Master, & Thomas Lewis, and Sold at the Post Office.”

272 The dates are those given by Brooker himself in the Boston Gazette of 11 January, 1720 (p. 1). In the Boston News-Letter of 8 September, 1718, the name of John Campbell as Postmaster occurred for the last time in the imprint. In the issue of 15 September, 1718, was printed this notice (p. 2/2):

ON Saturday last the 13th Currant the Post-Office in Boston was removed to the fifth Door to the Southward of the old Office, where all Persons are to receive out, and give in their Letters that come and go either by Post or Shipping.

273 The issue of 12 April, 1731, did not contain the words in question; hence they were resumed either on 3 May, or in some issue between 12 April and 3 May of which no copy is known.

274 The issue of 31 May, 1736, did not contain the words in question; hence they were used for the last time either in the issue of 31 May, or in some issue between 3 and 31 May of which no copy is known.

275 See pp. 466, 467, below.

276 Attention may be called to certain facts. The issues of the Boston Gazette dated 27 October and 3 November, 1741, were numbered 943 and 944, respectively. The issue of 10 November was numbered 1029. The New-England Weekly Journal had been printed on a much larger page than that on which the Boston Gazette was printed; the former contained one leaf, while the latter contained two leaves; and the former had three columns to a page, while the latter had but two. The New-England Weekly Journal had no device; the issue of the Boston Gazette dated 20 October had no device. The issue of 19 October had the same two devices which the Boston Gazette had borne for over six years. The issue of 27 October had two devices, one entirely new, the other newly cut of a different size. It seems probable that in giving the number 942 to the issue of 20 October, and in omitting the devices, the printers were somewhat confused between the New-England Weekly Journal and the Boston Gazette.

277 The only known copy of the issue of 26 December, 1752, is mutilated, but the issue of 19 December was numbered 1708.

278 Dr. Samuel A. Green writes:

The practice of reproducing odd numbers of early Boston newspapers in fac-simile without any token or explanation of the fact, may cause hereafter some confusion among librarians and others not familiar with the circumstances of the case (Ten Fac-simile Reproductions Relating to Various Subjects, p. 19).

Dr. Green then goes on to describe various issues which have thus been reproduced, though a few have escaped his attention, and he himself gives facsimile reproductions of the Boston News-Letter of 24 April, 1704, of the New-England Courant of 11 February, 1723, and of the New-England Weekly Journal of 8 April, 1728.

279 Philip Musgrave died 18 May, 1725 (Boston News-Letter, 20 May, 1725, p. 2/2). Presumably, therefore, Thomas Lewis became the publisher on 24 May, 1725.

280 The imprint of the issue of 28 February, 1726, contained the words “at the Printing-House in Queen-Street.” This is apparently the first definite statement as to the place of publication found in the Boston Gazette.

281 Thomas Lewis and Samuel Hirst (a grandson of Judge Sewall) died on 14 January, 1727, through an accident the exact nature of which is not known. The Boston News-Letter of 19 January certainly, and the Boston Gazette of 16 January presumably, contained an account of the accident; but no copies of those issues are known. There is a gap in Judge Sewall’s Diary at that period, but there are references to the event in his Letter-Book (ii. 221). Two sermons were preached on the occasion — one by the Rev. Thomas Prince, the other by the Rev. Joseph Sewall; and but for those sermons, both of which were published by Judge Sewall, the exact date of the accident would apparently be unknown. In his sermon, entitled “Morning Health No Security Against the Sudden Arrest of Death before Night. A Sermon Occasioned By the very sudden Death of Two young Gentlemen in Boston, on Saturday January 14th, 1726, 7. Dedicated to the Youth of the Town,” Prince gives the names of the two victims in a note to the Dedication, and elsewhere speaks of “THE unexpected & surprizing Suddenness of their Destruction” (p. 3). In his sermon, entitled “The Duty of every Man To be Always Ready to Die. A Sermon Occasion’d By the very Sudden Deaths of Mr. Thomas Lewis, Aged 32. And Mr. Samuel Hirst, Aged 22. On Saturday Jan. 14. 1726, 7,” Sewall speaks of “the very Sudden Deaths of the last Week” (p. 18).

282 The issues of 25 April, 1726 – 12 June, 1727, bore no printer’s name in the imprint. In advertisements inserted in the issues of 9 May, 1726 (p. 2/2), of 7 November, 1726 (p. 2/2), of 2 January, 1727 (p. 2/2), and of 20 February, 1727 (p. 2/2), purchasers were requested to inquire of “the Printer in Queen Street,” or at “the Printing-House in Queen Street,” or of “the Printers in Queen-Street,” or at “the Printing-house in Queen-Street.” In an advertisement in the issue of 12 June, 1727 (p. 4/2), purchasers were requested to “Inquire of B. Green, jun. the Printer hereof.” It is certain, therefore, that Green was the printer on 12 June, 1727; and the change in printers may have taken place on 25 April, 1726, or at some time between 20 February and 12 June, 1727. The location of Green’s printing-office was first given in the issue of 1 April, 1734, the imprint of which reads: “Printed by B. Green, at his Printing-House in Newbury Street.”

283 Henry Marshall died 4 October, 1732 (New-England Weekly Journal, 9 October, 1732, p. 2/2).

284 There are no known issues between 2 October and 20 November, 1732, but presumably John Boydell became the publisher on 9 October.

285 On the death of his father on 29 December, 1732, Bartholomew Green, Jr., of course became Bartholomew Green. He died at Halifax, Nova Scotia, where he was buried 29 October, 1751 (Burial Register of St. Paul’s Parish, Halifax, p. 67).

286 John Boydell died 11 December, 1739 (Boston Gazette, 17 December. 1739, p. 2/1).

287 During this period no publisher’s name appeared. Hannah Boydell died 15 October, 1741 (Boston Gazette, 19 October, 1741, p. 4/1; 20 October, 1741, p. 3/2).

288 Timothy Green died 3 October, 1763 (Boston Post-Boy, 10 October, 1763, p. 3/2; Boston News-Letter, 13 October, 1763, p. 2/1).

289 Throughout the year 1753, Kneeland’s name did not appear in the imprint.

290 Samuel Kneeland died either 12 December, 1769 (Boston Chronicle, 18 December, 1769, ii. 405/2), or 14 December, 1769 (Boston Gazette, 18 December, 1769, p. 2/3; Boston Evening-Post, 18 December, 1769, p. 2/3; Boston Post-Boy, 18 December, 1769, p. 3/1; Boston News-Letter, 21 December, 1769, p. 1/2).

291 The issue of 28 July, 1755, contained this notice (p. 1/1):

☞ The Publishers of this Paper, hereby give Notice, That they have removed from their Office in King-street, to the Printing-Office in Queen-street, formerly improved by Messieurs Rogers & Fowle, next Door to the Prison.

292 Publication suspended between 17 April and 5 June, 1775.

293 The imprint reads Benjamin Edes and Sons, the sons being Benjamin Edes, Jr., and Peter Edes. Benjamin Edes died 11 December, 1803 (Columbian Centinel, 14 December, 1803, p. 2/3); Benjamin Edes, Jr., died 14 May, 1801 (Columbian Centinel, 16 May, 1801, p. 2/4); Peter Edes died 29 March, 1840 (Boston Evening Transcript, 6 April, 1840, p. 2/4).

294 This was a new cut of the Ship and Lighthouse, smaller than the previous one

295 This device is thus described by Isaiah Thomas:

For the want of a more appropriate device, a very singular cut was used in its title, which had been designed and engraved for the lxxvth fable of Croxall’s Esop, representing the boy viewing himself in the glass; his little sister, who was offended with his vanity, and their father who moralized on the subject of their difference.

296 The second device is the same as that used in the Independent Advertiser. See p. 479, below.

297 This device is thus described by Isaiah Thomas:

Before this event [the revolutionary war] took place, the device in the title underwent a change. The figure of Britannia was exchanged for that of Minerva, seated; before her was a pedestal on which was placed a cage; Minerva with her left hand supported a spear, on which was placed the cap of Liberty, and with her right, opened the door of the cage, and liberated a bird which appeared in the act of flying towards a tree that stood at a distance from the city.

There has been some confusion, in previous accounts of the Boston Gazette, between the device of Britannia liberating a bird, adopted on 7 April, 1755 — a device which had previously been used in the Independent Advertiser — and the device of Minerva freeing a bird from a cage, adopted 1 January, 1770. The differences between the two devices can best be seen in Buckingham’s Specimens of Newspaper Literature (i. 156, 165), where also will be found reproductions of most of the devices used in the Boston papers.

298 The date almost invariably assigned is Monday, August 17, 1721. This error — in spite of the easily ascertained fact that that date is an impossible one, since August 17, 1721, did not fall on Monday — is so persistent that it seems worth while to show how it arose. In his account of the Boston News-Letter, Isaiah Thomas wrote that “On the 7th of August, 1721, a third newspaper in Boston was published, entitled The New England Courant;” and proceeded to give at length the passage quoted in our text from the Boston News-Letter of 14 August, 1721. But in his account of the New-England Courant, Thomas said that this “was first printed and published Monday, August 17, 1721.” Hence August 17 was a misprint.

299 Massachusetts House Journals, 7 July, 1722, p. 64.

300 These words were inadvertently omitted. See the Massachusetts House Journals, 14, 16 January, 1723, pp. 79, 82.

301 Council Records, vii. 452, 453; Suffolk Court Files, no. 16480. For this “last instance of an attempt to revive and enforce censorship” of the press in Massachusetts, see, besides the accounts mentioned in the Introductory Note (pp. 412, 413), Professor Clyde A. Duniway’s Development of Freedom of the Press in Massachusetts (Harvard Historical Studies), 1906, pp. 97–103.

302 Works (Bigelow’s edition), i. 55, 56.

303 James Franklin died 4 February, 1735 (Boston News-Letter, 13 February, 1735, p. 2/1).

304 See p. 423, above.

305 Introductory Note, p. 416, above.

306 On and after 18 May, 1736, the hyphen was omitted in “New England.”

307 The issue of 4 August, 1735, contained this notice (p. 2/3):

☞ This Paper for the future will be Published every Tuesday Morning; . . .

308 The date of the last issue of the Weekly Rehearsal is sometimes wrongly given as 14 August, 1735.

309 See pp. 474–476, below.

310 A quondam owner of the file in the American Antiquarian Society attempted to write in numbers in ink, often obliterating the printed number. Needless to say, the result is hopeless confusion.

311 See p. 462, above.

312 Jeremiah Gridley died 10 September, 1767 (Boston Gazette, 14 September, 1767, p. 3/1).

313 “Ellis Huske (his son) was post-master at Boston, and the publisher of the Boston Weekly Post Boy” (New England Historical and Genealogical Register, 1850, iv. 335 note). In the first edition (1870) of his Wentworth Genealogy, John Wentworth said: “There was an Ellis Huske, who was Post-master at Boston, and who established ‘The Boston Weekly Post Boy,’ in 1734, . . . His relationship to the above [Chief Justice Ellis Huske] is not known” (i. 160 note). In the second edition (1878) of the same work, Wentworth wrote: “Ellis Huske, jr., who established the Boston Weekly Post Boy, in 1734, and continued it about twenty years. He was postmaster at Boston” (i. 287 note). This statement was repeated by the editors of Part I of the Belcher Papers (6 Massachusetts Historical Collections, vi. 3 note), but the error was corrected in Part II (ibid. vii. 114 note).

314 Ellis Huske “is the person, it is said, who recommended to the British government the Stamp Act of 1765” (New England Historical and Genealogical Register, iv. 335 note). This statement was repeated in 1873 by Hudson, who pictures Ellis Huske’s astonishment over “the excitement and indignation that his measure created in the colonies” (Journalism in the United States, p. 96). Ellis Huske died in 1755. and the person intended was his son, John Huske, who, on account of his alleged share in the passage of the Stamp Act, was hanged in effigy in Boston on November 1, 1765 (Boston Gazette, 4 November, 1765, p. 1/1). There is, however, no proof that John Huske favored the Stamp Act, while it is certain that he was an earnest advocate of its repeal.

315 6 Massachusetts Historical Collections, vii. 468.

316 6 Massachusetts Historical Collections, vii. 114. The marriage on October 25, 1720, of Captain Ellis Huske and Mrs. Mary Plaisted is recorded in the Salem Book of Marriages, iv. 29.

317 6 Massachusetts Historical Collections, vii. 471.

318 Hence all dates in the Check-List previous to 21 April, 1735, are conjectural.

319 See in particular what has been said about the numbering of the Weekly Rehearsal on p. 463, above.

320 New Hampshire Provincial Papers, vi. 339.

321 There is apparently no record of his death in Boston, in Portsmouth, or in Concord, New Hampshire.

322 There were no newspapers in New Hampshire at that time.

323 This notice was again printed in the Boston Evening-Post of 6 January, 1755 (p. 2/2), and also in the Boston News-Letter of 2 and 9 January, 1755 (pp. 2/2, 2/2). John Franklin was a brother of Benjamin Franklin.

324 This notice was again printed in the Boston Evening-Post of 6 January, 1755 (p. 2/2), and also in the Boston News-Letter of 2, 9, and 16 January, 1755 (pp. 2/2, 2/2, 2/2). It was again printed in the Boston News-Letter of 27 February, 1755 (p. 2/2), but with the words “are once more desired” substituted for the words “are desired.”

325 See C. W. Ernst’s “Postal service in Boston, from 1639 to 1893,” in Professional and Industrial History of Suffolk County, Massachusetts (1894), ii. 443–504.

326 In the Boston Evening-Post of 30 December, 1754, and of 6 January, 1755, there was printed immediately after the notice signed by Holbrook the following:

Delinquent Readers,

☞ AS the Season is now come on, when Victuals, Firing, and many other Things that will be wanted to make the Publisher’s Life comfortable, and to enable him to carry on this Paper, as well for your Entertainment as his Advantage, he therefore hopes and desires you to take his Case into most serious Consideration.

As this notice appeared in the Boston Evening-Post only, and not in the Boston News-Letter, it may safely be regarded as relating not to the Boston Post-Boy but solely to the Boston Evening-Post.

327 John Bushell removed to Halifax, Nova Scotia, where he published the Halifax Gazette, the first issue of which appeared on 23 March, 1752. He died in January, 1761, and was buried January 22 (Burial Register of St. Paul’s Parish, Halifax, p. 51).

328 There are so few known copies of the early issues of the paper that the statement in the text is necessarily imperfect.

329 See pp. 430–432, above, and pp. 484–492, below.

330 On 26 April, 1773, the comma after the word “Gazette” was displaced by a semicolon.

331 Ellis Huske died 24 April, 1755. See p. 468, above.

332 John Green, who was a son of Bartholomew Green, Jr., died 21 November, 1787 (Massachusetts Centinel, 24 November, 1787, viii. 79/2). Joseph Russell died 29 November, 1795 (Columbian Centinel, 2 December, 1795, p. 3/1).

333 This was the same device which had been used in the portion of the Massachusetts Gazette published by Green and Russell on Mondays. See p. 439 note, above.

334 See p. 463, above.

335 Each paper thus far considered has been called the first, second, third, fourth, fifth, or sixth newspaper to be published in Boston; for in regard to those six papers there can be no doubt. But after 1734 such a characterization becomes impossible. The Weekly Rehearsal and the Boston Evening-Post may be regarded either as two distinct papers or merely as the same paper with a change in title. Cf. pp. 414, 415, 444, 445, above.

336 The numbers of the last issue of the Weekly Rehearsal and of the first issue of the Boston Evening-Post are sometimes wrongly given.

337 See p. 463, above.

338 Thomas Fleet died 21 July, 1758 (Boston Evening-Post, 24 July, 1758, p. 2/2).

339 The issue of 24 July bears the imprint, “Printed by T. Fleet;” but as Thomas Fleet, Senior, had died three days before, it is obvious that that issue could not have been published by him. His successors were his sons, Thomas and John Fleet, whose imprint first appears in the issue of 31 July, 1758. Thomas Fleet, Jr., died 15 March, 1797 (Massachusetts Mercury, 17 March, 1797, p. 3/1). John Fleet died 18 March, 1806 (Columbian Centinel, 19 March, 1806, P. 2/4).

340 The Boston Evening-Post of 19 December, 1748 (p. 4/2), contained an advertisement of Thomas Fleet and a cut of his sign, the Heart and Crown. This design is different from either of the devices printed in the title of the paper itself from 19 March, 1759, to 24 April, 1775.

341 The only issue published on a Tuesday was that of 5 December, 1749.

342 Gamaliel Rogers is stated by Thomas to have died in 1775. Daniel Fowle died 8 June, 1787 (New-Hampshire Gazette, 16 June, 1787, p. 3/3).

343 This device is thus described by Isaiah Thomas:

The device in the centre of its title, was a large cut of Britannia liberating a bird confined by a cord to the arms of France. Britannia is represented sitting; the arms of France lying on the ground before her; the bird is on the wing, but being impeded by the cord, one end of which is fastened to the arms of France, and the other to the bird, Britannia is in the act of cutting the cord with a pair of shears, that the bird may escape.

In 1799 the Rev. John Eliot suggested a different interpretation:

. . . the Independent Advertiser . . . was supported by the whigs, who gave a device indicative of their principles, a bird let loose by the hand of Britannia, or the goddess of liberty. It was thus designed; but may as well represent America in the character of a female, active in doing good, profuse of her favours, and pregnant with blessings for future times (1 Massachusetts Historical Collections, vi. 69).

344 It is believed that this printer’s name — in previous accounts of Boston newspapers spelled Fleming — is given correctly in this volume for the first time.

345 During a portion of the years 1720 and 1721, the Boston News-Letter was published twice a week; but those were sporadic issues.

346 The inability to distinguish sharply between publisher and printer has already been commented upon. Isaiah Thomas wrote:

John Mein was a bookseller, and John Fleming a printer. The Chronicle was published by Mein. . . . Before the close of the second year of publication, its publisher, Mein, was engaged in a political warfare with those who were in opposition to the measures of the British administration. In the Chronicle he abused numbers of the most respectable whigs in Boston; and he was charged with insulting the populace. To avoid the effects of popular resentment, it became necessary for him to leave the country. Fleming continued the Chronicle during the absence of Mein, in the name of the firm.

From a passage in the Boston News-Letter of 21 September, 1769 (p. 2/1) it seems certain that Mein was at that time still in Boston. In the Boston Evening-Post of 6 November, 1769, was printed the following (p. 3/1):

MR. John Mein, our intrepid asserter of truth and falshood, has kept himself out of the way (for reasons best known to himself) since Saturday last: . . .

In the Boston Evening-Post of 20 November, 1769, it was stated: “We hear, that John Mein went for England last week in the Hope schooner” (p. 3/2). In the Boston Gazette of 20 November, 1769, appeared the following (p. 3/1):

Since our last sailed the Hope Schooner in his Majesty’s Service, . . . for England; She is to stop at Halifax, . . .

We hear that J. Mein, late Publisher of the Boston Chronicle, is gone home in the above Schooner, in order to [here the item abruptly ends].

In the Boston Gazette of 18 December, 1769, a correspondent said: “Mein we know has eloped, and it is said has been seen at Halifax” (p. 2/3).

347 One edition of the issue of 21 December, 1767, consists of pp. 1–8, without a supplement, the first of John Dickinson’s famous Letters from a Farmer in Pennsylvania to the Inhabitants of the British Colonies being printed on pp. 1, 2. Another edition contains: (1) the main paper, filling pp. 1–8; (2) one unnumbered leaf, on which is printed the first of the Farmer’s Letters; (3) a supplement filling pp. 9–12, the second of the Farmer’s Letters being printed on pp. 9–11.

348 One edition of the issue of 28 December, 1767, contains pp. 9–16, the second of the Farmer’s Letters being printed on pp. 9–11. Another edition contains pp. 13–20.

349 Two explanations of the absence of pages 153–156 are possible: it may have been a printer’s error; or a supplement which has not been preserved may have been published between 11 and 18 April, 1768.

350 At the end of Mein and Fleeming’s Register for New-England and Nova-Scotia for 1768 are two unnumbered leaves, the first of which contains a prospectus beginning as follows:

Boston, October 22d, 1767. / Proposals / For printing a New Weekly Paper, called / The Boston Chronicle. / Conditions.

351 See pp. 430–432, 470, 471, above.

352 See p. 431, above.

353 Council Records, xvi. 293.

354 Boston News-Letter, 4 March, 1768 (p. 1/1). Neither the message of the Governor nor the address of the Council is recorded in the Council Records, but both are printed in the Boston News-Letter of 4 March, 1768 (p. 1), and in the Boston Post-Boy of 7 March, 1768 (pp. 1, 2).

355 See Council Records, xvi. 293; Massachusetts House Journals under dates of 1, 2, 3 March, 1768, pp. 206, 207, 210, 211; Boston News-Letter of 4 March, 1768, Boston Post-Boy of 7 March, 1768, where the proceedings are printed in full; C. A. Duniway, Development of Freedom of the Press in Massachusetts, pp. 126–128.

356 Council Records, xvi. 294.

357 Ibid. xvi. 302.

358 See Collation of Numbers and Dates, p. 357, above.

359 See pp. 426–428, above.

360 It is probable that the printers arrived at the number 277 by subtracting 3094, the number of the issue of the Boston News-Letter dated 7 April, 1763, from 3372, the number of the issue dated 19 May, 1768; but if so, the result was again a blunder, for the subtraction gives 278 and not 276. But even if the printers had subtracted correctly the result would still have been inaccurate, for the numbering of the Boston News-Letter in the years 1763–1768 was erratic.

361 More space has been given to the Massachusetts Gazette than perhaps is warranted either by its importance or by the length of time during which it was published. The excuse lies in the fact that Thomas — upon whose account all subsequent accounts have been based — was for him singularly inaccurate in his description of what he called “this ‘Adams and Eve paper,’ joined together ‘by authority.’”

362 This was the case with the issues of 9, 16 March, 1769, etc.

363 This was the case with the issues of 23 May, 13, 27 June, 1768, etc.

364 The following (and perhaps other) issues of the Boston News-Letter contained two leaves each: 1768, May 26, June 2, 9, July 28, August 4, 18; 1769, June 1. For the issues which contained a supplement as well, see the Check-List, pp. 79, 80, above. Such notices as the following were often printed:

1768, June 2: See the GAZETTE for other Articles and new Advertisements (p. 2/3).
1768, June 9: See Gazette (p. 3).
1768, June 23: Articles of Intelligence respecting Major Rogers, &c. and Advertisements are in the POSTSCRIPT (p. 2/1).
1768, July 21: ☞ Corrigenda in the philological Piece in the Gazette of this Day (p. 1/2).
1768, July 28: The latest Articles See Gazette (p. 3/3).
1768, August 4: For other Articles See Gazette (p. 3/3).
1768, August 18: The latest Articles are in the Gazette (p. 3/3).
1768, October 13: This Postscript is wholly taken from three of the Monday’s Papers of October 10 (supplement, p. 1/1).
1768, November 3: See the Gazette Extra (p. 1/3).
1769, May 25: See SUPPLEMENT (p. 2/3).
1769, June 1: See GAZETTE (p. 3/3).
1769, June 22: The other foreign and domestic Articles are in the Supplement (p. 2/3).

The supplement to the issue of 25 August, 1768, was a broadside, and contained this notice (p. 1/1):

ALTHO the Particulars of the Celebration [of the repeal of the Stamp Act] of the 14th of August, were kept back from last Thursday’s Paper, yet it is humbly requested that LIBERTY may be given to re print them from Monday’s Papers, for the Perusal of the Customers of this Paper who do not see the others.

365 The following (and perhaps other) issues of the Boston Post-Boy contained two leaves each: 1768, August 1, September 19. For the issues which contained a supplement, see the Check-List, pp. 263, 264, above. The supplement of 24 April, 1769, contains two leaves. Such notices as the following were sometimes printed:

1768, August 1: For more News, &c. See the Gazette (p. 3/3).
1768, October 10: [See the Supplement.] (p. 1/3).

366 The following (and perhaps other) issues of the Massachusetts Gazette contained two leaves each: 1768, May 26, July 7, 21; 1769, January 19.

The following notices appeared in the portions of the Massachusetts Gazette printed on Monday by Green and Russell:

1769, April 24: [See SUPPLEMENT.] (p. 1/1).
1769, June 5: [See Supplement.] (p. 2/2).

As no supplement to the Massachusetts Gazette was, so far as is known, issued on the above dates, the references are doubtless to the supplements of the Boston Post-Boy of those dates.

The following notices appeared in the portions of the Massachusetts Gazette printed on Thursday by Draper:

1768, July 7: See News-Letter (p 3/3).
1768, September 15: Other Foreign and Domestic Articles, and new Advertisements are in the POSTSCRIPT (p. 1/3).
1769, January 12: [The other London Articles are in the Supplement.] (p. 1/3).
1769, January 19: For other Articles of Intelligence see News-Letter (p. 3/3).
1769, February 9: Two Political Pieces from the English Prints are in The SUPPLEMENT (p. 1/2).
1769, March 2: The other Articles from the Liverpool Papers are in the SUPPLEMENT. HARTFORD Post not come in at XII. o’clock (p. 1/1).
1769, April 20: For other Articles, &c. See the SUPPLEMENT (p. 1/3).

As no supplement to the Massachusetts Gazette was, so far as is known, issued on the above dates, the references are doubtless to the supplements to the Boston News-Letter of those dates.

367 Mechanical reasons alone made it necessary in this volume to treat the Massachusetts Gazette as a separate paper. The practice of librarians differs. In some files, the portions of the Massachusetts Gazette printed on Monday are bound with the Boston Post-Boy, while the portions printed on Thursday are bound with the Boston News-Letter. The Boston Athenæum has a file of the Massachusetts Gazette bound by itself, — and perhaps this is the best plan.

368 The “Journal of Occurrences” was not a newspaper of the day, but was a series of articles which under various titles — “Journal of Transactions,” “Journal of the Times,” “Journal of Occurrences,”— appeared at intervals in the New-York Journal from 13 October, 1768, to 14 September, 1769. These articles were frequently alluded to in the Boston papers and were reprinted at intervals in the Boston Evening-Post from 12 December, 1768, to 18 December, 1769. One of the articles was quoted in 1851 by Lossing in his Pictorial Field-Book of the Revolution (i. 480 note) in such a way as to give the impression that “the Boston Journal of the Times” was a newspaper.

369 The Massachusetts Gazette of 26 January, 1769, p. 1.

370 This design was used in the Boston Post-Boy on 2 October, 1769.

371 This design was used in the Boston News-Letter on 28 September, 1769, and had previously been used in the Boston News-Letter in 1763–1765 and in 1766–1768. See p. 439, above.

372 The issue of 17 July had no imprint.

373 Zechariah Fowle died in December, 1783 (Independent Ledger, 29 December, 1783, p. 3/2).

374 The issue of 11 October, 1770, has the imprint of Fowle and Thomas. The issues of 13–27 October have no imprint. The issue of 30 October has the imprint of Thomas. Hence it is impossible to say exactly when Fowle’s connection with the paper ceased. Thomas’s own statement is:

The publication of the Spy commenced with No. 2, August 7, 1770, and was printed in this form for three months, by Z. Fowle and I. Thomas; the partnership was then dissolved; and the Spy was continued by Thomas.

375 Isaiah Thomas died 4 April, 1831.

376 This device is thus described by Thomas:

“Massachusetts Spy,” was in large German text, engraved on type metal between two cuts; the device of the cut on the left was, the goddess of Liberty sitting near a pedestal, on which was placed a scroll, a part of which, with the word spy on it, lay over on one side of the pedestal, on which the right arm of liberty rested. The device on the right was, two infants making selections from a basket filled with flowers, and bearing this motto — “they cull the choicest.”

377 This device is thus described by Thomas:

On the 7th of July, 1774, . . . a new political device appeared in the title of this paper — a snake and a dragon. The dragon represented Greatbritain, and the snake the colonies. The snake was divided into nine parts, the head was one part, and under it N.E. as representing Newengland; the second part N.Y. for Newyork; the third N.J. for Newjersey; the fourth P. for Pennsylvania; the fifth M. for Maryland; the sixth V. for Virginia; the seventh N.C. for Northcarolina; the eighth S.C. for Southcarolina; and the ninth part or tail, for Georgia. The head and tail of the snake were supplied with stings, for defence against the dragon, which appeared furious, and as bent on attacking the snake. Over the several parts of the snake, was this motto, in large capitals, “join on die!” This device, which was extended under the whole width of the title of the Spy, appeared in every succeeding paper whilst it was printed in Boston.

Though this particular device had never, so far as the Editor is aware, been used before, yet it was not wholly original with Thomas. The idea apparently first occurred in a paragraph which appeared in the Pennsylvania Gazette of 9 May, 1754 (p. 2/1). Speaking of the raids of the French and of “the present disunited State of the British Colonies,” the writer made an appeal for concerted action on the part of the American Colonies, and enforced his plea by a pictorial design of a snake divided into eight parts—the head representing New England and the tail South Carolina. Beneath the snake were the words “JOIN or DIE.” The article in the Pennsylvania Gazette, with its accompanying design, was copied into several newspapers of the period. The snake design was again used in what has sometimes been called a newspaper, but what was really a political skit, and is now a bibliographical curiosity. This was The Constitutional Courant, dated 21 September, 1765. Here the snake appeared at the top of the first page. A similar design, divided into nine parts (as described by Thomas), with slight variations, was used as a device by John Holt in his New-York Journal of 23 June — 8 December, 1774, and by William and Thomas Bradford in their Pennsylvania Journal of 27 July, 1774 — 18 October, 1775. Another snake device, of a quite different design, was used by Holt in the New-York Journal of 15 December, 1774, and continued into the next year. In the design used in the Massachusetts Spy, the dragon was apparently original with Thomas. An account of The Constitutional Courant and of the snake devices was given at the meeting of this Society held in March, 1907.

378 A copy of these proposals is in the Essex Institute. Cf. p. 483 note, above.

379 Strictly speaking, the New-England Chronicle did not become a Boston paper until 25 April, 1776; but it has seemed advisable to include in this volume the issues published at Cambridge.

380 The heading of this broadside is worth giving, for it is curious from the fact of its having been issued on a Sunday—perhaps the first instance of the sort:

BOSTON, Sunday, January 12, 1777.

The Letters, whereof the following are Extracts, being wrote by several Field Officers in the American Army, arrived in Town last Evening, and are made Public for the Perusal of the several Gentlemen who subscribed to defray the Expences of obtaining Intelligence from the Army.

The matter is printed in three columns, and at the bottom of the third column is the imprint, “Printed by POWARS and WILLIS.” The Massachusetts Historical Society has a duplicate of this broadside, bound in its file of the Continental Journal between the issues of 6 and 13 January, 1777.

381 Ebenezer Hall died 14 February, 1776. See p. 499, above. The issue of 22 February has no imprint.

382 Samuel Hall died 30 October, 1807 (Columbian Centinel, 31 October, 1807, p. 2/3).

383 Nathaniel Willis died 1 April, 1831 (C. D. Warner’s Nathaniel Parker Willis, 1885, p. 6).

384 This was the device adopted by the Essex Gazette on 2 August, 1768. Buckingham said, “I find no explanation of the device.” Isaiah Thomas wrote:

In the centre of the title was a cut, of which the design was taken from the official seal of the county. The principal figure — a bird with its wings extended, and holding a sprig in its bill; perhaps intended to represent Noah’s dove; and this device was far from being ill adapted to the state of our forefathers, who having been inhabitants of Europe, an old world, were become residents in America, to them a new one; above the bird is a fish, which seems to have been intended as a crest, emblematical of the cod-fishery, formerly the principal dependence of the county of Essex, of which Salem is a shire town. The whole is supported by two aborigines, each holding a tomahawk, or battle axe.

385 This device was a modification of the Seal adopted by Massachusetts in August, 1775, when it was voted that, “Instead of an Indian holding a Tomahawk and Cap of Liberty, there be an English American, holding a Sword in the Right Hand, and Magna Charta in the Left Hand, with the Words ‘Magna Charta,’ imprinted thereon.” See Massachusetts House Documents, 1885, No. 345.

386 See p. 444, above.

387 John Gill died 26 August, 1785 (Massachusetts Centinel, 27 August, 1785, p. 3/2).

388 Draper and Folsom published the Independent Ledger from 15 June, 1778, to 24 November, 1783, after which the paper was published by Folsom alone. The firm name only is given, and the identification of Draper in the text is not absolutely certain. Yet there can be little doubt that he was Edward Draper, a brother of the Samuel Draper who died 21 March, 1767. Writing of Samuel Draper, Isaiah Thomas said that “Edward, with a partner, published, for some time during the late war, a newspaper in Boston.”

389 Edward Draper died 16 November, 1831 (Boston Evening Transcript, 18 November, 1831, p. 2/4). John West Folsom died 7 February, 1825 (Boston Daily Advertiser, 8 February, 1825, p. 2/5).

390 The date of the adoption of this device is sometimes wrongly given. In the issue of 27 July, 1778, and in subsequent issues, the word “enflamed” became “inflamed;” in the issue of 5 October, 1778, and in subsequent issues, the word “and” was omitted.

391 This paper is apparently not mentioned in previous accounts of Boston newspapers, and is now described for the first time.

392 This title varies in form, reading, in some issues: The Morning Chronicle & General Advertiser.