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1718 World's oldest daily newspaper...
1718 World's oldest daily newspaper...
Item # 648997
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July 29, 1718
THE LONDON GAZETTE, England, July 29, 1718
* Early 18th century
This issue is 300 years old. Various news from London and other parts of Europe and more. This title is the oldest continuously published daily newspaper in the world which began in 1665 and is still in existence today. Also with some interesting advertisements as well.
A complete single sheet newspaper measuring about 7 by 11 1/2 inches in nice condition.
Historical Background: "When in the autumn of 1665 Charles II sought shelter in Oxford from the Great Plague, he and his courtiers wanted newspapers to read, yet feared to touch "The Intelligencer" or "The News," which, coming from London, might be infected. Therefore Leonard Litchfeld, the university printer, was authorized and ordered to bring out a local paper. On Tuesday, November 14, 1665, the first number of "The Oxford Gazette" appeared, and it continued afterwards through eleven weeks on Thursdays and Mondays. It was meagre enough, but, though comprised in only two double-columned pages of folio, each number contained nearly as much matter as one of Roger L'Estrange's papers, and it soon became a formidable rival to those papers, especially as Thomas Newcombe, the old printer of the Commonwealth organs, was allowed to reproduce its sheets in London "for the use of some members and gentlemen who desired them.
The plague was soon over and King Charles went back to Whitehall, but he was pleased with the Oxford effort and it was soon succeeded by "The London Gazette, which made its first appearance, labelled as No. 24, on February 5, 1666, and which has been kept alive, altering its size and character from time to time, down to this day."
Category: The 1600's and 1700's
No Longer Available
