PORCUPINE'S GAZETTE, Philadelphia, March 26, 1798  

* Rare 18th century American publication

The masthead features an engraving of a porcupine. The entire front page is taken up with ads, as is page 4 which includes one for a runaway slave headed: "Twenty Dollars Reward"
Four pages, never-trimmed margins, a little ink dirtiness to a front page margin,  nice condition.

Background: The March 26, 1798 issue of William Cobbett's Porcupine's Gazette in Philadelphia highlights the tumultuous socio-political landscape of early America through both its partisan publishing and commercial content. Featuring its signature porcupine masthead—symbolizing Cobbett’s prickly, fiercely anti-French, and Federal-aligned commentary—the issue follows the period's classic four-page layout, reserving pages 1 and 4 for advertisements while interior pages carried political discourse during the heated lead-up to the XYZ Affair and Alien and Sedition Acts.