THE ROUGH-HEWER, Albany, New York, Feb. 20, 1840  

* Very rare publication
* Martin Van Buren

This was a short-lived campaign newspaper that supported Martin Van Buren for President.
In the time before radio, television & the internet, short-lived newspapers supporting various candidates were among the very few channels for promoting support for a candidate. This title lasted for just 41 issues, this being #1, the first published. The front page includes the "Prospectus" for the paper, as well as the: "President's Message" which consumes almost the remainder of this 8 page issue, signed in type on the back page: M. Van Buren.
Eight pages, never-bound nor trimmed margins, so it folds out to a single sheet, 10 by 13 inches, wear at the blank margins, some light dirtiness.

background: The 1840 publication of The Rough-Hewer represents a pivotal moment in American history where the "partisan press" served as the primary engine for political mobilization, acting less as a neutral news source and more as a dedicated ideological weapon. By dedicating nearly the entire eight-page inaugural issue to Martin Van Buren’s "Presidential Message," the paper functioned as a high-density delivery system for Democratic doctrine, aiming to bridge the gap between the executive office in Washington and the voters in Albany. This dense, text-heavy format was a calculated response to the Whig Party’s unprecedented use of visual spectacle—such as parades and "log cabin" imagery—which the Democrats sought to counter with intellectual rigor and a defense of Jacksonian economics. Ultimately, the short 41-issue lifespan of the paper highlights the ephemeral, "pop-up" nature of campaign media in the mid-19th century, where publications were birthed specifically to survive a single election cycle and then vanish once the ballots were cast.