THE WORCESTER MAGAZINE, Massachusetts, fourth week of June, 1787  A curious & short-lived title which was actually a magazine-format of the newspaper "Massachusetts Spy" created solely to avoid the tax on newspaper advertisements.
As famed publisher Isaiah Thomas noted in a broadsheet he published: "...The tax on news-paper advertisements has a direct tendency not only to restrain, but to destroy those necessary vehicles of publick information, by taking away their only support ... These considerations have induced the printer of the Massachusetts Spy, although with greatest reluctance, to discontinue the publication of that news-paper..." and further on is: "Includes also proposals for publishing the Worcester magazine in lieu of the Massachusetts Spy as "advertisements accompanying magazines are not subjected to a duty."
Thus began his "Worcester Magazine, which lasted only until 1788.
Content includes: "History of the Late War in America" which is on the Revolutionary War events of 1779; "A Proclamation" signed in type by the Mass. governor: John Hancock; "Directions For Alleviating the Miseries of People Confined in Prison"; and much more.
Fortunately, this issue still has the outer wrappers, more typically missing.
Complete in 16 pages with the wrappers, 5 1/4 by 8 1/2 inches, scattered foxing, minimal margin wear, good condition.