GAZETTE, Paris, France, Feb. 2, 1641  (date listed at the bottom of the back page).

• Earliest newspaper in your collection?

This title was the very first regular newspaper published in France, started in 1631 by Théophraste Renaudot but with influential backing by the powerful Cardinal de Richelieu. All the text is in French with the first letter in the title containing embellishments. An ornate letter begins the first paragraph on the front page.
Four pages, 8 3/4 by 6 1/2 inches, in great condition. One of the earliest dated newspapers to be found.

Background: An issue of La Gazette dated February 2, 1641, represents an exceptional rarity in early print journalism, as 17th-century French newspapers from the reign of Louis XIII rarely survive in great condition outside of institutional archives. This specific date captures France under the administration of Cardinal de Richelieu during the pivotal height of the Thirty Years' War (1618–1648), pre-dating the deaths of both Richelieu (1642) and the King (1643). Because Théophraste Renaudot’s publication served as the official mouthpiece for the French crown—with Richelieu himself writing covert state policy dispatches—issues from this 1641 window offer primary-source coverage of international diplomacy, military campaigns across Europe, and court proceedings. Complete with its distinctive woodcut masthead and decorative initial drop caps, this piece stands as an artifact from the birth of the modern periodical press.