Sentence & execution of King Louis XVI...

Item # 685536 THE MASSACHUSETTS MAGAZINE, Boston, April, 1793

* King Louis XVI of France execution by guillotine

Certainly the most notable content is near the back under: "Monthly Gazette" which includes reports on the end of the trial of Louis XVI as well as his execution.
Some of the text includes: "...I declare in the name of the Convention that the punishment which it announces against Louis Capet is death." and further on: "...The unfortunate Monarch arrived at the foot of the scaffold...He mounted the scaffold with firmness and dignity. He appeared desirous of addressing the people but this last wish was denied him. Drums and trumpets gave the signal, and at 22 minutes past 10, hid head was severed from his body. After his death, the nearest spectators divided among them what of his hair had been cut off by the stroke of the guillotine & several persons dipped their handkerchiefs in his blood, which they afterwards carried about crying, 'behold the blood of a tyrant.' When the executioners shewed his head to the people, cries of vive la nation were heard..." with more.
"Domestick Occurrences" has American news, including mention of: "Houdon, the famous French sculptor who paid a visit to America...to procure a likeness of the President...had completed the same...".
Lacking the unrelated plate called for.
Other articles include: "Thoughts on Happiness" "Mode of courtship in Greenland" "Sketches of Methodism" & much more.
Complete in 64 pages, 5 1/4 by 8 1/4 inches, full title/contents page, very nice condition.

background: Published in Boston by the pioneering Isaiah Thomas, this April 1793 issue of The Massachusetts Magazine serves as a grim time capsule of the "Age of Atlantic Revolutions," capturing the exact moment the American public grappled with the radicalization of their French allies. The vivid account of the execution of "Louis Capet" (Louis XVI)—detailing the rhythmic "drums and trumpets" used to silence his final words and the morbid souvenir-hunting of spectators dipping handkerchiefs in his blood—reflects the sensationalist yet deeply political nature of 18th-century reporting. By juxtaposing the violent end of the French monarchy with "Domestick Occurrences" like Jean-Antoine Houdon’s completion of George Washington’s likeness, the magazine highlights a striking contrast between two revolutionary paths: one descending into the "Reign of Terror" and the other focused on the steady deification of a republican leader. Despite the missing engraving, the 64-page miscellany remains a significant historical document, illustrating how early Americans balanced grave geopolitical shifts with Enlightenment-era curiosities ranging from Greenlandic courtship to the evolution of Methodism.

Eighteenth century American magazines are increasingly scarce in today's market. This title was published by the famed Isaiah Thomas, the patriot printer from the Revolutionary War & founder of the American Antiquarian Society.