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Printed by Benjamin Franklin, but without the imprint...
Printed by Benjamin Franklin, but without the imprint...
Item # 703480
October 04, 1753
THE PENNSYLVANIA GAZETTE, Philadelphia, Oct. 4, 1753
* The iconic Benjamin Franklin newspaper
A quite early colonial newspaper published by none other than Benjamin Franklin, although the "advertising leaf" which appeared with this issue, and upon which was the imprint of "B. Franklin", is not here as it was typically not bound with the issue since it carried only ads.
This issue is from before the French & Indian War and all the oppressive Acts of Parliament of the 1760's and 1770's that would create an irreparable divide between the colonies and England.
Various news items of the day, with pages 3 & 4 entirely taken up with ads, evidence of Franklin's great success as a newspaper publisher.
Four pages, lacking the mentioned advertising leaf, very nice condition. The handsome engraving of a coat-of-arms in the masthead makes this a displayable issue.
Note: a photocopy of the page from the book "Benjamin Franklin's Philadelphia Printing" is included, verifying this issue was printed by Ben Franklin.
A great opportunity for a newspaper owned & printed by Ben Franklin without the much higher price commanded by issues with the imprint.
background: In this October 4, 1753, issue of the Pennsylvania Gazette, you are witnessing the final moments of a fragile peace in colonial America, published at a pivotal turning point in Benjamin Franklin’s own career. At this time, Franklin had just been appointed Joint Deputy Postmaster General for North America, a role that would soon grant him the unique continental perspective necessary to propose the Albany Plan of Union just months later. While the front pages typically carried "freshest advices" from Europe—often detailing the shifting alliances of the Broad Bottom ministry or naval skirmishes in the West Indies—the true tension of the era lay in the local reports of French encroachments in the Ohio Valley. Just weeks after this issue went to press, a 21-year-old George Washington would be dispatched by Governor Dinwiddie on his famous mission to Fort Le Boeuf, an event sparked by the very frontier reports of "French and Indian" movements that often peppered Franklin’s columns. The presence of two full pages of advertisements serves as a vivid census of Philadelphia’s thriving merchant class, offering everything from "choice West-India Rum" to notices for runaway indentured servants, all while the British Royal Arms in the masthead still stood as a symbol of an allegiance that few then could have imagined would be severed in their lifetime.
Category: The 1600's and 1700's
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$620.00
