REMARKABLE COLLECTION OF 125 ISSUES OF THE HERALD FROM THE EARLY AMERICAN REPUBLIC, 1794 & 1795. 

Altogether, the group constitutes a remarkable repository of newspapers from the formative years of the United States, documenting the political debates, domestic crises, and international upheavals that shaped the early Republic.

Included in the lot are 125 unique issues, together with 3 duplicate issues, spanning 19 June 1794 to 18 November 1795. The paper was issued semi-weekly, approximately every three to four days. This nearly complete run was likely assembled in the nineteenth century, the issues appear to derive from at least three different sources, as evidenced by differing fold patterns, varying stains, and the presence of three duplicate numbers (2 October 1794; 28 October and 14 November 1795).

Included is the very scarce Herald (Extra) for Wednesday, 4 February 1795, printed as a full issue but lacking the usual Herald masthead. The issue is largely devoted to “The Injustice, Absurdity, and Bad Policy of Laws Against Usury,” accompanied by a note stating that part of the article resulted from a conversation with Benjamin Franklin. We have traced no example of this issue offered since 1955.

The newspaper was published by Noah Webster, best remembered today as the author of the dictionary first issued in 1828. In 1793 he was recruited by Alexander Hamilton to relocate from Connecticut to New York City and serve as editor of a newspaper supporting the emerging Federalist Party.

The issues contain numerous articles signed in type by prominent political figures of the early Republic, including Alexander Hamilton, George Clinton, John Jay, James Monroe, Henry Lee III, and George Washington.

Among the most important domestic events reported in the paper is the Whiskey Rebellion, a violent resistance to the federal excise tax on distilled spirits, the first tax imposed by the new government on a domestic product. In 1794, President George Washington personally led federal troops to suppress the uprising, marking the “first and only time a sitting American president led troops in the field” (Joseph Ellis, His Excellency: George Washington, p. 225). The newspaper also carries frequent reports on the federal government’s relations with Native American nations, including the Six Nations and those inhabiting the Northwest Territory.

Several letters and addresses by President George Washington appear throughout the run with his name signed in type. These include Washington’s New Year’s proclamation for 1795 (3 January 1795), his response to the resignation of General Henry Knox (7 January 1795), and an act appropriating funds for the support of the military establishment for the year 1795 (14 January 1795).

In addition to domestic developments, the newspaper reports extensively on international affairs, particularly the ongoing French Revolution. Coverage includes events of the Jacobin period and the Reign of Terror, the Thermidorian Reaction, the proceedings of the National Convention, and the subsequent establishment of the Directory. The fate of France, then an important American ally, clearly held great interest for the readership. Notably, Vol. I, No. 39 (16 October 1794) contains a report on the downfall of Maximilien Robespierre (misspelled in the paper as “Roberspierre”).

Slavery, already a pressing issue in the early Republic, is addressed in several articles across the run. Webster himself was sympathetic to anti-slavery causes, having helped found the Connecticut Society for the Abolition of Slavery in 1791. Among the more unusual pieces included here is a satirical article framed as a letter addressed to the Lords Spiritual and Temporal of Great Britain, purportedly written by the “Sharks of Africa.” Written in the imagined voice of sharks off the African coast, the piece thanks British slave traders for the increased food supply created by enslaved Africans thrown overboard and by shipwrecked vessels engaged in the slave trade. The satire concludes by urging the abolition of slavery, while mockingly suggesting that English resistance to abolition stems from concern for the sharks’ continued food supply.

Complete inventory of the lot:

Noah Webster (1758-1843), editor. The Herald; A Gazette for the Country. 125 issues (incomplete run). Vol. I, Nos. 5 - 12; 15-16; 18, 20-21, 24 -34; 36-41; 44-45; 48-71, no. 71 Extra, 72; 74-95; 101; 103-105; Vol. II, Nos.106- 107; 110-115; 117-121; 124-129; 131-141; [142]; 145-153. New York: George Bunce, inclusive 19 June 1794 - 18 November 1795 (incomplete run). Folio, disbound, each approx. 12 1/2 x 20 1/2 in.  

125 Issues: 19 June - 14 July 1794; 24 & 28 July 1794; 4 August 1794; 11 & 14 August 1794; 25 August - 2 October 1794; 6-23 October 1794; 3 & 6 November 1794; 17 November 1794 - 7 February 1795 (with EXTRA 4 Feb. 1795); 14 February - 29 April 1795; 20 May 1795; 27 May - 20 June 1795; 20 June - 8 July 1795; 15-29 July 1795; 8-26 August 1795; 2 September - 10 October 1795; 21 October - 18 November 1795.

[American Revolutionary War, American Revolution, Founding Fathers, Declaration of Independence, Colonial America, George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Alexander Hamilton, James Monroe] [Manuscripts, Documents, Letters, Ephemera, Signatures, Autographs] [Broadsides, Ephemera, Printing, Posters, Handbills, Documents, Newspapers] 

Large article clipped from first leaf of vol. II, no. 139 (30 September 1795); issue 133 numbered as 139; issue no. 142 lacking first sheet