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THB[REVOLUTIONARY WAR] 1797 "The Herald Gazette" 125 Issues
![[REVOLUTIONARY WAR] 1797 "The Herald Gazette" 125 Issues](https://s1.img.bidsquare.com/item/xl/3552/35527290.jpeg?t=1VUVKo)
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About Auction
LiveApr 24, 2026
Day one of Fleischer's 2026 Spring premier auction includes early American artifacts, documents, signatures, ephemera, and weaponry. Rare material relating to African American history is featured, as well as fine examples of antique photography. Fleischer's Auctions info@fleischersauctions.com
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- Lot Description
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.
REMARKABLE COLLECTION OF 125 ISSUES OF THE HERALD FROM THE EARLY AMERICAN REPUBLIC, 1794 & 1795.
125 unique issues plus 3 duplicate issues, encompassing 19 June 1794 to 18 November 1795, which were issued semi-weekly, approximately every 3 or 4 days. It seems the nearly complete run was likely assembled at some point in the 19th centur,y with the issues seeming to originate from at least three different sources with different fold patterns, inconsistent stains, and three duplicate issues (2 October 1794 and 28 October & 14 November 1795). Includes the very scarce Herald (Extra) for Wednesday, February 4, 1795, published as a full issue without the usual Herald masthead, the bulk "The Injustice, Absurdity, and Bad Policy of Laws Against Usury" with a note that part of the article was the result of a conversation with Benjamin Franklin. We trace no example of this issue offered since 1955.The paper was published by Noah Webster, best remembered as a lexicographer and publisher of the Merriam-Webster dictionary, first published in 1828. In 1793, he was recruited by Alexander Hamilton to relocate from Connecticut to New York City to become an editor of a newspaper to represent the nascent Federalist Party.
Issues abound with articles signed in type by notable Founding Fathers, including Alexander Hamilton, George Clinton, John Jay, James Monroe, Henry Lee, and President George Washington.
One of the most important domestic conflicts reported on by the paper was the Whiskey Rebellion, a violent retaliation against Federal taxes, the first to be imposed on a domestic product. In 1794, President Washington led troops to quell 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 paper also prints ongoing reports of the American government's interactions with Native Americans, including the Six Nations and those in the Northwest Territory.
Several letters and addresses of George Washington, with his name signed in type, are printed in several issues. Including Washington's New Year's Day Proclamation for 1795 (3 January 1795), his response to the resignation of General Knox (7 January 1795), and an act making appropriations for the support of the military establishment for the year 1795 (14 January 1795).
In addition to domestic news, the paper reports on international affairs, notably the ongoing French Revolution, which was in the midst of therule of the Jacobins and the Reign of Terror, the Thermidorian Reaction, the National Convention, followed by the Directory. The ongoing situation of their French ally was evidently very interesting to the readership with detailed and ongoing reporting. Notably, Vol. I, no. 39 (16 October 1794) features details on the demise of Robespierre (misspelled as Roberspierre).
Slavery was already a pressing issue in the early days of the Republic, and the subject of several articles throughout the issues. Webster was sympathetic to anti-slavery causes, having founded the Connecticut Society for the Abolition of Slavery in 1791. Included here is an unusual early article is drafted as a satirical letter addressed to the Lords Spiritual and Temporal of Great Britain, drafted by the “Sharks of Africa.” In the petition, written in the voice of actual sharks off the coast of Africa, the sharks express their gratitude for the increase food supply from dead negroes thrown overboard, from Africans who would rather feed the sharks than become slaves, and from entire ships of white and Black men and women who have provided a shipwreck buffet for the sharks off Africa’s cost. They, however, even though they appreciate the care and consideration of the English slavers on their behalf, request the abolition of slavery. Then, mockingly, express their regret that the English resisted abolition because they are afraid of how it will impact the sharks and their food supply, but express confidence that there will be enough ships sunk in legitimate trade, and they will be well nourished.
A remarkable repository of newspapers from the early days of the United States.
[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]
Condition
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
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