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Archiver > GenMassachusetts > 2004-11 > 1101209731


From: "Dale H. Cook" <>
Subject: Re: [GM-L] Benjamin Franklin's paper "The Courant"
Date: Tue, 23 Nov 2004 06:35:31 -0500
References: <003301c4d030$0e8325a0$6101a8c0@launchmodem.com>
In-Reply-To: <003301c4d030$0e8325a0$6101a8c0@launchmodem.com>


At 08:10 PM 11/21/2004, Delores Tousinau wrote:

>I am looking for information on a publication by Benjamin Franklin called
>"The Courant".
>I know that will respected man wrote articles for this publication, among
>them Matthew Adams who is mentioned in Benjamin Franklin's autobiography.
>
>I would like to know if any of this publication has survived through the
>years and if so where it could be found.

Delores -

"The New-England Courant" was a newspaper published in Boston by Ben's
brother James Franklin 1721 to 1727. James so offended the General Court
that, beginning with the issue of 11-Feb-1723, it was published under Ben's
name, although James was still in charge. Ben's name was still on the
masthead even after he left Boston in October, 1723, right up through the
last known issue in 1726 (although we know that it was published into 1727
from an article in the Boston News-Letter on 09-Mar-1727, and from Isaiah
Thomas, "History of Printing").

Original copies are very scarce, with probably the most complete set at the
Massachusetts Historical Society in Boston. However, that Society
reproduced their copies in photostat, and that set of photostats is held
by, among others, the American Antiquarian Society, the Boston Public
Library, and the Library of Congress. For a full list of those holding
photostats (as of 1947) see Clarence S. Brigham, "History and Bibliography
of American Newspapers 1690-1820," 2 vols. (Worcester, MA: American
Antiquarian Society, 1947), vol. 1, p. 323.

It appears that microform of the Courant is now in many libraries,
including "YRL" (whatever that is) at UCLA. To see the University of
California holdings of the Courant, visit:

http://melvyl.cdlib.org/F/?func=file&file_name=find-b

Enter "new-england courant" (without the quotes) in the right-hand search box.

Dale H. Cook; Research Member, NEHGS; Member, Mass. Soc. Mayf. Desc.
Plymouth Co. MA Coordinator for the USGenWeb Project and for GenExchange
http://members.cox.net/dalehcook/oldcolony.shtml


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