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Lot Essay
A front page printing of the Declaration of Independence in the Boston Gazette, with masthead by Paul Revere. Published as the news was still being disseminated throughout the colonies in the wake of the Continental Congress's vote in Philadelphia.
Benjamin Edes (1732-1803) is believed to have received the text of the Declaration of Independence on 18 or 19 July (Thursday or Friday), so his issue of the 22nd is the first of his weekly which could carry the momentous news. The paper also contains news regarding the Continental Congress, the American army, the destruction of the equestrian statue of George III in New York, and a detailed account of the ceremony in which the Declaration of Independence was proclaimed at the Boston State House, 18 July: "At One o'clock the Declaration was proclaimed...after it was read and greeted with "three huzzas," thirteen pieces of cannon were fired," a toast was offered "to the United States of America, the American Congress...& to General Washington," then "the bells of the town were rung."
Edes is himself a figure of considerable interest, both as printer and as patriot. A fellow Bostonian, printer Isaiah Thomas, later wrote, "No publisher of a newspaper felt a greater interest in the establishment of the Independence of the United States than Benjamin Edes; and no newspaper was more instrumental in bringing forward this important event than The Boston Gazette" (Thomas, History of Printing in America, ed. M.McCorison, p.137).
Edes and his partner, John Gill, launched the The Boston Gazette and Country Journal in 1755, and the paper rapidly became the main organ of the Boston Whigs and Sons of Liberty, those at the forefront of organized opposition to British imperial policy. As Thomas records, the paper was "distinguished for the spirited political essays," it printed (Thomas, p.134). During the Stamp Act agitation Governor Bernard, stung by the paper's unrelenting political invective, termed it "the most facetious paper in America" (J.E. Triber, A True Republican, p.48). Sam Adams, Joseph Warren and James Otis frequently contributed to the paper, and the shop became a meeting place for political activists. Paul Revere, a lodge brother of Edes at the St. Andrews Lodge, cut the fine woodcut masthead for the paper, first used in 1770 (see Brigham, Paul Revere's Engravings, p.199). In 1770, the Gazette used woodcuts by Revere for the coffins of the victims of the Boston Massacre (Brigham, pl.69) and advertised Revere's famous incendiary print of that incident, "The Bloody Massacre."
In 1775, as organized resistance to British occupation forces spread, Gill retired, and the paper's publication was suspended on 17 April, just two days before the Lexington and Concord alarm. Afterwards, as the British army barricaded the city, Edes, fearing arrest, made a dramatic escape by boat, carrying a press and some trays of lead type. He set up temporary shop in Watertown, some 30 miles from Boston, resumed publication of the Gazette and became printer to the provincial congress of Massachusetts, also meeting in Watertown. During Edes's exile (which lasted until 4 November 1776) essential supplies were difficult to obtain. Thomas notes the severe shortage of paper, "wretched ink, and worn out types" (Thomas, pp.135-136). In spite of these obstacles, printing under difficult circumstances, Edes proudly gave most of the front page of his paper to the fundamental proclamation of American independence.
Benjamin Edes (1732-1803) is believed to have received the text of the Declaration of Independence on 18 or 19 July (Thursday or Friday), so his issue of the 22nd is the first of his weekly which could carry the momentous news. The paper also contains news regarding the Continental Congress, the American army, the destruction of the equestrian statue of George III in New York, and a detailed account of the ceremony in which the Declaration of Independence was proclaimed at the Boston State House, 18 July: "At One o'clock the Declaration was proclaimed...after it was read and greeted with "three huzzas," thirteen pieces of cannon were fired," a toast was offered "to the United States of America, the American Congress...& to General Washington," then "the bells of the town were rung."
Edes is himself a figure of considerable interest, both as printer and as patriot. A fellow Bostonian, printer Isaiah Thomas, later wrote, "No publisher of a newspaper felt a greater interest in the establishment of the Independence of the United States than Benjamin Edes; and no newspaper was more instrumental in bringing forward this important event than The Boston Gazette" (Thomas, History of Printing in America, ed. M.McCorison, p.137).
Edes and his partner, John Gill, launched the The Boston Gazette and Country Journal in 1755, and the paper rapidly became the main organ of the Boston Whigs and Sons of Liberty, those at the forefront of organized opposition to British imperial policy. As Thomas records, the paper was "distinguished for the spirited political essays," it printed (Thomas, p.134). During the Stamp Act agitation Governor Bernard, stung by the paper's unrelenting political invective, termed it "the most facetious paper in America" (J.E. Triber, A True Republican, p.48). Sam Adams, Joseph Warren and James Otis frequently contributed to the paper, and the shop became a meeting place for political activists. Paul Revere, a lodge brother of Edes at the St. Andrews Lodge, cut the fine woodcut masthead for the paper, first used in 1770 (see Brigham, Paul Revere's Engravings, p.199). In 1770, the Gazette used woodcuts by Revere for the coffins of the victims of the Boston Massacre (Brigham, pl.69) and advertised Revere's famous incendiary print of that incident, "The Bloody Massacre."
In 1775, as organized resistance to British occupation forces spread, Gill retired, and the paper's publication was suspended on 17 April, just two days before the Lexington and Concord alarm. Afterwards, as the British army barricaded the city, Edes, fearing arrest, made a dramatic escape by boat, carrying a press and some trays of lead type. He set up temporary shop in Watertown, some 30 miles from Boston, resumed publication of the Gazette and became printer to the provincial congress of Massachusetts, also meeting in Watertown. During Edes's exile (which lasted until 4 November 1776) essential supplies were difficult to obtain. Thomas notes the severe shortage of paper, "wretched ink, and worn out types" (Thomas, pp.135-136). In spite of these obstacles, printing under difficult circumstances, Edes proudly gave most of the front page of his paper to the fundamental proclamation of American independence.