Early American Newspapers

Our online access to America's Historical Newspapers includes the following segments:

  • Early American newspapers. Series 1, 1690-1876
  • Early American newspapers Series 2, 1758-1900
  • Early American newspapers. Series 3, 1783-1922
  • Early American newspapers. Series 6, 1741-1922

Early American Newspapers, 1704-1820.

New York, Readex Microprint, 1965-. ca. 70,000 cards. Library Annex Microprint 21

Scope:

This microcard set housed at the Library Annex reproduces the full text of most newspapers described in Brigham (cited below). There is no printed guide explicitly for the microcard set.

The set is arranged by state, then title. Records for individual newspaper titles appear in the Library Catalog. Since Readex claims to have acquired "all obtainable issues" of a given newspaper, it's likely that some individual issues may not have been reproduced. Most of the original newspapers used for reproduction were taken from the holdings of the American Antiquarian Society.


Many titles in this series were also produced on microfilm. The list of filmed newspapers acquired by CUL (not including some alternate titles) as of July 2001 is given below. Note that records for these newspapers are included in the online catalog, and that each title is cataloged separately, and has its own Microfilm accession number.

Individual titles:

AMERICAN RECORDER, AND THE CHARLESTOWN ADVERTISER (CHARLESTOWN, MASS) 
AMERICAN TELEGRAPH (BROWNSVILLE, PA )
BALLSTON SPA GAZETTE (BALLSTON SPA, N Y) 
BALLSTON SPA GAZETTE AND SARATOGA FARMER (BALLSTON SPA, NEW YORK) 
BALTIMORE EVENING POST (BALTIMORE) 
BURLINGTON ADVERTISER OR AGRICULTURAL AND POLITICAL INTELLIGENCER
         (BURLINGTON, NJ) 
CHARLESTON MORNING POST AND DAILY ADVERTISER (CHARLESTON) 
CHELSEA COURIER (NORWICH, CONN) 
CHERRY VALLEY GAZETTE (CHERRY VALLEY, NY) 
CONNECTICUT MIRROR (HARTFORD, CONN) 
COURIER (NORWICH, CONN) 
EXILE (NEW YORK, N Y) 
HARTFORD GAZETTE (HARTFORD, CONN) 
INDEPENDENT JOURNAL OR THE GENERAL ADVERTISER (NEW YORK)
ITHACA GAZETTE AND RELIGIOUS INTELLIGENCER (ITHACA, NY)
MEDLEY OR NEWBEDFORD MARINE JOURNAL (NEW BEDFORD, MASS)
MIRROR (RUSSELLVILLE, KY)
NORTHERN WHIG (HUDSON, NY)
NORWICH COURIER (NORWICH, CONN) 
ORACLE (CHARLESTON, SC)
OTSEGO REPUBLICAN PRESS (CHERRY VALLEY, NY) 
PENNSYLVANIA HERALD AND EASTON INTELLIGENCER (EASTON, PENN) 
POLITICAL ATLAS (STOCKBRIDGE, MASS) 
POLITICAL BULLETIN AND MISCELLANEOUS REPOSITORY (NEW YORK, NY) 
PRISONER OF HOPE (NEW YORK, NY) 
PROVIDENCE JOURNAL AND TOWN AND COUNTRY ADVERTISER (PROVIDENCE, RI)
REPUBLICAN CHRONICLE (ITHACA, NY) 
RHODE ISLAND FARMER (PROVIDENCE, RI) 
SENECA REPUBLICAN (ITHACA, NY)
SOUTH CAROLINA GAZETTE AND PUBLIC ADVERTISER (CHARLESTON)
SOUTH-CAROLINA WEEKLY GAZETTE (CHARLESTON)
STATE GAZETTE AND TOWN AND COUNTRY ADVERTISER (PROVIDENCE, RI)
TIMES, AND WEEKLY ADVERTISER (HARTFORD, CONN)
UNIVERSAL GAZETTE (PHILADELPHIA, PA)
VERMONT COURIER (RUTLAND, VT)
WESTCHESTER HERALD (MOUNT PLEASANT, NY) 

BIBLIOGRAPHIES and GUIDES:

Brigham, Clarence Saunders. History and bibliography of American newspapers, 1690-1820. Worcester, MA: American Antiquarian Society, 1947. 2 volumes. Olin Library Reference Z 6951 .B85 + Also available online from HeinOnline Spinelli's Law Library Reference Shelf. See the library catalog record. for a description and link to the online version.

Brigham, Clarence Saunders. Additions and corrections to history and bibliography of American newspapers, 1690-1820. Worcester, MA: American Antiquarian Society, 1961. Olin Library Reference Z 6951 .B851 +
Arranged alphabetically by state, then by town, lists 2,120 newspapers published 1690-1820. Provides historical notes for each title. The bibliography is followed by lists of libraries and private owners and by indexes of titles and printers. Serves as the working bibliography for the microform set indicated above.

For a more complete bibliography of U.S. newspapers published between 1690 and the present, see this searchable online bibliography from the Library of Congress.