(ENGLAND 1666) The Oxford Gazette

Sale 2253 - Lot 149

Price Realized: $ 1,920

?Final Price Realized includes Buyer’s Premium added to Hammer Price

Estimate: $ 1,500 - $ 2,500

THE LAST ISSUE UNDER THIS NAME (ENGLAND--1666.) The Oxford Gazette. Volume I, number 23. 2 pages, 11 1/4 x 7 inches, on one sheet; minor foxing, two small paper flaws in upper margin. London, 1 February 1665/[66]

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an early issue of the first english-language newspaper. The Great Plague swept through London in 1665, prompting King Charles II's removal to the countryside. The Oxford Gazette was launched on 7 November 1665 as an alternative to London news sheets, which were generally regarded as contaminated. The earliest issues were printed in both Oxford and London. When the plague slowed in February, both the King and the Gazette moved back to London. The London Gazette continues publication today as the world's oldest continuously published newspaper, and is often regarded as the first modern newspaper.
This issue of the Gazette was the last issued under the Oxford Gazette name. It concludes with the following report from Hampton Court: "Upon the continued Decrease of the Sickness, which (thanks be to God) has this week reduced the Totall of the Bill to 227 . . . His Majesty has resolved as well for the encouragement of his City of London, as for the better conveniency of his great and weighty Affaires of State, to remove to morrow, being the First of February, with the Court, to his Royal Palace of Whitehall." No copies of the Oxford Gazette have been traced at auction since 1999.