(NEWSPAPERS) The Boston News Letter

Sale 2273 - Lot 252

Price Realized: $ 3,600

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

Estimate: $ 5,000 - $ 7,500

IMPORTANT EARLY WESTERN AMERICANA IN AMERICA'S FIRST NEWSPAPER (NEWSPAPERS.) The Boston News-Letter. 4 pages, 12 1/2 x 8 inches, on one sheet; disbound, contemporary manuscript notes, small repair on bottom edge. Boston, 12 January 1719

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The Boston News-Letter, founded in 1704, was the first newspaper in the British colonies to last more than one issue, and by 1719 it was still the only newspaper in North America.
This is one of the earliest issues to appear at auction since 1925. It features a long and detailed report on the French colonies to the west: the proprietors of Louisiana and Canada have surrendered their patents, and the two colonies have been combined under the management of the Company of the West. This issue summarizes the Company of the West's new charter, which granted it 25 years of exclusive trade rights. Under the leadership of John Law, the company would inspire a spasm of wild financial speculation called the Mississippi Bubble which soon ruined the French economy.
Also included in this issue are two notices of slaves for sale, and a long amusing story about a thief who fell through a chimney and was mistaken for Satan.