Breaking News: Renaissance Journalism and the Birth of the Newspaper: Difference between revisions

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(→‎The Newspaper Arrives: Added text, audio, and one item for http://www.folger.edu/Content/Whats-On/Folger-Exhibitions/Past-Exhibitions/Breaking-News/The-Newspaper-Arrives.cfm)
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=== The Newspaper Arrives ===
=== The Newspaper Arrives ===
The outbreak of the pan-European Thirty Years’ War  in 1618  created an insatiable demand in England for news from the Continent. Two enterprising English publishers, Nathaniel Butter and Nicholas Bourne, soon dominated the news market. By 1642, with the breakdown of state control over the printing presses due to the English Civil Wars (1642–1651), newspapers like [http://luna.folger.edu/luna/servlet/s/1pn1rf ''A Perfect Diurnall''] began to print domestic as well as foreign news. This signified the advent of the weekly newspaper.
The advent of the coranto fundamentally changed the way many newsletter writers operated. While pages of news were once laboriously copied by hand, printed news made the spread and the consumption of news much more common.
The most important news of the week served as the title for these early corantos. But in 1632, the government of Charles I banned the publication of corantos. However, fearful of losing a propaganda opportunity, in 1638 the Crown licensed the publishers Nathaniel Butter and Nicholas Bourne to produce newsbooks of foreign affairs, subject to government scrutiny before publication. In an epistle to coranto readers, Butter and Bourne informed their reading public that they could look forward to a resumption of frequent news reports.
Although Nathaniel Butter was imprisoned in August 1627as a result of the government’s increasingly hostile attitude towards news publication, he continued to publish corantos. Though still not completely standardized, the title pages were updated to reflect the exact dates of the news included in the issue, and included the phrase, “the continuation of our weekly news.”
Making further strides, and unlike previous news printers who primarily translated foreign news, Samuel Pecke—considered the first English journalist—cultivated his own sources of information and published domestic news gleaned from the proceedings in Parliament. A Perfect Diurnall, published weekly from 1642 through 1655, quickly spawned imitators.
Listen to co-curator Jason Peacey discuss the first journalist.
<html5media>http://www.folger.edu/documents/82_First%20Journalist.mp3</html5media>
==== Items included ====
* ''A perfect diurnall of the passages in Parliament''. [London: William Cook, 1642]. Call number: [http://hamnet.folger.edu/cgi-bin/Pwebrecon.cgi?BBID=132528 P1486.6 nos. 10, 11] and [http://luna.folger.edu/luna/servlet/s/g4mj10 LUNA Digital Image].


=== Journalists at War ===
=== Journalists at War ===

Revision as of 21:06, 20 January 2015

Breaking News: Renaissance Journalism and the Birth of the Newspaper, part of the Exhibitions at the Folger, opened September 25, 2008 and closed on January 31, 2009. The exhibition was curated by Chris R Kyle and Jason Peacey with Elizabeth Walsh. The exhibition catalog can be purchased from the Folger Shop.

The first newspaper arrived in England from an Amsterdam publisher on December 2, 1620. Containing the latest foreign news, this publication immediately sparked a huge demand for up-to-the-minute reports on domestic and world events. From stories of war to lurid accounts of celebrity scandals among the royal families of Europe, journalism exploded into the world of Renaissance England. Gossip in the taverns and conversations among the political classes gave way to the phenomenon of a wide cross-section of the populace reading the events of the days and weeks in cheaply-printed serial publications.

The early English newspaper has left an indelible mark upon modern news culture. Even in its earliest manifestation, we see the emergence of the dramatic headline and the editorial, the development of tabloids and advertising, and the advent of attempts at state censorship and control over the presses. The content of the newspapers on exhibit reflects not only politics but the wider cultural, social and economic life of the times they covered.

This exhibition traces the development of journalism and the newspaper in England, from the manuscript antecedents of the coranto form to the introduction of newspapers in America in the late seventeenth century, and the birth of the first daily newspaper in England in 1702.

Contents of the exhibition

News Before Newspapers

In sixteenth and seventeenth century England, when the printing of domestic news was banned by the government and the newspaper had not yet been invented, letters were the most common form for the transmission of news. People also copied news reports into their personal diaries. One of the most popular ways to obtain information was to purchase separates. These were manuscript copies of speeches and reports of events of high political drama. Avidly collected and read, they were often circulated among family and friends.

Sir Richard Newdigate received his newsletters from London, and each arrived folded into small packets with wax seals affixed. In 1635, Charles I authorized the government postal service to carry private letters at a fixed rate dependent upon the distance traveled. However, many letters went missing en route and important news was often conveyed orally rather than by letter.

News circulating in this manner could easily be misconstrued. In a private journal titled "Strange Reports," the author collected snippets of news--including many items that are hard to believe were true stories. For example, he reports that Mrs. Honiswood of Kent gave birth to over 260 children. Perhaps more feasible, though still astonishing, is his report of a husband, wife, and two children whose combined ages equaled thirty-one years.

Another famous example of news being copied into personal journals is the final speech of Sir Walter Raleigh—poet, explorer, scientist, and one-time favorite of Queen Elizabeth—who was convicted in 1603 on flimsy evidence of treason and imprisoned in the Tower. As was customary, those on the scaffold were permitted a final speech. Reports of Raleigh’s final, eloquent words quickly circulated in manuscript and were copied into personal journals.

Listen to co-curator Chris Kyle discuss Sir Walter Raleigh's execution.

Items included

Experiments in Printed News

Major events and natural disasters provided an opportunity to publish lengthy news pamphlets. Dramatic political events from the courts of Europe, reports of strange weather, attacks on the Pope, and news of far-away and exotic lands were all available for purchase by the reading public. The government also used the news for printed propaganda campaigns, taking full advantage of its ability to reach the populace from the pulpit and the town square.

This title page from 1620 conveys a vision seen over the prophet Mohammed’s tomb in “Arabia” and a depiction of the skies raining blood in Rome. The pamphlet is a good example of how news was transmitted in England before the newspaper. Originally written as a letter, it was translated from Italian into English before being printed.

News which circulated in continental Europe was often translated into English and republished in an effort to satisfy the increasing appetite for exotic news. One report from China marvels at shaven-headed Buddhist priests, the fine quality of Chinese horses, and the small stature of the people. It also laments the lack of grapes to make wine.

Other reports show that for many Elizabethans, news did not have to be current. Roger Ascham was the tutor to Princess Elizabeth and author of The Scholemaster, a popular book on education. In 1550, Ascham traveled to Germany as the secretary to the English ambassador to the Court of Charles V, the Holy Roman Emperor. In order to satisfy the demand in England for news from Germany, Ascham began to compile a daily report on affairs of the court. Although written as a series of manuscript newsletters, Ascham’s reports were of sufficient interest to be published after his death and twenty years after the events described.

Protestant England delighted in reading scandals about the Pope and the Catholic Church. The author of the newsbook, Newes from Rome has reproduced a woodcut which was circulated in Rome attacking corrupt Catholics and the papacy. An empty speech bubble allowed buyers to fill in their own unflattering caption.

Items included

  • Ludovico Cortano. Good newes to Christendome. London: Printed [by G. Purslowe] for Nathaniel Butter, 1620. Call number: STC 5796 and LUNA Digital Image.
  • The strange and marveilous newes lately come from the great kingdome of Chyna, which adjoyneth to the East Indya. London, 1577. Call number: STC 5141; displayed title page.
  • Newes from Rome, Spaine, Palermo, Geneuæ and France. London: Printed [by J. Wolfe?] for Thomas Nelson, 1590. Call number: STC 21293 and LUNA Digital Image.
  • Roger Ascham. A report and discourse written by Roger Ascham, of the affaires and state of Germany and the Emperour Charles his court, duryng certaine yeares while the sayd Roger was there. London: Printed by John Daye, 1570. Call number: STC 830 copy 1 and LUNA Digital Image.

The Newspaper Arrives

The outbreak of the pan-European Thirty Years’ War in 1618 created an insatiable demand in England for news from the Continent. Two enterprising English publishers, Nathaniel Butter and Nicholas Bourne, soon dominated the news market. By 1642, with the breakdown of state control over the printing presses due to the English Civil Wars (1642–1651), newspapers like A Perfect Diurnall began to print domestic as well as foreign news. This signified the advent of the weekly newspaper.

The advent of the coranto fundamentally changed the way many newsletter writers operated. While pages of news were once laboriously copied by hand, printed news made the spread and the consumption of news much more common.

The most important news of the week served as the title for these early corantos. But in 1632, the government of Charles I banned the publication of corantos. However, fearful of losing a propaganda opportunity, in 1638 the Crown licensed the publishers Nathaniel Butter and Nicholas Bourne to produce newsbooks of foreign affairs, subject to government scrutiny before publication. In an epistle to coranto readers, Butter and Bourne informed their reading public that they could look forward to a resumption of frequent news reports.

Although Nathaniel Butter was imprisoned in August 1627as a result of the government’s increasingly hostile attitude towards news publication, he continued to publish corantos. Though still not completely standardized, the title pages were updated to reflect the exact dates of the news included in the issue, and included the phrase, “the continuation of our weekly news.”

Making further strides, and unlike previous news printers who primarily translated foreign news, Samuel Pecke—considered the first English journalist—cultivated his own sources of information and published domestic news gleaned from the proceedings in Parliament. A Perfect Diurnall, published weekly from 1642 through 1655, quickly spawned imitators.

Listen to co-curator Jason Peacey discuss the first journalist.

Items included

Journalists at War

Serving the Republican Regime

Censorship and the Free Press

Satire and Scorn

Formatting the News

Selling Space

Tabloid Tales

A World of Wonder

Towards a Modern Newspaper

Elections and Party Politics

Supplemental materials

Listen to a segment from On the Media about this exhibition or read the transcript.

Breaking News children's exhibition

Audio Tour