The Library is home to one of the world’s richest collections of early New York newspapers and magazines, including the New York Gazette, the first newspaper ever published in the city. In this seminar, participants will engage with the Library’s primary source collections, including our database of historic circulation records, to explore how these materials can inform creative writing and scholarly research. The first session will focus on the business of printing and publishing, from the challenges of raising capital to the efforts required to find and maintain a steady readership. The second session will focus on early journalism and reporting, as newspapers shaped an unprecedented and uniquely American political discourse prior to and immediately following the War for Independence. One prominent example will be the Independent Journal, which published Alexander Hamilton’s famous Federalist Papers. In the third session, participants will be instructed in how to examine early newspapers, particularly the advertisements, for information about the lives of early New Yorkers. Members are welcome to participate in any or all sessions.

Erin Schreiner is the Library’s Special Collections Librarian.

$40 for all three sessions; $15 per session.

Registration is required. How to Register