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Pennsylvania Evening Post Newspaper June 4, 1776

Currency:USD Category:Collectibles / Paper Start Price:190.00 USD Estimated At:400.00 - 600.00 USD
Pennsylvania Evening Post Newspaper June 4, 1776
<B>"Pennsylvania Evening Post" Newspaper June 4, 1776</B></I> Offered here is an issue of this rare newspaper published exactly one month before the signing of the Declaration of Independence. Benjamin Towne, the publisher, had opened his own print shop in Philadelphia in 1774 and the next year attempted to break into the crowded local newspaper market. He published the <I>Pennsylvania Evening Post</B></I> three times weekly, which gave him an advantage over the others which were weeklies. The paper quickly became a leading voice for the patriot cause, but Towne switched to the Tory side when the British occupied the city. The move paid off when, after the British evacuated, Towne became the sole printer left in the city thus securing contracts from the Continental Congress and the state government. This issue has an interesting quote from King George III on the front page regarding America: <I>"I deplore, with the deepest concern, the miseries which a great part of my subjects in North-America have brought upon themselves, by an unjustifiable resistance to the constitutional authority of this kingdom, and I shall be ready and happy to alleviate those miseries, by acts of mercy and clemency, whenever authority is established, and the now existing rebellion is at an end. To obtain these salutary purposes, I will invariably pursue the most proper and effectual means."</B></I> Page two features a committee resolution signed in type by Thomas McKean, later to be a signer of the Declaration. One interesting ad on the back page reads in full <I>"To be SOLD, a NEGRO BOY, about four or five years of age, who has had the smallpox and measles. Inquire of the printer."</B></I> Four pages, 8" x 10", fine condition. Interestingly, the original price was "only Two Coppers." It should be worth a lot more than that today! Lot:253