Hilbert College

 Annotated Bibliography: History of Newspapers

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Griffiths, Dennis. (1992) The Encyclopedia of the British Press. St. Martin's Press.

This book is a collection of articles about the early British Press. Important news stories of the time included: voting, military successes, royal births and deaths, Claxton's printing press, John Wolfe, the Mercurius Publicus, and the Corante from Italy. This book also discusses the origins of the London Gazette. Following the articles is an alphabetical listing of famous names and concepts of British publishing.

Douglas, George H. (1999) The Golden Age of the Newspaper. Greenwood Press.

This book is a very detailed account of people and places involved with newspapers in the 1800s- starting with the 1829 inauguration of President Jackson and the evolution of the Penny Papers. The work also discusses changes in journalism following the Industrial Revolution and journalism during the Civil War.

Bleyer, William Grosvenor. (1927) Main Currents in the History of American Journalism. Riverside Press.

This work is a chronicle of the American news media from the settling of the colonies to the evolution of the Penny Papers. The book discusses the first English newspaper, the London Gazette.

Schudson, Michael. (1991) Lecture. Preparing the Minds of the People. American Antiquarian Society.

This work discusses the origin of newspapers. Newspapers began as simple listings of a miscellany of facts. These simple listings led to the development of new journalism with papers including actual stories.

Silverman, Alan. (1964) The American Newspaper. Western Printing and Lithographing Co.

Silverman divides early American journalism into five periods, including the colonial period, the revolutionary period, the partisan period, the Penny Press period, and, finally, the independent period.

Swanberg, W. A. (1961) Citizen Hearst. Charles Scribner's Sons Press.

This book is a biography of newspaper mogul and businessman William Randolph Hearst. Hearst successfully predicted that newpapers would become a profitable business. Hearst published many fabricated, embellished stories, or yellow journalism, throughout his career. Hearst also became a politician and his political career was the subject of the movie Citizen Kane.

Baldasty, Gerald J. (1999) E. W. Scripps and the Business of Newspapers. University of Illinois Press.

E. W. Scripps built the first major chain of newspapers. He combined the high journalistic standards of Pulitzer with the profit making skills of Hearst. Scripps created the Penny Press and started a chain of small newspapers in small cities.

Sloan, William and Julie Hedgepoth Williams. (1994) The Early American Press 1690-1783. Greenwood Press.

This source catalogues the progression of the press through America, starting in Boston and Philadelphia in the late 1600's and early 1700's. Newspapers spread as a means of colonial communication.

Bond, Richmond Pugh and Katherine Kirtley Weed. (1946) Studies of British Newspapers and Periodicals. University of North Carolina Press at Chapel Hill.

This very detailed bibliography helped lead to more research and more books on the history of newspapers.

Stephens, Mitchell. (1988) A History of News: From the Drum to the Satellite. Viking Press.

The best sections of this book discuss newspapers and reporting. The evolution of newspapers is discussed, from the Venice Gazette to the Amsterdam Coranto and the birth of papers in London. The French and American Revolutions are also discussed, as the demand for papers increased during wartime.

Bond, Richmond Pugh. (1957) Studies in the Early English Periodical. University of North Carolina Press at Chapel Hill.

This work is a collection of articles about newspapers and their origins. William F. Belcher writes about the British Apollo, which started as a question and answer journal and was published by Aaron Hill and Marshal Smith from 1708-1711. Other newspapers discussed include: the Free Thinker, the Prompter, the Female Spectator, and the World.

Lake, Brian. (1984) British Newspapers: A History and Guide for Collectors. Sheppard Press.

Lake divides British newspapers into five time periods. From 1500-1640, the Corantos and the Intellegencers printed on a varying schedule- anywhere from monthly to every two weeks. From 1700-1790, a shift towards a daily schedule was made. Between 1790 and 1890, papers gained their mass communication status. From 1890 to the present, papers are bent on survival. Publishers cannot afford to print what will not sell.

Mencken, H. L. (1994) Thirty-Five Years of Newspaper Work. Johns Hopkins University Press.

This work contains Mencken's memoirs about his career in the newspaper business. Mencken is probably the most well known newspaper journalists of this century.

Tunstall, Jeremy. (1996) Newspaper Power: The New National Press in Britain. Clarendon Press.

This work is a serious look at the history of the modern newspaper. This very detailed book covers the 1960's through the 1990's. It considers national issues and influences that helped and hindered the press throughout the last thirty years.

Raymond, Joad. (1996) The Invention of the Newspaper, English Newsbooks 1641-1649. Clarendon Press.

Newsbooks were the predecessors or newspapers. First published in 1641, newsbooks usually contained information concerning parliament hearings. Finally, in 1643, the Mercurius Aulicus was published. The Mercurius was the first collaborative newsbook. These primitive newspapers eventually evolved into the first British newspapers.

Crane, R. S. and F. B. Kaye. (1927) A Census of British Newspapers and Periodicals 1620-1800. University of North Carolina Press at Chapel Hill.

This work is a huge list of all the newspapers and periodicals published in Britain from 1620-1800. This list not only proves that there were newspapers, it proves that there were lots of newspapers. Surprisingly, many of these newspapers are archived in some American libraries.

Wiles, R. M. (1957) Serial Publication in England Before 1750. Cambridge University Press.

Publications in England started to draw readers by printing serial novels. Many of the Victorian novels we read now were originally published in serials. However, readership was kept low due to literacy rates and other factors.

Coleridge, Nicholas. (1994) Paper Tigers. Birchland Press.

This book chronicles the rise and fall of many proprietors of American newspapers. The stories of many newspapers are included such as: the Sulzbergers and the New York Times; the Grahams and the Washington Post; and Ingersoll, Singleton, and Chandler and the Los Angeles Times. This work provides a more modern look at the press as a business.

Pulitzer, Joseph Jr. and Michael E. Pulitzer. (1998) Newspapers and Broadcasting in the Public Interest. Pulitzer Publishing Company.

Joseph Pulitzer Jr. discusses how his forefathers pushed newswriting to its prime through their publications. His grandfather published the World, while his father published the Post-Dispatch. These papers carried on the Pulitzer way of doing things- well and right the first time.

Jones, Alex S. and Susan E. Tifft. (1999) The Trust: The Private and Powerful Family Behind the New York Times. Little, Brown, and Company.

This book is a family history of the Sulzbergers. It begins with Aldoph S. Ochs, founder of the Times. His only daughter married Arthur Hays Sulzberger in 1917 and he took over for his deceased father-in-law. The book traces the transfer of power throughout the Sulzberger family.