The Log Cabin. By H. Greeley, 30 Ann-Street. Vol. 1 New Series. New York, Saturday, June 12, 1841 No. 28

The Log Cabin. By H. Greeley, 30 Ann-Street. Vol. 1 New Series. New York, Saturday, June 12, 1841; No. 28; $1.50 Per Annum: 10 copies for $10. Single large sheet printed both sides with extensive edge tears and losses but not affecting text. One tear at the fold line, center, affecting text but easily repaired (but not by us). See images for more information. A rare publication, with 10,231 copies recorded. This copy goes to J. T. Baker. The lower production number makes sense because Greeley replaced the Log Cabin, starting in 1840.

Images of Greeley for reference only and do not come with the offering.

Reference: 206-152;
Estimate: $50-$100.

By the end of the 1840 campaign, the Log Cabin's circulation had risen to 80,000 and Greeley decided to establish a daily newspaper, the New-York Tribune. At the time, New York had many newspapers, dominated by James Gordon Bennett's New York Herald, which with a circulation of about 55,000 had more readers than its combined competition.
As technology advanced, it became cheaper and easier to publish a newspaper, and the daily press came to dominate the weekly, which had once been the more common format for news periodicals. Greeley borrowed money from friends to get started and published the first issue of the Tribune on April 10, 1841, the day of a memorial parade in New York for President Harrison, who had died after a month in office and been replaced by Vice President Tyler. In the first issue, Greeley promised that his newspaper would be a "new morning Journal of Politics, Literature, and General Intelligence". New Yorkers were not initially receptive; the first week's receipts were $92 and expenses $525. The paper was sold for a cent a copy by newsboys who purchased bundles of papers at a discount. The price of advertising was initially four cents a line but was quickly raised to six cents.
Through the 1840s, the Tribune was four pages, that is, a single sheet folded. It initially had 600 subscribers and 5,000 copies were sold of the first issue. In the early days, Greeley's chief assistant was Henry J. Raymond, who a decade later founded The New York Times. To place the Tribune on a sound financial footing, Greeley sold a half-interest in it to attorney Thomas McElrath, who became publisher of the Tribune (Greeley was editor) and ran the business side. Politically, the Tribune backed Kentucky Senator Henry Clay, who had unsuccessfully sought the presidential nomination that fell to Harrison, and supported Clay's American System for development of the country.
Greeley was one of the first newspaper editors to have a full-time correspondent in Washington, an innovation quickly followed by his rivals. Part of Greeley's strategy was to make the Tribune a newspaper of national scope, not merely local. One factor in establishing the paper nationally was the Weekly Tribune, created in September 1841 when the Log Cabin and The New-Yorker were merged. With an initial subscription price of $2 a year, this was sent to many across the United States by mail and was especially popular in the Midwest. In December 1841, Greeley was offered the editorship of the national Whig newspaper, the Madisonian. Greeley demanded full control and declined when not given it.

Notes: See description, one hole affecting text but can be repaired and text restored. Edges frayed. Sold as-is.

$50 - $100

20.5" x 0.01" x 15.5"

Militaria, Military Documents & Ephemera

20%

Richard Gabriel | (781) 883-6639 | gabriel@calixbooks.com

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