''The Edinburgh Advertiser'', sometimes referred to as ''The Advertiser'', was a twice-

weekly newspaper A weekly newspaper is a general-news or Current affairs (news format), current affairs publication that is issued once or twice a week in a wide variety broadsheet, magazine, and electronic publishing, digital formats. Similarly, a biweekly new ...

published in

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

, on Tuesday and Friday mornings for almost a century, from 1764 to 1859. At the time of its inception, it was the only newspaper published on these days of the week in Edinburgh. It ran from 3 January 1764 until 29 March 1859 when it merged with the ''

Edinburgh Evening Courant The ''Edinburgh Courant'' was a Broadsheet, broadsheet newspaper from the 18th century. It was published out of Edinburgh, Midlothian, Scotland. Its first issue was dated February 14–19, 1705 and was sold for a penny. It was Scotland's first re ...

''. Through the years, its offices were located at Castlehill; No. 91

Rose Street Rose Street is a street in the New Town of Edinburgh, Scotland. It is a narrow street running parallel between Princes Street and George Street. Today, it is principally a shopping street, however, it is well known for its many bars and ...

; No. 13 South Hanover Street; 210

High Street High Street is a common street name for the primary business street of a city, town, or village, especially in the United Kingdom and Commonwealth. It implies that it is the focal point for business, especially shopping. It is also a metonym fo ...

; 15 India Street; and 7 Heriot Row.

Publishers

Its first publishers were Alexander Donaldson and John Reid. Reid's name appeared on the masthead briefly, only through 21 August 1764, at which time, only Donaldson's continued. Donaldson, a bookseller as well as printer and publisher, is most notable for the 1774 ''

Donaldson v Beckett ''Donaldson v Becket'' (1774) 2 Brown's Parl. Cases (2d ed.) 129, 1 Eng. Rep. 837; 4 Burr. 2408, 98 Eng. Rep. 257; 17 Cobbett's Parl. Hist. 953 is the ruling by the British House of Lords that held that copyright in published works was not perpet ...

'' court case relating to shared perpetual copyrights. In 1774, the newspaper passed from Donaldson to his son, James Donaldson. In 1820, James sold the paper to Claud Muirhead of

Heriot Row Heriot Row is a highly prestigious street in central Edinburgh, virtually unchanged since its original construction in 1802. From its inception to the present day in remained a top address in the city and has housed the rich and famous of the cit ...

and

Gogar Gogar is a predominantly rural area of Edinburgh, Scotland, located to the west of the city. It is not far from Gogarloch, Edinburgh Park and Maybury. The Fife Circle Line is to the north. Etymology The name of Gogar first appears in a clearly ...

Park,

Midlothian Midlothian (; gd, Meadhan Lodainn) is a historic county, registration county, lieutenancy area and one of 32 council areas of Scotland used for local government. Midlothian lies in the east-central Lowlands, bordering the City of Edinburgh, ...

. Of the large fortune made by the Donaldsons, James bequeathed it for the endowment of

Donaldson's Hospital Donaldson's School, in Linlithgow is Scotland's national residential and day school, providing education, therapy and care for pupils who are deaf or who have communication difficulties. History The School's foundation, 1851 Donaldson's School ...

Operations

Claud's father, James Muirhead, printer,

Burgess __NOTOC__ Burgess may refer to: People and fictional characters * Burgess (surname), a list of people and fictional characters * Burgess (given name), a list of people Places * Burgess, Michigan, an unincorporated community * Burgess, Missouri, U ...

and Guild Brother, served as the newspaper's printer, principal manager and superintendent. Rev.

Andrew Crichton Andrew Crichton (1790–1855) was a Scottish biographer and historian. Crichton, youngest son of a small landed proprietor, was born in the parish of Kirkmahoe, Dumfriesshire, December 1790, and educated at Dumfries Academy and at the universi ...

, a Scottish biographer and historian, served as editor until 1851 when he was replaced by Robert W. Paterson. For a short period, editorial control was held by Robert Chambers. At one point in time, Christopher North (the pseudonym of the Scottish writer John Wilson), was said to be associated with the ''Edinburgh Advertiser''. James Macaulay was a foreman. Journeymen printers included John Bryce, James Lamb, Robert Lamb, and George Robertson. Two of the pressmen were James Thomson and Joseph Thompson. The paper was run frugally. Its initial cost was 2½d, and it was increased to 7d by 1820.Couper, p. 106, 111 It covered news, religion, trade, manufacturing, agriculture, politics, and entertainment of Great Britain and the

Colonial United States The colonial history of the United States covers the history of European colonization of North America from the early 17th century until the incorporation of the Thirteen Colonies into the United States after the Revolutionary War. In the ...

; it also published essays.Couper, p. 107 Its motto, ''Quidquid agunt homines, uotum, timor, ira, uoluptas, gaudia, discursus, nostri farrago libelli'', (translation: "whatever men do – prayer, fear, rage, pleasure, joy, running about – is the grist of my little book") is a satire by the Roman poet Juvenal.

History

The newspaper was the first to publish some historically important pieces. The first publication of ''Epitaph: On

Robert Fergusson Robert Fergusson (5 September 1750 – 16 October 1774) was a Scottish poet. After formal education at the University of St Andrews, Fergusson led a bohemian life in Edinburgh, the city of his birth, then at the height of intellectual and c ...

'' appeared in the 7–11 August 1789 issue. One literary note was the first publication of

Robert Burns Robert Burns (25 January 175921 July 1796), also known familiarly as Rabbie Burns, was a Scottish poet and lyricist. He is widely regarded as the national poet of Scotland and is celebrated worldwide. He is the best known of the poets who hav ...

' ''On the Commemoration of Rodney's Victory'' which appeared in the 16–19 April 1793 issue. After Burns' death, several of his

epigram An epigram is a brief, interesting, memorable, and sometimes surprising or satirical statement. The word is derived from the Greek "inscription" from "to write on, to inscribe", and the literary device has been employed for over two mille ...

s were published in the 8 August 1800 issue.

References

{{Authority control 1764 establishments in Scotland 1859 disestablishments in Scotland 18th century in Scotland Publications established in 1764 Publications disestablished in 1859 Defunct newspapers published in the United Kingdom Defunct weekly newspapers Newspapers published in Scotland History of Edinburgh Mass media in Edinburgh 18th century in Edinburgh 19th century in Edinburgh

Publishers

Operations

History

See also

References