The ''Edinburgh Courant'' was a

broadsheet newspaper A broadsheet is the largest newspaper format and is characterized by long vertical pages, typically of . Other common newspaper formats include the smaller Berliner and tabloid– compact formats. Description Many broadsheets measure roughl ...

from the 18th century. It was published out of

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 ...

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 Edinbu ...

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 ...

. Its first issue was dated February 14–19, 1705 and was sold for a

penny A penny is a coin ( pennies) or a unit of currency (pl. pence) in various countries. Borrowed from the Carolingian denarius (hence its former abbreviation d.), it is usually the smallest denomination within a currency system. Presently, it is t ...

. It was Scotland's first regional newspaper and it was produced twice weekly for five years, thereafter continuing as the ''Scots Courant'' until April 1720.

History

In 1718, the ''Edinburgh Evening Courant'' began publication, being first printed by John McQueen or McEwen on the

Royal Mile The Royal Mile () is a succession of streets forming the main thoroughfare of the Old Town of the city of Edinburgh in Scotland. The term was first used descriptively in W. M. Gilbert's ''Edinburgh in the Nineteenth Century'' (1901), de ...

then passing to his protege, Alexander Kincaid in 1735. It survived until the ''

Edinburgh Evening News The ''Edinburgh Evening News'' is a daily newspaper and website based in Edinburgh, Scotland. It was founded by John Wilson (1844–1909) and first published in 1873. It is printed daily, except on Sundays. It is owned by JPIMedia, which als ...

'' came into existence in 1873. It was founded by

James Watson James Dewey Watson (born April 6, 1928) is an American molecular biologist, geneticist, and zoologist. In 1953, he co-authored with Francis Crick the academic paper proposing the double helix structure of the DNA molecule. Watson, Crick a ...

(who had also published the ''

Edinburgh Gazette ''The Edinburgh Gazette'' is a newspaper of record (government gazette) of the Government of the United Kingdom, along with ''The London Gazette'' and ''The Belfast Gazette''. It is published by The Stationery Office (TSO), on behalf of His Maje ...

'' from 1700) and had its main printing office was at Craigs Close at 170 High Street on the

, the premises generally being known as the King's Printing House. In 1725, during the time of the Scottish

Malt Tax riots The malt tax riots were a wave of protest against the extension of the English malt tax to Scotland. The riots began in Hamilton on 23 June 1725 and soon spread throughout the country. The fiercest protests, the Shawfield riots, were in Glasgow, ...

, rival political factions used – or at least attempted to use – newspapers including the ''Edinburgh Evening Courant'' and the ''Caledonian Mercury'' as their "mouthpieces", as a letter from the then book trade apprentice

Andrew Millar Andrew Millar (17058 June 1768) was a British publisher in the eighteenth century. Biography In 1725, as a twenty-year-old bookseller apprentice, he evaded Edinburgh city printing restrictions by going to Leith to print, which was considered b ...

indicates. Millar was apprenticed to James McEuen, who had been printer, editor, and principal bookseller of ''The Edinburgh Evening Courant'' since 1718.

Editors

Daniel Defoe Daniel Defoe (; born Daniel Foe; – 24 April 1731) was an English writer, trader, journalist, pamphleteer and spy. He is most famous for his novel '' Robinson Crusoe'', published in 1719, which is claimed to be second only to the Bible in its ...

, author of the 1719 novel ''

Robinson Crusoe ''Robinson Crusoe'' () is a novel by Daniel Defoe, first published on 25 April 1719. The first edition credited the work's protagonist Robinson Crusoe as its author, leading many readers to believe he was a real person and the book a tra ...

'', and then based at Moubray House, was its editor in the early 18th century. James Hannay, Naval History writer, was its editor from 1860 to 1864.

References

External links

''Concise History of British Newspapers''The Word of the StreetAncestry.com

''The Scotsman''
{{Scottish newspapers 1705 establishments in Scotland 1873 disestablishments in Scotland Publications established in 1705 Publications disestablished in 1873 Defunct newspapers published in the United Kingdom Mass media in Edinburgh History of Edinburgh

History

Editors

Archives

References

External links