The ''Weekly Register'' (also called the ''Niles Weekly Register'' and ''Niles' Register'') was a national magazine published in

Baltimore, Maryland Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...

by Hezekiah Niles from 1811 to 1848. The most widely circulated magazine of its time, the ''Register'' was the nation's first weekly newsmagazine and "exerted a powerful influence on the early national discourse." Niles was Baltimore's most prominent citizen at the time. As of the time of publication of volume 36, the magazine was headquartered at "Water Street, east of South Street."

History

Niles apprenticed as a printer in Philadelphia, eventually moving to Wilmington to start a magazine. His partner in that venture, however, ran off with the money, leaving him destitute. He moved on, establishing first a newspaper and then the ''Register'' in Baltimore. The magazine's content included coverage of the

War of 1812 The War of 1812 (18 June 1812 – 17 February 1815) was fought by the United States of America and its indigenous allies against the United Kingdom and its allies in British North America, with limited participation by Spain in Florida. It ...

, among other offerings. After the ''Register'' had been in publication eight years, Niles decided in 1818 to offer an index for all twelve volumes published in that period. He hired young writer and critic,

John Neal John Neal may refer to: * John Neal (writer) (1793–1876), American writer, critic, and activist * John R. Neal (1836–1889), American politician * John Randolph Neal Jr. (1876–1959), American lawyer * John Neal (politician) (1889–1962), Br ...

to read all twelve volumes, noting the location of salient topics throughout each article. Neal worked sixteen hours a day, seven days a week, for more than four months on the project, which he called “about the dreariest and heaviest drudgery mortal man was ever tried with,” and that Niles claimed was "the most laborious work of the kind that ever appeared in any country." For producing the 254-page index, Niles paid Neal $200 plus a $100 bound copy of the volumes he indexed. The magazine ceased publication in 1848.

Notes

References

External links

*
Cumulative search index at the Maryland State Archives

Digital repository at HathiTrust
1811 establishments in Maryland Magazines published in Baltimore Publications established in 1811 Publications disestablished in 1848 {{Maryland-newspaper-stub