Gazette de Leyde - Livraison n 69 du 29 aout 1786 - first page

''Nouvelles Extraordinaires de Divers Endroits'' (English: "Extraordinary News from Various Places") or ''Gazette de Leyde'' (Gazette of

Leiden Leiden (; in English and archaic Dutch also Leyden) is a city and municipality in the province of South Holland, Netherlands. The municipality of Leiden has a population of 119,713, but the city forms one densely connected agglomeration w ...

) was the most important

newspaper of record A newspaper of record is a major national newspaper with large circulation whose editorial and news-gathering functions are considered authoritative and independent; they are thus "newspapers of record by reputation" and include some of the ...

of the international

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

newspaper A newspaper is a periodical publication containing written information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background. Newspapers can cover a wide variety of fields such as politics, business, spor ...

s of the late 17th to the late 18th century. Jerzy Łojek, Ku naprawie Rzeczpospolitej: konstytucja 3 Maja, Wyd. Interpress, 1988, , p.113 In the last few decades of the 18th century it was one of the main political newspapers in the

Western world The Western world, also known as the West, primarily refers to the various nations and states in the regions of Europe, North America, and Oceania.

. Bernard Coppens
1789-1815 Gazette de Leyde
2 February 2006. 1789-1815.com. Retrieved 10 February 2010.Hannah Barker, Simon Burrows, ''Press, politics and the public sphere in Europe and North America, 1760-1820'', Cambridge University Press, 2002,
Google Print, p.170
/ref>
. Hinck & Wall, Inc. / viaLibri. Retrieved 10 February 2010. It was published in

French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

. At that time the Netherlands enjoyed a significant

freedom of the press Freedom of the press or freedom of the media is the fundamental principle that communication and expression through various media, including printed and electronic media, especially published materials, should be considered a right to be exerc ...

. Its circulation likely exceeded 10,000, and it may have reached even up to 100,000.

Background

The Netherlands ( United Provinces) were, in the 18th century, very tolerant in matters of

and

religious freedom Freedom of religion or religious liberty is a principle that supports the freedom of an individual or community, in public or private, to manifest religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship, and observance. It also includes the freedo ...

. Compared to most contemporary countries, such as France, Great Britain or the Holy Roman Empire, there was little government interference (

censorship Censorship is the suppression of speech, public communication, or other information. This may be done on the basis that such material is considered objectionable, harmful, sensitive, or "inconvenient". Censorship can be conducted by governments ...

monopolies A monopoly (from Greek el, μόνος, mónos, single, alone, label=none and el, πωλεῖν, pōleîn, to sell, label=none), as described by Irving Fisher, is a market with the "absence of competition", creating a situation where a speci ...

).John Christian Laursen, ''New essays on the political thought of the Huguenots of the Refuge'', BRILL, 1995,
Google Print, p.73, 94-5
/ref> Many

Huguenots The Huguenots ( , also , ) were a religious group of French Protestants who held to the Reformed, or Calvinist, tradition of Protestantism. The term, which may be derived from the name of a Swiss political leader, the Genevan burgomaster B ...

fled France for the Netherlands during the reign of

Louis XIV Louis XIV (Louis Dieudonné; 5 September 16381 September 1715), also known as Louis the Great () or the Sun King (), was List of French monarchs, King of France from 14 May 1643 until his death in 1715. His reign of 72 years and 110 days is the Li ...

, particularly after the revocation of the

Edict of Nantes The Edict of Nantes () was signed in April 1598 by King Henry IV and granted the Calvinist Protestants of France, also known as Huguenots, substantial rights in the nation, which was in essence completely Catholic. In the edict, Henry aimed pr ...

in 1685. Several of them began publishing French-language newspapers (French being both their language and internationally used - see

lingua franca A lingua franca (; ; for plurals see ), also known as a bridge language, common language, trade language, auxiliary language, vehicular language, or link language, is a language systematically used to make communication possible between groups ...

) in a number of European cities covering political news in France and Europe. Read by the European elite, these papers were known in France as the "foreign gazettes" (fr. ''gazettes étrangères''). G. Feyel,'' La diffusion des gazettes étrangères en France et la révolution postale des années 1750.'' in H. Duranton (ed.), ''Les Gazettes Européennes de la langue française (XVIIe-XVIIIe siècle)'', 1993, pp.86-88

Contents and history

The paper was founded by a Huguenot family, the de la Fonts, and passed into the hands of another Huguenot family, the Luzacs, in 1738. Sources vary on the exact date it was founded, suggesting 1660, 1667Jeremy D. Popkin, "The Gazette de Leyde and French Politics under Louis XVI" in Jack R. Censer and Jeremy D. Popkin, "Press and Politics Pre-Revolutionary France", University of California Press, Berkeley, 1987,
Google Print, p.76-77
/ref> 1669 or 1680; they all agree the publication continued to 1798 (or 1811 under a different name). It was published twice a week (on Tuesdays and Thursdays) in

(hence its popular unofficial name, ''Gazette de Leyde''). The newspaper usually contained eight pages arranged as a four-page booklet. The size varied; surviving examples are generally by or by , in which the text is organized into two columns. A four-page, single column supplement was published from 1753. The paper quality varied, war time conditions often enforced use of low quality stock, and the print was small and cramped. Subscriptions from France amounted to over 2,500 by 1778, at an annual cost of 36

livres The (; ; abbreviation: ₶.) was one of numerous currencies used in medieval France, and a unit of account (i.e., a monetary unit used in accounting) used in Early Modern France. The 1262 monetary reform established the as 20 , or 80.88 g ...

. Despite being a French-language publication, the gazette was seen as independent of

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

. Its production was tolerated and even encouraged by the authorities, who often used ''Gazette de Leyde'' and other similar publications for their own ends, when wishing to publicize information that could not be released via the official channels.Jeremy Popkin, ''The Prerevolutionary Origins of Political Journalism'', in Jack R. Censer (ed.), ''The French Revolution and Intellectual History'', The Dorsey Press, IOSBN 0256068569, p.119 The paper also gave voice to institutions like the

Parliament of France The French Parliament (french: Parlement français) is the bicameral legislature of the French Republic, consisting of the Senate () and the National Assembly (). Each assembly conducts legislative sessions at separate locations in Paris: ...

that were finding it difficult to publish in the official French newspaper, the ''

Gazette de France ''La Gazette'' (), originally ''Gazette de France'', was the first weekly magazine published in France. It was founded by Théophraste Renaudot and published its first edition on 30 May 1631. It progressively became the mouthpiece of one roy ...

''.Jeremy Popkin, ''The Prerevolutionary Origins of Political Journalism'', in Jack R. Censer (ed.), ''The French Revolution and Intellectual History'', The Dorsey Press, IOSBN 0256068569, p.118 ''Nouvelles Extraordinaires'', like other newspapers of its time, gave primarily political and commercial information, classified by source and date of arrival (the oldest, from the most distant lands, coming first). It offered reports on international politics, such as wars and diplomatic relations, as well as coverage of major domestic affairs. The newspaper also contained trivia, editorials and advertising. Like many other early newspapers, it offered judgments and prognostications, and was in the main a juxtaposition of rumors and announcements from various sources, presented without much unification.Jeremy Popkin, ''The Prerevolutionary Origins of Political Journalism'', in Jack R. Censer (ed.), ''The French Revolution and Intellectual History'', The Dorsey Press, IOSBN 0256068569, p.117 It is distinguished by its position against the French

absolute monarchy Absolute monarchy (or Absolutism as a doctrine) is a form of monarchy in which the monarch rules in their own right or power. In an absolute monarchy, the king or queen is by no means limited and has absolute power, though a limited constituti ...

, support for

religious tolerance Religious toleration may signify "no more than forbearance and the permission given by the adherents of a dominant religion for other religions to exist, even though the latter are looked on with disapproval as inferior, mistaken, or harmful". ...

, including for Jansenism, support for democratic reforms such as the introduction of

parliaments In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: representing the electorate, making laws, and overseeing the government via hearings and inquiries. Th ...

, support for the

American independence The American Revolution was an ideological and political revolution that occurred in British America between 1765 and 1791. The Americans in the Thirteen Colonies formed independent states that defeated the British in the American Revoluti ...

and the Polish Constitution of May 3, 1791. The newspaper preferred to praise the changes in Poland (the

Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth The Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, formally known as the Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, and, after 1791, as the Commonwealth of Poland, was a bi-confederal state, sometimes called a federation, of Crown of the Kingdom of ...

) more than those in France, criticizing the violence of the

French Revolution The French Revolution ( ) was a period of radical political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the formation of the French Consulate in November 1799. Many of its ideas are conside ...

, and contrasting it with the peaceful transformation in Poland. This relative lack of support for the French Revolution may explain why the paper was abolished on 23 April 1798, three years after the invasion of the Netherlands by France and the

Batavian Revolution The Batavian Revolution ( nl, De Bataafse Revolutie) was a time of political, social and cultural turmoil at the end of the 18th century that marked the end of the Dutch Republic and saw the proclamation of the Batavian Republic. The period of ...

. It reappeared as the ''Nouvelles politiques publiées à Leyde'' in October, but it was seen as no longer independent. Under a new name—''Journal politique publié à Leyde''—it lasted from 1804 until 1811, but it never regained its audience and its quality, and disappeared after the annexation of Holland by the French Empire. A new ''Leyden Gazette'' briefly appeared after the liberation of Holland in 1814.

Impact

Its circulation reached several thousand,Sarah Maza, ''Private Lives and Public Affairs: The Causes Célèbres of Prerevolutionary France'', University of California Press, 1995,
Google Print, p.182
/ref>Vivian R. Gruder, ''The notables and the nation: the political schooling of the French, 1787-1788'', Harvard University Press, 2007,
Google Print, p.195
/ref> with the highest estimates of about 10,000 issues, and copies of it were found from Moscow and Istanbul to Madrid and the United States. Jerzy Łojek, Ku naprawie Rzeczpospolitej: konstytucja 3 Maja, Wyd. Interpress, 1988, , p.116 With unlicensed copies and shared subscriptions its circulation might have even been several times higher, reaching at the highest estimates close to 100,000. ''Nouvelles Extraordinaires'' was the most popular of about 20 French-language newspapers published mainly outside France, most in the Netherlands and Germany (in terms of popularity, it was followed by '' Gazette d'Amsterdam'' and later, '' Courier du Bas-Rhin''). Anne Marie Mercier-Faivre
Présentation de la Gazette de Leyde
Les gazettes européennes du 18e siècle. Retrieved 10 February 2010.

Thomas Jefferson Thomas Jefferson (April 13, 1743 – July 4, 1826) was an American statesman, diplomat, lawyer, architect, philosopher, and Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father who served as the third president of the United States from 18 ...

referred to it as "the best in Europe" and "the only one worth reading" and it was said to be the only journal read by

Louis XVI Louis XVI (''Louis-Auguste''; ; 23 August 175421 January 1793) was the last King of France before the fall of the monarchy during the French Revolution. He was referred to as ''Citizen Louis Capet'' during the four months just before he was ...

. The paper's impact and recognition on the 18th century has been compared to that of the London ''Times'' in the 19th century, and the ''

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' in the 20th, and ''

Twitter Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...

'' in the 21st century.

Editors

The newspaper editors were: * Jean Alexandre de la Font (1677–1685) * Claude Jordan (1685 ?-1688?) * Anthony de la Font (1689–1738) * Etienne Luzac (1738–1772) *

Jean Luzac Jean (also Johan or Joan) Luzac (1746 in Leiden – January 12, 1807) was a Dutch lawyer, journalist and professor in Greek and History, of Huguenot origin. He was the most influential newspaper editor in the Western world in the years immediate ...

(1772–1798)

References

External links

Historical archives of ''La Gazette de Leyde'' (1750-1789)
* https://digipress.digitale-sammlungen.de/calendar/newspaper/bsbmult00000836 {{DEFAULTSORT:Nouvelles Extraordinaires De Divers Endroits Defunct newspapers published in the Netherlands French-language newspapers published in Europe Mass media in Leiden History of Leiden Publications established in the 1660s Publications established in the 1680s Publications with year of establishment missing Publications disestablished in 1798