Elizabeth Mallet ( 1672–1706) was an English

printer Printer may refer to: Technology * Printer (publishing), a person * Printer (computing), a hardware device * Optical printer for motion picture films People * Nariman Printer (fl. c. 1940), Indian journalist and activist * James Printer (1640 ...

and bookseller who produced Britain's first daily newspaper, ''

The Daily Courant ''The Daily Courant'', initially published on , was the first British daily newspaper. It was produced by Elizabeth Mallet at her premises next to the King's Arms tavern at Fleet Bridge in London. The newspaper consisted of a single page, wit ...

''. In 1672, Mallet married David Mallet. During the 1670s and 1680s, she and David dominated the trade in printed speeches given by condemned prisoners before execution at

Tyburn Tyburn was a Manorialism, manor (estate) in London, Middlesex, England, one of two which were served by the parish of Marylebone. Tyburn took its name from the Tyburn Brook, a tributary of the River Westbourne. The name Tyburn, from Teo Bourne ...

( "last dying speeches"), publishing them from Blackhorse Alley in

Fleet Street Fleet Street is a street in Central London, England. It runs west to east from Temple Bar, London, Temple Bar at the boundary of the City of London, Cities of London and City of Westminster, Westminster to Ludgate Circus at the site of the Lo ...

. After David died in 1683, she apprenticed their son David to the printing and bookselling trade, and ran two presses. However, her son failed in this enterprise. Within ten years Mallet was again in charge of the family business, publishing serial news publications such as ''The New State of Europe'' (launched 20 September 1701) and sensational tracts.

Mallet launched the Daily Courant on 11 March 1702. It was a single newssheet carrying digests of foreign papers. She avoided news from

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

because publishing it risked government reprisals, and would have been more easily contradicted. Writing under a male name, Mallet claimed only to provide the facts, and to let the reader make up their own minds, saying: “Nor will he Authortake it upon himself to give any Comments or Conjectures of his own, but will relate only Matter of Fact; supposing other People to have Sense enough to make Reflections for themselves.” Some commentators says that Mallet could be called the first editor of a daily newspaper in

Britain Britain most often refers to: * Great Britain, a large island comprising the countries of England, Scotland and Wales * The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, a sovereign state in Europe comprising Great Britain and the north-eas ...

, although the job title had not yet been invented. Mallet may have also been significant in changing our whole idea of time, contributing to the feeling of speed in modern life. Historians such as Charles Sommerville, Mark Turner and Joel Wiener argue that frequent news changed ideas of time, away from divine planning to an empty, unknowable future.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mallet, Elizabeth English printers 1706 deaths Year of birth unknown 18th-century British newspaper publishers (people) 18th-century printers 18th-century British publishers (people) 17th-century English businesspeople 17th-century English businesswomen 18th-century English businesswomen 18th-century English businesspeople Women printers

See also

References