About this Item
Magazine. Worcester Magazine, 56 issues from September 1786 to March 1788. Worcester, MA: Isaiah Thomas. Each issue approximately 16 pp., 5 1/2 x 9 1/2 in. In 1785, the state of Massachusetts instituted a stamp tax on newspapers but soon replaced it with a tax on newspaper advertisements. To protest the tax on advertisements, Thomas suspended his weekly newspaper, Thomas's Massachusetts Spy; or, the Worcester Gazette, at the end of March 1786. In April 1786, Thomas began publishing the Worcester Magazine, which was not subject to the tax, as a substitute for the Massachusetts Spy. Although a magazine in name, the Worcester Magazine continued the same kind of news as Thomas had printed in his newspaper. Its most valuable features were political pieces and "intelligence," including essays for and against the new proposed U.S. Constitution. It also included a series entitled "The Worcester Speculator" (16 essays from September 1787 to March 1788), along with agricultural articles, medical notes, recipes, anecdotes, and other items.Thomas continued publishing the Worcester Magazine for twenty-four months (approximately 104 issues) until Massachusetts repealed the advertising tax effective in March 1788, then Thomas resumed publishing the Massachusetts Spy on April 3, 1788. The Worcester Magazine includes extensive coverage of the Massachusetts Ratifying Convention to consider the proposed federal Constitution, which met from January 9 to February 6, 1788.Ownership signatures of "Coln E. Crafts" on some issues indicate they belonged to Ebenezer Crafts (1740-1810). Crafts was born in Connecticut and graduated from Yale College in 1759. He purchased a farm and built a tavern in Sturbridge, Massachusetts. During the Revolutionary War, he commanded a company of cavalry as captain. From 1785 to 1791, Crafts led a regiment of cavalry from Worcester County, Massachusetts, and he helped suppress Shays' Rebellion in 1786-1787. He was one of the founders of Leicester Academy in Leicester, Massachusetts, and later moved to northern Vermont, where he helped found Craftsbury, which was named after him. Worcester Magazine (1786-1788) was a weekly magazine published in Worcester, Massachusetts, by Isaiah Thomas (1749-1831). To protest a state tax on newspaper advertisements, Thomas suspended his weekly newspaper, Thomas's Massachusetts Spy; or, the Worcester Gazette, at the end of March 1786 and began publishing the Worcester Magazine, which was not subject to the tax, as a substitute. Thomas published the Worcester Magazine until Massachusetts repealed the advertising tax in March 1788.This collection includes 56 issues:1786: Numbers 24-26, 30-37, 39 (12 issues)1787: Numbers 43-44, 3:6-15, 17-25, 4:1-13 (34 issues)1788: Numbers 4:16-17, 19-26 (10 issues)"The Worcester Speculator": Numbers 2, 4-9, 12-16ConditionSpecific damage to the following issues-Second Week of September 1786: 3 x 3 in. tear to lower right/left corner of pp. 289-90; Fourth Week of October 1786: 2 x 1 in. tears to pp. 355-360, 2 x 4 in. irregular tear to top center of pp. 361-62; Fourth Week of December 1786: lacking back cover; Fourth Week of January 1787: 1-2 in. loss across top of back cover page; First Week of February 1787: lacking front and back cover; First Week of July 1787: lacking front cover; Fourth Week of August 1787: lacking pp. 291-94; First Week of October 1787: lacking front cover and pp. 13-16; Fourth Week of December 1787: lacking back cover; Fourth Week of January 1788: lacking front cover; First Week of February 1788: lacking front cover, loss of 1 x 7 1/2 in. portion of right/left margin of pp. 235-36, barely affecting text; Second Week of February 1788: lacking front cover; First Week of March 1788: lacking pp. 301-2; Second Week of March 1788: lacking front cover; Fourth Week of March 1788: lacking pp. 341-42 and back cover. Generally Good or better condition.Highlights and Excerpts:Second Week of September 1786Proceed. (See website for full description. Seller Inventory # 24829
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