Pamphlets, Newspapers, and the Birth of the Magazine — Ada Palmer
Ada Palmer presents historical examples of early print media, including pamphlets, newspapers, and the first magazine, while also examining the physical materials used in early printing and writing. She traces the evolution from sensationalist pamphlets to The Gentleman's Magazine, which pioneered fact-checking by comparing contradicting newspaper accounts.
Summary
Ada Palmer opens by describing pamphlets as cheap, ephemeral printed media that took only two to four days to produce. These short, hand-stitched publications were sold in bulk around towns and to traveling news writers, covering topics ranging from siege reports to royal wedding fashion. She highlights their often sensationalist nature with an example title involving murder, seduction, and cannibalism, noting that pamphlets ranged from outright nonsense to real news, with most being a combination of both.
Palmer then explains the physical properties of early paper, noting that the characteristic blue-gray color of cheap paper covers came from the material itself — paper made from beaten rags that, when unbleached, took on the average color of human clothing. She then transitions to discussing The Gentleman's Magazine, a publication that arose in response to a key problem with the early newspaper era: newspapers frequently contradicted each other, leaving readers uncertain about the truth. The Gentleman's Magazine addressed this by publishing weekly roundups that compiled what various newspapers said about the same events, analyzed contradictions, and assessed which accounts were accurate. Palmer credits it as the first magazine and the origin of the word 'magazine' in this media context.
The talk concludes with a brief examination of historical writing materials. Palmer notes that papyrus, while cheap, is brittle and better suited to scrolls than folded formats because the folded edge cracks easily. She then shows attendees a 17th-century letter written in indecipherable handwriting on cheap parchment, explaining how one can identify which side of the animal skin was the outside versus the inside. She also presents an example of higher-quality parchment and notes that scribes would write around holes in parchment sheets rather than discard them, reflecting how valuable these materials were.
Key Insights
- Palmer argues that pamphlets were not purely factual or fictional — most were combinations of real news and nonsense, and they circulated widely by being sold to traveling news writers moving between cities.
- Palmer explains that the characteristic blue-gray color of cheap pamphlet covers came directly from the papermaking process: unbleached rags beaten into pulp produced the average color of human clothing.
- Palmer claims that The Gentleman's Magazine was created specifically in response to the problem of newspapers contradicting each other, functioning as a weekly media roundup that analyzed which accounts were accurate — essentially the first fact-checking publication.
- Palmer states that The Gentleman's Magazine invented the word 'magazine' as used in the context of periodical publications.
- Palmer notes that scribes wrote around holes in parchment rather than discarding the sheet, illustrating how valuable writing materials were — and that cheap parchment visibly shows which side was the outside versus inside of the animal skin.
Topics
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