A review of Territorial Florida Journalism. By James Owen Knauss, DeLand, Florida, The Florida, State Historical Society, 1926

Brigham, Clarence S.

English

University of Central Florida (UCF): STARS (Showcase of Text, Archives, Research & Scholarship)

Florida Historical Quarterly Volume 6 Number 1 Florida Historical Quarterly, Vol 6, Issue 1 Article 9 1927 Book Review: Terrritorial Florida Journalism Clarence S. Brigham  Part of the American Studies Commons, and the United States History Commons Find similar works at: https://stars.library.ucf.edu/fhq University of Central Florida Libraries http://library.ucf.edu This Book Review is brought to you for free and open access by STARS. It has been accepted for inclusion in Florida Historical Quarterly by an authorized editor of STARS. For more information, please contact STARS@ucf.edu. Recommended Citation Brigham, Clarence S. (1927) "Book Review: Terrritorial Florida Journalism," Florida Historical Quarterly: Vol. 6 : No. 1 , Article 9. Available at: https://stars.library.ucf.edu/fhq/vol6/iss1/9 53BOOK REVIEWTerritorial Florida Journalism. By JAMES OWENKNAUSS. DeLand, Florida, The Florida, State His-torical Society, 1926.When it became known about three years ago thatProfessor James O. Knauss was planning to compilea history of the early Florida newspapers, it meant  practically a guarantee that the work would be donein a thorough and scholarly way. His book on the earlyGerman newspapers of Pennsylvania, published in1922, under the title Social Conditions Among thePennsylvania Germans in the Eighteenth Century,was a monograph in which a graphic and informativenarrative was most aptly joined to a wealth of bibli-ographical detail. This expectation is justified by theappearance of the volume, with the title TerritorialFlorida Journalism, published under the auspices ofthe Florida State Historical Society, in an octavevolume of two hundred and fifty pages.By territorial Florida the author means the periodfrom 1821 to 1845, during which time the various dis-tricts were preparing for statehood, each competingfor prominence in the new venture ; agriculture, com-merce and railroad building were beginning to bringwealth; and settlers were flocking from other parts   of the country to treble the population in these twen-ty-five years. In such a development newspapersplay an important part, and particularly so in Flor-ida. Whether because they were well edited or be-cause there was little printing outside of newspapers,Note-Clarence S. Brigham, the writer of this review, islibrarian of the American Antiquarian Society, and as keeperof their extraordinary collection of early American newspapersand as author of Bibliography of American Newspapers, he has become the foremost authority in this field. - Ed.1Brigham: Book Review: Terrritorial Florida JournalismPublished by STARS, 192754they constitute a body of source material of relativelyhigh value to the historian..In the arrangement and proportion of his chap-ters, Dr. Knauss shows excellent judgment. The firstchapter is a summary history of the territory. Thesecond, devoted to “The Newspapers”, contains areadable history of each of the forty-five papers, withmention of their political affiliations and place in thecommunity, followed by general estimates of circula-tion, cost of advertisements, and money value of theprinting establishments. The third chapter, on “TheNewspaper Men”, is rather a departure for such abibliography in that it gives biographical sketches ofthe publishers and editors where such informationcould be found. Then follow three appendices, one analphabetical list of the newspapers, the second achronological list with a checklist of all copies located,and the third a series of newspaper extracts relatingto the constitutional convention of 1838. The check-list of copies located must have meant a vast amountof research and is of the highest reference value.Finally come a bibliographical list of works consult-ed, an excellent index, and a folder of six photo-graphic facsimiles of early newspapers. Incidentally,the book is finely printed and a credit to all respon-sible for its publication.Although the bibliography begins with 1821, thereis full mention of the known facts regarding the EastFlorida Gazette published by John Wells in 1783-1784,no copy of which has ever been located in this country. It is interesting to note that Mr. Worth-ington C. Ford, working in the Public Archives Of-fice at London last year, found issues of this paperfor March 1, May 3, and May 17, 1783, vol. I, nos.5, 14 and 16, all printed at St. Augustine by Charles2Florida Historical Quarterly, Vol. 6 [1927], No. 1, Art. 9https://stars.library.ucf.edu/fhq/vol6/iss1/955Wright for John Wells, Jr. Photostats of these threeissues will shortly reach this country.Dr. Knauss’s volume is an excellent piece of his-torical and bibliographical work and leaves little tobe desired. He had a comparatively small field tocover, but he has done it exceedingly well. The workis a model for others to follow who aspire to writethe history of the newspapers of any state or town.It also shows how the history of a locality can be writ-ten from its newspapers and how color can be givento the narrative by contemporaneous accounts of so-  cial and economic events.CLARENCE S. BRIGHAM.3Brigham: Book Review: Terrritorial Florida JournalismPublished by STARS, 1927

Book Review: Terrritorial Florida Journalism

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Book Review: Terrritorial Florida Journalism

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