What was advertised in a revolutionary American newspaper 250 years ago today?
“EXTRACTS … relative to the … fitting out PRIVATEERS; together with the Rules and Regulations of the NAVY.”
During the imperial crisis and the Revolutionary War, printers regularly published news from the Continental Congress and local assemblies in their newspapers. Sometimes they compiled the proceedings into books that they marketed and sold to consumers who wanted convenient access to that sort of overview of current events. Printers in many towns, for instance, published local editions of “EXTRACTS FROM THE VOTES AND PROCEEEDINGS OF THE AMERICAN CONTINENTAL CONGRESS” in the fall of 1774.
Nearly two years later, John Dunlap, the printer of Dunlap’s Pennsylvania Packet, saw an opportunity to publish a collation of rules and regulations about naval regulations for both privateers and the Continental Navy. In an advertisement that appeared at the top of the final column on the first page of the August 27, 1776, edition of his newspaper, Dunlap informed the public that he “Just published … EXTRACTS, From the JOURNALS of CONGRESS, RELATIVE TO THE Captures and Condemnation of PRIZES, and the fitting out PRIVATEERS; together with the Rules and Regulations of the NAVY and Instructions to the Commanders of private SHIPS of WAR.” As was common in many advertisements for books and pamphlets, the lengthy title doubled as advertising copy. Dunlap did not generate original appeals to market the volume because the title already contained so much information.
The printer apparently believed that a market for this item existed in the largest city in the new nation. Philadelphia was, after all, a busy port and many owners of vessels who pursued maritime commerce during times of peace contemplated how they could aid the war effort while simultaneously getting their share of prize money when they outfitted their ships for privateering. Dunlap made this handy manual available alongside an array of military manuals published in Philadelphia and other cities. Rather than hundreds of pages, like some of volumes containing the proceedings of the Continental Congress, this octavo pamphlet consisted of only forty-eight pages. That made it a convenient size for officers on both privateers and naval vessels to stow among their possessions when they went to sea and then consult as necessary. Dunlap printed this practical guide as a service, yet he also generated revenue from its sale.