Lot 447
Canada, The Quebec Mercury, The Quebec Gazette and Lord Dalhousie, Governor-in-Chief of British North America
Printed Books, Maps and Manuscripts
Auction: 11 July 2006 at 12:00 BST
Description
The Quebec Mercury, volume 20, nos. 1-103 (Jan. 6 -Dec. 31 1824); volume 21, nos. 1-106 (Jan. 4- Dec. 31, 1825; volume 22, nos. 1-103 (Jan. 3 - Dec. 30, 1826), volume 23, nos.1-105 (Jan. - 31 Dec. 1827) and volume 24 nos. 70-104 (Sept. 2- Dec. 30, 1828) and volume 25, nos. 1- 101 (Jan. 3 - Dec. 19, 1829), bound in 4 volumes; The Quebec Gazette. Gazette de Quebec, volume 1, nos. 1-55 (30 Oct. - 30 Oct. 1824), volume 2, nos. 1-55 (Nov. 4, 1824- Oct. 27, 1825) and volume 3, nos. 1-54 (Nov. 3, 1825 - Oct. 26, 1826), 4to, contemporary half calf, spines gilt, red morocco labels (8)
Footnote
Footnote:Very rare Canadian periodicals from the library of George Ramsay, 9th Earl of Dalhousie, Lieutenant-Governor of Nova Scotia and subsequently Governor-in-Chief of Canada,with his bookplates. After his appointment as Lieutenant-Governor of Nova Scotia in 1816 Dalhousie founded Dalhousie College in Halifax in 1816 which in 1863 became Dalhousie University. In 1818 he was promoted to Governor-General of Canada and then Governor-in-Chief of British North America (1820-28). The town of Dalhousie in New Brunswick is named after him.
The first issue of The Quebec Mercury was published on 5 January 1805. It was to become a key political tool for the Tories, vigorously denouncing the initiatives of the Canadian party. The Quebec Gazette, founded by William Brown in 1764, is the oldest newspaper in North America. Brown, born in 1737 at Nunton, Dumfries and Galloway, received an annual payment of £50 from the colonial authorities for official publications, and went on to publish numerous books, pamphlets, catechisms and the rare Quebec almanacks.