"conspiracy theory" antedating

[Stephen Goranson]

OED online has 1909f, "4. Special Combs. conspiracy theory, the theory that an
event or phenomenon occurs as a result of a conspiracy between interested
parties; spec. a belief that some covert but influential agency (typically
political in motivation and oppressive in intent) is responsible for an
unexplained event; so conspiracy theorist."

Whether or not the following--not in OED, for some
reason......--qualify for the
"specificly" definition, earlier uses include:


Critic-Record, page [2], col. 2, iss. 1856
Publication Date:
August 8, 1874
Published as:
The Daily Critic
Location:
Washington (DC), District of Columbia
Headline:
The Conspiracy Theory
Article Type:
News/Opinion

The headline refers to the proposal that "Messers. [Theodore] Moulton and
[Frank] Tilton" conspired against Henry Ward Beecher. Other newspapers use the
collocation in later reports of this case.

Not the next use, but in a better-known case:

Boston Journal, page [4], col. 4 & 5,vol. XLVIII, iss. 15904
Publication Date:
July 4, 1881
Published as:
Boston Evening Journal
Location:
Boston, Massachusetts
Headline:
The [Illegible][actually legible: THE ASSASSIN]
Article Type:
News/Opinion
col. 5:
It is understood that Cutter said Gatteau [Guiteau] was the man [who
shot Pres.
Garfield], but the authorities are reticent as to the proceedings connected
with the conspiracy theory.

[Various other newspapers in following days deny the "conspiracy theory."]

Stephen Goranson
http://www.duke.edu/~goranson

------------------------------------------------------------
The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org