[Ads-l] Antedating of "Gerrymander"

[ADSGarson O'Toole]

Fred Shapiro wrote:
> Here is a link to the image of the original Boston Gazette page.
> Unfortunately, I do not know the page number.

A blog at the Library of Congress website discusses the Gerrymander
illustration in the Boston Gazette. The caption below the illustration
says:
https://blogs.loc.gov/law/2017/02/elbridge-gerry-and-the-monstrous-gerrymander/

[Begin excerpt]
“The Gerrymander: a New Species of Monster” Boston Gazette, March 26,
1812, page 2, Library of Congress Newspaper, Serials and Government
Publications Division.
[End excerpt]

Thus, the caption suggests that the illustration appeared on page two
of the March 26, 1812 issue of the Boston Gazette.
If you follow the link in the caption it leads to a webpage titled
"American Treasures of the Library of Congress, Reason Gallery A"

https://www.loc.gov/exhibits/treasures/tr22a.html#obj20

The exhibit is titled "The Gerrymander". If you click on the image you
are shown an image of the full page with the illustration. A tab on
the right side of the image says "NEXT". If you click on "NEXT" you
are shown the first page of the March 26, 1812 issue of the Boston
Gazette. If you click on "PREV" of this image you are shown page two
with the illustration.

Unfortunately, this evidence is not definitive because "Page two"
might mean that this image is the second of two images displayed on
the website. It may not refer to the original pagination within the
Boston Gazette.

Brock University has a webpage for the July 12, 1813 issue of the
Boston Gazette, (vol. 39, no. 6). There is a link to a PDF. The PDF
shows that this particular issue was four pages long. Hence, it is
possible that the issues in 1812 were also four pages long.
https://brocku.scholaris.ca/items/3f603c0e-266b-4b78-bfdb-41df8123c3a1

The Library of Congress also has:
[Original woodblocks for printing "Gerrymander" political cartoon map
that was issued in Boston gazette of March 26, 1812] Woodblocks and
print
https://www.loc.gov/resource/g3761f.ct012086

Garson

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