American Revolution
July 8, 1775 "Pennsylvania Ledger..." Newspaper Featuring Accounts of the Historic Battle of Bunker Hill & More
July 8, 1775-Dated Revolutionary War Newspaper, "The Pennsylvania Ledger: Or the Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, & New-Jersey Weekly Advertiser", published in Philadelphia, PA., by James Humphreys, Jr., Extremely Fine.
July 8, 1775 rare special single issue, 24th edition of The Pennsylvania Ledger, contains 4 pages, is complete, measuring about 10" x 16", disbound crisp never folded, very clean and attractive with some trivial small contemporary numbers on articles. A Loyalist newspaper, "Printed by James Humphreys, junr. in Front-Street, at the Corner of Black-horse Alley: - Where Essays, Articles of News, Advertisements. &c. are gratefully received and impartially inserted. And Where Subscriptions [sic] are taken in for this Paper, at Ten Shillings per Year." The vignette atop page one displays the Royal coat of arms. This important content Newspaper is of particular interest due to certain letters being received and reported in this publication detailing the Battle of Bunker Hill and significant additional reports from the early days of the American Revolutionary War. One published letter reports from Cambridge, MA. dated June 27th, reporting:
"You will have heard of the battle on Bunker's hill, before you receive this, but the accounts will be various " Our people went on to take the ground expecting every day the enemy would take it if we did not; they were not well prepared, however they went on, and at day break, before they had time to finish their work, they were attacked, but General Howe gives them the praise of defending their works as well as any men on earth could do; and had our troops... behaved as well... they never would have lost their ground, but the enemy must have been cut off."
Another letter from the Patriot's Camp dated June 29th reports:
"Since the battle of the 17th instant, a considerable body of the army have been employed in fortifying Prospect-Hill, Winter-Hill, and other eminences near Charlestown. The former, which is a very fine situation, and in a full view of the enemy on Bunker-Hill, is said to be now rendered almost impregnable... Similar Works are carrying on at Roxbury... The above works have been constructed to prevent any excursions the enemy might attempt to make into the country, previous to nearer approaches that may be made for rescuing that unfortunate capital out of the hands of its present unjust tyrannical invaders."
Still another letter features these bold words: "General Gage cannot afford to purchase many trenches of us at such a price."
We have traced a subsequent issue of The Pennsylvania Ledger dating from the following week, July 15, 1775, Number XXV, containing other historic period content, "July 15, 1775/Declaration of the Causes/for Taking up Arms," plus other Bunker Hill reports, reserved at $10,000. In 2014, Christie's, NY offered the July 13th, 1776 issue, Number LXXVII containing an early printing of the Declaration of Independence, hammered for $125,000 (plus buyer's commission).