London Chronicle. From Thursday, October 9

Item #82621

(LONDON CHRONICLE). The London Chronicle. From Thursday, October 9, to Saturday, October 11, 1777. Vol. XLII. No. 3253. London: J. Wilkie, 1777. 4to. 353-360pp. Removed from volume. Early stamp in the bottom margin of p. 356. Very good. An early edition of a long-running (1756-1823) tri-weekly London paper. This issue contains a letter from Benjamin Franklin and Silas Deane to Lord Stormont, the English Ambassador at Paris. The letter, written earlier that year, in April, addresses a proposed prisoner exchange that went unanswered by Stormont and also the reports of terrible condition in which American prisoners were held by the English. This is followed by a terse response by Stormont: "The King's ambassador receives no letters from rebels, except when they come to ask mercy." Overall, the issue is filled with news relating to the Revolutionary War. There is also a report reprinted from Gaine's New York Gazette, dated August 5, that General Schuyler was relieved of command of the northern department and replaced by Major-General Horatio Gates, on General Washington's orders. A postscript to the issue, dated October 7, reports a rumor in Edinburgh that "the rebel General Schuyler and his brigade of provincials, consisting of fifteen hundred men," had surrendered to Burgoyne at Albany, but not only had this never occurred, Burgoyne was the one to surrender after the Second Battle of Saratoga, fought, as it happens, on October 7. An interesting look at British reactions to the war unfolding three thousand miles away-and the power of fake news.

Price: $400.00