Rare Early Australian “Incunable” — "Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser" 1809

Rare Early Australian “Incunable” — "Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser" 1809

-Sunday, 15 October 1809 – Vol. VII, No. 302

-Folio newspaper printed on both sides

-Approx. 40 × 25 cm

Condition: Very good overall; a few minor holes without loss. Mounted in a protective cardboard mount.

An early Sydney imprint by George Howe (1769–1821), Australia’s first government printer and regarded as the “father of Australian printing.’ Howe operated the colony’s only printing press from 1802 to 1821.

Born in St Kitts into a printing family, Howe later worked in London before being convicted of shoplifting and transported to New South Wales. Upon arrival in 1800, his printing expertise quickly led to his appointment as Government Printer in 1802, using the colony’s sole press. This press was originally brought to Australia with the First Fleet under Governor Arthur Phillip.

This issue of the Sydney Gazette was printed in the immediate aftermath of the Rum Rebellion (1808), when Governor William Bligh (famous for the Mutiny on the Bounty) was deposed by the New South Wales Corps. The rebellion grew from Bligh’s attempts to curb the Corps’ monopoly over the rum trade, which functioned as the colony’s de facto currency.

The newspaper provides a fascinating articles on early colonial life:

-Conflict between settlers (Mr Davis) and the Indigenous Aboriginal population

-A reported local suicide (George Padhill)

-A reward of ten guineas offered following the “bricking” of the property of a wealthy settler (Mr Hyde)

Pre-1810 Australian “incunables” are rare. Printing in Australia began only in 1802, and at this date George Howe’s press was the sole printing operation in the entire continent, making surviving newspapers from this periodvfoundational documents of Australian history.