Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser. Sunday, April 28, 1805. Vol. III, Number 113, together with an example of the signature of George Howe, the printer and publisher

Sydney : George Howe, 1805. Bifolium, quarto, 280 x 222 mm, printed on laid paper, text in 3 columns; original horizontal and vertical folds, insect damage with loss, extensively and comprehensively conserved with gampi (Japanese tissue), presented with a cut signature of George Howe, the printer.

Due to its ephemeral nature and tiny circulation numbers, there are very few surviving copies of the early issues of the Sydney Gazette. As Ferguson (383) notes, ‘Complete volumes of the early years of the Sydney Gazette are very rare, and even single numbers prior to 1820 do not often occur in the market.’

The Sydney Gazette was first printed by George Howe on a small wooden printing press which had been brought to the colony by Arthur Phillip in the First Fleet. David Collins (Account of the English Colony in New South Wales) noted in November 1795 that a young printer, George Hughes, had used the press to print a handful of government notices and orders. Copies of some of these ephemeral printed items are held in the Record Office, London (Ferguson, Foster & Green. The Howes and their press, p.15). This almost certainly makes Hughes responsible for the very earliest Australian imprints (Ferguson, ibid.). George Howe had used the same press to print the colony’s first book, The New South Wales General Standing Orders, in 1802, probably confirming him as the colony’s second printer.

As examples of neither George Hughes’ ephemeral printings nor Howe’s The New South Wales General Standing Orders are realistically obtainable (the last known copy of the latter to be sold changed hands in the 1890s), the first issues of the Sydney Gazette have become the earliest examples of Australian printing to circulate on the market, and something of a holy grail for collectors.

The establishment of a weekly newspaper in the colony had been an initiative of Governor King, and the publication originally acted as a medium for broadcasting official information about such matters as government proclamations, new civil regulations and court news. The content of the newspaper was under strict government censorship. The newspaper also recorded on a weekly basis all the recent maritime activity at Port Jackson, including shipping arrivals and departures and cargo information. Auctions of goods, sales of land, personal and business notices, and lists of newly pardoned or emancipated convicts were also features of each issue. In its first year of publication, the Sydney Gazette was sold at sixpence per copy to subscribers. The newspaper was ultimately to have a considerable lifespan, being in circulation up until 1842. It was printed by George Howe until his death in 1821, then by his son Robert. In its final phase it was published thrice weekly by Robert Howe’s apprentice. The Gazette remained the Colony’s only newspaper until 1824, when W.C. Wentworth’s The Australian was established.

‘The importance of the Sydney Gazette as a source of Australian history cannot be over-stated’ (Ferguson, ibid.). As primary documents of early colonial history the issues of the Gazette are unrivalled as a record of important events and daily life.

We are unaware of any other examples of George Howe’s signature being offered for sale. However, other examples of his handwriting and signature are held in the NSW State Archives at MHNSW (Colonial Secretary’s Papers 1788-1825; see, for example, INX-99-63848, holograph letter Re lecture by Dr Parmeter https://search.records.nsw.gov.au/primo-explore/fulldisplay?context=L&vid=61SRA&lang=en_US&docid=INDEX2512440 )

Provenance:

Unidentified recipient’s name inscribed upper left of the masthead (the earliest issues were delivered with each recipient’s name inscribed thus).

Maggs Bros, London, in old autograph document folder (dated 1961)

Tim McCormick, Sydney (acquired circa 2015)