Nouvelles Extraordinaires de Divers Endroits
Encyclopedia
Nouvelles Extraordinaires de Divers Endroits (English: "Extraordinary News from Various Places") or Gazette de Leyde (Gazette of Leiden) was the most important newspaper of record
of the international Europe
an newspaper
s of the late 17th to the late 18th century. In the last few decades of the 18th century it was one of the main political newspapers in the Western world
. To the readers in France, it provided full coverage of the American revolution
and the American revolutionary war
.
It was published in French
in Leiden, Netherlands
. At that time the Netherlands enjoyed a significant freedom of the press
. Its circulation
likely exceeded 10,000, and it may have reached even up to 100,000.
) were, in the 18th century, very tolerant in matters of freedom of the press
and religious freedom. Compared to most contemporary countries, such as France, Great Britain or the Holy Roman Empire, there was little government interference (censorship
or monopolies
). Many Huguenots fled France for the Netherlands during the reign of Louis XIV, particularly after the revocation of the Edict of Nantes
in 1685. Several of them began publishing French-language newspapers (French being both their language and internationally used - see lingua franca
) in a number of European cities covering political news in France and Europe. Read by the European elite, these papers were known in France as the "foreign gazettes" (fr. gazettes étrangères).
It was published twice a week (on Tuesdays and Thursdays) in Leiden (hence its popular unofficial name, Gazette de Leyde). The newspaper usually contained eight pages arranged as a four page booklet. The size varied; surviving examples are generally 11.6 centimetres (4.6 in) by 19.4 centimetres (7.6 in) or 12.3 centimetres (4.8 in) by 19.8 centimetres (7.8 in), in which the text is organized into two columns. A four page, single column supplement was published from 1753. The paper quality varied, war time conditions often enforced use of low quality stock, and the print was small and cramped. Subscriptions from France amounted to over 2,500 by 1778, at an annual cost of 36 livres
.
Despite being a French-language publication, the gazette was seen as independent of France
. Its production was tolerated and even encouraged by the authorities, who often used Gazette de Leyde and other similar publications for their own ends, when wishing to publicize information that could not be released via the official channels. The paper also gave voice to institutions like the Parliament of France
that were finding it difficult to publish in the official French newspaper, the Gazette de France.
Nouvelles Extraordinaires, like other newspapers of its time, gave primarily political and commercial information, classified by source and date of arrival (the oldest, from the most distant lands, coming first). It offered reports on international politics, such as wars and diplomatic relations, as well as coverage of major domestic affairs. The newspaper also contained trivia, editorials and advertising. Like many other early newspapers, it offered judgments and prognostications, and was in the main a juxtaposition of rumors and announcements from various sources, presented without much unification.
It is distinguished by its position against the French absolute monarchy
, support for religious tolerance, including for Jansenism
, support for democratic reforms such as the introduction of parliaments, support for the American independence
and the Polish Constitution of May 3, 1791
. The newspaper preferred to praise the changes in Poland (the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth) more than those in France, criticizing the violence of the French Revolution
, and contrasting it with the peaceful transformation in Poland. This relative lack of support for the French Revolution may explain why the paper was abolished on 23 April 1798, three years after the invasion of the Netherlands by France and the Batavian revolution
. It reappeared as the Nouvelles politiques publiées à Leyde in October, but it was seen as no longer independent. Under a new name—Journal politique publié à Leyde—it lasted from 1804 until 1811, but it never regained its audience and its quality, and disappeared after the annexation of Holland by the French Empire
. A new Leyden Gazette briefly appeared after the liberation of Holland in 1814.
reached several thousand, with the highest estimates of about 10,000 issues, and copies of it were found from Moscow and Istanbul to Madrid and the United States. With pirated copies and shared subscriptions its circulation might have even been several times higher, reaching at the highest estimates close to 100,000.
Nouvelles Extraordinaires was the most popular of about 20 French-language newspapers published mainly outside France, most in the Netherlands and Germany (in terms of popularity, it was followed by Gazette d'Amsterdam
and later, Courier du Bas-Rhin
). Thomas Jefferson
referred to it as "the best in Europe" and "the only one worth reading" and it was said to be the only journal read by Louis XVI. The paper's impact and recognition on the 18th century has been compared to that of the London Times
in the 19th century, and the New York Times in the 20th.
Newspaper of record
Newspaper of record is a term that may refer either to any publicly available newspaper that has been authorized by a government to publish public or legal notices , or any major newspaper that has a large circulation and whose editorial and news-gathering functions are considered professional and...
of the international Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
an newspaper
Newspaper
A newspaper is a scheduled publication containing news of current events, informative articles, diverse features and advertising. It usually is printed on relatively inexpensive, low-grade paper such as newsprint. By 2007, there were 6580 daily newspapers in the world selling 395 million copies a...
s of the late 17th to the late 18th century. In the last few decades of the 18th century it was one of the main political newspapers in the Western world
Western world
The Western world, also known as the West and the Occident , is a term referring to the countries of Western Europe , the countries of the Americas, as well all countries of Northern and Central Europe, Australia and New Zealand...
. To the readers in France, it provided full coverage of the American revolution
American Revolution
The American Revolution was the political upheaval during the last half of the 18th century in which thirteen colonies in North America joined together to break free from the British Empire, combining to become the United States of America...
and the American revolutionary war
American Revolutionary War
The American Revolutionary War , the American War of Independence, or simply the Revolutionary War, began as a war between the Kingdom of Great Britain and thirteen British colonies in North America, and ended in a global war between several European great powers.The war was the result of the...
.
It was published in French
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
in Leiden, Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
. At that time the Netherlands enjoyed a significant freedom of the press
Freedom of the press
Freedom of the press or freedom of the media is the freedom of communication and expression through vehicles including various electronic media and published materials...
. Its circulation
Newspaper circulation
A newspaper's circulation is the number of copies it distributes on an average day. Circulation is one of the principal factors used to set advertising rates. Circulation is not always the same as copies sold, often called paid circulation, since some newspapers are distributed without cost to the...
likely exceeded 10,000, and it may have reached even up to 100,000.
Background
The Netherlands (United ProvincesDutch Republic
The Dutch Republic — officially known as the Republic of the Seven United Netherlands , the Republic of the United Netherlands, or the Republic of the Seven United Provinces — was a republic in Europe existing from 1581 to 1795, preceding the Batavian Republic and ultimately...
) were, in the 18th century, very tolerant in matters of freedom of the press
Freedom of the press
Freedom of the press or freedom of the media is the freedom of communication and expression through vehicles including various electronic media and published materials...
and religious freedom. Compared to most contemporary countries, such as France, Great Britain or the Holy Roman Empire, there was little government interference (censorship
Censorship
thumb|[[Book burning]] following the [[1973 Chilean coup d'état|1973 coup]] that installed the [[Military government of Chile |Pinochet regime]] in Chile...
or monopolies
Monopoly
A monopoly exists when a specific person or enterprise is the only supplier of a particular commodity...
). Many Huguenots fled France for the Netherlands during the reign of Louis XIV, particularly after the revocation of the Edict of Nantes
Edict of Nantes
The Edict of Nantes, issued on 13 April 1598, by Henry IV of France, granted the Calvinist Protestants of France substantial rights in a nation still considered essentially Catholic. In the Edict, Henry aimed primarily to promote civil unity...
in 1685. Several of them began publishing French-language newspapers (French being both their language and internationally used - see lingua franca
Lingua franca
A lingua franca is a language systematically used to make communication possible between people not sharing a mother tongue, in particular when it is a third language, distinct from both mother tongues.-Characteristics:"Lingua franca" is a functionally defined term, independent of the linguistic...
) in a number of European cities covering political news in France and Europe. Read by the European elite, these papers were known in France as the "foreign gazettes" (fr. gazettes étrangères).
Contents and history
The paper was founded by a Huguenot family, the de la Fonts, and passed into the hands of another Huguenot family, the Luzacs, in 1738. Sources vary on the exact date it was founded, suggesting 1660, 1667 1669 or 1680; they all agree the publication continued to 1798 (or 1811 under a different name).It was published twice a week (on Tuesdays and Thursdays) in Leiden (hence its popular unofficial name, Gazette de Leyde). The newspaper usually contained eight pages arranged as a four page booklet. The size varied; surviving examples are generally 11.6 centimetres (4.6 in) by 19.4 centimetres (7.6 in) or 12.3 centimetres (4.8 in) by 19.8 centimetres (7.8 in), in which the text is organized into two columns. A four page, single column supplement was published from 1753. The paper quality varied, war time conditions often enforced use of low quality stock, and the print was small and cramped. Subscriptions from France amounted to over 2,500 by 1778, at an annual cost of 36 livres
French livre
The livre was the currency of France until 1795. Several different livres existed, some concurrently. The livre was the name of both units of account and coins.-Etymology:...
.
Despite being a French-language publication, the gazette was seen as independent of France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
. Its production was tolerated and even encouraged by the authorities, who often used Gazette de Leyde and other similar publications for their own ends, when wishing to publicize information that could not be released via the official channels. The paper also gave voice to institutions like the Parliament of France
Parliament of France
The French Parliament is the bicameral legislature of the French Republic, consisting of the Senate and the National Assembly . Each assembly conducts legislative sessions at a separate location in Paris: the Palais du Luxembourg for the Senate, the Palais Bourbon for the National Assembly.Each...
that were finding it difficult to publish in the official French newspaper, the Gazette de France.
Nouvelles Extraordinaires, like other newspapers of its time, gave primarily political and commercial information, classified by source and date of arrival (the oldest, from the most distant lands, coming first). It offered reports on international politics, such as wars and diplomatic relations, as well as coverage of major domestic affairs. The newspaper also contained trivia, editorials and advertising. Like many other early newspapers, it offered judgments and prognostications, and was in the main a juxtaposition of rumors and announcements from various sources, presented without much unification.
It is distinguished by its position against the French absolute monarchy
Absolute monarchy
Absolute monarchy is a monarchical form of government in which the monarch exercises ultimate governing authority as head of state and head of government, his or her power not being limited by a constitution or by the law. An absolute monarch thus wields unrestricted political power over the...
, support for religious tolerance, including for Jansenism
Jansenism
Jansenism was a Christian theological movement, primarily in France, that emphasized original sin, human depravity, the necessity of divine grace, and predestination. The movement originated from the posthumously published work of the Dutch theologian Cornelius Otto Jansen, who died in 1638...
, support for democratic reforms such as the introduction of parliaments, support for the American independence
American Revolution
The American Revolution was the political upheaval during the last half of the 18th century in which thirteen colonies in North America joined together to break free from the British Empire, combining to become the United States of America...
and the Polish Constitution of May 3, 1791
Constitution of May 3, 1791
The Constitution of May 3, 1791 was adopted as a "Government Act" on that date by the Sejm of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. Historian Norman Davies calls it "the first constitution of its type in Europe"; other scholars also refer to it as the world's second oldest constitution...
. The newspaper preferred to praise the changes in Poland (the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth) more than those in France, criticizing the violence of the French Revolution
French Revolution
The French Revolution , sometimes distinguished as the 'Great French Revolution' , was a period of radical social and political upheaval in France and Europe. The absolute monarchy that had ruled France for centuries collapsed in three years...
, and contrasting it with the peaceful transformation in Poland. This relative lack of support for the French Revolution may explain why the paper was abolished on 23 April 1798, three years after the invasion of the Netherlands by France and the Batavian revolution
Batavian revolution
The term Batavian revolution refers to the political, social and cultural turmoil that marked the end of the Dutch Republic at the end of the 18th century...
. It reappeared as the Nouvelles politiques publiées à Leyde in October, but it was seen as no longer independent. Under a new name—Journal politique publié à Leyde—it lasted from 1804 until 1811, but it never regained its audience and its quality, and disappeared after the annexation of Holland by the French Empire
First French Empire
The First French Empire , also known as the Greater French Empire or Napoleonic Empire, was the empire of Napoleon I of France...
. A new Leyden Gazette briefly appeared after the liberation of Holland in 1814.
Impact
Its circulationNewspaper circulation
A newspaper's circulation is the number of copies it distributes on an average day. Circulation is one of the principal factors used to set advertising rates. Circulation is not always the same as copies sold, often called paid circulation, since some newspapers are distributed without cost to the...
reached several thousand, with the highest estimates of about 10,000 issues, and copies of it were found from Moscow and Istanbul to Madrid and the United States. With pirated copies and shared subscriptions its circulation might have even been several times higher, reaching at the highest estimates close to 100,000.
Nouvelles Extraordinaires was the most popular of about 20 French-language newspapers published mainly outside France, most in the Netherlands and Germany (in terms of popularity, it was followed by Gazette d'Amsterdam
Gazette d'Amsterdam
Gazette d'Amsterdam was one of the most important international European newspapers of the Enlightenment period and a major source of political information...
and later, Courier du Bas-Rhin
Courier du Bas-Rhin
Courier du Bas-Rhin was one of the leading European papers of the late 18th century and the Enlightenment period...
). Thomas Jefferson
Thomas Jefferson
Thomas Jefferson was the principal author of the United States Declaration of Independence and the Statute of Virginia for Religious Freedom , the third President of the United States and founder of the University of Virginia...
referred to it as "the best in Europe" and "the only one worth reading" and it was said to be the only journal read by Louis XVI. The paper's impact and recognition on the 18th century has been compared to that of the London Times
The Times
The Times is a British daily national newspaper, first published in London in 1785 under the title The Daily Universal Register . The Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times are published by Times Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary since 1981 of News International...
in the 19th century, and the New York Times in the 20th.
Editors
The newspaper editors were:- Jean Alexandre de la Font (1677–1685)
- Claude Jordan (1685 ?-1688?)
- Anthony de la Font (1689–1738)
- Etienne Luzac (1738–1772)
- Jean LuzacJean LuzacJean Luzac was a Dutch lawyer, journalist and professor in Greek and History, of Huguenot origin. He was the most influential newspaper editor in the Western world in the years immediately preceding the French Revolution, and his second daughter Emilie married his fellow Patriot Wijbo Fijnje.His...
(1772–1798)
Further reading
- D. Carrol Joynes, "The Gazette de Leyde: The Opposition Press and French Politics, 1750-1757," in Jack R. Censer and Jeremy D. Popkin, Press and Politics Pre-Revolutionary France, University of California Press, Berkeley, 1987, ISBN 0520056728
- Jeremy D. Popkin, News and politics in the age of revolution: Jean Luzac's Gazette de Leyde, 1989, Cornell University Press, 1989