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One way to sell news in early modern Europe: combine extraordinary topics that were published elsewhere before, and then republish them in a new pamphlet.
Severe weather, a ghost story, a wonder flour!
Meet the pamphlet of 1684 here: t1p.de/kvn2a #bookhistory
Severe weather, a ghost story, a wonder flour!
Meet the pamphlet of 1684 here: t1p.de/kvn2a #bookhistory
The selection and combination of three extraordinary topics was an easy task for an experienced publisher. To start with, you needed to buy and read other pamphlets or news prints of the time. Media echoes of interesting stoiries were omnipresent and easy to spot. Have a look:
The severe weather, with thunder, heavy rainings and lightning, was all over the German news in 1684. Even if you missed the news reports in newspapers, there were also extra pamphlets devoted to the topic available. Like this one:
Blue crown = Sweden. A dog = the Turks. A frog = an injured French.
In and around 1645, at the end of the #ThirtyYearsWar, you needed advice, help and commentary to make sense of the imagery used in the media ensemble around you. Such advice was offered in the "Postilion".
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In and around 1645, at the end of the #ThirtyYearsWar, you needed advice, help and commentary to make sense of the imagery used in the media ensemble around you. Such advice was offered in the "Postilion".
1/x
Three blacks in a yellow field = Spain and Portugal. Half moon = a Turk. Black clams = the city of Trier.
The codes needed to understand this visual language used in woodcuts and copper plate prints were orally explained and shared all over Europe. It has been called ...
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The codes needed to understand this visual language used in woodcuts and copper plate prints were orally explained and shared all over Europe. It has been called ...
2/x
...the silent language of the illiterates. Imagery was understood by many - though often wrongly or incorrect or only partly, or with help by someone helping interpreting. And in war times, the codes of this imagery changed and developed rapidly.
The "Postilion" offered help.
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The "Postilion" offered help.
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In the seventeenth century, Hamburg's printer and newsdealer Georg Greflinger published an influential newspaper: the "Nordischer Mercurius".
Yet, only a few copies are digitized:
brema.suub.uni-bremen.de/zeitungen17/pe…
A short thread about #earlymodernnews for #newshistory and #bookhistory
Yet, only a few copies are digitized:
brema.suub.uni-bremen.de/zeitungen17/pe…
A short thread about #earlymodernnews for #newshistory and #bookhistory
In August 1674, Greflinger commented (once more) on the uncertainty of news flows present in Europe, and the levels of #fakenews and #falsenews being copied and spread in the European media systems. By the way, this was the normal case for all newspapers at the time.
Greflinger used this phrase in 1674 to commend on the common practices of the news business:
Everyone says their best / even though you have nothing certain (in German: "Ein Jeder sagt sein Bästes / Und hat man noch nichts festes")
Everyone says their best / even though you have nothing certain (in German: "Ein Jeder sagt sein Bästes / Und hat man noch nichts festes")
