История письма и чтения. Асафова Г.К. - 114 стр.

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Chamber decree (in force from 1632 to 1638) completely banning the publication

of accounts of the Thirty Years' War.

Between the abolition of the Star Chamber in 1641 and the establishment of

the Commonwealth in 1649 publishers enjoyed a short spell of freedom from strict

official control. Publication of domestic news began to appear more regularly,

shedding the original book form. News and headlines increasingly replaced the old

title page. The Civil Wars (1642–51) acted as a stimulus to reporters and

publishers, and 300 distinct news publications were brought out between 1640 and

1660, although many of these were only occasional reports from the battle front,

such as Truths from York or News from Hull. The names of some contemporary

publications, like the Intelligencers, Scouts, Spys, and Posts, reflected the

bellicosity of the times, but the Mercurys still abounded, including the propaganda

papers Mercurius Academicus (Royalist) and Mercurius Britannicus

(Parliamentarian). The Parliamentarian victory brought strict control of the press

from 1649 to 1658, and the restored monarchy was even more absolute, with the

press being restricted to just two official papers. During the period of the Licensing

Act (1662–94), an official surveyor of the press was given the sole privilege of

publishing newspapers. The Revolution of 1688produced a return to more

permissive publishing laws and the first provincial presses were set up, starting

with the Worcester Post Man (1690) and, in Scotland, the first Edinburgh Gazette

(1699), although the British press was to remain principally a national one, centred

on Fleet Street in London. Appearing briefly was Lloyd's News (1696), issuing

from Edward Lloyd's coffeehouse, which had become a centre of marine

insurance. The subsequent Lloyd's List and Shipping Gazette (from 1734), with its

combination of general and shipping news, exemplified both the importance of the

City of London's financial activities to the newspapers and the importance of a

reliable and regular financial press to business.

In the early years of the 18th century the British newspaper was approaching

its first stage of maturity. After 1691, improvements in the postal system made

daily publication practical, the first attempt at doing so being the single-sheet Daily