Blogging, Old School

Recently discovered on our shelves, a small pamphlet describing Amateur Journalism, the 19th-century version of blogging, with participants printing their missives with lead type and using a letterpress.

To quote:

Amateur journalism is "the occupation, or perhaps pursuit, of a fraternity of boys and girls, young men and women of America, who edit and publish small papers of their own, for the purpose, mainly, of self-culture, and the exchange of their ideas upon various topics, the dissemination of amateur news, and the discussion of many interesting questions incident to the existence of the fraternity."

"The satisfaction of seeing mention made of his venture is only equaled by that experienced when beholding his own name, for the first time, at the head of the editorial column of his journal." And when the reviews are not good, the amateur journalist "scans the papers containing them for any flaws they may possess, and is at once eager to issue another number and annihilate his audacious critics."

Sounds a lot like old-school blogging to me.

In doing research on this bit of history, I discovered that the National Amateur Press Association still exists and still exchanges printed papers among its members.

Amateur Journalism A Pamphlet Explaining Its Aims, Interest and Extent, with Instructions for Becoming Connected Therewith.

New Glasgow, Nova Scotia: Finlay A. Grant, 1884. First printing. 16 pages, printed on pink paper and bound in purple wrappers. Not in OCLC. Good only. The staples have corroded and have eaten away the paper at the spine and there is an old dampstain at the top edge. $45