The U.S. Library of Congress has acquired a rare "Tombstone Edition" of the Pennsylvania Journal, a historically significant newspaper from October 1765 that powerfully protested Britain's Stamp Act and became an early symbol of American independence.
Editor and printer William Bradford designed the front page of the October 31, 1765, edition to resemble a grave marker, complete with a skull and crossbones and the headline "EXPIRING." His editorial condemned the Stamp Act's tax on paper, asserting it would "choke off a free press" and calling it "insupportable Slavery."
This defiant imagery made the "Tombstone Edition" an iconic representation of the Colonies' burgeoning sense of independence, alongside Benjamin Franklin's "Join, or Die" cartoon. The Journal of the American Revolution describes it as "One of the most famous and recognizable eighteenth-century newspapers."
The Library's copy, a complete four-page edition and one of few known to exist, was obtained from a dealer earlier this year and is now undergoing conservation. Megan Halsband, head of physical collections services in the Serial and Government Publications Division, said, "It will be one of the top treasures in our division. What it represents for the Revolution and the opinion of the American public at the time regarding the Stamp Act is pretty significant."
Conservator Heather Wanser noted the paper's delicate state, with wear-and-tear issues like folds, creases, and small losses. The conservation efforts aim to house the artifact safely for future display, allowing appreciation of the original without direct handling. Bradford's fiery predictions about the Stamp Act proved largely unfounded as the act was never truly enforced, and his paper continued publication. He later fought in the Revolutionary War and published Thomas Paine's "The American Crisis." His legacy, and that of his prominent children, endured, symbolizing the liberty he championed.