Bell's Weekly Messenger
Encyclopedia
Bell's Weekly Messenger was a British Sunday newspaper that began publication on 1 May 1786, under proprietorship of John Bell
. Initially a Sunday paper, from 1799 the London edition was reprinted on Monday for nationwide distribution. By 1803, it was selling 6,000 copies a week, at sixpence a copy. In 1799 there was even an augmented reprint of the previous year's editions, under the title Bell's Annual Messenger, printed for international distribution under the auspices of the East India Company
.
The newspaper continued under the title Bell's Weekly Messenger until March 1896, after which it was continued as Country Sport.
In 1832 the first recorded British newspaper cartoon was published in Bell's New Weekly Messenger.
John Bell (publisher)
John Bell was an English publisher. The Dictionary of National Biography has Charles Knight calling Bell a "mischievous spirit, the very Puck of booksellers." His 109-volume, literature-for-the-masses Poets of Great Britain Complete from Chaucer to Churchill, which rivaled Samuel Johnson's Lives...
. Initially a Sunday paper, from 1799 the London edition was reprinted on Monday for nationwide distribution. By 1803, it was selling 6,000 copies a week, at sixpence a copy. In 1799 there was even an augmented reprint of the previous year's editions, under the title Bell's Annual Messenger, printed for international distribution under the auspices of the East India Company
East India Company
The East India Company was an early English joint-stock company that was formed initially for pursuing trade with the East Indies, but that ended up trading mainly with the Indian subcontinent and China...
.
The newspaper continued under the title Bell's Weekly Messenger until March 1896, after which it was continued as Country Sport.
In 1832 the first recorded British newspaper cartoon was published in Bell's New Weekly Messenger.