The First Tax on Newspapers

In August, 1712, the first tax on newspapers was imposed, an attempt by English government to suppress the booming print media industry and eliminate small papers that were most vocal in opposition of the government — a less direct form of censorship. This uniquely untrimmed October 14, 1712 issue of the Spectator, published by Richard Steele and Joseph Addison, was among the first newspapers to feature the red tax stamp. Click photo to enlarge.

According to The Stamp-Collector’s Magazine, published in 1871:

“In the year 1712, Queen Anne sent a message to the House of Commons, complaining of the publication of seditious papers and factious rumours… On the 12th of February in that year, a committee of the whole House was appointed, to consider the best means for stopping the then existing abuse of the liberty of the press. The evil referred to had existence in the political pamphlets of the period. A tax upon the press was suggested as the best means of remedying the evil; and for the purpose of avoiding a storm of opposition, the impact was tacked on to a bill for taxing soaps, parchment, linens, silks, calicoes, etc. The result of the tax was the discontinuance of many of the favourite papers of the period, and the amalgamation of others into one publication… The stamp was red, and the design consisted of the rose, shamrock and thistle, surmounted with a crown. In the Spectator of June 10, 1712, Addison makes reference to this subject, and predicts great mortality among “our weekly historians.”