The Leaflet. Vol. I, Nos. 1-6

Augusta, Maine: George Smith [Will Perkins, A.M. Hovey], June 1884-January 1885. 8vo (size varies, approx. 7 x 5 inches). 6 issues, each a 4-page bifolium, printed on various paper stocks and sizes, one with printed blue-gray wrappers, printed ads for local Augusta businesses; occasional light creasing and small tears A complete run of this amateur newspaper from Augusta, Maine, published in "the golden age of amateurdom" (AAS). Comprising short anecdotes of country life, fishing, baseball, an account of the forth semiannual convention of the New England Amateur Press Association held in Portland, trouble finding a printer (hence no issues for July and August of 1884), and a five-part story by George Smith entitled "The Fraudulent Deed." Internal evidence suggests that the editor George O. Smith and his colleagues, the associate editor Miss Mattie Brick, the printer Will Perkins, and others involved in the project, were, like most amateur newspapermen and women, young adults. The 19th-century phenomena of amateur newspaper-making by young adults has been likened to today's social media: both are platforms generated by emerging, cheap technology (the desktop printing press or "Novelty Press," the Internet) that allowed children and young adults semi-autonomous forms of expression. The final notice in issue 6 reads, "This is probably the last issue of an amateur paper we shall ever publish. We thank out subscribers and advertisers for their patronage."A search of OCLC returns no copies. The catalogue of the American Antiquarian Society's amateur newspaper collection records issues for 1884 only