[m'lachlan] FLEURY MESPLET, FIRST PRINTER AT MONTREAL 21 7 



another printer to take it off his hands or undertake the work, 

 Avas obliged to fall back on a lease of the plant to Mesplet at the risk 

 of never being paid or having to let the whole lie idle. From the 

 details of this sale, which are most interesting, we learn that ^lesplet, 

 who is often represented on imprints as bookseller as well as printer, 

 sold mainly his own publications, and such stationery as was then 

 used; although from an earlier announcement he offered a few works 

 by other printers he appeared to have none on hand at the time of 

 this sale. His stock of publications, of which the major part was in 

 sheets unbound, was very large, even when compared with the demand 

 for such literature to-day. He had as many as 500, 750 and 1.000 

 copies of some lines.^ Only six of the fifteen books mentioned in this 

 sale are otherwise known to bibliophilists. 



Among the purchasers at the sale was Jautard, who evidenth' had " 

 some means, as he stands third highest on the list. This is the last 

 occasion we hear of him in connection with Mesplet. The latter seems 

 to have broken away from his former editor after his release from 

 prison. Jautard afterwards got in tow with a widow named '' ]\Iadam 

 Deganne," who appears to have had some means. He borrowed money 

 from her, and then married her to cancel the debt. At that time he 

 is represented as living at Côte St. Paul. 



His only publication in 1785 was the Montreal Gazette,- the first 

 number of which appeared on the 28th of August. It was a four- 

 paged folio, printed in French and English. All controversial matters 

 were carefully avoided as it dealt mainly with general and local 

 news. It was much less loriginal than La Gazette Littéraire, so 

 escaped falling under the ban of those in high places. It proved 

 so successful that it still lives, while all its contemporaries — if 

 we except the Xova Scotia Gazette which, being a government 

 organ, is outside the strict classification of true newspapers, have 

 ceased to appear.^ It has therefore outlived all of its contem- 

 poraries and many later Canadian publications. Although the price, 

 $3.00 per annum, appears high for a small four page weekly when 

 compared with one of our sixteen page dailies which cost no more, it 

 had a good subscription list extending all the way down the banks of 

 the St. Lawrence to Quebec ; while there was hardly a prominent citizen 

 of Montreal, French as well as English, whose name was not among 



' See appendix B Xos. 3-15. 



^ See appendix A No. 29. 



^The Halifax Gazette was first issued on the 23rd March. 17.53. After- 

 wards the title was changed to the Xova Scotia Royal Gazette under 

 which title it is still issued as the official organ of that province. 



Sec. XL, 15. 1906 



