Nieuw Rotterdamsche Courant Possibly 1881 - 1889

The Nijgh & Zoon publishing house produced this copy of the Nieuw Rotterdamsche Courant, printed on September 24th, 1881. Consider the material, newsprint, made from wood pulp and produced on a massive scale, and the process of printing, most likely using a rotary press. The texture is rough, the weight is light, and the color is a muted grey. This paper was made to be discarded. The production process, from forestry to typesetting to distribution, is a fascinating mirror of late 19th-century industrial capitalism. The newspaper represents the commodification of information, transforming current events into a product to be bought and sold. The labor of countless workers, from journalists to printers to newsboys, went into its creation. The Courant’s emphasis wasn't on the beauty or longevity of the object, but the timely delivery of news. Understanding the Courant involves thinking critically about the political economy of information.