Some of the questions asked by our visitors during their visits to the archive:
When was the linen rag paper used for the original newspapers replaced by wood pulp paper?
Wood pulp paper was introduced during the second half of the nineteenth century. The transition was a gradual one, and eventually taken up by all newspapers.
What would the original circulation of The Stamford Mercury have been?
From an original circulation of about 100, it increased to about 2,400 in 1800. This demonstrates the widening of readership throughout the east midlands.
Why do your volunteers not use white cotton gloves when handling the newspapers?
We follow the advice from the British Library on the use of white cotton gloves. It advocates making sure hands are clean and free from lotions when touching newspapers. Using gloves can impair the sense of touch and leads to a greater risk of damaging the papers.
Are you able to provide a copy of a newspaper or a front page for a particular date for a birthday gift?
Unfortunately, this is not a service we are able to provide. The archive contains one copy of each newspaper and, although we can take a scan from our microfilm, we have found that whole pages do not come out very well. We have also tried photographing the original newspaper, but these appear very ‘grainy’ and difficult to read. This is especially true of newspapers in the 1930s and 1940s, as the pages were very large – about A2-sized, which means, of course that they must be printed on that size of paper to be readable.