How to find old editions of newspapers (2024)

FAQs

How do I find old editions of newspapers? ›

Search the library catalog by Title for the title of the newspaper to see if it is available in print, through an online database, or on microfilm. Check what dates are available in the "Get It" section (for print/microfilm) or "View It" section (for online access).

Newspapers.com is the largest online newspaper archive consisting of 300+ million pages of historical newspapers from 11,100+ newspapers from around the United States and beyond, with a special focus on full runs and portions of runs of well-known, regional and state titles in addition to small local newspapers.

The Library of Congress provides free access to Chronicling America, which is a word-searchable collection of historic newspapers. You can search this database to lookup area newspapers and search for articles related to your community and the people who lived in your house.

Google News Archive is an extension of Google News. It provides free access to scanned archives of newspapers and links to other newspaper archives on the web, both free and paid.

If you have an actual copy of the Honolulu paper published the day following the Japanese attack, the Memphis Commercial Appeal death issue of Elvis Presley or the “Dewey Defeats Truman” edition of the Chicago Tribune, you have a rare collectible. Otherwise, most older newspapers sell for less than $10 each.

The Google newspaper archive project was discontinued by Google many years ago but, although they stopped digitizing and adding new papers and removed their useful timeline and other search tools, the historical newspapers that were previously digitized remain.

Any newspaper issue published before 1923 is out of copyright and can be freely reproduced. Newspapers published after 1922 are potentially copyrighted and can only be digitized if their copyright was not renewed and a copyright notice was not provided in the paper.

NewspaperARCHIVE.com is the world's largest online newspaper archive. The database features billions of articles from historical newspapers around the U.S. and the world, all of which are full-page and fully searchable. Users can browse search results by location by clicking on the desired state on the homepage.

NewspaperArchive.com takes longer to load and forces the user to manually zoom in on the article of interest. Newspapers.com also includes the date of the paper at the top of the digitized image and allows the user to click the date to navigate to other nearby editions without replicating the entire search.

Is NewspaperArchive com legit? ›

Is NewspaperArchive.com legit? Yes, NewspaperArchive is a legitimate website and has thousands of consumer reviews. The company was founded by Christopher Gill in 1999. Gill's background is quite extensive within the digitization of historical records.

NewspaperArchive *$

In the newspaper-digitizing business since 1999, this subscription site ($139.99 per year) boasts nearly 10 billion searchable names in 16,000 titles and 280 million pages dating from 1607 to the present.

To collectors, the value of vintage newspapers has more to do with the content than the age of the papers. A paper with a historic headline or an account of a famous historic event will sell for more than a very old newspaper with boring news.

Newspapers published in the United States more than 95 years ago are in the public domain in their entirety.

Can Old Newspapers Be Worth Money? Maybe, but it's rare enough as to effectively be a “no”. Your best chance at getting serious money for them is if you have ones that are in the “century or more old” category. That means headlines about the Titanic, World War I, etc.

The different editions can be called by various names, such as: Local edition - covers news and events specific to a particular city or region. National edition - includes news and events happening across the country. International edition - includes news and events happening around the world.

An edition is the total number of copies of a particular book or newspaper that are printed at one time. The second edition was published only in America.