tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28102666.post792248806050443327..comments2024-03-14T13:25:20.613-05:00Comments on Boston 1775: The Boston Gazette Spin on Writs of AssistanceUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28102666.post-83592197913772280622011-02-27T16:11:12.111-05:002011-02-27T16:11:12.111-05:00And sometimes I see the database throwing up diffe...And sometimes I see the database throwing up different answers to the same query on different days. It’s a wonderful research assistant, but flighty and temperamental.<br /><br />At this point the database is great for testing claims about <i>widespread</i> reports of events, or use of phrases. If it comes up with no examples of “redcoats,” or “Intolerable Acts,” or reports of Otis’s argument outside of the <i>Boston Gazette</i>, that may not mean there were absolutely <i>none</i>, but it’s sure evidence there weren’t a lot.J. L. Bellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15405157000473731801noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28102666.post-61669424535270462832011-02-27T13:49:49.265-05:002011-02-27T13:49:49.265-05:00In my experience, the search function in the Ameri...In my experience, the search function in the America's Historical Newspapers is, as you've noted, very mercurial. In addition to the long-s issue that you mentioned in the previous post, it has trouble with ink smudges (for obvious reason) or less-than-clear type, and with phrases that wrap around lines.<br /><br />But I think your sense that the case didn't garner much coverage is accurate. After all, much of the import of the case seems to come from what we know followed beginning four years later. So newspaper printers wouldn't have had reason to think it would be important in 1761.Joseph Adelmanhttp://twitter.com/#!/jmadelmannoreply@blogger.com