Gazette littéraire pour la ville et district de Montréal – Québec, Fleury Mesplet, 1778

Fleury Mesplet (1734–1794) trained as a printer in France. Around the age of thirty, he married Marie Mirabeau, who was twelve years his junior. Dissatisfied with the political and commercial climate in France, the couple moved to London, where Mesplet established his first press near Covent Garden. There he met Benjamin Franklin, who later provided him with a letter of introduction when they emigrated to Philadelphia in 1774.

At that time, the thirteen American colonies were preparing to declare independence from Britain and sought to persuade the inhabitants of Quebec to join them as the ‘fourteenth colony.’ As the only French printer in Philadelphia, Mesplet was chosen to print an open letter urging Quebec’s residents to support the American revolution. In November 1775, the Continental Army captured Montreal. Mesplet persuaded the Continental Congress that establishing a French-language printing office there would help win support for the revolutionary cause. Congress agreed, providing him with $200 to establish a press in the city. Despite the Americans’ efforts, they were unsuccessful in persuading Quebec to join them and eventually withdrew. Mesplet decided to remain, but the British authorities viewed him with suspicion, leading to his brief imprisonment for twenty-six days.

After his release, Mesplet promised local authorities he would not publish anything offensive to the church or state. In 1777, he published his first almanac, two religious books and what is believed to be the first book in the Iroquois language.

In 1778, Mesplet hired Valentin Jautard as editor and began publishing the Gazette du commerce et littéraire pour la ville et district de Montréal. In September of that same year, Mesplet changed the name to La Gazette littéraire, pour la ville et district de Montréal, dropping ‘commerce’ from the title. The newspaper shifted its focus entirely toward literature, philosophy, poetry and intellectual essays rather than trade or business notices. Canada’s first entirely French-language newspaper lasted only a year.

A devoted admirer of the French philosopher Voltaire, Jautard filled the newspaper with essays inspired by Enlightenment ideals of reason, intellectual freedom and criticism of authority. Those views soon brought both editor and printer into conflict with colonial officials. Both Mesplet and Jautard were arrested in 1779, and the paper was banned after just twelve months. They were held for three years without charges or trial, a clear violation of British justice principles. During his time in prison he was barred from operating his business and his equipment was seized. Without income, his business collapsed and he emerged from prison burdened with debt. In 1782, authorities let Mesplet out of prison without a formal pardon because Montreal entirely lacked another capable commercial printer who could handle the region’s essential printing needs. He spent several years battling severe debt by returning to book printing.

Having paid off his debts, on August 25, 1785, he launched a second weekly newspaper, The Montreal Gazette. This bilingual publication proved highly successful and remains one of Canada’s longest-running newspapers to this day. Unlike his earlier newspaper, it balanced news, commerce and public affairs, providing the stable foundation Mesplet’s printing office had long lacked.

Unlike many printer-publishers of his day, Mesplet relied on editors such as Jautard to shape the newspaper’s editorial voice, while he concentrated on the technical and commercial aspects of printing. An exceptionally skilled printer, he also possessed a remarkable ability to persuade friends and financial backers to support one ambitious venture after another. Although controversy and imprisonment marked much of his career, Mesplet established Montreal’s first permanent printing office and later founding The Montreal Gazette, he laid the foundation for one of Canada’s most enduring newspapers.