PUBLICATION HISTORY OF NILES’ REGISTER

Hezekiah Niles founded The Weekly Register in 1811, and it continued in one form or another until 1849.  During its run, it had four editors, three titles, and was published in three different cities, as follows:

Editors:  Hezekiah Niles, William Ogden Niles, Jeremiah  Hughes, and George Beatty.

Titles:  The Weekly Register, Niles' Weekly Register, and Niles' National Register.  (Oddly, the name by which it is almost invariably referred to now, Niles' Register, is one title that the work never actually bore.)

Places of publication:  Baltimore, Washington, Philadelphia.

Over 38 years, Niles’ Register published 75 volumes, each covering a 6-month period.  (Fragments of a 76^th volume were also published:  See below.)  Most volumes were 416 pages, although some were longer; the total number of pages in the work exceeds 30,000.

In the Cumulative Index, references are expressed in terms of volume and page number:  the entry "75.245" indicates volume seventy-five, page 245.  This is all that is needed to look something up in either the bound or microform copies of the Register,  both of which are organized by volumes.  It is not necessary to know dates of publication to look articles up in the pages of the Register.  

"Supplements," "appendices," and "addenda" were occasionally published in conjunction with the regular weekly issues of  the Register.  When these were numbered consecutively with the regular weekly issues, they are indexed without any  special annotation.  The addition of an SUP, an APP, or an ADD to a page number -- as in 07.144SUP -- indicates that the reference is to a "supplement" or an "appendix" or an "addendum" that was not numbered consecutively with the regular weekly issues.   The occasions on which these supplementary publications appeared are noted below.

For those who are interested, the dates of publication of the various volumes of Niles' Register appear below.

Volume number             Dates of publication (first issue in volume, last issue in volume)

     1                              September 7, 1811 - February 29, 1812

     2                              March 7, 1812 - August 29, 1812

     3                            September 5, 1812 - February 27, 1813

[Volume 3 has an appendix that is numbered consecutively with the regular issues.  There is also an addendum.]

     4                               March 6, 1813 - August 28, 1813

[Volume 4 has an appendix that is numbered consecutively with the regular issues.]

     5                              September 4, 1813 - February 26, 1814

[Volume 5 has an supplement that is not numbered consecutively with the regular issues.  There are also two addenda.]

     6                              March 5, 1814 - August 27, 1814

     7                              September 3, 1814 - February 25, 1815

[Volume 7 has a supplement that is not numbered consecutively with the regular issues.]

     8                              March 4, 1815 - August 26, 1815

[Volume 8 has a supplement that is not numbered consecutively with the regular issues.]

     9                              September 2, 1815 - February 24, 1816

[Volume 9 has a supplement that is not numbered consecutively with the regular issues.  There is also an addendum.]

    10                             March 2, 1816 - August 24, 1816

    11                             August 31, 1816 - February 22, 1817

    12                             March 1, 1817 - August 23, 1817

    13                             August 30, 1817 - February 21, 1818

    14                             February 28, 1818 - August 22, 1818

    15                             August 29, 1818 - February 20, 1819

[Volume 15 has a supplement that is not numbered consecutively with the regular issues.]

    16                             February 27, 1819 - August 28, 1819

[Volume 16 has a supplement that is not numbered consecutively with the regular issues.]

    17                             September 4, 1819 - February 20, 1820

[Volume 17 has a supplement whose pages are numbered 113-115 despite the fact that three ordinary in-sequence pages bear those same numbers.]

    18                             March 4, 1820 - August 26, 1820

    19                             September 2, 1820 - February 24, 1821

    20                             March 3, 1821 - August 25, 1821

    21                             September 1, 1821 - February 28, 1822

    22                             March 2, 1822 - August 31, 1822

    23                             September 7, 1822 - March 1, 1823

[Volume 23 has a supplement that is not numbered consecutively with the regular issues.]

    24                             March 8, 1823 - August 30, 1823

    25                             September 6, 1823 - February 28, 1824

    26                             March 6, 1824 - August 28, 1824

    27                             September 4, 1824 - February 26, 1825

    28                             March 5, 1825 - August 27, 1825

    29                             September 23, 1825 - February 25, 1826

    30                             March 4, 1826 - August 26, 1826

    31                             September 2, 1826 - February 24, 1827

    32                             March 3, 1827 - August 25, 1827

    33                             September 1, 1827 - February 23, 1828

    34                             March 1, 1828 - August 23, 1828

    35                             September 30, 1828 - February 21, 1829

    36                             February 28, 1829 - August 22, 1829

    37                             August 29, 1829 - February 20, 1830

    38                             February 27, 1830 - August 21, 1830

[Volume 38 has a supplement that is not numbered consecutively with the regular issues.]

    39                             August 28, 1830 - February 26, 1831

    40                             March 5, 1831 - August 27, 1831

    41                             September 3, 1831 - February 25, 1832

[Volume 41 has an addendum that is not numbered consecutively with the regular issues.]

    42                             March 3, 1832 - August 25, 1832

[Volume 42 has a supplement that is not numbered consecutively with the regular issues.  There is also an addendum.]

    43                             September 1, 1832 - February 23, 1833

[Volume 43 has a supplement that is not numbered consecutively with the regular issues]

    44                             March 2, 1833 - August 24, 1833

    45                             August 31, 1833 - February 22, 1834

    46                             March 1, 1834 - August 30, 1834

    47                             September 6, 1834 - February 28, 1835

    48                             March 7, 1835 - August 29, 1835

    49                             September 5, 1835 - February 27, 1836

    50                             March 5, 1836 - August 27, 1836

    51                             September 3, 1836 - February 25, 1837

    52                             March 4, 1837 - August 26, 1837

    53                             September 2, 1837 - February 24, 1838

    54                             March 3, 1838 - August 25, 1838

    55                             September 1, 1838 - February 23, 1839

    56                             March 2, 1839 - August 24, 1839

    57                             August 31, 1839 - February 29, 1840

    58                             March 7, 1840 - August 29, 1840

    59                             September 5, 1840 - February 27, 1841

    60                             March 6, 1841 - August 28, 1841

    61                             September 4, 1841 - February 26, 1842

    62                             March 5, 1842 - August 27, 1842

    63                             September 3, 1842 - February 25, 1843

    64                             March 4, 1843 - August 26, 1843

    65                             September 2, 1843 - February 24, 1844

    66                             March 2, 1844 - August 31, 1844

    67                             September 7, 1844 - March 1, 1845

    68                             March 8, 1845 - August 30, 1845

    69                             September 6, 1845 - February 28, 1846

    70                             March 7, 1846 - August 29, 1846

    71                             September 5, 1846 - February 27, 1847

    72                             March 6, 1847 - August 28, 1847

    73                             September 4, 1847 - February 26, 1848

      [gap in publication]

    74                             July 5, 1848 - December 27, 1848

    75                             January 3, 1849 - June 27, 1849

Three abbreviated issues of a proposed volume 76 of Niles' appeared in September, 1849.  These were numbered 13, 14, and 15.  (Apparently, numbers 1-12 were never published.)  The contents of these three issues are not included in this cumulative index.