<P> The Observer, first published on 4 December 1791, was the world's first Sunday newspaper . </P> <P> By the early 19th century, there were 52 London papers and over 100 other titles . As stamp, paper and other duties were progressively reduced from the 1830s onwards (all duties on newspapers were gone by 1855) there was a massive growth in overall circulation as major events and improved communications developed the public's need for information . The Daily Universal Register began life in 1785 and was later to become known as The Times from 1788 . This was the most significant newspaper of the first half of the 19th century, but from around 1860 there were a number of more strongly competitive titles, each differentiated by its political biases and interests . </P> <P> In 1802 and 1815 the tax on newspapers was increased to three pence and then four pence . Unable or unwilling to pay this fee, between 1831 and 1835 hundreds of untaxed newspapers made their appearance . The political tone of most of them was fiercely revolutionary . Their publishers were prosecuted but this failed to discourage untaxed newspapers . It was chiefly Milner Gibson and Richard Cobden who advocated the case in parliament to first reduce in 1836 and, in 1855, totally repeal the tax on newspapers . The development of the press was greatly assisted by the gradual abolition of the taxes on periodicals as well as by the introduction of a cheap postal system . Both of these developments made the newspaper more affordable to a greater percentage of the population . The burden of the newspaper tax on publishers was heavy, resulting in 29,400,000 tax stamps being issued in 1820 . In 1828 the proprietor of The Times had to pay the state more than £ 68,000 in taxes . After the reduction of the stamp tax in 1836 from four pence to one penny, the circulation of English newspapers rose from 39,000,000 to 122,000,000 by 1854 . </P> <P> The Courier is a newspaper published by D.C. Thomson & Co. in Dundee, Scotland . It had five daily editions for Dundee, Fife, Perth and Angus . It was established in 1801 as the Dundee Courier & Argus . Like most papers the entire front page was devoted to classified advertisements; The Courier was unusual in maintaining this format until 1992, before adopting the headline - news format . </P>

How much was a newspaper in victorian times