INTRODUCTION 
     
    
   
   
    
     The Checklist and Historical Directory of Prince Edward 
     
     Island Newspapers 1787 — 1986 is intended to act as a source 
     
     of basic information about Prince Edward Island newspapers 
     
     published between 1787 and 1986. It is both a listing of all 
     
     the newspapers ever published on P.E.I. and a source of infor- 
     
     mation about them. For each newspaper published on P.E.I., 
     
     the Checklist attempts to provide: dates of publication, 
     
     location, publication frequency and the names of proprietors, 
     
     editors and publishers. A brief prospectus outlining the 
     
     subject matter and editorial biases is also included. Present 
     
     day P.E.I. locations of extant newspapers are listed in the 
     
    
   
   
    
     Checklist as well. 
     
    
   
   
    
     The primary source of information used for the creation 
     
     of the Checklist was the newspapers themselves. Using the 
     
     resources of the Confederation Centre Public Library, the 
     
     Public Archives of Prince Edward Island and the University of 
     
     Prince Edward Island, three issues per year,where available,of 
     
     each newspaper were examined. The January 1, April 1 and Sep- 
     
     tember 1 issues were selected in all cases. The January 1 
     
     issue often offered a summary of the previous year, the April 
     
     1 issue was normally published during the sitting of the 
     
     Legislative Assembly and the September 1 issue was merely a 
     
     convenient date in between. 
     
    
   
   
    
     Aside from the newspapers themselves, various other 
     
     sources of information were also consulted. These included 
     
     the Public Archives of P.E.I. newspaper card index, almanacs, 
     
     newspaper directories, bibliographies, histories, newspaper 
     
     and journal articles, and unpublished notes. Information 
     
     taken from a source other than the newspaper in question is 
     
    
   
   
    
     footnoted. 
     
    
   
   
    
     Occasionally, gaps appear in the information available 
     
     about a given newspaper. The newspapers may no longer be ex— 
     
     tant or surviving papers simply may not provide the necessary 
     
     information. Alternate sources have been consulted. However, 
     
    
   
   
    
     gaps do remain. 
     
    
   
   
    
     Another problem encountered occurred when different 
     
     sources offered contradictory opinions on an aspect of a 
     
     paper's history. In these cases, the source which seemed 
     
     most reliable was followed. However, some errors and in— 
     
     accuracies are inevitably present in the Checklist and re- 
     
    
   
   
    
     flect this problem. 
     
    
   
   
    
     contd....