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All 85 Federalist Papers as the newspaper serial they originally were: period typography, a clean reader mode, short companion notes, and an email subscription that delivers one paper a week, or each on the anniversary of its original 1787–88 date.
This started as a gift: a subscription from LetterJoy that mails my mom one Federalist paper a week on physical, 1780s-style newsprint. Reading along with her, I couldn't find an online edition I enjoyed reading, so I built one.
All 85 papers, set as period newspaper sheets - self-hosted 18th-century type, a unique wear pattern per paper, with a clean reader mode, short plain-English notes, and reading progress that stays in your browser. No accounts, no ads, free, and the source is on GitHub.
New this week: subscribe by email. One paper each Saturday in order, or "As It Happened" - each paper on the anniversary of its original 1787–88 publication date.
I'd love feedback on the reading experience and the typography.
The period typography really makes these feel like I'm reading the actual papers, not a modern rewrite. Love that the notes are short enough to stay out of the way.
Love that you're preserving the original serial feel rather than just dumping text on a page. One idea: add a small toggle to compare Hamilton's or Madison's other writings side-by-side when one of their papers comes up, since authorship matters so much in a few of the later essays.
love how the period typography actually makes these feel like i am reading a 1787 paper rather than a modern website. the anniversary-based email subscription is a really thoughtful touch too.
The anniversary email timing is such a cool touch. One thing I'd love is a small "context map" at the start of each paper showing where it falls in the broader argument between Hamilton, Madison, and Jay, so I can follow the back-and-forth across weeks instead of reading each one in isolation.
About Federalist Reader on Product Hunt
“Read the Federalist Papers as 1787 newspapers”
Federalist Reader was submitted on Product Hunt and earned 16 upvotes and 9 comments, placing #41 on the daily leaderboard. All 85 Federalist Papers as the newspaper serial they originally were: period typography, a clean reader mode, short companion notes, and an email subscription that delivers one paper a week, or each on the anniversary of its original 1787–88 date.
Federalist Reader was featured in Newsletters (12.1k followers), History Books (3.4k followers), Education (78.9k followers) and GitHub (41.3k followers) on Product Hunt. Together, these topics include over 60k products, making this a competitive space to launch in.
Who hunted Federalist Reader?
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