ES
ENSE PETIT PLACIDAM SUB LIBf
ER
H
>
H
m
£)
C
z
<
m
Joseph T. Healey Library
TO
UNIVERSITY OF MASSACHUSETTS
c
■<
BOSTON
m
H
m
o
-n
2
El
MASSACHUSETTS BOSTON
1
DATE DUE
z
205
T55
1957
v.l
ts:
LIBRARY
of
BOSTON
STATE
COLLEGE
Burt Franklin: Bibliography and Reference Series §62
THE
HISTORY OF PRINTING
IN AMERICA
VOL. I
This book is printed on a 25% fag paper, and is guaranteed by the
paper manufacturer to have a three hundred year life expectancy.
«<_-/
THE
HISTORY OF PRINTING
m AMERICA,
BIOGRAPHY OF PRINTERS
IN TWO VOLUMES.
By ISAIAH THOMAS, LL.D.
SECOND EDITION.
2l2Eit1) tlje autijor's (ttottectionis antr atrlritionjj,
AND A CATALOGUE OP
AMERICAN PUBLICATIONS
PREVIOUS TO THE REVOLUTION OP 1776.
VOL. L
Burt Franklin: Bibliography and Reference Series §62
BURT FRANKLIN
NEW YORK
^< BOSTON StWt COLLEGE
^^^^ UBRARY.
Published by
BURT FRANKLIN
514 West n3th Street
New York 25, N. Y.
a/(. jk
z
Tsc
I/. I
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED
ALBANY 1874
Printed in U.S.A.
UNIV, OF MASSACHUSETTS
AT BOSTON - LtBRARY
CONTENTS
VOL,. I.
PauE.
Preface, *^
Memoir op the Author, xvu
Spanish America, • ^
French America, 1^
Dutch America, ^^
Portuguese America, '-'■
English America, now the United States, .... 13
Introduction of the Art, 13
Paper Making, ^^
Paper Mills, 25
Type Founderies, 27
Stereotype Printing, 32
Engraving, 33
Printing Presses, 3!l
Rolling Presses, 37
Massachusetts, 38
Cambridge, ^
Catalogue op Books Printed by Daye, ... 46
" " " " " Green, . . . .63,
" " " " " Johnson, ... 83
Boston, °^
Salem, 1'^'''
Newburyport, l'''^
Worcester, 1^^
Connecticut, 1^^
New London, 184
New Haven, 188
Aartford, 190
Norwich, 192
Rhode Island, 194
Newport, 194
Providence, 201
New Hampshire, 205
Portsmouth, 205
Exeter, 207
viii Contents.
Page.
Pennsylvania, . 208
Philadelphia, . 208
Germantown, 270
Lancaster. 286
Ephrata, 287
New York, 290
New York, 290
Albany 313
New Jersey, 314
"woodbrldge, 314
Burlington, ' . . 316
Delaware 318
Wilmington, 318
Maryland, 320
Annapolis, 320
Baltimore, 322
Virginia 330
Williamsburg, 332
North Carolina, 338
Newbern, 388
Wilmington, 339
South Carolina, 340
Charleston, 340
Georgia, . 353
Savannah, 353
New States, 353
Vermont, 353
Kentucky, 354
Tennessee, . . . ' 354
Ohio, 354
Mississippi Territory, 354
Michigan Territory, . . . . ' . . . . 364
Louisiana, 355
British Colonies, . 356
Halifax, Nova Scotia, 356
Quebec, Canada, 362
Appendix, 365
See Index at the End of Vol. II.
PREFACE.
The Committee appointed to supervise the republication of Tho-
mas's " History of Printing in America^" have endeavored to carry
out, as nearly as practicable, the intentions of the author, disclosed
in a corrected copy, left by him for a new edition.'
This requirement being regarded as paramount to every other
consideration, no change in the plan or arrangement has been deemed
justifiable, beyond the apparent purpose of the vrriter, and the autho-
rity expressed or implied in the general statement of his design.
Mr. Thomas made omissions and alterations in the text of an
interleaved copy, and provided material for insertion not always
entirely digested; but his ideas in regard to the manner of prepar-
ing the work for republication were sufficiently indicated by what
he had already accomplished. He says, in a memorandum, that he
proposed to take another copy, and m^-ke all the alterations, etc., in
that, with more care; adding the request : " If I should not live to
fulfil my intention, and the work should be again printed, I hope
some friend will do it."
The expediency of omitting his preliminary account of the begin-
ning and progress of printing in the Old World, has been deter-
mined by the circumstances of the case, rather than by an intimation
of the author's wishes. Mr. Thomas had, indeed, bestowed consid-
erable labor on a revision of that part of his book ; but, though
very desirable at the period when he wrote, it has been viewed by
the Committee as less adapted to the present state of information on
that subject, as requiring too much modification and enlargement, as
occupying space demanded for additional matter of an important
character, and as not essential to the special object of presenting a
history of the American Press The full and interesting memoir
of Mr. Thomas, by an eminent descendant, may, fitly and accept-
ably, take the place of an essay concocted with industrious research
from such sources of information as were then accessible, yet which
'The first edition appeared in 1810.
X Preface.
might appear to disadvantage by the side of later and more elaborate,
and thence likely to be more accurate compilations.
The American Antiquarian Society are gratified in being able to
reproduce the History of Printing in America, Mr. Thomas's great
and distinctive enterprise, after his own revision, as an appropriate
memorial of their honored Founder and first President.
The original book is rarely met with in the market, and large
prices have been paid for copies occasionally found. A desire to
reprint has often been manifested by prominent publishers, but has
usually been connected with some project impairing the identity of
the work, and involving a continuation of the history of the art, and
the biographical notices, to a later period.
Mr. Munsell, who prints this edition, had long held a similar
purpose in mind, and had made collections with reference to it; but
since the Antiquarian Society, of which he is a member, decided to
put to press the revised copy left in their possession, he has given the
advantage of his information and judgment to that object, being
joined to the Committee in charge of the publication. Mr. Paine,
the Treasurer of the Society, has served faithfully on the Committee
from the beginning. The principal responsibility and labor have,
however, necessarily devolved on the chairman, with whatever
accountability belongs to that position.
Mr. Thomas's account of printing in Spanish Am.erica was not
satisfactory to himself, from a consciousness of imperfections which
he could not overcome with the means at his command, and he men-
tions his expectation ol better facilities in the future. The biblio-
graphy of that part of the country is now much better understood,
and Hon. John R. Bartlett, one of the Society, who has given spe-
cial attention to the subject, kindly furnishes a valuable paper relat-
ing to it, which is printed in an Appendix.
At the close of the preface to his first edition, Mr. Thomas says,
in a note : " It was my design to have given a catalogue of the books
printed in the English colonies previous to the revolution ; finding,
however, that it would enlarge this work to another volume, I have
deferred the publication; but it may appear hereafter."
It is extremely unfortunate that this design was not executed at
the time. No person since has been so favorably situated for its
accomplishment. Mr. Thomas left to the Antiquarian Society se-
veral memorandum books and loose sheets of foolscap containing
titles, a considerable portion of which had been transcribed several
times, with an effort to arrange them alphabetically and under the
names of the places where they were printed — "the product," he
Preface. xi
states "of many months research." His plan included the insertion
of various points of information, such as the number of pages in
each work, when known, and the^ indication of reprints by a sign.
With titles collected from miscellaneous sources, from newspapers,
bookseller's lists, and library catalogues, in all degrees of fullness
and literalness of description, the task of adjustment upon a rigid
or uniform principle was discouraging, and was finally relinquished,
with the declaration that " all these volumes must be revised, cor-
rected, and transcribed, and better arranged."
Before the breaking out of the recent rebellion, the copying of
these titles, and their rearrangement in order of date, a simpler and
better system for the purpose in view, was undertaken by Samuel
F. Haven Jr., M. D., who had just commenced medical practice, with
some leisure for the gratification of a literary taste and love of in-
vestigation.
Having placed Mr. Thomas's titles upon cards, under the plan
adopted. Dr. Haven continued the research for more. He examined
the advertisements of early Newspapers, and the Publishers' an-
nouncements often contained in old books, studied library catalogues,
and looked over libraries that were without catalogues. He had
the advantage of admission to the unequalled collection of American
publications made by George Brinley Esq , of Hartford, and of the
cordial a.ssistance of the accomplished owner in the examination of
its treasures and the enlargement of his lists.
The result of much zeal and a good deal of patient toil was a card
catalogue of publications in this country previous to the revolution,
which on brevier type would make a volume of four or five hundred
pages.
Dr. Haven left his literary occupations, and his professional em-
ployments at home, to accompany the 15th Massachusetts Regiment
of volunteers, one of the earliest to enter into the national service at
the beginning of the late civil war. While engaged, as surgeon of
the regiment, in active duty under fire, at the battle of Fredericks-
burg, he was mortally wounded by a shell from the enemy's battery.
Had he returned in safety the catalogue would doubtless have been
subjected to a most careful preparation for the press. He could,
perhaps, have followed his memoranda of titles back to their sources
for reexamination, and by means of his studies might, to a certain
extent, have treated Mr. Thomas's titles in the same way. Their
precise verification would demand the virtual impossibility of com-
parison with the publications themselves. The most trusted autho-
rities will sometimes lead into error, and the chances of mistake are
xii Preface.
greatly multiplied where vouchers are at secondhand, or still further
removed from their source, and of informal and irresponsible origin.
In adopting the catalogue as left by Dr. Haven, without material
alteration, other than occasional abridgment, the Committee believe
they shall substantially execute the cherished purpose of Mr. Thomas,
and attach to his work what may be claimed to be, in accordance
with the expression of his own expectation, " the only Catalogue of
(early) American printed books, of any consequence, or in any way
general, to be met with, or that has been made." Catalogues are
not wanting of American publications of later periods, with which
many of an early date are mixed ; but as the basis of an exhaustive
list of both the major and minor issues of the American press, pre-
vious to that turning point of national history known as the Revolu-
tion, the effort here presented stands by itself.
The first edition of the History of Printing in America was dedi-
cated to " The President and other Officers and Members of the
American Philosophical Society in Pennsylvania, and The
President, Counsellors, and other members, of the AMERICAN
Academy of Arts and Sciences in Massachusetts." If the new
edition had come from the hand of the author there is the best
reason for presuming that it would have been inscribed to the society
of his chief interest and affections, the American Antiquarian Society,
whose later birth and infancy had been so largely the object of his
care.
The following extracts from the original Preface are all that may
suitably be repeated in this place.
" Amidst the darkness which surrounds the discovery of many of
the arts, it has been ascertained that it is practicable to trace the
Introduction and progress of Printing, in the northern part of Ame-
rica, to the period of the revolution. A history of this kind has
not, until now, been attempted, although the subject, in one point of
view, is more interesting to us than to any other nation. We are
able to convey to posterity a correct account of the manner in which
we have grown up to be an independent people, and can delineate
the progress of the useful and polite arts among us with a degree of
certainty which cannot be attained by the nations of the old world,
in respect to themselves.
" I am sensible that a work of this kind might, in other hands, have
been rendered more interesting. It has a long time been the wish
of many, that some person distinguished for literature would bring
it forward ; but, as no one has appeared who was disposed to render
Preface. xiii
this service to the republic of letters, the partiality of some of my
friends led them to entertain the opinion, that my long acquaintance
with Printing must have afforded me a knowledge of many interest-
ing facts, and pointed out the way for further inquiry, and that,
therefore, I should assume the undertaking. Thus I have been,
perhaps too easily, led to engage in a task which has proved more
arduous than I had previously apprehended; and which has been
attended with much expense.
" It is true, that in the course of fifty years, during which I have
been intimately connected with the art, I became acquainted with
many of its respectable professors ; some of whom had, long before
me, been engaged in business. From them I received information
respecting the transactions and events which occurred in their own
time, and also concerning those of which they received the details
from their predecessors. By these means I have been enabled to
record many circumstances and events which mflst-soon have been
buried in oblivion. My long acquaintance with printing, and the
researches I made in several of the colonies before the revolution,
certainly afforded me no inconsiderable aid in this undertaking;
and, to this advantage, I may add, and I do it with sincere and
grateful acknowledgments, that I have received the most friendly
attention to my inquiries from gentlemen in different parts of the
United States ; among whom I must be permitted to name the fol-
lowing, viz. — Ebenezer Hazard, esq. and judge J. B. Smith, of
Fhifade/phui ; the hon. David Ramsay, of Charleston, Southcaro-
lina; rev. doctor Miller, of Newyurk ; rev. Aaron Bancroft,
and mr. William Sheldon, of Worcester; the rev. Thaddeus M.
Harris, of Dorchester; the rev. doctor John Kliot, of Boston;
and the rev. William Bentley, of Salem; Massachusetts. To
these I must add, among the elder brethren of the type, William
GoDDARD and John Carter, esqrs. of Providence; and mr. Tho-
mas Bradford, and the late mr. James Humphreys, of Phila-
delphia. Many others belonging to the profession, in various parts
of the union, have laid me under obligations for the information
they have given me.
" Throuiih the politeness of various gentlemen, I have had access
to the ancient MS. records of the counties of Middlesex and Suffolk,
in Massachusetts, where Printing was first introduced to this coun-
try ; to those of the colony of Massachusetts, and of the university
of Cambridge ; and, also, to those of the United Newengland Colo-
nies; all of the seventeenth century; — likewise, to the records of
several of the southern states; and, to many of the principal libra-
xiv Preface.
ries in diflPerent parts of the United States. From these documents
and institutions I have obtained much valuable intelligence.
" Yet, nothwithstanding all these advantages, I have experienced
much difficulty in collecting, tlirough this extensive country, the
facts which relate to the introduction of the art of Printing in the
several states. These facts v?ere all to be sought for, and the inquiry
after them had so long been neglected that the greater part of them
would soon have passed beyond the reach of our researches. Most
of the printers mentioned in these volumes have long since been
numbered with the dead, of whom many were but little known
while living; yet, the essential circumstances respecting them, as
connected with the art, will, I believe, be found in the following
pages; although I cannot flatter myself that they will be entirely
free from unintentional errors or omissions.
"The biographical sketches of printers are principally confined to
their professional concerns, and to such events as are connected
with them.
" Newspapers are placed in the proper order of succession, or agree-
ably to the periods in which they were established in the various
cities, towns, &c.
" The narratives respecting such persons as remained in business
after the American revolution, and such newspapers as were con-
tinued after this event, are brought down to the time when those
printers quitted business, or died, or these publications were discon-
tinued. From the settlement of the country to the establishment of
the independence of the United States, few Printers, and not many
Newspapers, have, I believe, escaped my observation ; and, I may
venture to assert that the data respecting them are as correct, as can,
at this period of time, be obtained by the researches of an individual.
"The history of printing in America, I have brought down to the
most important event in the annals of our country — the Revolution.
To have continued it beyond this period, all will admit would have
been superfluous.
" From the considei'ation that the press, and particularly the news-
papers to which it gave birth, had a powerful influence in produc-
ing the revolution, I have been led to conceive there would be much
propriety in giving accounts of the prosecutions of printers for pub-
lishing Libels, which occurred under the several colonial govern-
ments. Articles of this description, will be found in such parts of
this work as contain memoirs of the Printers who were prosecuted,
or descriptions of the Newspapers in which the supposed libels were
published.
Preface. xv
" With a view to gratify the admirers of typographical antiquities,
I have, in several instances, given, as accurately as the nature of the
case would admit, representations of the titles of the most ancient
Newspapers; from which a tolerable idea may be formed of the fashion
of the originals.
" Although a work ol this nature may be principally interesting
to the professors of the typographic art, yet the facts relating to
printing are necessarily connected with others which I have thought
it proper to enlarge upon. This circumstance may render these
volumes amusing to the man of letters, and not altogether uninterest-
ing to the antiquary.
" I devoted sometime to obtaining a correct account of the book-
sellers in Boston ; it having been my intention to take notice of all
who were in the trade from the first settlement of each colony to the
year 177 5j but I discovered that particular information from other
states respecting many, ;vho, in this character, have passed over the
stage of life, could not be procured, therefore, the statement is not
so complete as I intended it should be. But supposing that the par-
ticulars which I have collected may afford some gratification, I have
annexed them to this work."
It only remains to be stated that the notes in this edition, are those
of Mr. Thomas unless accompanied by an initial letter or other indi-
cation of different authorship. Thus B. is for Hon. John R. Bartlett,
H. is for the chairman of the Committee, and M. is for Mr. Munsell.
The notes respecting Paper Making, etc., in Pennsylvania, communi-
cated by Mr. H. G. Jones of Philadelphia, bear his name or initials.
MEMOIR OF ISAIAH THOMAS,
BY HIS GRANDSON
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN THOMAS.
" On the 5tli of June, 1632," says Governor Winthrop,
"arrived in Boston the ship William and Francis, Mr.
Thomas master, with about fifty passengers — whereof Mr.
"Welde and old Mr. Batchelor (being aged 71) were with
their families and many other honest men." This Mr.
Thomas, master, was, I believe, Evan Thomas, who in 1639
or 1640 settled in the colony of Massachusetts Bay.
The first notice of him upon the colony records is of
September Ist, 1640. " Evan Thomas, having a wife and
four children, is allowed twenty bushels of corne at har-
vest." He was admitted a freeman of the colony in 1641,
and a member of the Artillery Company in 1652. Evan
was a successful vintner, paying into the colony treasury
from twenty to forty pounds a year for licence or duty or as
his proportion of the " rents of wine." We are sorry to
have discovered any stain upon his escutcheon ; but we find
on the General Court record this entry, October 17th, 1654.
" Lieut. Hudson and Evan Thomas having been ffined for
selling beere above two pence the quart and also flfor-
feited bond for appearance at the Court of Assistance to
answer the same ; this court upon their pet, thinkes meet to
xviii History of Printing in America.
remitt their bonds, but se no cause to take off their ffines."
Occasionally, like more modern merchants and vintners,
Evan seems to have dabbled in speculation outside of his
regular line of business. In the Suffolk Registry of deeds,
vol. 2d, p. 192, is recorded a receipt by Isaac Allerton Se-
nior (one of the principal men of Plymouth colony and its
first assistant) dated i^ew Haven, Kov. 29th, 1653, for
one hogshead and four barrels of mackerel from Evan
Thomas, vintner, of Boston, to adventure for half profits.
Evan died August 25th, 1661.
It is the family tradition that Peter Thomas, the grand-
father of Isaiah Thomas, was the grandson of Evan. Peter,
the eldest son of George and Rebecca Thomas, was born
in Boston February 1st, 1682. He married Elizabeth Bur-
roughs the daughter of the Rev. George Burroughs, who
in August, 1692, was hung at Salem as a witch. The only
evidence of his guilt consisted in the fact that though of
rather small stature and frame he had remarkable physical
strength. The thorough research and careful judgment
of Mr. Upham leave him as man and Christian minister
without stain or reproach. He was the victim, not of fanata-
cism, but of malice and perjury. Peter was a merchant
and acquired a good estate. He owned a store and carried
on his business on the town dock.
Peter's fourth son was Moses Thomas, soldier, mariner,
trader, farmer, and schoolmaster. Without the consent
or knowledge of his father, in 1740 he enlisted as common
soldier in the expedition against Cuba. His father, after
futile efforts to procure his discharge, secured him the
position of clerk of one of the officers. He was one of the
few who escaped the sword, and the more wasting pestilence
of that disastrous expedition. On his return he sailed on
Memoir of Isaiah Thomas. xix
a voyage to the Mediterranean. Afterwards, for some
years, he was a school master at Hampstead, Long Island.
"Weary of teaching the " young idea how to shoot," he
bought and cultivated a farm at Hampstead. Soon tired of
this he became a trader and kept a store in the village. He
was not an exception to the adage ; he gathered no moss.
It was while living in Hampstead, that he met, fell in love
with, and married Fidelity Grant. Fidelity was a native of
Rhode Island. Her father was a merchant of that colony,
trading to Philadelphia and the West Indies. Dying and
leaving his business in a very unsettled condition, his
widow, taking the daughter with her, went to the West
Indies and thence to Philadelphia to settle his estate.
They had relatives in Hampstead, and on their return
went there to reside. Moses remained at Long Island
some three or four years after his marriage and .then re-
turned to Boston. Trying many things, holding fast to
none, he wasted a few years in Boston, and then went to
seek fortune in North Carolina, where he died in 1752.
His father, an active, stable, frugal merchant, a solid
man of Boston, not relishing the roving life and infirm pur-
pose of his son, made a will in which he cut him off with
five shillings. Though the Yather survived the son, he
died without altering his will, and the widow and children
of Moses were left entirely destitute. Two children, born
at Hampstead, had been left with the relatives of their
mother at that place. The relatives "had become much at-
tached to, and desired to retain them. The circumstances
of the mother obliged her to acquiesce. We shall not ap-
preciate the sacrifice required of this young mother of
twenty-six years, unless we understand how entire the
separation was. In 1752, and till after the revolution, there
XX History of Printing in America.
was no communication from Long Island by mail to any
part of the continent. Opportunities for the private con-
veyance of letters seldom occurred, the mother could not
afford the expense of visiting her children, and the result
was that, for many years together, she did not hear from
them.
Three children born after the return to Boston remained
under the mother's care. She had the energy and business
capacity wanting in the father. She had no money, but
she had friends ready to help her in the best way, by ena-
bling her to help herself. Women then engaged in active
outside business more frequently than now. It was a quite
common thing for widows, especially of printers, innkeepers,
and traders, to take up and carry on the husband's trade,
and not uncommon for them to set up business of their own.
The frieijds of this young widow loaned her money with
which to open a small shop.
Putting her children to board in the near country, she
devoted herself to their support. By industry and frugality
she was able to do this and something more. Little by little
she laid by enough to purchase a small estate in Cambridge.
This, she ultimately lost. Having a large price offered for
it in Continental paper, and having faith that these paper
promises would sooner or later be transmuted into silver
and gold, she sold house and land and, the story is short,
was one of the thousands of victims of paper money. She
was however never reduced to want, but lived to a good old
age to witness the success of her son and to share the fruits
of it.
Isaiah Thomas, the youngest son of Fidelity and Moses,
was born January 19th, 1749, old style. At the age of six
years he was brought home to Boston. If he was ever in
Meiioir of Isaiah Thomas. xxi
a schoolhouse it was before Ms return. He used to say-
that six weeks " schooling " was all he ever had, and poor
at that. The mother meant the boy should have the com-
mon school education of the time, be taught to read, write,
and cipher, and be trained to some mechanical pursuit.
There was in Boston in 1755, Zechariah Fowle, a printer
and pedler of ballads and small books ; it was the custom
of that day to hawk about the streets new publications.
Mr. Fowle, having no children desired to take Isaiah.
He promised the mother that he would treat the child
as his own, give him a good school education, instruct
him in the art of printing, and if, when arriving at the age
of fourteen, the boy did not wish to remain with him, he
should be at liberty to choose another place and trade. The
lad had been ^vith him about a year, when Mr. Fowle per-
suaded the mother to have him bound to him as an ap-
prentice. The writer has before him the original indenture
of apprenticeship, bearing date June 4th, 1756. Its prin-
cipal provisions it may be well to give, not only as an illus-
tration of the usages of the time, but to enable us to judge
how far, in his dealings with the boy, the covenants of the
master were kept. After fixing the time the apprenticeship
was to continue — to the age of twenty-one — the conditions
of the service to Fowle and his wife and heirs are thus
stated : " During all which said time or term, the said ap-
prentice, his said master and mistress, well and faithfully
shall serve ; their secrets he shall keep close ; their com-
mandments lawful and honest everywhere he shall gladly
obey; he shall do no damage to his said master, etc., nor
suffer it to be done by others without letting or giving
seasonable notice thereof to his said master, etc. ; he shall
not waste the goods of his said master, etc., nor lend them
xxii History of Printing in America.
unlawfully to any ; at cards, dice, or any other unlawful
game or games he shall not play ; fornication he shall not
commit ; matrimony during the said term he shall not con-
tract; taverns, alehouses or places of gaming he shall not
haunt or frequent.: from the service of his said master, etc.,
by day nor night he shall not absent himself; but in all
things and at all times he shall carry and behave himself
towards his said master, etc., and all theirs, as a good and
faithful apprentice ought to do, to his utmost ability during
all the time or term aforesaid." The covenants of the master,
if not so comprehensive are equally plain and explicit.
" And the said master doth hereby covenant and agree for
himself, his wife and heirs, to teach or cause to be taught
the said apprentice, by the best way and means he can, the
art and mistery of a printer, also to read, write and cypher ;
and also shall and will well and truly find, allow unto, and
provide for the said appprentice, sufficient and wholesome
meat and drink, with washing lodging and apparrell, and
other necessaries meet and convenient for such an appren-
tice, during all the time or term aforesaid ; and at the end
or expiration thereof shall dismiss the said apprentice with
two good suits of apparrell for all parts of his body, one
for the Lord's day, the other for working days, suitable to
his degree."
Mr. Fowle had a small printing office and shop on Mid-
dle street, near Cross street. His printing apparatus con-
sisted of one press, one font of small pica of about three
hundred and fifty pounds, about two hundred pounds of
English and one hundred pounds of double pica. The
library of the office was made up of a "tattered dictionary
and an inkstained Bible." The master was a singular man,
irritable and rather effeminate. With little industry, and no
Memoir of Isaiah Thomas. xxiii
enterprise, he was honest and did work enough to support
himself and wife. He was in debt for his press and types
when he began business, and he seemed to be equally care-
ful not to increase nor diminish the debt.
Having got the boy into his power, the master, as the
apprentice always charged, put the lad to all the servile
work he had strength to do, and when such work was want-
ing set him up to the type cases. Such statements are to
be taken with some grains of allowance, especially when
made as to a master on whose ignorance and want of ca-
pacity the boy early learned to look with contempt. The
call upon the boy for services which he regarded as menial
was not unusual in the relation of master and apprentice
at that period. The boy, if a member of the master's
family, was expected to do the " chores."
Mr. Thomas has left in print, and in brief memoranda
before me, a few anecdotes which may enable us to see
something of the interior of that little printing office, and
to learn with how small help and aid he grew up to
manhood. In order that the child, of seven years, might
reach the boxes to set types, he was mounted on a bench
eighteen inches high and of the length of a double frame,
which contained cases of the roman and italic. His first
essay with the composing stick was on a ballad called the
Lawyefs Pedigree, the licentious character of which gives
us an idea of the taste and sense of the master and his in-
terest in the moral welfare of the boy. The child set the
types for this ballad (double pica) in two days, " though he
knew then only the letters and had not been taught to put
them together and spell."
The skill of the master and his capacity to teach the *' art
andmistery of printing" are well illustrated in the following
xxiv History of Printing in America.
story. A young man, a barber's apprentice, illiterate, but
as he fondly believed a favorite child of the Muses, com-
posed a poem on the proposed expedition of the British and
Provincial troops against Ticonderoga and Crown Point.
Unable to write legibly, the poet recited his verse to a friend
whose pen put it into black and white. It was sent to
Mr. Fowle to be printed as quickly as possible. Fowle
began to set the types, the boy at work near him. He
had set but a line, when he discovered the absence of
punctuation in the manuscript. The hurried Muse had
made no stop from beginning to end. The master was in
sore distress. He had a friend to whom he used to apply
for aid and direction, but this friend could not be found.
His genius suggested to him a mode of relief quite original.
He went to his shelves of ballads, took one that he thought
would answer his purpose, and, placing it by the side of his
manuscript, put at the end of every line of the barber's
poem the same point that was in the ballad. That the
subject, composition and metre of the poem did not even
faintly resemble those of the ballad seems to have given
him no pause. Young and ignorant as the pupil was, he
viewed the proceeding with surprise. He tells us that
with the mechanical part of his work the master had but
little more acquaintance than with the rules of punctuation.
The master never taught the child to read, write, or
cypher, nor caused it to be done by others. His only essay
at teaching was a weekly lesson, on the Sabbath, in the
Assembly's Catechism. This was by rote merely. " I re-
collect," said the pupil, " his putting me the question from
the catechism ' What are the decrees of God ; ' I answered
I could not tell, and then, boy-like, asked him what they
were. He read the answer from the book. I was of
Memoir of Isaiah Thomas. xxv
opinion he knew as little about the matter as myself."
Poor boy ! very likely, and as many wiser boys and wiser
men before and since.
For three years, from 1758 to 1761, Mr. Fowle had a
partner, Samuel Draper, a good printer and kind man,
from whom the lad got some valuable instruction in the
art. During the partnership the business was not confined
to ballads and pamphlets, but some books were printed,
as Janeway's Heaven on Earth, Walls's Psalms, and a large
edition of the Youlh's Instructor, a spelling book in gene-
ral use at the time. The spelling book and Watts, the
boy fully mastered, the " Heaven on Earth " he failed to
attain. Fowle and Draper did not get along very smoothly,
and to the sorrow and loss of the boy the partnership was
dissolved. Thomas was then about twelve years old, and
from this time seems to have had the principal charge of
the business of the office. He did the work in his own
way, corrected the press as well as he could, and when the
form was ready, Fowle having no other help,^ assisted him
at the press.
At this period there were few persons in Boston who
could " cut " on wood or type metal. Thomas Fleet, the
printer of the Boston Evening Post, was also a rival of Fowle
in the printing of ballads. Fleet had a negro who illus-
trated his ballads by cuts. Young Thomas was induced to
try his hand in decorating those printed by Fowle. He
" cut " about an hundred plates, rude and coarse indeed,
" but nearly a match," he says, " for those done by the
negro."
The young printer found friends outside of the office.
Among those whom he held in grateful remembrance was
xxvi History of Printing in America.
an old man by the name of Gamaliel Rogers. Gamaliel had
been a printer of the firm of Rogers and Fowle, who printed
the first edition in America of the New Testament in
the English language. The work had to be done secretly,
and to bear the imprint of the London copy from which
it was reprinted, to avoid prosecution from those who in
England and Scotland published the Bible by a patent from
the Crown, or cum prwilegio, as did the Universities of Ox-
ford and Cambridge.
Rogers's printing ofiice was destroyed by fire and he lost
most of his property. With the little that was left, he,
in his old age, set* up a little shop opposite the (now old)
South Church. Thomas used to go frequently to his store,
and the old printer was very kind to him, gave him some
of the books which he had printed, and what Mr. Thomas
used to say was of much more value to him, " he admon-
ished me, diligently to attend to my business, that I might
become a reputable printer. I held him in high veneration
and often recalled his instructions, which on many occasions
proved beneficial to me."
This entrance upon the way and work of life is not pro-
mising, but the spirit, energy, and strength of will of the
boy will make way for him. There is in him the germ of
a noble manhood, and in the school of early struggle and
narrowest fortune he will develop it. The printing office,
as the history of our country has abundantly shown, is one
of the best of schools, and printing the most encyclopedic
of arts. In helping to difiuse knowledge the printer ac-
quires it ; in lighting the torch for others, he kindles his
own. Self-developed, he will be strongly developed. "We
are apt in our day to over-value the facilities of culture ;
there may be too much dandling and nursing. Vigor and
Memoir of Isaiah Thomas. xxvii
self-reliance come from effort and trial. The tattered dic-
tionary, the ink-stained Bible, the spelling book and Watts's
Psalms ; there is food enough in th^se for large and vigor-
ous growth.
Thomas continued in the service of Mr. Fowle ten or
eleven years. In this time he had acquired the elementary
branches of learning, could think for himself,*write good,
plain English, with a dash of satire in it, put his thought
in type without writing, and make, so he told the writer,
tolerable verses for the poet's corner. He made the most
diligent use of the means and opportunities within his
reach to learn the art of printing. He was esteemed at
the as:e of seventeen an excellent workman. He loved
the art, and had an earnest desire to go to London to
perfect himself in it. In his old age he used to say that if
he could live his life over again, and choose his employment,
it would be that of a printer. He evinced quite early a
strong taste for reading, and a fondness of theatrical enter-
tainments — private they must have been for there was then
no theatre in Boston. Tall and handsome in person, of
attractive manners, neat and careful in his dress, the young
printer impressed favorably the men, and 'most favorably
the women, with whom he was brought in contact. He
had fitted himself to do useful work in the world, and there
was work for him to do.
At three different times in early boyhood his life was
in imminent peril. On one of the occasions (1756), he was
playing with a young boy in a woodshed, where there was
a large cistern of rain water, left at the time uncovered.
The boy pushing young Thomas with a stick, he fell back
into the cistern. His companion was too much frightened
to assist or even to give notice of what he had done. Mean-
xxviii JTiSTORY of Printing in America.
time the little printer was drowning. There was near to
the shed a tallow chandler's shop. An aged negro, Boston
Peckens, at work in the shop, somehow or other discovered
that the boy was in the cistern and came to his rescue.
By means of the pole with a hook on the end of it, used to
draw the bucket of water from the cistern, he brought him
to the surface and took him out. He was insensible, but
with the help of rubbing and other appliances was restored.
Thomas, grateful to his kind preserver, used to express his
deep regret that the old man died before it was in his
power to give him any substantial proof of his gratitude.
About a year after this, the lad was standing at an
oyster board on the town dock, before it was filled up.
A man called for oysters. The oyster vender, having
no bread, the buyer asked the lad to go to a shop and
get him a biscuit; and the weather being unpleasant,
went on board the oyster vessel to eat his oysters.
The boy returning with his biscuit tried to jump on
board. Not springing far enough he fell into the water.
It was dark, and he was nearly drowned before he was dis-
covered. The gentleman impatient for his biscuit came
on deck to look far his messenger. He heard a noise in
the water and the first thing he saw was the biscuit, by
which he judged the boy was not far off. He was soon
found, taken up and carried home.
The third of these accidents, in 1758 or 1759, so connects
itself with the manners of the time that it may be well to
state it with some detail. N^owhere in the British do-
minions was the fifth of November, the anniversary of the
discovery of the Gunpowder Plot, celebrated with more
zeal and zest, and mock pomp and ceremony, than in the
good town of Boston. Strife and rivalry had for sometime
Memoir of Isaiah Thomas. xxix
existed between the north and south ends of the town, which
should have the more august celebration and soonest
put to rout the procession a,nd parade of the other. The
line of division between the North and the South was
the old Mill creek, now Blackstohe street. Collections
were levied upon the inhabitants on the morning of the
day ; asked for, but few thought it quite safe to refuse.
The money was spent in part for the pomp and circum-
stance of war, and largely for liquor. The principal
effigies of the pope and the devil, the supposed insti-
gators of the plot, were placed upon a stage mounted on
cart wheels and drawn by horses. At the front of the stage
was a large lantern of oiled paper, four or five feet wide
and eight or nine feet high. On the front was painted in
large letters, " The devil take the pope ;" and just below
this " North end forever" or " South end forever." Behind
the lantern sat the pope in an arm chair, and behind the
pope was the devil standing erect with extended arms, one
hand holding a smaller lantern, the other grasping a pitch-
fork. The heads of pope and devil were on poles which went
through their bodies and the stage beneath. Boxed up
out of sight sat a boy whose mission was to sway the heads
from side, to side as fancy suggested. The devil, without
consideration for his home climate, was clad in tar and
feathers " from top to toe," " from head to foot." Other
effigies were sometimes seen, suspended from gallows, of
persons who had incurred the indignation and hatred of the
mob, as the Pretender, Admiral Byng, Earl Bute, and Lord
North. Ancillary devils and popes were drawn or carried
by men and boys, as various in size as the men and boys
who bore them ; some even on shingles and bits of board.
Assembling about dusk, North end and South end under
XXX History of Printing in America.
their respective leaders, processions were formed, the lan-
terns, great and small, lighted, and through a speaking
trumpet the order was given to " move on." "With this the
noise and tumult began, the blowing of conch shells, whis-
tling through the fingers, heating with clubs the sides of the
houses, cheering, huzzaing, swearing, and rising above all
the din the cry " North end forever " or " South end for-
ever." The devils on the stages were not the only or chiefest
proof that the under world was let loose. The procession
that first reached the Mill creek gave three cheers and
rushed on to meet their foes. As they approached the
strife began ; clubs, stones, and brickbats were freely used,
and though persons were not often killed, bruised shins,
broken heads and bones, were not infrequent.
It was on one of these " peaceful nights " when the North-
enders had been as far south as the elm tree, soon after so
well known as the Liberty Tree, and were on their re-
turn, masters of the situation, though now and then re-
ceiving a complimentary brick from South-enders secreted
in lane or passage way, that our little printer, with a large
bump of curiosity and a small one of caution, pressed
through the crowd to read the labels on the lanterns. A
brick aimed at the lantern, lighted on his head and struck
him to the ground. The chances were for the little fellow
to be trampled to death by the rushing crowd, but as his
good fortune or a kind Providence would have it, the first
man whose foot struck him, hearing his groans lifted him
up, and persons coming around with lights, one of them
recognized him, took him in his arms, and carried him to
his master's house. A surgeon being sent for, it was found
that no bone was broken, and in a few days he was able to
return to his types. Such is in substance the account given
Memoir of Isaiah Thomas. xxxi
by Mr. Thomas in later years. It does not speak very well
for the refinement of manners of what was then the most
cultivated town of British America, and is worth perhaps
the passing notice of those who are continually asking " why
the former days were better than these."
In 1766, between 17 and 18 years of age, the apprentice
had what he called a " serious fracas " with his master. I
can throw no light upon the cause, merits or demerits, of
the quarrel. Thomas left Boston secretly, taking passage
for Halifax, with the hope of finding his way from Halifax
to London, to acquire a more perfect knowledge of printing.
In this he was wholly disappointed. So -far from obtain-
ing the means of going to England it was difficult to earn
his daily bread. He found work and wages to pay board
and lodging with one Anthony Henry. Henry was a good-
natured, heavy moulded Dutchman, who had been a printer
in his youth, but left his master and came to Halifax as fifer
in a British regiment. There being no printing office in
the province, Henry got discharged from military service
and set up the business. It might not seem the easiest
thing in the world for a fifer to find means to purchase
press and types. But there was a pastry cook in Halifax,
of African descent, who had acquired a snug little property.
Henry married her, endowed himself with her wordly
goods, and with them purchased printing materials and built
a house. Some three years after the marriage the pastry-
cook died without issue. The relict was left in comfort-
able condition. He was a cheerful, good natured fellow,
not very skillful in his art, and loving his ease. He wae
at the time of Thomas's arrival the printer and publisher
of the Halifax Gazette, and government printer. The mas-
ter indolent, and the young man ambitious and willing to
xxxii History of Printing in America.
work, the editing and printing the Gazette soon fell into
his hands. He is found quite competent to the task. He
remodelled the paper as well as he could with the means
he had, and went to work.
Thomas was fresh from the debates of Boston, and brought
with him the Boston notions of liberty. The Gazette soon
after his arrival was printed on stamped paper. Thomas
could not brook this, an da paragraph appeared in its columns
stating that " the people of the province were disgusted
with the stamp act." The paragraph gave great offence
to the loyal government of that loyal province, and Henry
was called to account for printing sedition. He had not
even seen the paper in which the seditious paragraph was
published, and pleaded ignorance, saying that the paper in
his absence was conducted by his journeyman. He was
reprimanded, and threatened with the loss of the public
printing if anything of the kind should again be found in
his columns.
The young patriot could not keep quiet, and, soon after,
a paragraph of the same import appeared. This time the
master pleaded that he had been confined to his house by
sickness, and made a most humble apology. The young
journeyman was sent for by the secretary of the province.
He was probably not known to the secretary, who sternly
asked him what he wanted.
A. Nothing, sir.
Q. "Why came you here ?
A. Because I was sent for.
Q. What is your name ?
A. Isaiah Thomas.
Q. Are you the young New England man that prints
for Henry ?
Memoir of Isaiah Thomas. xxxiii
A. Yes, sir.
Q. How dare you publish in the Gazette that the people
of IN'ova Scotia were displeased with the Stamp Act.
A. I thought it was true.
Secretary. You had no right to think so. If you publish
any more of such stuff you shall be punished. You may
go, but remember you are not in liew England.
T. I will, sir.
I^otlong after the interview the year's stock of stamped
paper for the Gazette, some six reams only, arrived from
England. It was soon discovered that the paper had been
denuded of the stamps, and in the next Gazette was a notice
that " all the stamped paper had been used, and as no more
could be had the paper would in future be published with-
out stamps."
A few days later a vessel came from Philadelphia bring-
ing the newspapers published in that city, among others the
Pennsylvania Journal in full mourning for the passage of
the Stamp Act. Thick black lines surrounded the pages
and were placed between the columns. A death's head and
cross-bones were over the title, and at the bottom of the
li^st page was the figure of a coffin, beneath which was
printed the age of the paper with the statement that it had
died of a disorder called the Stamp Act. Thomas wished
to do the like with the Gazette. To do it directly was a
little too hazardous. As near an imitation was made of
the Journal as possible, and the Gazette appeared with this
notice. " We are desired by a number of our readers to
give a description of the extraordinary appearance of the
Pennsylvania Journal of the 30th of October last (1765).
We can in no better way comply with their request than
xxxiv History of Printing in America.
bj the exemplification we have given of that Journal in
this day's Gazette.'^ The publication made no small stir in
the town, but led to no immediate action.
One morning soon after, an effigy of the stamp master
and one of Lord Bute were found suspended on the public
gallows, behind the citadel. The officers of the govern-
ment, who had prided themselves upon the good behavior
of the province, were dismayed. Somehow or other a sus-
picion prevailed that the young printer from Boston might
have some knowledge of the matter. A sheriff thereupon
went to the printing office and told Thomas he had a pre-
cept against him and meant to take him to prison unless
he gave information of the persons engaged in the trans-
action. The sheriff stated some circumstances which had
convinced him that Thomas himself had been engaged in
these seditious proceedings. Thomas making no reply to
the kind suggestions, the sheriff ordered him to go with
him before a magistrate. In the simplicity of his heart
he was about to go, when it occurred to him that the
action of the sheriff might be merely intended to alarm
him into an acknowledgment of his privity with the se-
ditious acts. He thereupon told the sheriff that he had not
the pleasure of knowing him, and demanded to be told
by what authority he acted. The sheriff replied that he had
sufficient authority. On being requested to show it, the
officer was evidently disconcerted, but answered he would
show his authority when necessary, and again ordered the
"printer of sedition," as he was pleased to call him, to go
witb him. Thomas replied he would not obey unless the
sheriff produced his precept or proper authority for taking
him prisoner. After further parley the officer left him
with the assurance that he would soon return ; but Thomas
Memoir of Isaiah Thomas. xxxv
saw him no more, and afterwards learned that this was a
pUin concerted for the purpose of surprising him into con-
fession. There was too old a head on those young shoul-
ders for such a trap.
Such, in substance, is the narrative Mr. Thomas left us
of his sojourn at Halifax. He has not in this history dis-
closed the circumstances of extreme poverty to which he
was reduced. He used to say, not without satisfaction in-
the contrast with his affluent condition in later life, that
his linen was reduced to one check shirt, and that the
only coat he had he sent to a tailor to turn, and the tailor
ran awaj" with it.
Henry had no little liking for his young and quick-witted
journeyman, but it became plain that he must part with
him or with the government business, and Thomas, after
seven months' residence, left Halifax in a If ew England sloop
bound for Portsmouth, New Hampshire. The compensa-
tions of life are greater than men think. In what school
or university could a boy of eighteen years have got so
much or so valuable training, discipline, and self-reliance, as
this young printer got in that obscure newspaper offi.ce in
Halifax.
On his arrival at Portsmouth the people were celebrating
with great enthusiasm the repeal of the Stamp Act. His
presence at Portsmouth was suspected by his Boston friends
by the remodelling and improvement in the newspaper on
which he worked, which must have been either the New
Hampshire Gazette, printed by Daniel aaid Robert Fowle,
or the Portsmouth Mercury, printed by Furber and Russell.
Mr. Fowle learns that he is in Portsmouth, and invites
him to return to Boston. He comes back and goes to his
old master, who fails to recognize him. He returns to his
xxxvi History of Printing in America.
service and gets along quietly for a few weeks. In July
1766, on the day of the funeral of Jonathan Mayhew, whom
the whole town followed to his grave, he has fresh trouble,
but the difficulty is compromised and he lives with him
once more. He remains but a few weeks and then, with
the full consent of his master, leaves his service finally.
Young as he was he seems to have thought of setting
up for himself. On the look out for place and opportunity,
he receives an invitation from a captain of a vessel to go
with him to Wilmington, ITorth Carolina, where, he was as-
sured, a printer was wanted. With all the new facilities
of intercourse it would require no little pluck now for a
youth of eighteen to leave Boston and go to North Carolina
to establish himself in business ; especially if he had neither
friends there nor money. But the young man had more
courage than prudence or stability. Industrious, enter-
prising, and fearless, he had yet to acquire the steadiness of
will and purpose which afterwards characterized him and
assured success.
A violent storm compelled the captain to put in for a
while at Holmes Hole at the Vineyard. From this port
he went to Newport, and took in, as a passenger, Martin
Howard who, during the excitement of the Stamp Act, had
been hung in effigy at Newport, his house destroyed and
his person injured. Howard was afterwards appointed
chief justice of North Carolina, aad used to say he had no
quarrel with the " Sons of Liberty" at Newport, for they
had made him chief justice of North Carolina, with a
thousand pounds sterling a year. On the voyage the young
printer got acquainted with the future judge, who advised
him (advice costs nothing) to set up a press in Wilmington,
and promised him his countenance and support. On going
Memoir of Isaiah Thomas. xxxvii
ashore at Wilmington, Thomas was introduced, by the
captain of the ship, to a lady who kept a coffee-house in
the town, and who seems to have been greatly impressed,
if not charmed, by the young New England man. The
good lady proposes to him a partnership in business, he to
print and publish a newspaper, she to keep the coffee house,
and the profits of the two concerns to be equally divided
between them. Whether the partnership was to" be further
extended does not appear. Under the advice of Mr.
Howard, and other gentlemen, young Thomas waited upon
Lieutenant Gov. Tryon, then acting governor of the colony,
afterwards famous and infamous in the history of the re-
volution. The governor encouraged him to remain, and
flattered him that he should be favored with a part of the
government printing. It may be doubted whether Mr.
Howard or the governor knew much of the young man's
opinions or recent history.
There was, as before suggested, a somewhat formidable
difiiculty in his setting up the business of printing in Wil-
mington or elsewhere. He had not press, or types, or
money to buy them. But something in the young man
won confidence and credit. There was at Wilmington a
printer, Andrew Stuart, who had fallen into disfavor and
was about to leave the town. He had a press and three
small fonts of letters for sale. Some gentlemen of Wil-
mington ofl'ered to advance money on a long credit to en-
able Thomas to make the purchase. Stuart, sensible that
Thomas could not get a press and types elsewhere, asked
about three times as much for them as they cost when new.
After some chaffering he came down to about double the
cost price. Finding that Thomas could raise the money
he insisted upon including in the sale a negro woman and
xxxviii History of Printing in America.
her child. Thomas concluded to take press, types, woman
and child, when the seller insisted upon adding to the sale
his household furniture. This broke off the negotiation,
and when Stuart relented it was too late. Thomas had
become discouraged at the aspect and business look of the
place. The little money he had was gone, and his desire
to go to England revived. Though a merchant of Wilming-
ton offered to send to London for printing apparatus by
the first opportunity, neither this, nor the landlady's tender
of partnership, had power to detain him.
To reach England being still his prevailing wish, he en-
gages as steward on board the brig in which he came as a
passenger from Boston, and which was now to sail for the
West Indies, with the hope of readily finding his way from
the West Indies to London. The change of relation from
passenger to steward seems to have worked a sudden change
in the feelings of the captain of the brig. Thomas finds
the labors of his new position hard and disagreeable. Twice
he is sent in a boat up the river with slaves fresh from
Africa to procure lumber. The captain requires him to
attend him on shore with a lantern and to wait on him as
a servant. The young man's pride, and he had a good
stock of it, revolts at this treatment, and he determines that
he will not go with him. The will with him was apt to
find the way. He rose soon after midnight, " dressed him-
self in his long clothes" and sat on the quarter deck wish-
ing, like Paul and his fellow voyagers, for the day. He
recollects at the moment a letter of recommendation which
had been given him by a gentleman in Newport to Robert
Wells, a printer in Charleston, South Carolina. He leaves
the brio; with the first break of dawn and goes in search of
"&
a vessel bound for Charleston. He finds a packet that is
Memoir of Isaiah Thomas. xxxix
to sail in three days, engages a passage, and then seeks the
captain of the brig and asks for a dismission from his ser-
vice, which the captain very reluctantly grants. After the
dismission, the captain was again quite friendly, and assisted
him in procuring some provisions for the voyage. He had
been employed some ten days in the service of the brig
without visiting the lady of the coffee house. He goes to
see her and meets with the same kird reception as before.
The project of the partnership is renewed, and he is to go to
Charleston, work till he could provide materials for his
printing house, and then return to "Wilmington to put his
plan into execution. He goes on board the packet. As
it was about leaving the wharf, the lady sends by her maid
a present of stores for the voyage. She lived but a few
steps from the wharf, and he must needs step on shore and
thank her for the kindness. As he is conversing with her,
he sees the packet under way, and leaving his thanks half
paid, he runs to the wharf, but the vessel had gone. He
hastens to a lower wharf, but is too late. He meets the
captain of the brig, who befriends him in his distress, takes
his own boat with two men and after rowing an hour, the
weather being calm, overtakes the packet and puts him
on board.
The packet had a slow passage down the river. After
its arrival at Fort Johnson it was detained a week by head
winds. The provisions were exhausted and a contribution
was called for to get a new supply. Thomas was obliged
to borrow a dollar to make up his share. The captain had
to send back a boat thirty miles to procure the supplies.
On their arrival they set sail and had a quick passage to
Charleston. The young man's mortification does not end
here. He has no money to pay his passage ; he leaves his
xl History of Printing in America.
chest in pledge and hurries on shore to find employment.
In the space of two hours he had visited all the printers in
Charleston in fruitless search of work. They were, how-
ever, very kind to him. One of them, Mr. Couch, invites
him to dine with him and to make his house his home,
working as he pleased " till he could better himself"
Soon after he receives an offer of small wages from
Mr. Wells and accepts it. Applying himself closely and
diligently to his work, after ten days he asks of his em-
ployer seven dollars and goes in search of the packet to
redeem his chest. He is dismayed to find that the packet
had already returned to "Wilmington. Upon further in-
quiry he learns that his chest is stored in the warehouse
of the owner of the packet. He pays his passage money
and the dollar he had borrowed, and is as happy as if a
fortune had poured her full horn into his lap. His skill
in his art and steady application won the good will of Mr.
Wells, who raised his wages. He continued in his service
till he left Charleston.
Mr. Robert Wells, an excellent printer and good man,
was the publisher of the South Carolina and American
General Gazette. He kept also what was for the time an
extensive bookstore, supplying the wants of both the Caro-
linas. He was a loyalist and supported the government, but
the friendly relations between him and young Thomas were
never disturbed. The young man had an opportunity to im -
prove in his art and freedom of access to books which he
had never before enjoyed. Little is known of his sojourn
at Charleston. His promise to the fair keeper of the Coffee
House seems to have been too easily forgotten. The present
of supplies for the voyage and the half uttered thanks are
the last we hear of her ; she'passes into the silence. Some
Memoir of Isaiah Thomas. xli
things and scenes he saw at Charleston made fast hold upon
his memory ; the arrival and inauguration of the statue to
William Pitt ; the burning at the stake of two negroes,
man and woman, for the crime of poisoning their master,
wi^h the multitudinous sea of upturned black faces ; an
election of members of the assembly with candle light pro-
cessions and temporary hospitals for the inebriated ; the
meeting with several Bostonians who had left their native
town, as he expresses it " for the sin of being in debt."
While at Charleston, in December 1769, Mr. Thorqas
was married to Mary Dill, daughter of Joseph Dill of the
isle of Bermuda. The connection was not a happy one, and
he was separated from her a few years afterward. He had
a plan of going to settle in the West Indies ; it was neaHy
perfected, but his health failing, after a short tour among
the Southern Colonies, he came back to Boston in the
spring of 1770.
The condition of Boston in the early months of that
year is matter of familiar history. It was then a town of
not more than twenty thousand inhabitants, intelligent,
wealthy, energetic, self reliant, loving the mother country
when the mother country did not meddle with their affairs.
The political controversies which had sprung up (from
seeds long in the soil) soon after the close of the seven
years war, had now for seven years been enlarging their
scope and increasing in intensity and bitterness. Discus-
sion had served only to widen the differences of opinion
and policy. The growing claim, a natural growth, of the
colonies for self government, was met by a larger claim for
power and restraint on the part of parliament and the
crown. Upon this town, sensitive and jealous of its rights,
the British ministry had, in the autumn of 1769, quartered
xlii History of Printing in America.
some nine hundred troops. The contention, hot enough
before, was brought to white heat by the personal collisions
of the populace and soldiers. What history has called,
without much propriety, the " Boston Massacre," was a
probable, natural result of the attempt to overawe such a
people by military force. There was not room on the
little peninsula, physical or moral, for soldiers and people.
Such was the excited state of the capital, and such indeed
that of the province of Massachusetts Bay, when Mr.
Thomas came back, to begin life for himself. With his
temperament and convictions he could not long keep out
of the thickest of the fight ; and no suggestion of fear, or
foreboding of loss or peril to himself, ever held him back.
In the July following, Mr. Thomas formed a partnership
with Mr. Fowle. We must, I think, find in this fact some
mitigation of the judgment he has passed upon his old
master. The firm commenced business in Salem street
by issuing, in July 1770, the first number of a small news-
paper called the Massachusetts Spy. This number was
distributed gratuitously through the town. The paper
was to be published three times a week, twice on a quarter
sheet and once on a half sheet. The frequent issue of the
paper, a new thing in Boston, was not to meet the com-
mercial or business needs of the town. It was thought it
would meet the wants of mechanics and other classes of
people who had each day but little time to read, and to
whom the news and instruction of the paper would be con-
venient in small doses. The second number of 'the paper
was published on the 7th of August 1770. The publica-
tion was continued in this form for three months. The
partnership of Fowle and Thomas was then dissolved,
Thomas buying of Fowle the same press and types on
Memoir of Isaiah Thomas. xliii
which he had worked as a child. They had been pur-
chased by Fowle nineteen years before, had been paid for
by borrowing the money of a relative who was content to
let the principal lie, if he was paid punctually the interest.
Thomas became the owner by giving to the creditor new
security for the payment of the loan. He moved his office
to School street, and changed the publication of the Spy
from three times to twice a week, each number a half sheet.
He continued the publication in this way for three months
more, and then dropped it to make preparations for the
weekly publication of a larger newspaper than had before
been printed in Boston. On the 7th of March 1771, from
his printing office, now changed to Union street, the new
weekly appeared, printed on a whole sheet royal size folio
of four pages ; but not Cowper's folio of four pages, " happy
work which not even critics criticize." In the new form
the paper had to start with less than two hundred sub-
scribers. After the first week the number rapidly increased,
till, at the end of two years, the subscription list was larger
than that of any other newspaper in Boston.
The new sheet bore the name of the Massachusetts Spy.
The title was between two cuts, on the left the Goddess of
Liberty, on the right two infants culling flowers froni a
basket. Nothing could be ruder, less artistic, than these
prints ; but that on the left had its meaning for the time,
soon after made clearer by the motto from Addison's Cato.
" Do thou, great Liberty, inspire our Souls,
" And make our lives in thy possession happy,
" Or our deaths glorious in thy just defence."
It was with the publication of this paper that our printer
really entered upon his own career of life. It was in this
xliv History of Printing in America.
work that he was able to render valuable service to his
country and to connect his name with its history. With
it, though its place of publication was changed, he was
connected for thirty years, and, after many trials and re-
verses, it laid the foundation of his fortune.
Mr. Thomas was printer, publisher, and editqr. A num-
ber of writers however supplied the paper with political
essays. Some of the earlier essays were intended to be espe-
cially adapted to that class of citizens who had made up the
majority of the early readers of the Sjjy. " Common sense
in common language," said Mr. Thomas, "is necessary
to influence one class of citizens as much as learning and
elegance of composition to produce an effect upon another :
the cause of America was just, and it was only necessary
to state this cause in a clear and impressive manner to
unite tbe American people in its support." We incline to
think that elegance of composition, rhetoric, and eloquence,
are as agreeable to one class of citizens as to another.
Whether this be so or not, the distinction suggested by
Mr. Thomas was not kept up. The Spi/ circulated through-
out the continent, and its writers addressed alike all classes
of the people. At the start the publisher opened 'the
columns of the paper to Whigs and Royalists, but the con-
troversy had become too warm for such a course ; it
satisfied neither party. Overtures were made by friends
of government to induce the printer to enlist the Spi/ in its
defence. They were of course rejected, and Mr. Thomas
gave the paper without reserve to the cause of the people.
In an early number there is a pretty explicit statement of
the relation of rulers and people. " Rulers are made for
the people, not the people for the rulers. The people are
bound to obey the rulers, when the rulers obey the laws ;
Memoir OF Isaiah Thomas. xlv
and when the rulers are affectionate fathers, the people
are bound to be dutiful children. Rulers were insti-
tuted to be servants to the people, and ministers of
God for good ; but if instead of servants thej become
masters, and instead of ministers for good they are
ministers for evil, they are no longer rulers according
to their institution, liulers are appointed to be the repre-
sentatives of God among men; and when they imitate him
in righteousness the people are under the strongest obli-
gations to give them great honour and reward. The people
always have a right to judge of the conduct of their rulers,
and reward them according to their deeds."
The Spy soon became a power hi the Massachusetts Bay,
for it was conducted with vigor, zeal, and entire devotion
to Whig principles. The government hoped to buy the
young printer ; he was not in the market. It tried to drive
him ; he could not be driven. It tried to alarm him ; he
was without fear. It tried to suppress him : but he baffled
and defeated every attempt to this end and gained new
strength and influence by every conflict.
The proposal to make the S'py a loyalist paper having
failed, the next step was to force compliance or deprive
the printer of his press and types. His creditor was an
officer of the Crown, and, though a worthy man, was pushed
on to demand payment of the debt contrary to his verbal
agreement. Thomas had given a bond payable in one
year, with an assurance that the principal should not be
called for if the interest was promptly paid. Thomas,
though without property, had the confidence and credit
of his friends ; he borrowed the money and paid the old
debt by contracting a new one. The plan of suppression
failing, the most paltry attempts were made to annoy
xlvi History of Printing in America.
him and impair the value of his paper. One of these
was a refusal to permit him to obtain from the Custom
House an account of the arrivals and clearances of the
port of Boston. The printer of the Massachusetts Gazette,
and News-Letter, acknowledges that he had refused Tho-
mas a copy of the list, under the influence of the Custom
House ofiicers. Thomas also charges Governor Hutchin-
son with attempting to get work out of his hands and give
it to a tool of his own, and with saying of the Spj " Long
ago would I have stopped the press could I but have per-
suaded the council to join with me." " A man" the editor
adds " whom we could not more disgrace than by saying
he is, and how he became the g r of this p e."
The Spy had among its contributors several able and
pungent writers who did not put on their gloves when
they wrote. Among the early contributions was a series
of essays signed Centinel, extending to over forty num-
bers, the first with a motto from the ballad of Chevy Chase.
" The child that is unborn
Will rue the hunting of that day."
I have not been able to discover the writer of these
essays. John Adams evidently knew the author, but he
gives no clue. The question puzzled Governor Hutchin-
son. They are written with much learning and marked
ability. In vindicating the liberties of the people of the
province the writer does not confine himself to the
charter, or their rights as English subjects, but lays for
them deeper and broader foundations in the natural rights
of man. The manner is clear, incisive, bitter, without the
least recognition of the doctrine that the powers that be
are ordained of God.
Memoir of Isaiah Thomas. xlvii
But the boldest of the writers for the Spy was Joseph
Greenleaf, over the signature of Mutius Scsevola. In the
Spy of November 14th 1771, he declares that Hutchinson
is not the legal governor of the Province, that he is an
usurper and ought to be dismissed and punished as such.
We give one or two brief extracts. " An Englishman
should never part with a penny but by his consent, or the
consent of his agent or representative, especially as the
money thus forced from us is to hire a man to tyrannize
over us, whom his master calls our governor. This seems
to me to be Mr. Hutchinson's situation, therefore I cannot
but view him as an usurper, and absolutely deny his juris-
diction over this people, and am of opinion that any act of
assembly consented to by him in his capacity as governor
is ipso facto null and void and consequently not binding
upon us, ******
" If the pretended Governor or Lieutenant-Governor by
being independent on us for their support are rendered in-
capable of completing acts of government, it is time we
had a lawful one to preside or that the pretended go-
vernors were dismissed and punished as usurpers, and that
the council, according to charter, should take upon them-
selves the government of the province." The article
caused no little stir and excitement in the Bay.
The Evening Post of the next Monday says, " it is said
the piece referred to, from its nature and tendency, is the
most dariug production ever published in America." The
Post refers to, without venturing to print it.
The paper was printed on Thursday. On Friday after-
noon Governor Hutchinson convened his Council. The
Council, after deliberating upon the matter till sundown,
adjourned to the next day, when they met again, and after
xlviii History of Printing in America.
further discussion, resolved that the printer should be sent
for. The messenger of the Council appeared in Mr.
Thomas's office and told.him that his presence was required
in the Council chamber. Mr. Thomas replied that " he
was busily employed in his office and could not wait upon
his Excellency and their Honors." An hour later the mes-
senger again appeared and informed him that the Governor
and Council awaited his attendance, and by their direction
he (the messenger) asked whether Mr. Thomas was ready
to appear before them. Thomas answered that he was
not. The messenger went to make report, and Thomas
went for legal advice — the tradition is, to John Adams.
He was instructed to persist in his refusal to appear before
the Council, that they had no right to summon him before
them. The messenger was sent a third time and brought
this order. " The Governor and Council order your im-
mediate attendance before them in the Council chamber."
T. I will not go.
Mess. You do not give this answer \\dth the intention
that I should repeat it to the Governor and Council ?
T. Have you anything written by which to show the au-
thority under which you act ?
Mess. I have delivered to you the order of the Governor
and Council as it was given to me.
T. KI understand you, the Governor and Council order
my immediate attendance before them ?
Mess. They do.
T. Have you the order in writing ?
Mess. No.
T. Then, sir, with all due respect to the Governor and
Council, I am engaged in my own concerns and shall not
attend.
Memoir of Isaiah Thomas. xlix
Mess. Will you commit your answer to writing?
T. i^o, sir.
Mess. You had better go, you may repent your refusal
to comply with the order of the Council ?
T. I must abide by the result.^
Upon the return of the messenger with this unexpected
and firm refusal, the Governor and Council deliberated
whether they should not commit the printer for contempt.
Two difficulties were suggested. First, he had not ap-
peared before them ; if he had, his answers might have been
construed as contempt of the Council. The other was yet
graver and went to the root of the matter, that the Council
could not compel his appearance before them to answer
for any crime or misdemeanor ; the judicial tribunals alone
having jurisdiction and cognizance of criminal offences.
If these considerations had had their just weight before,
instead of after, the refusal, the Governor and Council would
have escaped the mortification of being baffled and defied,
by a young mechanic of twenty-two, on a question of law
and riffht. So a more careful examination of the article
itself would have disarmed it of its force. For the ground
upon which Governor Hutchinson is denounced as an
usurper is that he receives his salary from the Crown and
not from the Province. The fact itself was well known,
and as to the conclusion the Governor and Council might
well have said valeat quantum, it is worth what it is worth.
In judging of the conduct of Thomas we are not to for-
get, that he had often heard from his master how his
brother Daniel Fowle, a few years before, had been
imprisoned by tlie General Court among thieves and
' The converaation is given from memoranda made at the time by Mr.
Thomas.
1 History of Printing in America.
murderers, denied the sight of his wife, or the means of
communicating with his family, for an alleged libel upon
the General Court ; and how James Franklin had been
imprisoned and forbidden to publish his paper for the same
reason.
Governor Hutchinson was, it would seem, too good a
lawyer not to have seen that the Governor and Council had
no legal power in the matter. When, in 1774, notice was
given him that the House of Representatives proposed to
present to the Council articles of impeachment against
Chief Justice Oliver, he replied that " he knew of no crimes,
misdemeanors, nor offences, that were not cognizable before
some judicatory or other ; and he knew of no criminal case
of which the Governor and Council, as a court of judicature,
could take cognizance."
Defeated in their attempt, the Governor and Council
ordered the Attorney General to prosecute the printer for
a libel. Great efforts were made to accomplish the object.
The Chief Justice (Lieutenant Governor Oliver) at the fol-
lowing term of the Court in Boston, in his charge to the
Grand Jury, dwelt largely on the doctrine of libels, the li-
centiousness of the press, and the necessity of restraining
it. The Attorney General drew up an elaborate bill of in-
dictment against Isaiah Thomas for a libel, but the Grand
Jury refused to find it; they said " ignoramus." Foiled in
this second method, the Attorney General was directed to
file an information against Thomas. The fact became
known, and the legality of the course was so bitterly at-
tacked, and with such force of argument and authority, that
it was thought best to drop the matter. The effort to
prosecute in Suffolk failing, one other expedient was sug-
gested. The Sjpy was circulated throughout the province.
Memoir of Isaiah Thomas. li
"Wherever the paper circulated the libel was published,
and in the view of the law it was as truly published in
Essex as in Suffolk. Let the printer be indicted in Essex,
where the people are as yet more faithful and loyal to his
Majesty, and his Majesty's faithful servants, the Governor
and Council of the Province of Massachusetts Bay. Mr.
Thomas states that the fallacy of this argument was made
apparent. The legal view was perhaps sound enough, but
the prosecution was not instituted. The Governor and
Council had learned prudence, or had become satisfied that
Essex also was growing seditious.
While these measures were being taken against the
printer, the Governor and Council proceeded with more
rapid steps against the writer of the article, Mr. Greenleaf.
A written order was served upon him to appear on the
10th of December before the Governor and Council to be
examined touching a certain paper, called the Massachusetts
Spy, published the 14th of November 1771. Greenleaf
paid no heed to the summons, and on the 12th of December
an order appeared in the Boston Newsletter, the Court Ga-
zette, dismissing him from his office of Justice of the Peace
for the county of Plymouth. The order was as follows :
" At a Council held at the Council Chamber in Boston,
Tuesday Dec. 10th, 1771.
His Excellency having acquainted the Board, at their last
meeting, that Joseph Greenleaf Esq. a Justice of the Peace
for the county of Plymouth, was generally reputed to be
connected with Isaiah Thomas in printing and publishing
a newspaper called the Massachusetts Spy, and the said
Joeeph Greenleaf having thereupon been summoned to at-
tend the Board on this day, in order to his examination
touching the same, and not attending according to sura-
lii History of Printing in America.
mons, it was thereupon unanimously advised, that the said
Joseph Greenleaf be dismissed from the office of a Justice
of the Peace, which advice was approved of and consented
to by his Excellency ; and the said Joseph Greenleaf is dis-
missed from the said office accordingly.
A true copy from the minutes of the Council.
Thomas Flucker, Secretary."
These attempts to restrain the Sjpy were not merely abor-
tive, they kindled the editor to greater zeal for the country's
cause, and to intenser hatred of its oppressors.
But bitter as was the tone of the Spy, it is a striking fact
that the tone of English papers and of prominent English
statesmen upon the course of the Ministry toward the co-
lonies was as severe and relentless as that of the Colonial
press and statesmen. In the Spy of September 10th, 1772,
appeared an address to the King, signed Akolax. Upon
its appearance the Governor and Council ordered the
Attorney General to prosecute the printer in what manner he
thought best. The notice Thomas took of this was to repub-
lish in the Sj)y of Oct. 10th, 1772, an address to the King
copied from the (English) Middlesex Journal. He calls at-
tention to the fact that the latter address, far more disloyal
in its tone and spirit, had passed unnoticed not only in
England but on its republication in a neighboring province.
He thereupon charges that the purpose and order of the
Governor and Council to prosecute him were malicious,
closing a bitter article with the words " we may next have
padlocks on our lips and fetters on our legs, or fight our
WAY TO coNSTiTUTioNAE FREEDOM." The Original letter, and
the republication from the Middlesex Journal, were alike of-
fensive to the officers of the Crown. Mr. Thomas was in-
Memoir of Isaiah Thomas. liii
formed by friends on whom he relied, that Governor
Hutchinson had remarked that to secure a verdict against
him stronger ground would be taken than in the case of
Mutius Scsevola. What this stronger ground was, must
be left to conjecture. It would seem as if no weapon had
been left unused. The difficulty was insuperable. He
could not find a grand jury to indict or a petit jury to
convict.
For some two years before these events men had seen
the noble mind of James Otis o'erthrown, and
" That noble and most sovereign reason
Like sweet bells jangled, out of tune and harsh."
It was before the republication of the most obnoxious
of the addresses to the King that Mr. Otis called upon
Mr. Thomas and desired to have a private conference
with him, in what he called his sanctum, sanctorum^ a
private room up two flights of stairs, and adjoining the
printing office, which the tories called the " sedition
foundry." Being seated, Mr. Otis called for two sheets
of paper. He doubled each sheet, and after putting them
together indented them at the top. On one of the sheets
he wrote his own signature, and requested Mr. Thomas to
sign the second. He folded the latter carefully, put it in
his pocket, leaving the other with Mr. Thomas, and, as-
suring him he should hear from him, went out.
After the publication of the letters to the King and the
report that Thomas was to be prosecuted Mr. Otis came
again, apparently composed and in the possession of his
reason. He said to Mr. Thomas that he Tiad heard of the
publication of the address and of the impending prosecu-
tion. The address he had not read. Mr. Thomas gave it
liv History of Printing in America.
to him, and sitting down he read it very attentively. After
reading it once he went over it again paragraph hy para-
graph, repeating at the end of each there is no treason in
that. "When he came to a particular passage, he paused,
read it again and again, and after pondering upon it some
time exclaimed, " Touch and go, by G — d." Having
read the address entirely through again, he assured Mr.
Thomas that the whole of it was defensible, and in case
the prosecution should take place, he would come forward
in his defence without fee or reward, or would point out to
his counsel the ground of defence, which, in his opinion,
ought to be assumed. On taking leave he said " James
Otis still retains some knowledge of law." This is what
Hutchinson would have called " one of the flashes of our
firebrand."
The character of the Spy, its bold, defiant tone, and the
attempts at prosecution successfully bafiled, drew attention
to the young printer in all parts of the continent. In
!N"orth Carolina, the loyalists caused the Sj^y to be burned
by the common hangman, and the printer to be burned in
effigy. On the other hand applications were made to Mr.
Thomas from the Whigs in different parts of the continent
to set up presses, one even coming from Quebec. The
hostility of the loyalists of the Province was bitter in" the
extreme. After the passage of the Boston Port Bill and
the arrival of additional troops he was frequently threatened
with violence. A British officer, whom he had befriended,
informed him that his assassination even had been proposed.
The following incident illustrates very well the state of
feeling among the soldiers. A countryman, Thomas Dit-
son Jr. of Billerica, was charged with attempting to pur-
chase of a soldier his musket, and thus enticing him to
Memoir of Isaiah Thomas. Iv
steal and sell the property of the^King. Ditson declared
that a plan had been laid to entrap him and that he was
innocent of any bad intention. Col. Nesbitt of the 47th
Regiment gave Ditson a mock-trial, then stripped him of
his clothes and, coating him from head to foot with tar and
feathers, carted him through the streets. The soldiers, with
the Colonel at their head, halted before the office of the
Spy ; the music playing the rogues march, and some of the
soldiers crying out, the printer of the Spy shall be the
next to receive this punishment. Other illustrations of
the state of feeling towards the printer of the Spy abound.
In the Boston Evening Post of September 19th, 1774, is
printed a circular letter, which was scattered among the
forces, addressed " to the officers and soldiers of His Ma-
jesty's troops in Boston." After giving a list of the authors
of the rebellion, Samuel Adams, Bowdoin, Hancock, and
others, it says " The friends of your King and Country and
of America hope and expect from you soldiers, the instant
rebellion happens, that you will put the above persons to
the sword, destroy their houses and plunder their effects.
N. B. Don't forget those trumpeters of sedition, the prin-
ters Edes and Gill, and Thomas."
It would not be easy to over estimate the services Mr.
Thomas rendered the country as the editor and printer of
the Spy. He gave the paper and he gave himself without
reserve to the cause of freedom. He well understood
that if the cause failed he would be one of the earliest
victims. He led no man to risk and peril he did not incur
himself. Reading the Spy now in the quiet of the library,
and in the quiet of peace, one would find much in matter
and manner to criticize. But revolutions are not fed and
nurtured upon milk and water, or even the clear milk of
Ivi History of Printing in America.
human kindness. Contests are bitter when men are strug-
gling for life or all that makes life worth the living.
Rev. Dr. John Eliot in an article in the collections of
the Historical Society of 1799 (vol. 6), avers that a more
violent class of politicians filled the Spy with their specular-
tions than the Whigs who wrote in the Boston Gazette.
Referring especially to the articles signed Centinel, which
w^e have already noticed, he says any one who reads them
will now see that the same spirit and principles lead to a
dissolution of all Society, and are, like more modern pub-
lications on equality and the rights of man, direct attacks on
all authority and law. We have read them without reach-
ing this conclusion. Allowance must be made for the
difference of things in 1771, and 1799. It is doubtless
true, speaking in general terms, that the writers of the Spy,
as compared with those of the Gazette, assumed more radi-
cal ground and claimed, at an earlier date, for the colonists
not only the rights of Englishmen but the rights of man.
Perhaps the position of our printer cannot be better in-
dicated than in the superscription of a letter now before
me, addressed, April 4th 1775, by John Hancock from the
Provincial Congress then sitting at Concord ; " To Mr.
Isaiah Thomas, Supporter of the Rights and Liberties of
Mankind."
The Spy early took the ground which the controversy
ultimately assumed, and which gives to it its highest dignity
and its most profound interest in the history of human
progress. When the Spy entered upon the controversy, the
gulf, at first narrow between the parties, had been widened
and deepened. Substantially the question had become
this, the unlimited power of Parliament on the one hand
and the rights of self government on the other. The dis-
Memoir of Isaiah Thomas. Ivii
tinction between internal taxes and external had lost its
bold upon the popular mind. While the power of regu-
lating commerce was in abeyance, or the laws to enforce it
so readily and so commonly evaded, the Colonies were
content. The moment they should have been brought into
full activity submission would have been at an end. Indeed
it was through the partial exercise of this power to regulate
trade that the Colonies had suiFered their heaviest practical
grievances.
All revolutions outgrow and leave behind them the
issues on which they are started. When the power of
Parliament to regulate the trade of the Empire began to
be fully understood, when the colonial statesmen saw what
had been already the restrictions its exercise had imposed
upon the commerce and manufactures of the Colonies and
their growth and expansion, when they understood clearly
that in the future the interests of the Colonies were to be
subordinated to those of the mother-country, and her wealth
and prosperity to be secured at the cost of their own, they
began to see that it was this very power they had most
reason to dread and to contest.
The course pursued by Parliament and the Crown had
brought the Colonies into concert and union of action and
to a sense of their power and strength, and when that
began to be felt, the question of separation was one of time
only. The Colonies found, as Montesquieu expresses it, that
" they had grown to be great nations in the forests they
were sent to inhabit."
Governor Pownal had said truly, that " it was essential
to the preservation of the empire to keep the Colonies dis-
connected and independent of each other, that they must
cohere in one centre (the mother country), and that they
Iviii History of Printing in America.
must be guarded against having or forming any principle
of coherence with each other above that whereby they co-
here in this centre." Coherence and Union of their own
motion he deemed utterly improbable, and so great in fact
were the differences of the colonies in their settlements,
in their charters and frames of government, in their man-
ners, religion, culture, trade and domestic policy, that
Franklin, who best understood the subject, said, that no-
thing but the oppression of the mother country would ever
unite them. In seeking for a policy and institutions fitted
to their then condition they were led to look beyond
their rights as colonists to their rights as men.
But to return to the Spy. If it be true, as I think can-
not fairly be denied, that its doctrines struck at the roots
of the power of Crown and Parliament, insisting that the
time of swaddling clothes had long since past, it was only a
little early, possibly a little premature, in assuming the
position to which the colonies were finally brought. That
in times of revolution extravagant doctrines should be ad-
vanced by some of the writers in its columns, history would
lead us to expect. It must be admitted also that the tone
of the Spy was bitter, sarcastic, sometimes fierce, defiant
and exasperating to the last degree ; but in this regard it
but showed " the age and body of the time, its form and
pressure." One has but to glance at the newspapers to see
how the questions at issue engrossed the public attention,
how little space is given to, how little apparent interest is
taken in, the news of the day, and how the columns are
crowded with elaborate essays upon questions of abstract
right and law. Never was a people better instructed in
matters of right and duty. The questions of natural right
were more easily understood, and touched and moved more
Memoir of Isaiah Thomas. lix
deeply the mind and heart of the people. In this regard
the Spy had signal advantage.
In doing justice to the Spy we would do noinjustice to the
Boston Gazette, with which Mr. Eliot compares it. The
articles in the Gazette, perhaps, as a general rule indicated
more literary culture in the writers ; their historical and
legal arguments were more elaborate and finished. It
would be a mistake to suppose that the articles in the Ga-
zette were less personal, bitter and inflammatory, than those
of the Spy. There was for example a series of papers in
the Gazette, beginning December 20th 1772, entitled
Needham's Remembrancer written by Josiah Quincy Jr.,
the noblest Roman of them all. N"othing in the co-
lumns of the Spy is more bitter, not to say ferocious, than
some of these articles. As the discussion and controversy
went on the writers for the Gazette, as well as those of the
Spy, are from to-day expanding the claims of the colonies
for self government, and narrowing and restricting the
powers of Parliament and Crown — rising rapidly to the
plane on which the controversy was finally placed. It was
self-government to which our fathers were tending, it may
be at the first unconsciously, but nevertheless tending.
History, from 1763, is a prophesy of the result. It was be-
coming necessary for one people to dissolve the political
bands which connected them with another, and to assume
among the nations of the earth the separate and equal
station to which the laws of nature and of nature's God
entitled them.
Mr. Thomas would have been the last person to ques-
tion the merits of the Boston Gazette. He was a rival, but
a generous one. " During the long controversy" he re-
marks " between Great Britain and her colonies no pap«r
Ix History of Printing in America.
on the continent took a more active part in defence of the
country or more ably supported its rights than the Boston
Gazette.'^
We can hardly help glancing at the future fortune of
the Gazette and its principal proprietor, Benjamin Edes.
After the Revolution it lost its great contributors and its
tone and policy were changed. It bitterly opposed the
adoption of the constitution of the United States and the
administration of Washington. The paper declined in
power, interest and popular favor, till, after a long struggle,
in 1798, it was discontinued for want of support. One can-
not but be touched by the old man's farewell address.
" The Editor of the Boston Gazette, after repeated attempts
to prosecute his professional occupation in the declining
period of his life, is at length obliged to relinquish his ex-
ertions and to retire to those melancholy paths of domestic
embarrassments to which misfortune has consigned him.
While thus passing the gloomy valley of old age and in-
firmity, his consolation still rests on that staff which can
support a mind conscious of its own rectitude ; and though
he often feels the thorns and briers on the road, goading
him in his passage, yet he patiently suffers under these af-
flictions, hoping that ere long he shall arrive at that
peaceful abode ' where the weary are at rest.' The cause
of Liberty is not always the channel of preferment or
pecuniary reward. The little prgperty which he acquired
has long since fell a sacrifice ; the paper-evidences of his
services were soon consumed by their rapid depreciation,
.and the cares of a numerous family were too powerful to
be resisted, though he fed them with property at four shil-
lings and sixpence in the pound, which he faithfully and
industriously earned at twenty shillings."
Memoir of Isaiah Thomas. Ixi
Mr. Buckingham, in his very interesting reminiscences
of printers and editors, thus speaks of the unfortunate old
man. " In 1801, I had occasion to call on him at his
printing room and found him at work on a small job at the
case, while an elderly female (probably one of his daughters)
was at the press striking off' shop bills. The venerable
form of the old man setting types " with spectacles on
nose," and the singular sight of a woman, beating and pull-
ing at the press, together with the aspect of destitution
that pervaded the whple apartment, presented a scene well
adapted to excite sympathy, and to make an impression on
the mind, which the vicissitudes of fifty years have not ef-
faced. At length the infirmities of age overcame his
physical powers and the curse of poverty lay heavily on
his spirit. Oppressed with years and sickness, neglected
and forgotten by those who enjoyed the blessings he had
helped to secure, he died in December 1803 at the age of
eighty years."
July 1st 1773, nearly two years before he left Boston,
Mr. Thomas sent out the prospectus of the Royal American
Magazine, to be issued monthly. The vessel containing the
types for it was cast ashore on Cape Cod, and the first
number (for January 1774) was not in fact issued till
Febry. Gth 1774. After six months, " on account of the dis-
tresses of the town of Boston," Mr. Thomas suspended the
publication. It was however purchased by Joseph Green-
leaf, the Scaevola of the Spy, and continued till March
1775. A singular feature of the magazine, considering
the relation of both Thomas and Greenleaf to Governor
Hutchinson, is thus stated by the editor. " To complete
this plan will be added (to begin at the eud of the first
number and to continue until the whole is finished, printed
Ixii History of Printing in America.
in an elegant manner, on fine paper, and occasionally or-
namented with copper plate prints, exclusive of those par-
ticularly for the magazine) Governor Hutchinson's History
of the Massachusetts Bay ; which when finished will be
worth the cost of the magazine."
The magazine is illustrated by nineteen engravings, the
most of which are by Paul Revere. The first number has
the well known view of the town of Boston, with the
several ships of war in the harbor.
The last year Mr. Thomas was in Boston, he began the
publication of an Almanac. The first number is styled
" Thomas' New England Almanac, or the Massachusetts Cal-
endar for the year of our Lord Christ 1775." Its imprint is
" Massachusetts Bay, Boston. Printed and sold by Isaiah
Thomas at the printing office, the south corner of Marshall's
Lane near the mill bridge." The Almanac was published
by Mr. Thomas from 1775 to 1803, and from 1803 to 1819
inclusive, by his son Isaiah Thomas Jr. There is nothing
in these Almanacs calling for especial notice. They aided
in making the publisher well known, and some fortunate
prophecies or guesses as to the weather gained for it some-
thing of the reputation of " old Probabilities." They con-
tained a good deal of useful matter which found its way to
places where books wepe little read. In a number before
me, that for 1790, are published the tariff" of 1789, the pro-
posed Amendments to the Constitution of the United
States, the Federal Register, headed by the President of
the United States, " His Highness G-eorge Washington
Esquire," and the Judiciary Act of 1789. In that of 1791
is the whole of Franklin's Way to Wealth.
To resume our story. It Was not alone as editor and
printer of an influential journal that Mr. Thomas was able
Memoir of Isaiah Thomas. Ixiii
or ready to serve his country. He was personally one of
the most active of Sons of Liberty. Wherever work
difficult and hazardous was to be done, he was to be found.
The meetings of the patriots are frequently held ai his
office. After the workmen have retired, the master 're-
mains to print hand-bills that are posted throughout the"
town before morning, to startle the timid and rouse the
lethargic. For the five years following his return to Bos-
ton his life was a daily warfare. The tone of his paper, its
sharp criticisms not only upon the provincial civil officers
but upon the conduct and bearing of the military, excited
against him hostility personal as well as political. Threats,
as before stated, of violence, of assassination even, are fre-
quently made ; whether to alarm only cannot now be de-
termined. His friends did not so regard them. They knew
he was on the list of the proscribed, and believed he would be
among the earliest victims. He sent his family to Water-
town to be safe from the perils to which he was daily ex-
posed. For a few days before the battle of Lexington his
friends insisted upon his keeping himself secluded. He
went to Concord to consult with Mr. Hancock and other
leading members of the Provincial Congress. He opened
to them his situation, which indeed the Boston members
well understood. Mr. Hancock and his other friends ad-
vised and urged him to remove from Boston immediately ;
in a few days, they said, it would be too late. They
seemed to understand well what a few days would bring
forth. He came back to Boston, packed up his presses
and types, and on the 16th of April, to use his own phrase,
" stole them out of town in the dead of night." Thomas
was aided in their removal by General Warren and Colonel
Bigelow. They were carried across the ferry to Charles-
Ixiv History of Printing in America.
town and thence put on their way to Worcester. Two
nights after, the royal troops were on their way to Lexing-
ton, and the next evening after, Boston was entirely shut
up. Mr. Thomas did not go with his presses and types to
"Worcester. Having seen them on their way he returned
to the city. The conversation at Concotd, as well as his
own observation, had satisfied him that important events
were at hand.
He went out on the night of the 18th of April, to assist
in giving notice that the troops were crossing the Charles
river. He returned, but was out again by daylight.
Crossing the ferry with Dr. Warren he went into a public
meeting at Charlestownand urged the arming of the people,
and was opposed by one Mr. Russell " on principles of pru-
dence." As one of the minute men, he engages in the
fight which was the beginning of the end. At night he
goes to Medford. On the morning of the 20th, he makes a
flying visit to his family at Watertown, and then starts on
foot for Worcester. He is constantly met on his journey
by bodies of armed men on their way to Cambridge,
anxious to learn even the minutest details of yesterday's
fight. After traveling on foot some miles, he meets with
a friend who procures him the loan of a horse. Late at
night, weary and travel worn, he arrives at Worcester to
begin life anew ; a good head and stout heart his only
capital. Worcester was one of the places where Mr.
Thomas had been invited to set up a press. The necessity
for a Whig paper in this stronghold of the loyalists had
been felt by Colonel Bigelow, the patriot blacksmith sol-
dier and statesman, and the other leading Whigs of the
town and county. Mr. Thomas made an agreement to do
so early in 1775, but without any purpose of giving up the
Memoir of Isaiah Thomas. Ixv
press at Boston. The presses and types sent before him
were all that were left as the fruit of five years' toil and
peril. A sura exceeding three thousand dollars (and a dol-
lar meant something then, though soon to lose its meaning)
was due him from subscribers, scattered over the continent.
In times of peace most of this would have been collected.
It was now worthless. Paper it was hard to get at any
price, and the printer's means of purchase, present and
prospective, were cut off'. The list of Worcester subscrib-
ers was less than two hundred, town and county.
Things were at a stand still. On the 24th of April, 1775,
Samuel Adams and John Hancock were at Worcester, on
their way to the Continental Congress at Philadelphia.
They were there, some days, waitii\g the arrival of their
colleagues and a military escort. We have no report of the
interview between the patriot printer and the patriot states-
men. But on the journal of the Committee of Safety of
the Province is this entry, April 29th, 1775. "Letters from
Colonel Hancock now at Worcester were read, whereupon
voted that four reams of paper be immediately ordered to
Worcester for the use of Mr. Thomas, printer; he to be ac-
countable." Though the letter requesting that paper be
sent to Mr. Thomas has been lost, a very interesting one
written from Worcester by Mr. Hancock, on the evening
of his arrival, has been preserved. It is addressed to the
Committee of Safety. I have space for a brief extract only.
"Boston must be entered, the troops must be sent away
or (blank). Our friends are valuable but our country
must be saved. I have an interest in that town ; what can
be the enjoyment of that to me if I am obliged to hold it
at the will of General Gage, or any one else. I doubt not
your vigilance, your fortitude and resolution." One can-
Ixvi History of Printing in America.
not but conjecture that the young printer may have seen
and read, with delight, that letter before it was put on its
way to Watertown.
On the third of May the Spy reappears at Worcester.
In his address to his readers the editor says: " I beg the
assistance of all the friends of our righteous cause to cir-
culate this paper. They may rely that the utmost of
my poor endeavors shall be used to maintain those rights
and privileges for which we and our fathers have hied ;''
words that on the 30th of May, 1775, were something more
than rhetoric. The place of publication was not however
definitely settled. Mr. Thomas was directed by the Com-
mittee of Safety to bring his press to Concord. He goes
there to find that the Provincial Congress had adjourned
to "Watertown. He goes to "Watertown, and is advised by
leading members of the Congress that it will be best to
remain at "Worcester for the present, to do the printing for
Congress, the army and Committee of Safety, at that place
establishing a post, what we should call an express, between
Worcester and Watertown and Cambridge, to transmit
orders and return the work when done. Following this
course, on the 8th "of May the Provincial Congress
appoints a committee to transcribe the narrative of the
proceedings of the King's troops on the 19th ult., together
with depositions thereof accompanying, to be transmitted
to Mr. Thomas for immediate publication."
On the 12th of May the Committee of Safety " voted,
that Mr. Isaiah Thomas have sixty reams of printing crown
paper and eight reams of printing demy paper supplied to
him by the committee of supplies ; they taking his obli-
gation to be accountable to the Colony for the amount
thereof."
Memoir of Isaiah Thomas. Ixvii
Mr. Thomas did account for the paper sent him to the last
penny. Though the Congress and the Committee of Safety
assumed to direct his movements, I cannot find that he ever
received any favor from them, or sought an3^ They sup-
plied him twice with paper, and he paid for it by his work.
In his day of extremest want he would not feed from the
public crib. In the summer, Samuel and Ebenezer Hall
moved from Salem and set up a press in Stoughton Hall,
Cambridge. Mr. Edes also escaped from Boston and set
up a press at Watertown. After their removal, the print-
ing of the Congress and the Committee of Safety passed
into their hands. There was no further occasion for the
risk and expense of sending their work to Worcester.
With some view and for some purpose, which I have not
been able to discover, in the latter part of May, Mr. Thomas
started on foot for a journey to New York. So well was
the printer of the Spi/ known, so familiar was his story,
that innkeepers on the way would receive no pay for meals
and lodging, nor boatmen for carrying him across the
ferries. From ISTew York he went to Philadelphia to see
the members of the Continental Congress. Some of its
leaders were personally known to him. He returned to
his labors deeply impressed by their wisdom and patriotism,
more ready and willing than ever to work for the " right-
eous cause" to which they were devoting themselves.
Materials are wanting for a connected and detailed nar-
rative of Mr. Thomas's life during the Revolution. The
Spy is indeed the weekly record of thought and opinion,
but he seldom speaks of matters merely personal. A few
inijidents only can now be gathered up. In May, 1775, the
Provincial Congress established a system of post-riders and
post-offices to continue until other provision was made by
Ixviii History of Printing in America.
the Continental Congress or the Province. In the resolve
establishing the system Mr. Thomas was appointed Post-
master for Worcester. In the fall of 1775 the Continental
Congress established a post-office department for all the
colonies; that which had existed under the Crown having
been broken up by the disorders of the times. Dr. Frank-
lin was appointed Postmaster, with power to establish such
post routes and appoint such deputies as he should think
proper. He selected Mr Thomas for the office at Wor-
cester. His commission was several times renewed by
Franklin's successors. It was in the year following (1776)
that Franklin was at Worcester, and Mr. Thomas first
became acquainted with the man to whose history and
character his own, in a humble way, had many points of
resemblance.
We ^et some glimpses of Mr. Thomas in the autumn of
1775 and spring of 1776 from the recollections of Benjamin
Russell, better known as Ben Russell, afterward the dis-
tinguished editor of the Boston Ceniinel, who in August
1775 was carried by his father to Worcester and indentured
as an apprentice to Mr. Thomas. The stories which old
men tell of their youth are seldom spoiled from lack of
condiment. Those of Mr. Russell were always racy. His
master, Mr. Russell used to say, was not at that time in
very affluent circumstances. During the first year, he
with a fellow apprentice slept in a garret over the printing
office on the rags that were taken from time to time for
the paper maker. Not only his apprentices but the mas-
ter himself frequently made their meals at the office on
bread and milk, bought by the pennyworth at a time.
Mr. Thomas remained at Worcester editing and print-
ing the Spy till the spring of 1776, when he leased for a
Memoir of Isaiah Thomas. Ixix
year a part of his printing apparatus and his newspaper to
William Stearns and Daniel Bigelow, two young gentle-
men of the Bar of Worcester, intelligent and patriotic, but
with no experience in editing, much less in printing a
newspaper.
With the small remaining part of his printing materials
he went to Salem, with the view of starting business, but
" obstructions arising" he sold his press and types and
gave up the plan. The nature of the obstructions will be
understood when we learn that three writs of attachment
were served upon his press and types in a single evening ;
and that he was compelled to sell them to pay his debts.
In the year 1777 he leased again the Spy and his press at
Worcester to Antony Haswell. His family, in 1776 and
1777, were living on a small farm in Londonderry, New
Hampshire. They must have been dark years to him.
How he was employed I have not been able to learn. I
only know that he was always industrious, and that, some-
how or other, he got through them and supported his family.
There was at least one bright day for him in their calendar.
While on a visit to Worcester, July 24th, 1776, he read from
the porch of the South Church, to an assembly consisting
of almost the entire population of that and adjoining towns,
the declaration of independence. He may well have had a
just pride in the reading of that declaration. He could not
fail to see it was grounded on principles he had been among
the earliest to espouse and defend. The declaration was
received with every demonstration of joy and confidence.
The King's arms were taken from the Court House and
burned to ashes. The sign was removed from the King's
Arms tavern, and a ]oji\i\ celebration had there in the
evening, when twenty-one patriotic toasts were given, and
Ixx History of Printing in America.
the punch flowed freely. Russell, who seems to have been
leased to Stearns and Bigelow with the press and paper, in
describing the affair to Mr. Buckingham said, " we were
all so happy we did not know exactly what we did, but we
gave full vent to our patriotic feelings till a late hour in
the evening. We were a little surprised in the morning to
find that about a dozen of us had enlisted as private sol-
diers in the army ; a recruiting oflacer being then in the
town." Mr. Thomas however got him released on the
ground that he was not sixteen years of age.
In the spring of 1778, Mr. Thomas returned to "Worcester,
took possession of his press, and resumed the publication
of the Spy. Worcester was thenceforth to be his home ;
in it he was to pass the remainder of his long life. He
was very fortunate in the place of his residence. There
were disadvantages in doing business so far from the sea-
board, but saving this, all else was propitious. Worcester
was one of the largest and most beautiful of the inland
towns of Massachusetts Bay, indeed of the New England
Colonies. The village was then, and for half a century
later, on one broad, beautiful street, in a lovely valley en-
vironed by hills of gentle ascent and well rounded sum-
mits. The view as you entered the village from the east
was charming. The long broad street arched with graceful
elms ; the neat, many of them elegant and spacious, man-
sions standing back from the way with grass plats or flower
beds in front, and shrubbery at their sides, and the general
air of comfort, refinement and taste, delighted all travelers.
The town was some six miles square, and agriculture its
chief pursuit ; but it was the shire of the county and in its
central village. Within a mile's compass, were gathered
the county officers, eminent lawyers, and a number of mer-
Memoir of Isaiah Thomas. Ixxi
chants and traders who supplied the wants of a large sur-
rounding country. It had several large inns, like the
Kings Arms, well known throughout the Bay and places
of much resort, not only during the terms of the courts, but
at all seasons of the year.
John Adams, when its village schoolmaster, has, in his
diary, given us some pleasant sketches of society in Wor-
cester some twenty years before our date, and of his tak-
ing tea with the Putnams, Greens, Chandlers, and Ma-
cartys of the village ; a custom not yet obsolete. Then,
as ever since, Worcester was distinguished for its agree-
able and cultivated society, for the number of its emi-
nent men and attractive and accomplished women. Some
members of the older families who had adhered to the
crown had left in 1778, but there were new accessions
among the Whigs, the Lincolns and Aliens, Waldos and
Salisburys, to fill their places. But the fact of greatest im-
portance in this new home of the young printer is that it
was alive and growing. As well bury a young man at
once as plant him in a place that is torpid or retroceding,
where the spirit of enterprise and thrift has died out. Few
young men are capable of resisting its repressing and
becalming influences.
It was a hard time to begin business anew. All business
was disordered by a paper currency daily depreciating ;
materials and labor were difficult to be procured ; sub-
scriptions to his paper hard to be got and harder to be
collected. Mr. Thomas however started with new resolu-
tion and courage which carried him through the war even,
with some small measure of pecuniary success. In a few
months after his return he was so fortunate as to purchase
some new types, which were taken in a vessel from London
Ixxii History of Printing in America.
and the Spy came out in a new dress. Removed from the
personal collisions, insults and threats, to which he had
been subjected by the o:^cers and soldiers, and their allies
in Boston, the tone and temper of the paper, while equally
patriotic and firm, were more temperate and impersonal.
Many of the loyalists had left the province ; those who re-
mained were quiet and inactive. Though Mr. Thomas
was the editor, many able writers among the patriots con-
tributed to the columns of the Spy. It did an excellent
work, not merely by giving accurate information of the
progress of the war but in keeping up the hope and trust
of the people. The " trumpeter" gave no uncertain sound.
In 1780 Mr. Thomas was drafted as a soldier. He must
go or procure a substitute ; there was no money commu-
tation. He was felt to be an useful soldier at home that
could not be spared from his press ; and his apprentice Rus-
sell readily consented to go in his place. Russell's term was
but six months and he never was in battle. He joined the
army at West Point and was one of the guard who attended
Major Andre to the place of execution. Upon his return,
Mr. Russell thought that in consideration of his service he
ought to be discharged from his apprenticeship, and
Thomas, though reluctant to part with so good a workman,
consented. Mr. Thomas from his return to Worcester in
1778 seems to have gained ground slowly but steadily.
The circulation of his paper was extended, and he added to
his income a little by job printing. From 1781, and es-
pecially after the peace of 1783, his progress was more
marked and rapid. New types and better paper were
procured for the Spy, and it was enlarged to five columns.
It was, says Mr. Buckingham, a most competent judge,
well conducted and filled with excellent matter. Besides
Memoir of Isaiah Thomas. Ixxiii
selections of news and communications on interesting sub-
jects, the whole oi Robertson's History of America^ Gordon'' s
History of the Revolution, and large extracts from Guthrie's
Geography^ and other British publications, enriched its
pages and made it more valuable than any paper published
in Massachusetts."
To the business of editing and publishing a newspaper
he added that of printing, publishing and selling books, at
the first however in a small way.
For the two years from March 1786 to March 1788 the
publication of the Spy was suspended, and in its place was
printed, in octavo form, the Worcester Magazine. The
reasons for the suspension were these. In March, 1785,
the General Court laid a stamp duty of two thirds of a
penny on newspapers and a penny on almanacs. This
law revived the memories of 1765, and was so odious that
it was repealed before it went into operation. In July,
1785, an act was passed imposing a duty on all advertise-
ments in newspapers printed in the state. This act was
thought by Thomas and other printers to be a still greater
grievance. " A shackle," saj^s the 8py, " which no legisla-
ture but ours, in British or United America, have laid upon
the press, which when free is the great bulwark of liberty."
The act was very unpopular (the only excuse for it was
that government must be supported), and was repealed.
In April, 1788, the Spy reappeared. " The printer has once
more the pleasure of presenting to the public the Massa-
chusetts Spy or Worcester Gazette, restored to its constitu-
tional liberty (thanks to our present legislature) after a
suspension of two years."
The Worcester Magazine was after all the Spy with a
new name and form without the advertisements. The
Ixxiv History of Printing in America.
magazine for the two years makes four volumes octavo.
In it will be found, witli much other interesting matter,
very full accounts of the Shays rebellion, and of the pro-
ceedings and discussions leading to the formation and
adoption of the constitution of the United States. Mr.
Thomas, though appreciating and sympathizing with the
sufferings of the people, was a firm supporter of the govern-
ment. In a position with his postriders to obtain early in-
formation of the plans and movements of the rebels, he
was able to render important aid to the authorities in Bos-
ton. He was not by nature rebel or radical. He had a
strong love of liberty, of the state and personal, but it was
liberty regulated by law.
In the Sjpy and Magazine Mr. Thomas supported the adop-
tion of the constitution of the United States. Popular
opinion in the county was against it. We observe that
he is very careful to publish everything that Washington
said or wrote on the subject, and this not only from the
unbounded reverence he had for the man but from a
sense of the vast influence his voice and judgment would
have in determining the question. It is not perhaps too
much to say, that the weight of that influence turned
the scale. The knowledge that Washington approved of
it, the general expectation that he would be called to
administer it, conciliated and drew to its support men
whose prepossessions were all against it, who found it
difiicult to reconcile such large central power with local
independence and home government. Washington, it is
well known, felt a deep interest in the action of Massachu-
setts. On the last page of the last number of the magazine
is a letter of his to a gentleman in Boston (General Lincoln),
in which after speaking of the candid and conciliatory
Memoir of Isaiah Thomas. Ixxv
course of the minority of the convention after the vote had
been taken, he says : " The adoption of the constitution in
Massachusetts will, I presume, have great influence in ob-
taining a favorable determination upon it in those states
which have not yet decided."
No man felt more quickly the invigorating influences
of the adoption of the national constitution and the putting
into operation the national government than Mr. Thomas.
His business was rapidly built up and extended. He em-
barked in the art or mystery of making and selling books
in all its branches. He conducted it with great enterprise,
skill and judgment, and as the fruit of these with great
success.
He built a large paper mill and made his own paper, he
printed books, he established an extensive bindery, and he
sold at wholesale and retail his own publications and all new
works from the presses at London. His business extended
to almost every part of the Union. At one time he had under
his control, and that of his partners, sixteen presses con-
stantly employed, seven of them in "Worcester. He had
five bookstores in Massachusetts, one in Concord, New
Hampshire, one in Albany, New York, and one in Balti-
more. His business at Worcester alone would be regarded
as extensive even in this age of the multiplication of books.
Viewed with reference to the time and place, a village then
so far in the interior and with so few facilities of communi-
cation, it aflibrds striking proof of his business capacity.
In 1788 Mr. Thomas established a printing and book-
selling business in Boston, taking with him as partner a
former apprentice, Ebenezer T. Andrews, under the firm of
Thomas and Andrews. This store was in Newbury street
under the sign of Faust's head. It speaks well for Mr.
Ixxvi History of Printing in America.
Thomas that his partners, in almost every instance, were
persons who had learned their art and trade with him. A
large and successful business was carried on by the firm of
Thomas and Andrews. They published from 1789 to
1793, inclusive, the 3Iassachusetis Magazine, a monthly de-
voted to letters and the arts, and illustrated by engravings.
It was quite popular and useful in its day ; and an examina-
tion of it now may serve at least to mark the progress
we have made in general culture and in art. The store
and printing ofiice in Boston were but a branch of his
business, Mr. Thomas remained at Worcester, and his
principal establishment was there. It may give some
further idea of its materials and resources to state that his,
for that day, splendid editions of the Bible, in folio (with
fifty copper plates) and quarto, were carried through in a
little more than twelve months. He was in fact one of the
largest book publishers of his time on either side of the
Atlantic. As editor of a newspaper and almanac, as
printer, publisher and seller of school books. Bibles, law
books, and books of general literature, the name of Isaiah
Thomas became throughout the country a household word.
His work was remarkable for elegance and accuracy.
Rev. Peter Whitney, the historian of Worcester county,
says, " his editions of the Bible are found upon examina-
tion the most correct of any now extant." ' The celebrated
Brissot (de Warville), the famous Girondist leader, in his
travels in the United States in 1788, says : " Nous allames
diner ^Worcester a 48 miles de Boston ; cette ville est joue et
bien peuplee ; I'imprimeur Isaias Thomas I'a rendue celebre
dans tout le continent Americain. II imprime la plupart
des ouvrages que paroissent ; etl'on avouer que ses editions
sont correctes et bien soignees. Thomas est Ic Didot des
Memoir of Isaiah Thomas. Ixxvii
Etats-Unis." A relative of Dr. Franklin, in a letter before
me, says : " Being one day in the Doctor's library, I opened
an elegant folio Bible and said, this is a most splendid edi-
tion. Yes, he said, it was printed by Baskerville, the
greatest printer in England, and your countryman Mr.
Thomas of Worcester is the Baskerville of America." As
England produces now in the art of printing no superior to
Baskerville we shall have to give considerable force to the
addition " of America." The remark no doubt had some-
thing in it of personal kindness. Mr. Thomas had known
Franklin for many years. He had been appointed post-
master by him, and Franklin had visited him at Worcester.
It would have been enough to have secured Franklin's re-
gard that Mr. Thomas was so good a patriot ; his skill in
printing was another bond of sympathy. Dr. Franklin, like
all pi-intei^s who have become eminent, retained a great
aflection for the art. Mr. Thomas saw him for the last
time in 1788, when a number of printers and booksellers
met at Philadelphia to form some rules for the benefit of
the trade. Mr. Thomas and Benjamin Franklin Bache,
the grandson of Franklin, were of the number. After the
first meeting Mr. Thomas had a long conversation with
Dr. Franklin upon the objects of the meeting. Dr. Franklin
manifested a deep interest in the matter. Unable to go
abroad from the state of his health, he desired to have the
next meeting at his own house. The convention of course
felt itself greatly honored by such a request, and the Doctor,
though suftering constant pain from the calculus, entered
freely into the plans and discussions of the meeting. He was
then in his eighty-third year, suffering constant bodily pain,
but with amindasvigorous,a wisdom aslarge and practical,
and manners as easy and winning, as in the noon of life.
Ixxviii History of Printing in America.
The man for whom Mr. Thomas had, if possible, a yet
higher reverence, "Washington, visited Worcester in the
course of his New England tour in the autumn of 1789.
The Spy of October 22d 1789 has a notice of his brief visit.
" Information being received on Thursday morning (Octo-
ber 22d) that his Highness would be in town the next
morning, a number of respectable citizens, about forty, pa-
raded before sunrise on horseback, and went as far as
Leicester line to welcome him, and escorted him into
town. The Worcester company of artillery, commanded
by Major Treadwell, were already assembled; on notice
being given that his Highness was approaching, five
cannon were fired for the five New England States ; three
for the three in the Union ; one for Vermont which will
speedily be admitted ; and one as a call to Rhode Island to
be ready before it be too late. When the President Gene-
ral arrived in sight of the meeting house, eleven cannon
were fired ; he viewed with attention the artillery company
as he passed, and expressed to the inhabitants his sense of
the honor done him. He stopped at the United States
Arms and breakfasted, and then proceeded on his journey.
To gratify the inhabitants he politely passed through the
town on horseback, dressed in a brown suit, and pleasure
glowed in every countenance; eleven cannon were then
fired. The gentlemen of the town escorted him a few
miles, when they took their leave."
E. Smith Thomas, a nephew of Isaiah Thomas, was then
one of his apprentices. " A boy of fourteen," he writes
many years afterwards, " I was presented to Washington
by my distinguished kinsman, Isaiah Thomas. I can never
forget his words or my feelings on the occasion. 'Young
man,' he said, 'your uncle has set you a bright example of
Memoir of Isaiah Thomas. Ixxix
patriotism, and never forget that next to our God we owe
our highest duty to our country." '
Smith Thomas went to live^with his uncle, to learn the
art of printing, in 1788. In the reminiscences of his life
and times, published in 1840, we find some notices of his
kinsman. Speaking of the Spy, he says : " Mr. Thomas was
a pungent writer, possessing a clear and strong style, with
the most biting sarcasm." This is extravagant. " He was
constantly aided by the powerful pens of General "Ward,
Dwight Foster, Edward Bangs, and others, so that his
paper, which was a small weekly sheet, was always well
filled with matter calculated to confirm the patriotic in
their course and prevent the wavering from going over to
the enemy." (He had then built his extensive printing
ofiice, bookstore and bindery.) " Few gentlemen passed
through Worcester without calling to see the proprietor and
his establishment, who never failed to treat them with the
most marked politeness. In his person Mr. Thomas was
tall and elegantly formed, in his dress fashionable to a
fault, in his manners elegant, with a mind stored by a most
extensive acquaintance with the best authors whether in
literature or science." With fair allowance for the rela-
tion of the parties and the impression the accomplished
master makes on the apprentice, and the teacher on the
pupil, the description conforms to the general recollection
of Mr. Thomas's contemporaries;
Into the cultivated society of the town, the self educated
printer and bookseller made easy way, and in intellectual
culture and manners found himself among equals. "When
his business had expanded, and his income enlarged, he
built what was for the time a spacious and elegant mansion,
Ixxx History of Printing in America.
which during his long life was the seat of an open, refined
and generous hospitality.
Mr. Thomas was a supporter of the administration of
Washington and of the Federal party. He was not, ac-
cording to the standard of his times, a bitter partizan, but
those were times when men had strong convictions and
expressed them clearly, not to say fiercely. We have seen
with what ardor and at what peril and sacrifice he main-
tained the liberties of the colonies — indeed liberty every-
where. The experience of the war and of the seven years
of confusion and disorder which followed it, taught him
the necessity of a strong, stable, efficient, national govern-
ment. He believed the constitution had been so framed and
adopted, and should be so administered, as to give the
country such a government. Under such a government
he lived to see his country free, prosperous, happy. In
his preface to his edition of the Bible, in 1791, he says : " The
general state of our country must afford satisfaction to
every benevolent mind. Evidences of increasing prosperity
present themselves on every side to our view. Abroad,
our national character is rising to dignity and eminence,
at home, confidence is established in our government, the
spirit of patriotism appears to be the actuating principle
with the distinguished characters of our age, and the
greatest exertions are making for the public good. The
civil and religious rights of men are generally understood,
and by all enjoyed. The sciences which open to the minds
of men a view of the works an'd ways of God, and the arts
which tend to the support, the convenience, and the orna-
ment of society, begin to receive proper encouragement
from the administration of state and national governments ;
and by the application and enterprise of individuals are
Memoir of Isaiah Thomas. Ixxxi
approaching to excellence and perfection. The means of
a good education are daily becoming more general, and
the present spirit of industry and economy, which pervades
all classes of men, furnishes the brightest prospects of
future prosperity and welfare. While a general solicitude
prevails, to encourage the Arts and to promote national
honor, dignity and happiness, can any be indifferent to
those improvements which are necessary to secure to all •
the free and independent exercise of the Rights of Con-
science ? The civil authority hath set an example of mode-
ration and candor to all Christians, by securing equal
privileges to all ; and it must be their ardent and united
wish, independently of foreign aid, to be supplied with
copies of the sacred Scriptures — the foundation of their re-
ligion— a religion which furnishes motives to the faithful
performance of every patriotick, civil and social duty,
superior to the temptations of ambition, avarice and selfish-
ness ; which opens prospects to the human mind that will
be realized when the relation to civil government shall be
dissolved, and which will raise its real disciples to their
highest glory and happiness, when the monuments of
human genius, art and enterprise, shall be lost in the gene-
ral dissolution of nature."
In 1802 Mr. Thomas relinquished his business in Wor-
cester to his son, who bore his name and shared his tastes.
Though he had acquired an ample fortune he was not a
man to remain idle. He was not merely a printer of books
but a reader, and early began the collection of a library.
Amid the cares of a vast business he always found some
time for reading and study. He was strongly attached to
the art to which, for nearly half a century, he had been
devoted. There was no history of printing in America,
Ixxxii History of Printing in America.
and he would try to supply the want. There was danger
that many of the facts would be irrecoverably lost. He
had known personally the leading printers of his time and
had heard the story of many earlier printers from their
successors. No person then living had so much knowledge
of the subject, not to be found in books — the unwritten his-
tory. But he spares no labor or expense in gathering the
materials for his work. The collection of newspapers for
the purpose, with those he already possessed, made the
largest collection in the country. The modest \dew of
Mr. Thomas was not so much to write the history as to
collect and preserve the materials for a history. He
" makes no pretence to elegance of diction" but is content
with a plain, unadorned statement of facts ;" yet there are
some of the biographical sketches whose easy, simple and
attractive 8tyle,remindsusof the greatest American printer,
writer, statesman and thinker.
The result of his researches and labors was the History
of Printing, published in 1810, in two volumes octavo.
Upon the value of this contribution to the history of the
country I will not enlarge. Its general accuracy and
fidelity have been recognized by historians, students, and
antiquarians.
In his business as printer and bookseller, in gathering
the materials for his history of printing, having a deep per-
sonal interest in the annals of a country whose course he
had watched, not idly, from colonial dependence to national
greatness, a lover and reader of books, touched early by
the gentlest of infirmities, bibliomania, he had collected a
library especially rich as to the fountains and springs {fontes
et origines) of American history. His researches had
taught him the value of such a collection ; his observation
Memoir of Isaiah Tuomas. Ixxxiii
and experience had shown him how quickly the sources of
our history were drying up, how rapidly the monuments •
of the past were crumbliug and wasting away. He saw.
and understood, no man better, from what infinitely varied
and minute sources the history of a nation's life was to be
drawn ; that the only safe rule was to gather up all the
fragments so that nothing be lost.
It was in the light of this experience, and with a view to
garner up and preserve the materials of our history, that
he conceived the plan of the American Antiquarian Society,
of making his own library the basis of its collections, and .
of giving to the cause of good letters a liberal share of the
fortune he had acquired in their service. It was in January,
1812, that his intent and purpose of founding the society
were first suggested to his friends, the Rev. Dr. Bancroft
and Dr. Oliver Fiske of Worcester. In the spring and
summer of that year, in consultation with them and other
friends, a plan was matured, and on the 12th of October a
petition was presented to the legislature of Massachusetts
for an act of incorporation. The petition was signed by
Isaiah Thomas, William Paine, Levi Lincoln, Nathaniel
Paine, Aaron Bancroft, and Edward Bangs. This was in
the war, when political strife was bitter, but the cause of
letters brought together men who were antipodes in
political faith.
On the 19th of October Mr. Thomas went to Boston to
wait upon the committee to whom the petition had been
referred, and on the 20th a bill was drawn. It passed the
House the 23d, the Senate the 24th, and was approved by
Governor Strong, and became a law the same day. The
petition, in stating the objects of the societ}^ has one line
which is the key to the society's history, " to assist the re-
Ixxxiv History of Printing in America.
searches of the future historians of our country." The
persons incorporated were among the most eminent citizens
of the commonwealth in all the walks of cultivated life.
The society was organized at the Exchange Coffee House
in Boston on the 19th of November 1812, and Mr. Thomas
elected president.
At the beginning the annual meetings were held in Boston.
On the first, Oct. 23d, 1813, a public address was delivered
at the Stone Chapel by the Rev. Dr. Jenks. In 1814 an
address was delivered in the same church by Dr. Wm.
Paine, and the society was escorted to and from the Chapel
by the Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company.
The library given by Mr. Thomas, consisting of about
three thousand volumes, was kept for eight years in his
mansion on Court Hill ; he, constantly, we might say daily,
adding to its collections. In the fall of 1820, it was re-
moved to Antiquarian Hall, erected for the society by
Mr. Thomas at a coBt of ten thousand dollars. The first
volume of the Collections and Transactions of the society
was also prepared and published at his expense.
His interest in the society never abated. He was at
work for it diligently and happily to the very close of his
ilfe. He was reelected president till his death. By his
vsdll he gave funds for the support of a permanent librarian,
and for incidental purposes, amounting in the whole to
twenty-four thousand dollars. His entire gifts to the so-
ciety in books, land, building, and legacies by his will, would
not fall short of fifty thousand dollars. His was among
the early examples in our country of giving in a man's
lifetime, and so giving his own. " Defer not charities till
death," says Lord Bacon, " for certainly, if a man weigh it
rightly, he that doth so is rather liberal of another man's
Memoir of Isaiah Thomas. Ixxxv
than his own." Mr. Thomas's gifts to public uses during
his lifetime exceeded those by his will. Indeed, I incline
to the opinion that he gave away in his life more than he
accumulated. Since Mr. Thomas's death, the society has
gone on quietly, without parade, successfully accomplish-
ing the purpose, gradually becoming more and more clearly
defined, of collecting and preserving the materials of
American history. It has published four volumes of Col-
lections and Transactions, which, where original, are marked
with precise learning and thorough research ; and, where
republications, by careful editing and annotations. It is
not too much to say they are most valuable contributions
to our history. The library has rapidly increased, so that
it has now over fifty-three thousand volumes, reckoning ten
pamphlets as a volume. Thanks to the munificence of its
present president and other friends, it has now a new library
building, and land for its extension, and well invested funds
to the amount of eighty thousand dollars.
The services of Mr. Thomas to his country and to letters
were appreciated and recognized by his fellow citizens.
So far as I can learn, he had no aspirations for political life
or oflicial service. The party to whose principles he con-
stantly adhered was in the minority at Worcester during
most of his active life. Had it been otherwise, he had
neither taste, nor perhaps any peculiar aptitude, for public
service. Beside this, though just and kind to others, he
liked to do his own thinking, and the free use of lips and
pen ; and such men are apt to find the post of honor in a
private station. In that station he wielded a large influ-
ence, and few men of his day were more widely known.
He was made a member of many scientific, historical and
philanthropic societies throughout the country; among nu-
Ixxxvi History of Printing in America.
merous others, the American Philosophical Society of
Philadelphia, the New York Historical Society, the Ameri-
can Academy of Arts and Sciences, and the Massachusetts
Historical Society. He received the honorary degree of
Master of Arts from Dartmouth College, and that of Doctor
of Laws from Alleghany College, Pennsylvania.
He died on the 4th of April 1831. His funeral took
place on the 7th, when a very interesting address on his
life and public services was delivered by Isaac Goodwin
Esq. of the Worcester Bar.
This imperfect memoir, the materials for which have
been collected with much tribulation, has shown, I hope,
that, in three things especially, Mr. Thomas rendered valu-
able service to his country — as the editor and printer of a
newspaper which was an able and fearless advocate of the
rights of the colonies and of man, as the author of the His-
tory of Printing^ and as the founder and benefactor of the
American Antiquarian Society.
In the relations of townsman, neighbor, friend, we have
estimates of his life and character by those who had the
fullest opportunity and capacity to judge. The late Go-
vernor Lincoln, and this is lavdari ab laudato viro, in his
pleasant reminiscences of the Worcester Fire Society, thus
speaks of Mr. Thomas. " With a strong and vigorous mind
and a cultivated intellect, enterprise, energy and industry in
early life gave him wealth, and possessed of this, he lived in
courtly style, and with beneficent liberality. * * * He was
a public spirited citizen, generous in his contributions to all
worthy objects, and a most eflicient co(3perator with others
in promoting the growth, improvement and prosperity of the
place. The city is full of memorials of his good deeds."
Perhaps a higher tribute was paid to him by his counsellor
Memoir of Isaiah Thomas. Ixxxvii
and friend of many years, Samuel M. Burnside, when he
said that " Young men, just entering into active life, and en-
gaging in the untried and perplexing mazes of business,
seldom looked to him in vain for advice, for patronage, for
assistance."
William Lincoln, the accomplished historian of Wor-
cester, familiar with every detail of its record, says : " while
his private charity relieved the distresses, his public mu-
nificence promoted the improvements of the town." After
an enumeration of his benefactions to the municipal cor-
poration he adds, " few local works for the public good were
accomplished without the aid of his purse or efforts."
Mr. Lincoln closes his interestingmemoir of Mr. Thomas
with eulogy not more beautiful than it is just. " The in-
cidents of the life of Dr. Thomas have occupied broad
space in these poor annals. His memory will be kept
green when the recollection of our other eminent citizens
shall have faded in oblivion. His reputation in future
time will rest as a patriot on the manly independence which
gave, through the initiatory stages and progress of the revo-
lution, the strong influence of the press he directed to the
cause of freedom, when royal flattery and favor would
have seduced, and the powers of government subdued its
action; as an antiquarian, by the minuteness and fidelity of
research in the History of Printing ; as a philanthropist, on
the foundation and support of a great national society
whose usefulness, with the blessing of Providence, will in-
crease through distant centuries."
HISTORY
PRINTING IN AMERICA.
SPANISH AMERICA.
The art of printing was first introduced into Spanish
America, as early as the middle of the sixteenth century.
The historians, whose works I have consulted, are all
silent as to the time when it was first practiced on the
American continent ; and the knowledge we have of the
Spanish territories, especially of Mexico and Peru, is so
circumscribed, that we cannot fix on any precise date as
the period of its commencement ; but it is certain that
printing was executed, both in Mexico and Peru, long
before it made its appearance in the British E'orth Ameri-
can colonies. I do not mean to assert, however, that it is
impossible to ascertain the place where, and the exact date
when, the first printing was performed in the extensive
provinces belonging to Spain in America ; but as respects
myself, I have found that insurmountable difficulties have
attended the inquiry.^
' When Mr. Thomas wrote his History of Printing in America, little was
known of its introduction in Spanish America. All the works he had
consulted on the subject were silent as to the time. Historians of the art
were ignorant on this point, for the reason that if there existed in Europe
any specimens of very early printing in America, the investigator did
not know under what name to search for them. A writer sixty years
ago is excusable for the lack of correct information, since Mr. Humphreys,
one of the highest authorities and most recent authors on the history of
printing, says that the art " was introduced in America by Mendoza in
2 History of Printing in America.
Chevillier refers Ms readers to some books printed
early at Lima, the capital of Peru.^
Luckombe writes ^ that " Printing was extended to
Africa and America, not indeed at the invitation of the
natives, especially of America, but by means of the Euro-
peans ; and, particularly, of the Spanish missionaries, who
carried it to the latter for their ends ; accordingly, we find
that several printing houses were established very early in
the city of Lima, and in several cities of the kingdom of
Mexico."
I am of opinion that the first printing press erected in
America was in the city of Mexico. I have, however, been
enabled to ascertain the time when the art of printing was
introduced into Mexico with greater precision than any
writer whose works have come under my inspection, and
have become acquainted with the name of one of the
earliest Spanish American printers, and can state with a
tolerable degree of certainty that the press was established
some years before 1569, in the city of Mexico. Li 1571 a
large and laborious work was printed there, entitled Vo-
cabvlario En-Lengva Castellana y Mexicana, eompuesto por el
muy Eeuerendo Padre Fray Alonso de Molina de la Orden del
bienauenturado nuestro Padre Sant Francisco. Dirigido al mvy
excelente senor Don Martin Enriquez Visorrey destanueua Fls-
■pana. En Mexico, en Casa de Antonio de Spinosa, 1571.'
1566, his printer being Antonio Espinoza." {Hist. Art of Printing.
Lond., 1868, p. 206). Rather than attempt to alter Mr. Thomas's remarks,
we have preferred to give in the appendix a new article on the history
of printing in Spanish America, which has been furnished us by Hon.
John R. Bartlett, of Providence, R. I. See Appendix A.
1 Chevillier, a French writer, was library keeper at the Sorbonne, (b. 1636,
d. 1700).
" History and Art of Printing, p. 41.
* Spanish, as well as English and French orthography, has varied since
this book was printed. The words Sant, Visorrey, destanueua, are now
written San, visrey, de esta nuem. The title and imprint of this curious
book, which is a folio volume of 568 pages, when translated into Eng-
Spanish America. 3
A press was secretly established by tbe Jesuits at Cor-
dova soon after they settled in Spanish America, at which
were printed grammars and dictionaries of Peru and the
missions. Printing was prohibited, excepting for the use
of government, in all the Spanish provinces ; and Vicente
Pazos asserts that " at the breaking out of the revolution,
in 1810, from Lima to Monte Video, for an extent of more
than one thousand leagues, including Peru, Chili, and Rio
de la Plata, countries filled with cities, villages, universi-
ties, colleges, schools, tribunals of justice, and men of
wealth and science, there was but one miserable old print-
ing press, and this formerly belonged to the Jesuits of
Cordova."^
Molina's book is numbered by leaves, not by pages.
The license for printing it is dated in 1569, and affords in-
dubitable evidence that a press was then operant in Mexico.
The epistle dedicatory is of the same date; and these
circumstances show that the book was two years in the press;
which is not at all improbable, as works of this kind can-
not be correct when hastily executed. Even at this time a
work of that class and magnitude, would not, in the ordi-
nary course of business, be printed from manuscript copy in
a much shorter period. It is to be presumed that the prac-
tice with regard to title pages, was the same then as at the
present day ; and that the title page of this book did not
go to press until the rest of the work was completed.
This dictionary, in two parts, consists, first, of 122 leaves,
or 244 pages, of Spanish and Mexican ; and, secondly, of
162 leaves, or 324 pages, of Mexican and Spanish. A very
lish, reads thus: A Dictionary in the Castilian and Mexican Languages
composed by the very reverend Father Friar Alomo de Molina, of the order
of our well disposed Father Saint Francis. Dedicated to ths very excellent
Bon Martin Enriquez, Viceroy of this New Spain. Imprint — In Mexico, in
the House of Antonio de Spinosa. 1571.
' See the letters of Vicente Pazos to the Hon. Henry Clay.
4 History of Printing in America.
large cut of a coat of arms, probably that of tbe viceroy to
whom the book is dedicated, fills two-thirds of the title
page; the arms are in eight compartments^ surmounted
with a coronet.
This book furnishes incontestable evidence that the
Spaniards established the press, in the American con-
tinent, many years before the English planted a colony
in this quarter of the world.
The abb6 Clavigero,' a Mexican writer, mentions that
*'the laborious Franciscan, Bernardino Sahagun, composed
in pure and elegant Mexican language, three hundred and
sixty-five hymns, one for each day in the year;" and in a
note he adds, that he " saw a copy of this book in a library
of the Jesuits of Angelopoli, printed at Mexico, to the best
of his recollection, in the year 1540. If Clavigero is correct,
printing was introduced into Spanish America one hundred
years before it appeared in the English colonies.
Antonio de Herrera, in his General History of America,
from the discovery to 1554, observes in relation to the
rebuilding of Mexico by the Spaniards, which began in
1524, " such was the care and industry of Cortes the con-
queror, that all sorts of artificers resorted to the place.
There were soon erected a mint, a college, and a printing
house. So that the city became as renowned as any in
Europe." He afterwards mentions that in 1537, " the
viceroy ordered the college, founded by the Franciscan
friars, at Mexico, for teaching boys the Latin grammar,
should be finished." From this, account we may conclude
that printing was introduced into Mexico previously to the
year 1540, and probably as early as 1530.
The religion of the Spaniards has sufi*ered very little, if
any innovation ; and many of the books they have printed
in America are on religious subjects. Copies of these.
' See Clavigero's EMory of Mexico, Philadelphia edition, vol. n, p. 206.
Mexico and Peru. 5
together with those of various histories of the old world,
and of the discovery and settlement of America, which
have, from time to time, issued from the Mexican and
Peruvian presses, are, it is said, preserved in the colleges
of the capital cities in those provinces, together with many-
heavy folio volumes in manuscript, respecting the country,
and written there. In this age of revolutions, those, and
the other provinces of Spain, may experience some con-
vulsions of the revolutionary tornado, hy which their
parent state is desolated, in common with the other Euro-
pean kingdoms. The time may not be far distant when
a spirit of freedom and a consciousness of their own
strength, may lead the people of the south to follow the
example of their northern neighbors, and establish their
independence ; when that time shall arrive, strangers may
be permitted to explore their country without difficulty or
l-estraint.'
Mexico and Peru.
The books published in both English and Spanish
America, till within the last century, were, principally,
on religious subjects. Perhaps those produced in the
British colonies, anterior to our revolution, exceed in
number those published in Mexico and Peru ; but, from
the best information I have been able to obtain, it appears
they were inferior, in point of magnitude, to the many
large and voluminous labors of the monks, on subjects of
devotion and scholastic theology, that have been printed
in the Spanish part of the continent. Besides books on
* The above was written in the beginning of the year 1809. It now
appears that the revolution I then contemplated, has been already
partially produced. New Spain becomes daily more practicable to the
researches of the curious and learned; and we have a pleasing pro-
spect that we shall speedily become more intimate; and possibly, on
more friendly terms with these near neighbors, who have hitherto been
estranged from us by the genius of their government.
6 History of Printing in America.
religious and devotional concerns, many large historical
works, a variety of dictionaries, grammars, etc., were pro-
duced by the presses of Spanish America.
^Notwithstanding the press in Spanish America was under
severe restrictions, yet the books allowed to be printed,
together with the works necessary for the purposes of
government, afforded it much employment; and, from
the best information I can procure, it appears that the
typographical performances, both in Mexico and Peru,
were not badly executed.
Gazettes have, for many years, been published in that
country ; some say they were printed before the end of
the seventeenth century ; that they were so, in the cities
of Mexico and Lima, is not improbable. An excellent
literary journal was for some time published in Lima,
entitled Mercurio Peruano} Dr. Robertson, in his History
of America, mentions his being furnished with the Gazette
of Mexico for the years 1728, 1729, and 1730, printed in
quarto. Having examined the contents, he observes,
" The Gazette of Mexico is filled almost entirely with
accounts of religious functions, with descriptions of pro-
cessions, consecrations of churches, beatifications of saints,
festivals, autos da fe, &c. Civil or commercial affairs,
and even the transactions of Europe, occupy but a small
corner of this monthly magazine of intelligence." He
mentions, also, that the titles of new books were regu-
larly inserted in the Gazette ; whence it appeared that
two-thirds of them were treatises on religion.^
A literary journal, entitled Gazeta de Literatura was for
a long time published in Mexico, and was continued in
1 Mercurio Peruano de Historia, Literatura y Noticias publicas, qua da
a la luz la Sociedad Academica de Amantes de Lima, 1791-1794. 12 vols.,
small 4to. — B.
"^ Robertson's America, vol. in, p. 401, 7th edition, London.
Mexico and Peru. 7
1760, by M. Alzate, an astronomer; and in the govern-
ment of Guatemala, the Gazeia de Guatemala was continued
in 1800.
The press being under the absolute control of govern-
ment, we might expect to find the catalogue of Spanish
American publications confined within narrow limits; but
the fact is, that the works which treat of religion, history,
morals, and classical books, which in that country have
been printed, are numerous. Even the dictionaries and
grammars, for the use of the various nations of aborigines
in the Mexican provinces only, excite our surprise. Of
these the Abbe Clavigero,* the historian, mentions five
Mexican dictionaries and twenty Mexican grammars ;
three Otomi dictionaries and four grammars; two Ta-
rascan dictionaries and three grammars; one Zapotecan
dictionary and one grammar; one Miztecan grammar;
three Maya dictionaries and three grammars ; two Toto-
nacan dictionaries and two grammars; one Popolucan
dictionary and one grammar ; one Matlazincan diction-
ary and one grammar; two Huaxtecan dictionaries, and
two grammars ; one Mixe dictionary, and one grammar ;
one Cakciquel dictionary, and one grammar; one Tara-
maran dictionary, and two grammars; one Tepehuanan
dictionary, and three grammars.
Clavigero also mentions eighty-six authors held in high
estimation by the learned ; thirty-three of whom were
Creoles, " who have written on the doctrines of Christianity,
and on morality, in the languages of New Spain;" and he
remarks, " the books published in Mexico on religion are
80 numerous, that of them alone might be formed a large
library." Their works, and the dictionaries and grammars
before mentioned, were, unquestionably, printed in the
' A learned native of New Spain who published the history of ancient
Mexico, and the conquest of it, by the Spaniards, in two large volumes,
quarto.
8 History of Printing in America.
provinces of Mexico ; and it is not improbable that many
books, of the Hke kind, have been published in the exten-
sive provinces of Peru, in South America.'
Dr. Robertson prefixed to the seventh edition of his
history, a list of Spanish books and manuscripts, which he
consulted for that work.^
It evidently appears, that the most voluminous and
expensive works were published by the Spaniards; and
this is not altogether strange, as they possessed by far the
richest part of the country ; and the settlement of the
southern part of the continent, and of Mexico, commenced
a century before that of the British colonies.
Saint Domingo.
A printing press was early introduced into the Spanish
part of this island ; probably about the beginning of the
seventeenth century. It was seldom used, except for
printing the lists and returns, and other papers for the
different branches of the administration.
M. de St. Mery,^ in his Description of the Spanish
p9.rt of St. Domingo, informs us, that " ISTo works con-
cerning the colonies can be printed in them, without the
permission of the council of the Indies, and it is well
known that the council is not over fond of granting such
permissions. In the examination of the vessels that arrive,
strict search is made after the books proscribed by the
'See 8quier*s Monograph of Central American Authors, 1861, pp. 70. — M.
An excellent little volume by the learned and reliable bibliographer,
Don Joaquin Garcia Icazbalceta, on the subject of .books on the American
aboriginal languages has lately appeared. It is entitled Apuntes para
un catdloga de Escrilores en lenguas ind'igenos de America. Mexico en la
imprenta particular del autor, 1866. 12mo. — B.
^An extract from Robertson's list, which, with some additions, was in-
serted in the first edition, it is not deemed expedient to reprint. — H.
' M. de St. Mery lived at Cape Francjois, previous to the destruction of
it by the blacks. In 1798, he was a bookseller in Philadelphia, and a
member of the Philosophical Society of Pennsylvania.
Spanish America. 9
inquisition ; and, as the convent of St. Lawrence the
Royal, has, in Spain, the exclusive privilege of printing
religious books, the senior auditor is exclusively charged
with the causes that this privilege may give rise to in the
island. If a work be printed at St. Domingo, twenty
copies of it must be delivered to the president, to be sent
by him to the council of the Indies, there to be buried,
like every thing else that is sent thither." '
In 1790, the printing house in the city of St. Domingo
stood in the vicinity of the palace of the president, or
governor general, and not far from the ancient cathedral ;
which, with the prisons, and many ancient private houses,
form a square, which is used for a market place. The
cathedral was begun in 1512, and finished in 1540 ; and in
it were interred the remains of the celebrated Christopher
Columbus, the discoverer of this continent, which ought to
have borne his name. The cathedral also contained the
remains of his brother Bartholomew, or of Diego, the son
' Similar regulations have existed throughout the vast territories of
Spain in South and North America. No book could be printed without
permission from the officers of the high courts of the inquisition ; and no
books be sold, or even read, on any subjects but such as received
their approbation. Major Pike was employed by our government to
explore the sources of the Arkansa, and the internal parts of Louisiana,
when, on that expedition in 1807, he was taken prisoner, with the party
under his command, by the Spanish troops, and carried to Santa Fe in
New Mexico, and from thence to Chihuahua in New Biscay. He
mentions in the appendix to his interesting journals, under the article.
Religion in New Spain, that the officers of the inquisition " examine
and condemn to the flames all books of a modem sentiment, either
as to religion or politics, and excommunicate any one in whose hands
they may be found. I recollect," continues the major, "to have seen
a decree of theirs published in the Mexican Gazette, condemning a
number of books as heretical and contrary to the sacred principles of
the holy catholic church, and the peace and durability of the government
of his catholic majesty, amongst which were mentioned: Helvetius on
War ; J. J. Rousseau's Works ; Voltaire's, Mirabeau's, and a number of
others of that description ; and even at so great a distance as Chihuahua, a
Spanish officer dared not take Pope's Essay on Man to his quarters, but
used to come to mine to read it."
10 History of Printing in America.
of Columbus. The coffins wliicli contained their bodies
were discovered in 1783, when, in repairing the cathedral,
part of a thick wall was taken down. This fact St. Mery
mentions on good authority ; which is corroborated by the
certificates of Don Joseph Nunez, dean, dignitary of the
holy metropolitan and primatial church of the Indies, Don
Manuel Sanchez, canon, dignitary, &c., and Don Pedro de
Galvez, preceptor, canon, dignitary of the cathedral church,
and primate of the Indies. These certificates are dated at
Santo Domingo, April 26, 1783.
This part of the island was ceded by the king of Spain
to the French in 1795. The dust of Columbus was not,
however, sufifered to remain in its deposit, subject to the
control of the French ; the leaden coffin, with its contents,
was removed to the Havana, and on the 20th of January,
1796, with great pomp and ceremony, buried a third time.
FRENCH AMERICA.
Saint Domingo.
A royal printing house was established in Port au Prince,
on the French part of this island, as early as 1750, in which
in 1750, was printed an account of a great earthquake
which happened at that time in the island.
Among other works permitted to be printed at the king's
press, was a volume of memoirs of a literary institution of
the colony. It was published in 1788.
M. Mozard was a printer in Port au Prince in 1790,
and for some time previous to that year.^
' M. Mozard was afterwards appointed a consul for the French republic
and resided in Boston. He brought with him to Massachusetts a valuable
portable printing apparatus, which he had used in Saint Domingo. This
apparatus consisted of a small press, and several small fonts of neat types,
«&c., manufactured in Paris. When he was about leaving Boston, he sold
Spanish America. 11
There was a press in Cape Fran9oi8 also belonging to
the king, as early as 1765, and probably several years pre-
ceding. In 1766 appeared from this press a Treatise an
Coffee, giving its history in ninety pages.
Batilliot & Co. printed at the press of the municipality
in 1790 ; and from this press they issued in 1793, the third
volume the Monitor General of Saint Domingo.
Du Tour de Rians styled himself printer to the general
assembly of the colony in 1791, in the imprint to a
pamphlet entitled, A Project of a Constitution for the French
Colonies.
Martinico.
A press was established on this island, for the use of
government, many years preceding the revolution in
France, after which there were several.
DUTCH AMERICA.
Surinam.
Printing was performed in this colony at Paramaribo
before the year 1775.
The Dutch also introduced the press at their islands of
Cura5oa and Saint Eustatius.
PORTUGUESE AMERICA.
Printing has been -long practiced in the Portuguese
settlements ; but, I believe, the press has been kept almost
solely for the use of the government. If any literary pro-
them to John Mycall, formerly a printer in Newburyport, who removed
them to Harvard, county of Worcester, where I have frequently seen
them. They were subsequently in possession of Mycall, at Cambridgeport.
12 History of Printing in America.
ductions were ever issued from it, I am unacquainted with
them.
From the intercourse between the United States and
Brazil, we may hope to obtain, at no distant period, the
history of printing in this part of South America.^
* In 1792, according to Sir George Staunton's account, there were but
two booksellers in Rio Janeiro, and they sold books on the subjects of
divinity and medicine only.
ENGLISH AMERICA:
THE UNITED STATES
Introduction of the Art.
The early part of tlie history of the United States, is
not, like that of most other nations, blended with fable.
Many of the first European settlers of this country were
men of letters ; they made records of events as they passed,
and they, from the first, adopted effectual methods to
transmit the knowledge of them to their posterity. The
rise and progress of English America, therefore, from its
colonization to the period at which it took a name and
place among sovereign and independent nations, may be
traced with the clearness and certainty of authentic history.
That art which is the preserver of all arts, is worthy of
the attention of the learned and the curious. An account
of the first printing executed in the English colonies of
America, combines many of the important transactions of
the settlement, as well as many incidents interesting in the
revolutions of nations ; and exhibits the pious and charita-
ble efforts of our ancestors in New England, to translate the
sacred books into a language which, at this short distance
of time is, probably, not spoken by an individual of the
human race, and for the use of a nation ' which is now
virtually extinct. Such is the fluctuation of human affairs !
' Part of the aborigines of the country.
14 History of Printing in America.
The i3articulars respecting the printing and printers of
this country, it is presumed, will gratify professional men ;
and a general history of this nature will certainly preserve
many important facts which, in a few years, would be
irrecoverably lost.
Among the first settlers of ^ew England were not
only pious but educated men. They emigrated from
a country where the press had more license than in
other parts of Europe, and they were acquainted with the
usefulness of it. As soon as they had made those provi-
sions that were necessary for their existence in this land,
which was then a rude wilderness, their next objects were,
the establishment of schools, and a printing press ; the
latter of which was not tolerated, till many years after-
ward, by the elder colony of Virginia.
The founders of the colony of Massachusetts ^ consisted
of but a small number of persons, who arrived at Salem in
1628.^ A few more joined them in 1629 ; and Governor
"Winthrop, with the addition of his company of settlers,
arrived in 1630. These last landed at the place since
called Charlestown, opposite to Boston, where they pitched
their tents and built a few huts for shelter. In 1631, they
began to settle Cambridge, four miles from the place
where they landed. They also began a settlement on the
identical spot where Boston now stands. In 1638, they
built an academy at Cambridge, which in process of time
was increased to a college : and they also established
a printing house in that place. In January, 1639, print-
ing was first performed in that part of North America
' The reader will observe that I am here speaking of Massachusetts
proper, not of the colony of Plymouth, where a settlement was made in
the year 1620. That colony has, however, long since been incorporated
into that of Massachusetts.
* The Cape Anne fishermen selected and occupied the position of Salem
before the arrival of the colonists of 1628. — H.
English America. 15
which extends from the gulf of Mexico to the Frozen
ocean.
For this press our country is chiefly indebted to the Rev.
Mr. Glover, a nonconformist minister, who possessed a
considerable estate, and had left his native country with a
determination to settle among his friends, who had emi-
grated to Massachusetts; because in this wilderness, he
could freely enjoy, with them, those opinions which were
not countenanced by the government and a majority of the
people in England.
Another press, with types, and another printer, were,
in 1660, sent over from England by the corporation for
propagating the gospel among the Indians in New Eng-
land. This press, &c., was designed solely for the pur-
pose of printing the Bible, and other books, in the Indian
language. On their arrival they were carried to Cambridge,
and employed in the printing house already established in
that place.
Notwithstanding printing continued to be performed in
Cambridge, from a variety of causes it happened, that many
original works were sent from New England, Massachu-
setts in particular, to London, to be printed. Among these
causes the principal were — first, the press at Cambridge
had, generally, full employment; secondly, the printing
done there was executed in an inferior style ; and, thirdly,
many works on controverted points of religion, were not
allowed to be printed in this country. Hence it happened
that for more than eighty years after printing was first
practiced in the colony, manuscripts were occasionally sent
to England for publication.
The fathers of Massachusetts kept a watchfdl eye on the
press ; and in neither a religious nor civil point of view,
were they disposed to give it much liberty. Both the civil
and ecclesiastical rulers were fearful that if it was not under
wholesome restraints, contentions and heresies would arise
16 History of Printing in America.
among the people. In 1662, the government of Massa-
chusetts appointed licensers of the press ; ^ and afterward,
in 1664, passed a law that " no printing should be allowed
in any town within the jurisdiction, except in Cambridge ; "
nor should any thing be printed there but what the govern-
ment permitted through the agency of those persons who
were empowered for the purpose. Offenders against this
regulation were to forfeit their presses to the country, and
to be disfranchised of the privilege of printing thereafter.^
In a short time, this law was so far repealed as to permit
the use of a press at Boston, and a person was authorized
to conduct it; subject, however, to the licensers who were
appointed for the purpose of inspecting it.
It does not appear that the press, in Massachusetts, was
free from legal restraints till about the year 1755. Hol-
yoke's Almanack, for 1715, has, in the title page, " Impri-
matur, J. Dudley." A pamphlet, printed in Boston, on the
subject of building market houses in that town, has the
addition of, " Imprimatur, Samuel Shute, Boston, Feb. 19,
1719." James Franklin, in 1723, was ordered by the
government not to publish The New England Courant,
without previously submitting its contents to the secretary
of the province; and Daniel Fowle was imprisoned by
the house of representatives, in 1754, barely on suspicion of
his having printed a pamphlet said to contai^n reflections
on some members of the general court.^
Forseveralyearsprecedingtheyear 1730, the government
of Massachusetts had been less rigid than formerly ; and,
after that period, I do not find that any officer is mentioned
as having a particular control over the press. For a long
' Gen. Daniel Gookin, and the Rev. Mr. Mitchel, of Cambridge, were
the first appointed licensers of the press in this country.
" See this stated more at length in the account given of Samuel Green,
printer at Cambridge, Massachusetts.
' See Franklin, and Fowle.
English America. 17
time, liowever, the press appeared to be under greater restric-
tions here than in England; that is, till toward the close of
the seventeenth century.
In the course of this work it will appear, that the presses
established in other colonies were not entirely free from
restraint.
The rulers in the colony of Virginia in the seventeenth
century, judged it best not to permit public schools, nor
to allow the use of the press.' And thus, by keeping the
people in ignorance, they thought to render them more
obedient to the laws, to prevent them from libelling the
government, and to impede the growth of heresy, &c.
The press had become free some years previous to the
commencement of the revolution ; but it continued for a
long time duly to discriminate between liberty and licen-
tiousness.
Except in Massachusetts, no presses were set up in the
colonies till near the close of the seventeenth century.
Printing then was performed in Pennsylvania, " near
Philadelphia," and afterward in that city, by the same
press, which, in a few years subsequent, was removed to
N'ew York. The use of types commenced in Virginia
about 1681 ; in 1682 the press was prohibited. In 1709, a
press was established at New London, in Connecticut;
and, from this period, it was gradually introduced into the
other colonies ; as well as into several of the West India
islands, belonging to Great Britain.
In 1775 the whole number of printing houses in the
British colonies, now comprising the United States, was
fifty.
Till the year 1760, it appears that more books were
printed in Massachusetts, annually, than in any of the
other colonies ; and, before 1740, more printing was done
' Chalmers's Annals, vol. i, p. 32, and 345.
18 History of Printing in America.
there than in all the other colonies. After 1760, the
quantum of printing done in Boston and Philadelphia was
nearly eqaal, till the commencement of the war. New
York produced some octavo and duodecimo volumes.
The presses of Connecticut were not idle ; they furnished
many pamphlets on various subjects, and some small
volumes. Some books were handsomely printed in Vir-
ginia and Maryland ; and folio volumes of laws, and a few
octavos and duodecimos, on religion, history and politics,
issued from the presses of Carolina, Rhode Island, New
Hampshire, &c.
Before 1775, printing was confined to the capitals of the
colonies ; but the war occasioned the dispersion of presses,
and many were set up in other towns. After the establish-
ment of our independence, by the peace of 1783, presses
multiplied very fast, not only in seaports, but in all the
principal inland towns and villages.
Paper-making.
The ancient Mexicans made great use of paper. They
manufactured it from the leaves of a genus of the aloe, or
the palm icxotl, and from the thin bark of other trees, by a
process not now known. They formed it into sheets of
various dimensions and thicknesses, so as to answer sundry
purposes ; some of the sheets were similar, in thickness,
to the thin pasteboard, and press paper for clothiers,
manufactured in Europe; and some were thinner, but
softer, smoother, and easy to write on. The sheets were
generally made very long, and were polished suitably for
the use to which they were intended to be applied. For
preservation they were made up into rolls, or folded in the
manner of bed screens, and thus formed into books.^
' Clavigero's History of Mexico, vol. ii, p. 219, Am. ed. ; Humboldt'' s Essay
on New Spain, vol. i, Am. ed., p. 120.
English America. 19
Clavigero, who saw and handled specimens which were
preserved in Mexico, informs us, that on this kind of paper
the ancient Mexicans painted, in beautiful and permanent
colors, the representations of their gods, their kings, their
heroes, their animals, their plants, and whatever objects
their fancy dictated, or circumstances might require.
On paper they delineated, in hieroglyphics, painted with
colors which were appropriated to the subject, "the sym-
bols of their religion, accounts of remarkable events, their
laws, their rites, their customs, their taxes or tributes.
Some of these paintings on paper were chronological,
astronomical, or astrological, in which wer^ represented
their calendar, the positions of the stars, eclipses', changes
of the moon, prognostications of the variations of the
weather ; this kind of painting was called, by them, iona-
lamatl. Other paintings were topographical, or choro-
graphical, which served not only to show the extent and
boundaries of possessions, but, likewise, the situation
of places, the direction of the coasts, and courses of the
rivers. The Mexican empire abounded with all these
kinds of paintings on paper; for their painters were innu-
merable, and there was hardly anything left unpainted.
If these had been preserved, there would have been nothing
wanting to explain the history of Mexico ; but, after the
conquest of the country by the Spaniards, the first
preachers of the gospel, suspicious that superstition was
mixed with all these paintings, made a furious destruction
of them. "^
Humboldt mentions that " the paper made by the
ancient Mexicans, on which they painted their hiero-
glyphical figures, was made of the fibres of agave leaves,
macerated in water, and disposed in layers like the fibres
of the Egyptian cyperus, and the mulberry of the South
Clavigero' s Hittory of Mexico.
20 History of Printing in America.
Sea islands."^ He mentions that he had in his posses-
sion " some fragments of the ritual books composed by
the Indians in hieroglyphics at the beginning of the con-
quest, written on maguey paper, of a thickness so different
that some of them resembled pasteboard, while others
resembled Chinese paper." ^
Paper similar to that of Mexico, it is said, was made in
Peru.
Clavigero says " the invention of paper is certainly
more ancient in America than in Egypt, from whence it
was communicated to Europe. It is true that the paper
of the Mexicans is not comparable with paper of the
Egyptians, but it ought to be observed that the former did
not make theirs for writing but painting."
In an account of Pennsylvania by Gabriel Thomas,
published in 1698, he mentions " all sorts of very good
paper are made in the German Town." The mill at which
this paper was made, was the first paper mill erected in the
British colonies. What was then called the German Town,^
was afterwards, and is now, known by the name of Ger-
mantowij, five miles distant from Philadelphia.* The mill
was constructed with logs. The building covered a water
wheel set over a small branch of the Wissahickon. For
this mill there was neither dam nor race. It was built by
Nicholas (or as he was then called Claus) Kittenhouse,^
* Humboldt's Esnay on Neio Spain, vol. ii, p. 375.
"" Ibid., vol. I, p. 124.
"This name of the German Town was not confined merely to what
is now known as Germantown, but included also Roxborough township
at present forming the Twenty -first ward of Philadelphia. — H. G. Jones.
* The first settlement of Gennans is stated to have been in 1693. This
mill, from many circumstances, must have been erected prior to that
period, and in 1688, with the log mill and log house of Rittenhouse.
Nicholas Rittenhouse, the first paper-maker, died in May, 1734, aged 68,
and was succeeded by his son William, who was born in 1691, and died
in 1774.
" Mr. Thomas has fallen into error. The first paper-maker was not
English America. 21
about the year 1689, with the assistance of William Brad-
ford, then the only printer in the colonies southward or
westward of New England, who procured the tract of
land, then considered of little, if any value, on which the
log mill and a log house for Glaus were placed. Bradford
also procured molds and other furniture for the mill.
Glaus was from Holland,^ and a paper-maker by trade.
He was only twenty-one years of age when he arrived in
America. He was something of a carpenter, and did the
chief of the work of these buildings himself. This small
mill was carried away by a freshet.^ Another mill built
Nicholas Rittenhouse, but William Rittenhouse, a native of the Princi-
pality of Broich in Holland. The mill was built in the year 1690, by a com-
pany composed of such prominent men as Robert Turner, Thomas
Tresse, William Bradford, Samuel Carpenter, William Rittenhouse and
others. The mill was erected on a stream of water which empties into
Wissahickon creek about a mile above its confluence with the river
Schuylkill, in the township of Roxborough. This stream still bears the
name of Paper mill run. The deed for the land on part of which the
mill was erected, comprising about twenty acres, is dated " the Ninth day
of the Twelfth month called ffebruary, in the fiFourth year of the Reign
of Queen Ann 170f," and the grantee was William Rittenhouse. This
deed recites that in the year 1690, it was agreed between the said parties
" and others tliat undertook to build a paper mill upon the land" above
referred to, that said Carpenter should demise to them the said land, and
then proceeds as follows : " And whereas the said paper mill was afterwards
built, but no Lease actually signed or executed according to the said Agree-
ment." — H. Q. J.
' Glaus, or Nicolas, Rittenhouse was bom in Holland, June 15, 1666,
came to America with his father, William Rittenhouse, who settled in
Germantown and afterwards removed to Roxborough, where he had
erected his paper mill. Nicholas was a member of the Mennonist meeting
at Germantown, and ofiiciated as a minister in that society. — Ibid.
"This terrible calamity occurred in the year 1700 or 1701, during the
second visit of William Penn to his colony. Barton, in his Memoirs of
David Rittenhouse, pages 83-4, says : " There is now before the writer a
paper in the hand writing of the celebrated William Penn, and subscribed
with his name, certifying that William Rittinghausen and Claus his son,
then part owners of the paper mill near Germantown, had recently sus-
tained a very great loss by a violent and sudden flood, which carried away
the said mill, with a considerable quantity of paper, materials and tools,
with other things therein, whereby they were reduced to great distress ; and
therefore recommending to such persons as should be disposed to lend
22 History of Printing in America.
of stone was erected near to the spot where the first mill
stood. At length this mill was found to be too small for
the increased business of its owner. He built another of
stone, which was larger than the one already erected.
This mill spot was occupied, and the paper-making busi-
ness carried on, by the first Claus, or Mcholas, and his
descendants, from 1689 to 1798,^ one hundred and nine
years, who from time to time made many valuable im-
provements in the mills, and in the art of paper-making.
Appendix B,
From Claus, or Nicholas E.ittenhouse,'' and his brother,
(Garrett) who came with him from Holland to America in
1687, or 1688, are descended all of that name now in
Pennsylvania or New Jersey. The late David Ritten-
house, the philosopher of Pennsylvania, was the grand-
son of Claus, the first manufacturer of paper in British
America.
them aid, to give the sufferers ' relief and encouragement, in their needful
and commendable employment,' as they were ' desirous to set up the paper
mill again.' "
The Rittenhouses rebuilt the mill in 1702, and on the 30th of June,
1704, William Rittenhouse became the sole owner of the mill, and in 1705,
secured the land from Samuel Carpenter on a lease for 975 years. — U. O. J.
' William Rittenhouse, the first paper maker in America, died in the
year 1708, aged about 64 years. Shortly before his death he gave his
share in the paper mill to his son Nicholas, who carried on the business
until May, 1734, when he died. He deeded the paper mill to his oldest
son William Rittenhouse, and when he died the mill property fell to his
son Jacob Rittenhouse, also a paper-maker, who carried on the business,
and died in 1811. The mill was erected by a family named Markle, who
continued to manufacture papef there for many years. So that the
paper-making business was carried on by the same family for a period of
one hundred and twenty-one years at the same place. — Ibid.
' It was not Nicholas but William Rittenhouse who was the progenitor
of the family in America. He arrived here about 1688, and settled in
Germantown. He had only two sons, Nicholas or Claus, and Garrett or
Gerhard, and a daughter Elizabeth who married Heiver Papen. Nicholas
married Wilhelmina De Wees, a sister of William De Wees of Ger-
mantown. Garrett resided at Cresheim, a part of Germantown, and was
a miller. — Ibid. .
English America. 23
• The second establishment of a paper mill erected in
Pennsylvania, or in British America, was built with brick
on the west branch of Chester creek, Delaware county,
twenty miles distant from Philadelphia, by Thomas Wilcox,
who was born in England, and there brought up to paper-
making,' Wilcox came to America about the year 1712,
and apphed to Rittenhouse for employment, but could not
obtain it, as but little business was then done at the mill.
For fourteen years Wilcox followed other business, and by
his industry and economy he acquired and laid up a small
sum of money, when in 1726, he erected a small paper mill,
and began to make fuller's boards. He continued this
business fourteen years without manufacturing either writ-
ing or printing paper. He gave up his mill to his son
Mark in 1767. Wilcox the father died N'ovember 11,
1779, aged ninety.^
The paper-making business was carried on in 1815,
by the sons of Mark, who was then living aged seventy.
He made the paper for the bills issued by congress during
the revolutionary war; for the bills of the first bank
established in Philadelphia; for many other banks and
'The second paper mill in America was not that of Thomas Wilcox.
Dr. George Smith, in his Ehiory of Delmrare County, Pa., says, that "the
old Ivy Mill of Wilcox was not erected until the year 1729, or very shortly
afterwards." He claims that it was the second place at which paper was
manufactured in Pennsylvania. But this is an error. The second paper
mill in America was erected by another settler of Germantown named
William De Wees, who was a brother-in-law of Nicholas Rittenhouse,
and, as Mr. Thomas says, had been an apprentice at the Rittenhouse mill.
This second mill was built in the year 1710, on the west side of the
Wissahickon creek in that part of Germantown known in early times as
Crefeld, near the line of the present Montgomery county. I have seen
papers which show that this mill was in full and active operation in that
year and in 1713.— K O. J.
"The first purchase of land that Thomas Wilcox made for his mill
seat was from the proprietors of Pennsylvania. The additional piece for
his dam he agreed for at one shilling sterling a year forever. This seems,
at the present time, to have been a small compensation ; but lands were
24 History of Printing in America.
public offices. He was undoubtedly the first who made
good paper in the United States. In 1770 he was ap-
pointed associate judge for Delaware county.
The third paper mill establishment in Pennsylvania was
erected by "William De "Wees and John Gorgas, who had
been the apprentices of Kittenhouse. Their mill was on
the Wissahickon creek, eleven miles from Philadelphia,
and built in 1728. They manufactured an imitation of
asses skin paper for memorandum books, which was well
executed.'
The fourth mill was also on the Wissahickon, nine
miles from Philadelphia, built by William De Wees, Jr.,
about 1736.
The fifth was erected by Christopher Sower, the first of
the name, about the year 1744, on a branch of Frankford
creek. This was on the lower end of his land.
The improvements in paper-making at Wilcdx's and
other mills in Pennsylvania, were principally owing to an
Englishman by the name of John Readen. He was a man
of great professional ingenuity, and a first rate workman.
He had indented himself to the master of the vessel who
brought him from Europe. Wilcox redeemed him, and
employed him several years. He died in 1806, aged sixty.
Engines were not used in the American paper mills before
1756 ; until then, rags for making paper were pounded.
then plenty, and money scarce. Lands were leased out at one penny an
acre ; but this price was thought high. Quantities of land were after-
wards taken up at one shilling sterling for every hundred acres. The
state, about the commencement of the revolution, bought out the quit
rents from the proprietors for £30,000, but the proprietors still retain the
manors.
' John Brighter, an aged paper-maker, who conducted a mill for mdre
than half a century in Pennsylvania, and who gave this account, observed
that this kind of paper was made out of rotten ■ stone, which is found
in several places near and to the northward of Philadelphia, and that
the method of cleansing this paper was to throw it in the fire for a short
time, when it was taken out perfectly fair.
English America. 25
There were several paper mills in New England, and
two or three in New York, before the revolution.
About the year 1730, an enterj: rising bookseller in
Boston, having petitioned for, and received some aid
from the legislature of Massachusetts,^ erected a paper mill,
which was the first set up in that colony. After 1775,
paper mills increased, rapidly, in all parts of the Union.
Paver 3IiUs.
My endeavors to obtain an accurate account of the
paper mills in the United States, have not succeeded
agreeably to my wishes, as I am not enabled to procure a
complete list of the mills, and the quantity of paper
manufactured in all the states. I have not received any
particulars that can be relied on from some of the states ;
but I believe the following statement will come near the
truth. From the information I have collected it appears
that the mills for manufacturing paper, are in number
about one hundred and eighty-five, viz : in New Hamp-
shire, 7 ; Massachusetts, 40 ; Rhode Island, 4 ; Connec-
ticut, 17; Vermont, 9; New York, 12; Delaware, 10;
Maryland, 3 ; Virginia, 4 ; South Carolina, 1 ; Kentucky,
6; Tennessee, 4; Pennsylvania, about 60; in all the
other states and territories, say 18. Total 195, in the year
1810.
At these mills it may be estimated that there are manu-
factured annually 50,000 reams of paper which is consumed
in the publication of 22,500,000 newspapers. This kind
of paper is at various prices according to the quality and
size, and will average three dollars per ream ; at which,
this quantity will amount to 150,000 dollars. The w^eight
of the paper will be about 500 tons.
'Daniel Henchman. He produced in 1731, to the General court, a
sample of paper made at his mill.
26 History of Printing in America.
The paper manufactured, and used, for book printing,
may be calculated at about 70,000 reams per annum, a
considerable part of which is used for spelling, and other
small school books. This paper is also of various qualities
and prices, of which the average may be three dollars and
a half per ream, and at that price it will amount to 245,000
dollars, and may weigh about 630 tons.
Of writing paper, supposing each mill should make 600
reams per annum, it will amount to 111,000 reams; which
at the average price of three dollars per ream, will be
equal in value to 333,000 dollars, and the weight of it
will be about 650 tons.^
Of wrapping paper the quantity made may be computed
at least at 100,000 reams, which will amount to about
83,000 dollars.
Beside the preceding articles, of paper for hangings,
for clothiers, for cards, bonnets, cartridge paper, paste-
boards, &c., a sufficient quantity is made for home con-
sumption.
Most of the mills in New England have two vats each.
Some in New York, Pennsylvania, Delaware and Mary-
land, have three or more — those with two vats can make,
of various descriptions of paper, from 2,000 to 3,000 reams
per annum. A mill with two vats requires a capital of
about 10,000 dollars, and employs twelve or more persons,
consisting of men, boys and girls. Collecting rags, mak-
ing paper, &c., may be said to give employment to not less
than 2,500 persons in the United States.
■ Some of the mills are kuown to make upwards of 3,000 reams of writ-
ing paper per annum ; a few do not make any ; but there are not many
that make less than 500 reams. The quantity of rags, old sails, ropes,
junk, and other substances of which various kinds of paper and paste-
boards are made, may be computed to amount to not less than three
thousand five hundred tons yearly.
English America. 27
l)/jpe Founderies.
An attempt was made to establish a foundery for casting
types in Boston about 1768, by a Mr. Mitchelson from
Scotland, but he did not succeed.
In 1769, Abel Buel of Killingworth in Connecticut, who
was a skillfuljeweller and goldsmith, began atype foundery,
without any other aid than his own ingenuity, and perhaps
some assistance he derived from books. In the course of
a few years he completed several fonts of long primer,
which were tolerably well executed, and some persons in
the trade made use of them.
The first regular foundery was established at German-
town, Pennsylvania, in 1772, by Christopher Sower, the
second of that name. All the implements for this foundery
were imported from Germany, and intended solely for
casting German types. It is somewhat remarkable that
the first establishments for paper making and type found-
ing in the English colonies, should be in this place. The
interval between the two establishments was eighty-four
years. Sower's first object in setting up the foundery was
to cast pica types for a quarto edition of the German Bible.
His father had, many years before, printed an edition on
long primer, and the son had printed another on pica.
This was for a third edition, and it was his intention to cast
a sufiiciency of types to keep the whole .work standing.
When the materials for this foundery arrived from
Germany, they were placed by Sower in a house opposite
to his printing house, and committed to the care and
management of one of his workmen, who, although not a
type founder, was very ingenious. This workman was
named Justus Fox, born in 1736, at Manheim, Germany,
where he received a good education. After his arrival
in America he served as an apprentice with Sower, and was
28 History of Printing in America.
by him employed in various occupations. Fox is said to
have been a farrier, an apothecary, a bleeder and cupper, a
dentist, an engraver, a cutler, a tanner, a lamp-black maker,
a physician, a maker of printing ink, and a type founder.
At most of these pursuits he was a proficient.
The molds of this foundery, and some other implements,
were found to be very imperfect ; but Fox set himself at
work, cut a number of new punches, supplied all deficien-
cies, and put the whole in order for casting. The first
font that was cast was a German pica for the Bible. After-
wards Fox cut the punches for roman and italics of several
sizes, for English works. Fox acquired the art of mixing
metal. His types were very durable.
As the materials which composed this foundery remained
in the possession of Fox they were thought to be his pro-
perty, and therefore escaped seizure when all the other
property of Sower was confiscated. Afterwards, in 1784,
Fox purchased them, and continued the business somewhat
extensively in partnership with his son for nine years;
after which Fox conducted the business till he died, which
was on the twenty-sixth of January, 1805, aged seventy
years.
Fox was a man of pleasing manners, and his character
was in conformity with his name, Justus. He was of
the sect of Tunkers; humorous, also very pious, exem-
plary, humane and charitable. He acquired a hand-
some property. He had but one child whom he named
Emanuel.
The year after Fox died, his son sold the foundery
to Samuel Sower, a son of the unfortunate Christopher,
junior (or second), the first owner. Samuel Sower had
previously begun a foundery in Baltimore, and in 1815,
continued the business in that city.
The second type foundery was also, established in Ger-
mantown, by Jacob Bay, a man of great ingenuity, born
English America. 29
near Basil, in Switzerland. He was brought up to silk
weaving. He came to Philadelphia in 1771. In this
place he worked for a short time at calico printing, and
then was engaged by Sower to work in his foundery in
Germantown as an assistant to Fox. After being two
years in this foundery, he began business for himself in
a small house not far from Sower. He made all the
apparatus for his foundery himself The punches which
he cut were for roman and italic types of the sizes of pica,
long primer, and bourgeois. He cast for Sower a font
of German faced bourgeois for the whole of the German
Hymn Book of four hundred octavo pages, which Sower
kept standing.
He bought a house and removed to it, and continued
the business of type-making in Germantown, till 1789.
During the time he removed his foundery to other parts of
the town. At length he sold all his material to Francis
Bailey, a printer, who made use of it chiefly for a supply
of types for himself. Bay then commenced diaper weaving,
removed to Frankford, and then to Philadelphia. Bay's
ingenuity has been exceeded by very few. He was at any
time able, without a model before him, to construct, by
the aid of his memory, any machine he had ever seen,
however complicated. Among his weaving machines was
a loom with six shackles. A patent for one of the same
kind has since been obtained as a new invention, and the
right to use it sold in several places, at a high price. But
he was poor, the fate of many ingenious men. He engaged
at the mint as an engraver, and about six months after
fell a victim to the yellow fever which prevailed in Phila-
delphia in 1793, aged 54.
Dr. Franklin was desirous of establishing in Phila-
delphia a more extensive type foundery than either of
those just mentioned. For this purpose, he purchased in
Paris, of P. S. Fournier, the materials of an old foundery.
30 History of Printing in America.
Fournier was a type founder, and B. F. Bache, Franklin's
grandson, resided sometime with Mm for instruction in
this art, and that he might otherwise be qualified for
managing the foundery in Philadephia. Franklin and
his grandson arrived in Philadelphia in 1775, soon after
the revolutionary war commenced, and Bache set up his
foundery in Franklin court. Market street, where his
grandfather resided. Although the materials of this
foundery enabled the proprietor to make Greek, Hebrew,
Roman, and all other kinds of types in use in Europe or
America, the foundery was but little employed. The
implements for making roman and italic types, especially,
would not produce handsome specimens. This difficulty
was in some sort removed by means of a German artist,
named Frederick Geiger. This person was a mathematical
instrument maker. He came from Germany to Philadel-
phia, like thousands of others who were called Bedemp-
iioners. Franklin paid for his passage, and placed him in
his foundery. He cut a number of punches, and made
great proficiency as a type maker, and in the improve-
ment of the foundery. Geiger, after serving the time
stipulated for his redemption, was, in 1794, employed in
the mint ; but quitting the mint, he plodded a longtime on
perpetual motion. He appeared confident of success, and
anticipated receiving the promised reward for this dis-
covery. Disappointed in this, he next applied himself to
finding out the longitude by lunar observations. He was
allured to this study by the great bounty which he who
should be successful was to receive from the British
government. But, unfortunately, perpetual motion caused
an irregular motion of his brains, and his observations of
the moon caused lunacy. He was eventually confined in
the cells of the Philadelphia almshouse.
The foundery was neglected, and Bache turned his
attention to printing.
English America. 31
The fourth establishment of this kind was that belong-
ing to the Messrs. Baine, the grandfather and grandson,
from Scotland. They settled in Philadelphia by advice
of Young & McCullock, printers in that city, about the
year 1785. Bayne, the senior, possessed a great mechanical
genius. His knowledge in type founding was the effect
of his 'own industry, for he was self-taught. He, it is said,
communicated to the celebrated Wilson of Glasgow the
first insight into the business, and they together set up a
foundery in Glasgow. They soon after separated, and
Baine went to Dublin, where he established a foundery.
He removed thence to Edinburgh, and commenced a type
foundery in that city. Thence with his grandson he came
with all his materials to America. They were good work-
men, and had full employment. The types for the Ency-
clopedia, which was completed some years ago from the
press of Dobson in Philadelphia, were made by them.
The elder Baine died in August, 1790, aged seventy-seven.
He was seventy-two years of age when he arrived in
America. His grandson relinquished the business soon
after the death of his grandfather. He removed from
Philadelphia, and died at Augusta in Georgia, about the
year 1799.
At the commencement of the troubles occasioned by the
Prussians, under the Duke of Brunswick, entering Hol-
land for the purpose of reforming the stadtholdership,
an ingenious type founder, Adam G. Mapper, .left that
country, and took with him the whole apparatus of his
foundery, and came to ISTew York, where he began busi-
ness.^ His foundery was designed principally for making
Dutch and German types, the casts of which were hand-
some. Those for roman were but ordinary. He soon left
' He was a Dutch patriot, lost most of his property, and was obliged for
safety to leave his country.
32 History of Printing in America.
type making for other employment, and was concerned in
the Holland Land Company.
There were, in 1830, eight or more type founderies in
the United States. One was established in Philadelphia,
by Binney & Ronaldson, in 1796. They were from Scot-
land. They had to encounter many difficulties before
they could succeed in obtaining a permanency to their
establishment, but by perseverance and industry over-
came them, and made valuable improvements in their art.
Their foundery produced types equal in beauty to those of
any foundery in Europe, and was said to excel them all
in the economy of operation.
Samuel Sower and Co., of Baltimore, had a somewhat
extensive foundery. Sower cut the punches, and cast both
roman and italics for a font of diamond types, on which
has been printed, in that city, an edition of the Bible. An
italic to this smallest of types has not been, until very
recently, attempted in Europe.
Stereotype Printing.
About the year 1775, an attempt at stereotype printing
was made by Benjamin Mecom, printer, nephew of Dr.
Franklin.^ He cast the plates for a number of pages of the
New Testament ; but never completed them. I shall have
occasion to mention Mecom, in the course of this work,
several times. He was skillful, but not successful. Stereo-
typing is now very common in the United States, and is
well executed.
The ingenious Jacob Perkins, of Il^ewburyport, Massa-
chusetts, invented a new kind of stereotype, for impressing
' In 1743, Dr. C. Golden explained to Franklin a process of stereotyping,
which was published in the American Med. and Phil. Register, vol. i,
1810. Tlie Larger Catechism of tlie Westminster Assembly, stereotyped and
printed by J. Watt & Go., of New York, in June, 1813, claims upon its
title page to have been the first work stereotyped in America. — M.
English America. 33
copper and other plates. From plates so impressed most
of the bank bills of Massachusetts and New Hampshire
were printed at rolling presses, and were called stereo-
typed bills.
Engraving,
Man in his primeval state discovered a propensity to
represent, by figures, on various substances, the animated
works of his Creator. From sketching, painting, or en-
graving these images, or representations, on the surface of
those substances, he proceeded to the business of the
sculptor or statuary, and produced all the features and
proportions of men, and the other various descriptions of
the animal creation, in wood and stone.
The invention of hieroglyphics has been generally attri-
buted to the priests of ancient Egypt, who made use of
them to convey the knowledge they possessed of the
mysteries of nature, and the secrets of their morality and
history, to their successors in the priesthood, without dis-
covering them to the vulgar; but Dr. Warburton, who
appears to have been well acquainted with the subject
of hieroglyphic engravings, although his knowledge of
coins and medals was questioned by Pinkerton, has, with
great ingenuity, shown, that hieroglyphics were not the
invention of Egyptian priests.^ He remarks, that " the
general concurrence of different nations in this method of
recording their thoughts, can never be supposed to be the
effect of imitation, sinister views, or chance ; but must be
considered as the uniform voice of nature, speaking to the
rude conceptions of mankind ; for, not only the Chinese of
the east, the Americans of the west, the Egyptians of the
south, but the Scythians, likewise, of the north, and the
intermediate inhabitants of the earth, viz : the Phoenicians,
See Warburtori's Works.
34 History of Printing in America.
the Ethiopians, the natives of India, etc., used the same
methods of hieroglyphic and picture."
The American continent is not destitute of vestiges of
ancient engraving. Long before the discovery of America
by Columbus, we are told, the Mexicans made money
of tin and copper, which was stamped by the authority
of their sovereigns and feudal lords.^ They were ac-
quainted with the arts of sculpture and engraving ; and,
Fran9ois Coreal says, that the ornaments of the doors
of the temple of the sun, in Peru, were formed of jasper
and granite, and were sculptured in birds, quadrupeds,
and animals of imaginary being, such as the sphinx, etc.,
and in the most exquisite manner. Don Ulloa gives an
account of vases dug up in South America, which have
figures designed upon them, completely in the Etruscan
taste, formed of earth, or composition, which, like the old
Etruscan, is now nowhere to be found. They were red,
black, and extremely light, and sometimes had the figures
in relief. What is very remarkable is, that, like the
Etruscan vases, they have been discovered in no other
places than sepulchres.
The Mexicans had learned to express in their statues
" all the attitudes and postures of which the human body is
capable ; they observed the proportions exactly, and could,
when necessary, execute the most delicate and minute
strokes " with their chisels of flint, or of hardened copper.^
They excelled in the art of founding and casting, with the
precious metals, the most perfect images of natural bodies.
They were expert lapidaries, and knew how to form gems
into such shapes and figures as fancy dictated ; and to
finish them with an exquisite polish. Among their pre-
cious stones were the emerald, amethyst, cornelian, tur-
quoise, and some which were unknown in Europe. They
' Clavigero's History of Mexico.
English America. 35
set these stones in gold, and in silver, wrought in a very-
skilful manner, and rendered of great value. Condamine
and Clavigero were both astonished at the industry and
patience with which they must have worked in marble.
They were workmen in linen and cloth of various descrip-
tions, as well as painters and engravers. The specimens of
their art, which were carried to Europe by Cortes, and
others who visited the country, were found to be nearly
inimitable by the most expert artists of the old world.
Their copper instruments and weapons they hardened to a
temper which was equal to that of steel ; an art which
the Greeks and Romans possessed to the time of the taking
of Constantinople, by Mahomet 11.^
The United States also contain several vestiges of en-
graving, by the rude hands of the aborigines. Thus we
find that there is hardly any inhabited part of the world,
which did not, before it became civilized, produce some
specimens of engraving.
The modern European art of engraving was not greatly
encouraged in America before the revolution, and the
artists did not appear to possess first rate abilities.
Printing Presses.
The printing presses made use of in the English colo-
nies, before the revolution, were, generally, imported from
England, but some were manufactured in the country.
Christopher Sower, Jr., had his printing presses made
under his own inspection, in Germantown, as early as
1750.
After 1775, good presses were made in many of the
capital towns in the United States, particularly in Phila-
delphia, and in Hartford, Connecticut. Some of these
presses underwent several partial alterations in their
' Allowance must be made for exaggeration in these statements. — H.
36 History of Printing in America.
macHnery, but no essential change in the construction
was made from the common English printing press.* A
few were contrived to perform the operation of printing in
a diflerent manner from that press, but these were not
found to be useful.
Some years since, Dr. Kinsley, of Connecticut, who pos-
sessed great mechanical ingenuity, produced, among other
inventions, a model of a cylindrical letter press. It was a
subject of much conversation among printers, but was never
brought into use. The invention, however, did not ori-
ginate with Kinsley. ^ Cylindrical letter presses were in-
vented in 1789, by William Nicholson, of London, who
obtained a patent for them in 1790. Kinsley's model
was from Nicholson's plan, with some variation. Nicholson
' This remark seems hardly just in respect to the presses of Adam
Ramage, unless intended to apply to presses made previous to the revolu-
tion. It is true that from Moxon'stimein 1683, the English had made no
change in the screw of the common book press, which was uniformly two
and a quarter inches in diameter, with a descent of two and a half inches in
a revolution. The diameter was even smaller in job presses, but the same
fall was always maintained, by which the platen was made to rise and
fall five-eighths of an inch in a quarter of a revolution ; a space deemed
necessary for the free passage of the form and frisket under the platen.
Mr. Ramage enlarged the diameter of the screw to three inches, and where
much power was required to three and a half inches, and at the same time
reduced the fall in a revolution to two inches, which very nearly doubled
the impressing power, but decreased the rapidity of the action. It was an
improvement made necessary by the finer hair lines the type founders
introduced, requiring increased power in the press, and the reduction in
the descent of the screw to one-half an inch was met by a more careful
finish of the frisket and its hinges, which were made to slide freely imder
the platen in a space of half an inch. Mr. Ramage came from Scotland
and settled in Philadelphia. He made his presses of Honduras mahogany,
with ample substance and a good finish, which gave them a better appear-
ance than foreign made presses, and they were less liable to warp. Im-
portation had in consequence almost entirely ceased as early as 1800.
His great improvement on the screw and working parts connected there-
with were made seven years later. He died in 1850, at a great age. See
further. Printers' Circular, Philadelphia, 1868, p. 108. — M.
' Dr. Kinsley was a native of Massachusetts, but settled in Connecticut.
He invented a machine for making pins, and another for preparing clay
and moulding bricks, etc.
English America. 37
placed his forms of types horizontally ; Kinsley placed his
perpendicularly; his method was not calculated for n^at
printing. Nicholson's presses were used, and, it is said,
made excellent work.'
Rolling Presses.
The rolling press, as it is called, by copperplate printers,
was not used in England till the reign of King James
I. It was carried from Antwerp to England, by one
Speed. I cannot determine when it was first brought into
English America, but I believe about the beginning of
the eighteenth century.
' For an account of the introduction of cylinder presses into this country,
see Senior's Mirror of Typography, 1871, p. 2. — M.
38 History of Printing in America.
MASSACHUSETTS.
So far as relates to the introduction of the art of printing,
and establishing* the press in this section of the continent,
Massachusetts claims precedence over all the other colo-
nies. The" press was erected here nearly at the end of the
year 1638 ; and it was more than forty years later when
printing commenced in any other part of what, before the
revolution, was called British America.
Hitherto justice has not been done to the man by
whose agency the art was first introduced into the English
colonies. Although he was one of the best and firmest
friends to Kew England, his name has not been handed
down to us with so much publicity as were those of other
distinguished characters, who were his contemporaries
and fellow laborers in the great work of settling a dreary
country and civilizing the children of the wilderness.
The principal cause of this seeming neglect in our his-
torians and biographers may, perhaps, arise from the
circumstance, that his destiny was similar to that of
Moses, who, although zealously engaged in conducting
the children of Israel from Egypt to Canaan, yet never
reached the land of promise himself.
As the founder of the Anglo-American press died on
his passage from Europe to this country, he, of course, did
not become so well known as he would have been had he
arrived and resided here. This circumstance, probably,
prevented his acquiring that celebrity to which his merits
justly entitled him. Although his name is barely men-
tioned by two or three journalists, yet, after a diligent
research, I have been enabled to obtain the following
particulars respecting this venerable Father of the Ame-
rican Press.
Massachusetts. 39
The Rev. Joseph Glover was a worthy and wealthy
dissenting clergyman in England, who engaged in the
business of the settlement of Massachusetts, and had been
attentively pursuing such measures for its interest and
prosperity as he judged would best tend to promote them.
Among other things for the benefit of the infant colony, he
was very desirous of establishing a press to accommodate
the business of both church and state ; * he contributed
liberally towards a sum sufficient to purchase printing
materials, and for this purpose solicited, in England and
Holland, the aid of others.^
The ancient records of Harvard College mention, that
"Mr. Joss. Glover gave to the college a font of printing
letters, and some gentlemen of Amsterdam gave towards
furnishing of a printing press with letters forty-nine pounds,
and something more."^ The same records give us, also,
the following names as " benefactors to the first fonts of
letters for printing in Cambridge, in New England, Major
Thomas Clark, Capt. James Oliver, Capt. Allen, Mr.
Stoddard, Mr. Freake, and Mr. Hues."
In the year 1638, Mr. Glover, having obtained the
means, procured a good printing apparatus, and engaged
' Wonder- Working Providence of Stan's Saviour in New England. London
edition, 4to, page 129. It is a "History of New England from the
English planting in the yeere 1628 until the yeere 1652." It was written
by Major Edward Johnson, who was one of the first settlers of Woburn,
a very judicious and active man in the settlement of the colony; he
was a member of the general court, and employed in several import-
ant ^concerns of the government. He was father of the Hon. William
Johnson, who was chosen assistant in 1684. Johnson bears testimony to
the worth of Mr. Glover, and speaks of his exertions to promote the
interests of the infant colony. He mentions him as " being able in person
and estate for the work in which he was engaged ; " and " for further com-
pleating the colonies in church and common-wealth-work, he provided
[in 1638] a printer, which hath been very usefull in many respects."
" Governor Winthrop mentions that " a printing house was begun at
Cambridge, at the charge of Mr. Glover." See his Journal, p. 171.
* Ancient Records of Harvard College, vol. i, and ui, in manuscript.
40 History of Printing in America.
a printer to accompany it in a ship bound to New England.
Mr. Glover, with his family, embarked in the same vessel ;
but unfortunately he did not live to reach the shores of
this new world. His widow and children, it is supposed,
arrived in the autumn of that year, and settled at Cam-
bridge ; she afterwards became the wife of Mr. Henry
Dunster, who was elected the first president of Harvard
College.
It is not known whether Mr. Glover had been in l^ew
England previous to his embarking for this country in
1688 ; but I find by the records of the county of Middlesex,
that he possessed a valuable real and personal estate in
Massachusetts; that he had two sons and three daugh-
ters ; that John Glover, one of the sons, was educated at
Harvard College, and graduated in 1650, and was ap-
pointed a magistrate in 1652 ; that one of the daughters
was married to Mr. Adam Winthrop, and another to Mr.
Appleton.
Mr. Glover had doubtless been written to and requested
by his friends, among whom were the leading men in the
new settlement of Massachusetts, who were then establish-
ing an academy, which soon acquired the appellation of
college — to provide a press, etc., not only for the advan-
tage of the church and state, but particularly for the
benefit of the academy ; the records of which prove that
the types and press were procured for, and, types particu-
larly, were the property of, that institution. The press, as
appears by the records of the county court of Middlesex,
1656, was the property of Mr. Glover's heirs. Mr. Glover,
it should seem, intended to have carried on both printing
and book selling; for, besides the printing materials, he
had provided a stock of printing paper, and a quantity of
books for sale.
John Glover, one of the sons of Mr. Glover, after the
death of his mother brought an action, in the court above
Massachusetts. 41
mentioned, against his father-in-law Dunster, for the
recovery of the estate which had belonged to his father
and mother, and which was detained by Dunster. An
inventory of the estate was filed in court ; among the items
were the printing press, printing paper, and a quantity of
books. The inventory proves that the press, then the only
one in the country, was the property of the plaintiff in the
action j and it is shown by the said inventory, and by the
records of the general court, that Dunster had had the
management of the press, in right of his wife, and as
president of the college; and that he had received the
" profits of it." ' As it may amuse those who feel an interest
in whatever concerns the first press, and the person by
whose agency the art of printing was introduced into the
colonies, and as others may be gratified by the perusal of
'We gather some additional facts respecting Mr. Glover from the
Glover MemoriaU and Oenealogieshy Anna Glover, Boston, 1867.
The Rev. Joseph Glover was rector of Sutton, in Surrey, England,
from 1628 to 1636, when he tendered his resignation for the purpose of
coming to New England. He preached in London, and traveled through
parts of England endeavoring to obtain funds for the college already
commenced at Cambridge. He embarked in the summer of 1638, with
his family, consisting of wife and five children, in the John of London,
bound for New England, and died on the passage. He had with him a
printing press, and a printer (Stephen Daye) who was to superintend the
printing ; and also three men servants to work the press.
His name, which has been variously stated by different writers, was
Joseph. It is so written by Gov. Winthrop in his Journal, vol. i, p. 242,
and in the Records of Sutton in Surrey, and wherever it occurs in
English documents.
Mr. Glover was twice married. His first wife was Sarah Owfield,
daughter of Roger Owfield of London. They had three children, (viz). :
1. Roger, died in Scotland.
2. Elizabeth, married Adam Winthrop, Esq.
3. Sarah, married Deane Winthrop, Esq.
The second wife to whom he was married about 1630, was Elizabeth
Harris of England, By her he had two children, (viz.) :
1. Priscilla, married John Appleton, Esq., of Ipswich.
2. John, died in London in 1668, unmarried. Mrs. Elizabeth Glover,
soon after her arrival at Cambridge, married Rev. Henry Dunster, and
died in 1643. See, also K E. Hist. Gen. Regr., xxiii, p. 135.— ^
42 History of Printing in America.
tlie proceedings in, and decision of, one of the courts of
justice holden in the primitive state of the countr}', I have
extracted them, verbatim et literatim, from the records, and
added them with the inventory before mentioned in a note.
Appendix C.
Cambridge.
The printing apparatus, as has been related, was, in the
year 1638,' brought to Cambridge, then as much settled as
Boston, both places being founded in a situation which
eight years before this event, was, in scriptural language, a
howling wilderness. At Cambridge the building of an
academy was begun ; and, it was at that place tte rulers
both of church and state then held their assemblies. These
circumstances, probably, induced those who had the
management of public affairs to fix the press there ;
and there it remained for sixty years, altogether under
their control, as were other presses afterwards established
in the colony ; but for upwards of thirty years, printing
was exclusively carried on in that town.
Stephen" Daye was the first who printed in this part of
America. He was the person whom Mr. Glover engaged
to come to I^ew England, and conduct the press. He was
supposed to be a descendant of John Daye, a very eminent
printer, in London, from 1560 till 1583, but this cannot be
accurately ascertained. He was, however, born in London,
and there served his apprenticeship to a printer.
Daye having, by the direction of the magistrates and
elders, previously erected the press and prepared the other
parts of the apparatus, began business in the first month of
1639.==
'The press was set up in the house of the president of Harvard College,
the Rev. Henry Dunster, in 1639. — 3/!
" Gov. Winthrojfs Journal, p. 171.
Massachusetts. 43
The first work which issued from the press was the Free-
mail's Oath — to which succeeded, an almanack.
However eminent Daye's predecessors, as printers, might
have been, it does not appear that he was well skilled in
the art. It is probable he was bred to the press ; his work
discovers but little of that knowledge which is requisite for
a compositor. In the ancient manuscript records of the
colony, are several particulars respecting Daye ; the first
is as follows :
" Att a General Court held at Boston, on the eighth
day of the eighth moneth [October] 1641. Steeven Daye
being the first that sett vpon printing, is graunted three
hundred acres of land, where it may be convenient
without prejudice to any to^vn."
In 1642, he owned several lots of land " in the bounds
of Cambridge." He mortgaged one of those lots as security
for the payment of a cow, calf, and a heifer ; whence", we
may conclude, he M^as not in very aflluent circumstances.^
In 1643, Daye, for some offence, was by order of the
general court taken into custody ; his crime does not appear
on record; the court " ordered, that Steeven Day shall be
' A simple memorandum of the fact, made in tlie book of records, was
then judged sufficient, without recording a formal mortgage ; this appears
by the first book of records kept in the colony, now in the registry of
deeds of the county of Suffolk, Massachusetts, from which the following
are extracted, viz :
" Steeven Day of Cambridge graunted vnto John Whyte twenty-Seaven
Acres of Land lying in the Bounds of Cambridg for the payment of a
cowe and a calf and a two yeares old heiffer." Dated the 35th of the 5th
month, 1642.
" Steeven Day of Cambridg graunted vnto Nicholaus Davidson of
Meadford, all his lands on the south side of Charles River, being aboute
one hundred Acres in Cambridg bounds, for surety of payment of sixty
pounds, Avith sundry provisions." Dated the 25th of the 5th month, 1642.
" Steeven Day of Cambridg bound over to Thomas Crosby, five lots of
land in the new field beyond the water in Cambridg, number 24, 25, 26,
27, and 29th, in all sixety Acres, for the payment of fiftey seaven pounds,
with liberty to take off all wood and timber." &c. Dated 16th of 2d
month, 1643.
44 History of Printing in America.
released, giving 1001. Bond for appearance when called
for."
Daye continued to print till about tlie close of the year
1648, or the beginning of 1649 ; at which time the printing
house was put under the management of Samuel Green.
Whether the resignation of the office of manager of the
printing house was or was not voluntary in Daye, cannot
be ascertained. Neither the press nor the types belonged
to him; he had been employed only as the master work-
man; his wages were undoubtedly low; and it evidently
appears he was embarrassed with debts. His industry and
economy might not be suited to the state of his finances.
Circumstances like these might cause Mr. Dunster, who it
seems then conducted the printing business, to be dissatis-
fied, and induce him to place the printing house in other
hands ; or, it was possible that Daye, finding himself and
the press under a control he was unwilling to be subjected
to, resigned his station; ^
Daye remained in Cambridge ; and, some years after he
had ceased to be master workman in the printing house,
brought an action against President Dunster, to recover
one hundred pounds for former services. The record of
the decision of the County court in that case, is as follows :
"Att a County Court held at Cambridge, April, 1^56,
Steeven Day, Plant, against Mr. Henry Dunster, Deffit.
in an action of the case for Labour and Expenses about
the Printing Presse and the utensils and appurtenances
thereof and the manageing the said worke to the valine
of one hundred pounds. The jury finds for the Defft.
costs of court."
In 1655, he had not obtained the land granted to him
in 1641. This appears by the following extracts firom the
public records, viz :
' In some legal papers after 1650, Daye is styled locksmith. Dr.
Page's Mamiscript Hist, of Cambridge. — H.
Massachusetts. 45
" At a General Court of Elections h olden at Boston 29th
of May 1655, In answer to the Peticon of Steeven Day of
Cambridge craving that the Graunt within the year 1641
of this Court of three hundred Acres of Land to him for
Recompence of his Care and Charg in furthering the
worke of Printing, might be recorded, the Record whereof
appears not,^ the Court Graunt his Request and doeth
hereby confirme the former graunt thereof to him."
" At a General Court of Elections holden at Boston, 6th
of May 1657, Steeven Day of Cambridg having often
complayned that he hath suffered much dammage by
Erecting the Printing Presse at Cambridg, at the Request
of the Magistrates and Elders, for which he never had yett
any Considerable Sattisfaction. This Court doe Graunt
him three hundred Acres of Land in any place not for-
merly Graunted by this Court."
In the records of 1667, is the following order of the
General Court relative to another petition from Daye, viz :
" In answer to the Peticon of Steeven Daye, It is ordered
that the Peticoner hath liberty to procure of the Sagamore
of Nashoway [now Lancaster] by sale, or otherwise, to
the quantity of one hundred and fifty acres of Vpland, and
this Court doeth also graunt the peticoner twenty Acres
of meadow where he can find it free of former Graunts."
Daye died in Cambridge, December 22, 1668, aged
about 58 years. Rebecca Daye, probably his wife, died,
October 17, of the same year.
I have found but few books printed by Daye. I have
never seen his name in an imprint, and, I believe, it never
appeared in one. Several books printed at Cambridge,
by his successor, are without the name of the printer ;
and some of them do not give even the year in which
they were printed ; but I have identified the following
' The record appears to have been regularly made in 1641. I extracted
it from the original record book of the colony for thafyear.
46 History of Printing in America.
Catalogue of Books printed by Daye.
1639. The Freeman's Oath.
1639. An Almanack, calculated for New England. By Mr.
Pierce, Mariner. The year begins with March.
1640. The Psalms in Metre, Faithfully translated for the Use,
Edification, and Comfort of the Saints in Publick and Private,
especially in New England. Crown 8vo. 300 pages. T have no
doubt that it is i\iQ first hook printed in this country. The type is
Roman, of the size of small bodied English, entirely new, and may
be called a very good letter. In this edition there are no Hymns
or Spiritual Songs ; it contains only the Psalms, the original long
preface, and " An Admonition to the Reader " of half a page, at the
end of the Psalms after Finis. — This " admonition " respects the tunes
suited to the psalms. The second edition in 1647, contained a few
Spiritual Songs. The third edition, revised and amended by Presi-
dent Dunster, &c., had a large addition of Scripture Songs and
Hymns, written by Mr. Lyon. The first edition abounds 'with
typographical errors, many of which were corrected in the second
edition. This specimen of Daye's printing does not exhibit the
appearance of good workmanship. The compositor must have been
wholly unacquainted with punctuation. " The Preface," is the
running title to that part of the work. " The " with a period, is on
the left hand page, and " Preface," on the right. Periods are
often omitted where they should be placed, and not seldom used
where a comma only was necessary. Words of one syllable, at the
end of lines, are sometimes divided by a hyphen ; at other times
those of two or more syllables are divided without one; the spelling
is bad and irregular. One thing is very singular — at the head of
every left hand page throughout' the book, the work " Psalm" is
spelled as it should be; at the head of every right hand page, it has
an E final thus, " Psalme." Daye was probably bred a pressman;
the press work is passable.
This was commonly called The Bay Psalm Book, but afterwards
The New England Version of the Psalms. The Rev. Thomas
Prince, of Boston, who published a revised and improved edition in
1758, gives, in his preface, the followiog account of its origin and of
the first edition printed by Daye, viz : " By 1636 there were come
over hither, near thirty pious and learned Ministers, educated in the
Universities of England ; and from the same exalted Principles of
Scripture Purity in Religious Worship, they set themselves to
Massachusetts. 47
translate the Psalms and other Scripture Songs into English Metre
as near as possible to the inspired Original. They committed this
Work especially to the Rev. Mr. Weld, and the Rev. John Eliot' of
Roxbury, well acquainted with the Hebrew, in which the Old Testa-
ment, and with the Greek, in which the New, were originally written.
They finished the Psalms in 1640, which were first printed by Mr.
Daye that year, at our Cambridge, and had the Honor of being the
First Book printed in North America, and as far as I find in this
whole New World." 2
1640. An Almanack for 1640.
1641. A Catechism, agreed upon by the Elders at the Desire of
the Genera! Court. ^
1641. Body of Liberties. [This book contained an hundred
Laws, which had been drawn up pursuant to an order of the General
court by Nathaniel Ward, pastor of the church in Ipswich. Mr.
Ward had been a minister in England, and formerly a practitioner
of law in the courts of that country.] ^
1641. An Almanack for 1641. [One or more almanacs were
every year printed at the Cambridge press. In all of them the
year begins with March.]
1642. Theses, etc., in Latin, of the first graduates in Harvard
College.
1647. The Psalms in Metre. Faithfully translated for the use,
Edification and Comfort of the Saints, in public and private, espe-
cially in New England. Cro. 8vo, 300 pages.
[This was a second edition, somewhat amended, and a few Spiritual
Songs added. After this edition was published, the Rev. Henry
Dunster, President of Harvard College, and a master of the Oriental
languages, and Mr. Richard Lyon, educated at a university in
Europe, were appointed a committee further to revise and improve
the PsaJms, which service they performed in two or three years ;
' Eliot who translated the Bible into the Indian language.
'^ The reverend annalist is here in an error. Printing was introduced
into Mexico, and other Spanish provinces in America, many years before
the settlement of the English colonies in North America.
' This work is mentioned in Gov. Winthrop's Journal.
* The Body of Liberties had been revised and altered by the general
court, and sent to every town for further consideration. This year the
court again revised and amended the laws contained in that book, and
published and established them as an experiment for three years.
Mr. Ward was the author of Th^ Simple Cobler of Acjawam, a book
celebrated in New England in the seventeenth century.
48 History of Printing in America.
whea another edition was published, with the addition of other
scriptural songs. This revised version went through numerous
editions, in New England. It was reprinted in England and Scot-
land ; and was used in many of the English dissenting congregations,
as well as in a number of the churches in Scotland — it was added
to several English and Scotch editions of the Bible; and, went
through fifty editions, including those published in Europe ]'
1647. Danforth's [Samuel] Almanack. " Cambridg, Printed
1648" The typography is rather better than usual. ■^
1648. The Laws of the Colony of Massachusetts; drawn up by
order of, and adopted by, the General Court, etc. Folio. I have
not found a copy of this work.
1648. [About] Astronomical Calculations. By a Youth. [Urian
Oakes, then student at Cambridge ; where he was afterwards settled
in the ministry, and elected president of Harvard College] The
Almanack had the motto — Parvum parva decent ; sed inest sua
gratia parvis. The year in which this was published is not ascer-
tained, nor by whom printed. ^
1649. Danforth's [Samuel] Almanack. "Cambridg, Printed."
Besides the works already enumerated, there were many
others printed by Daye; but no copies of them are now
to be found.'*
Although I have not been able to discover a copy of the
laws, printed in 1648 ; yet, respecting this edition, there
is the following record, viz :
1 It was first published in London, by John Blayne, bookseller, 1652.
" Memorandum by Mr. Thomas — [Inquire of John Farmer the date of an
Almanack printed at Cambridge by Matthew Daye.
Matthew Daye, I presume, was a brother or son of Stephen Daye. He
is not noticed as a printer in any record. I have discovered nothing
printed by him but this almanac. It was undoubtedly done in Stephen
Daye's office by his permission.]
The Almanac referred to as in the possession of Mr. Farmer, the well
known antiquary, is now in the rich collection of George Brinley, Esq.,
of Hartford, Conn. The date is 1647. The imprint " Cambridge printed
by Mathew Daye ; and to be sold by Hezekiah Usher, at Boston." For
notice of Mathew Daye, see Mass. Hist. Soc. Proceedings, iii, 154.
' It is mentioned by Mather in his Magnalia, by Holmes in his HisU>ry
of Cambridge, in Hist. Soc. Coll., and by others.
*A list of all known publications in this country before 1776, is
appended to •fliis edition. — H.
Massachusetts. 49
" At a General Court of Elections held at Boston 8th month,
1648. It is ordered by the court that the Booke of Lawes now at
the presse may be sould in Quires, at Ss. the booke, provided that
every member of this court shall have one without price, and the
Auditor Generall and Mr. Joseph Hills ; for which there shall be
fifty in all taken up to be so disposed by the appointment of this
court." Appendix D.
Samuel Green, was the son of Bartholomew and Eliza-
beth Green, who, with their children and other relations,
were among the early settlers of Cambridge. Samuel
Green, then only sixteen years of age, arrived with Governor
Winthrop. He was'in Cambridge eight years before Daye
came from England; but was unknown as a printer
until about 1649, nearly eleven years after Daye's arrival.
Some writers, since the year 1733, erroneously mention
Green as "the iirst who printed in New England, or in
North America."^
All the records I have examined are silent respecting
the cause of Daye's relinquishing the management of the
press ; nor do they give any reason why his place in the
printing house was supplied by the appointment of Green.
The similarity of Green's first printing to that of Daye's,
induces me to believe that Green was unacquainted with
the art when he undertook the management of the press,
* " December 28th, deceased here Mr. Bartholomew Green, one of the
deacons of the South Church ; who has been tbe principal printer of this
town and country near forty years, in the 67th year of bis age."
" His father was Capt. Samuel Green tbe famous printer of Cambridge,
who arrived with Gov. Winthrop in 1630. He used to tell bis children
that, upon tbeir first coming ashore, he and several others were for some
■time glad to lodge in empty casks, to shelter them from the weather.
This Capt. Green was a commission officer of the military company at
Cambridge for above 60 years together. He died there Jan. 1, 1701-2,
aged 87, highly esteemed and beloved both for piety and a martial genius.
He had nineteen children, eight by the first wife, and eleven by his second,
who was a daughter of Elder Clark of Cambridge." — Boston News Letter,
Jan. 4, 1733. '
50 History of Printing in America,
and that he was assisted by Daye, who continued to
reside in Cambridge; and whose poverty, probably, in-
duced him to become, not only an instructor, but a
journeyman to Green.
By the records of the colony, it appears, that the
president of the college still had the direction of the
concerns of the printing house, and made contracts for
printing; and that he was responsible for the produc-
tions of the press, until licensers were appointed. I have
extracted the following from the records of 1650 and 1654 :
" At a third meeting of the General Court of Elections
at Boston, the 15th of October, 1650, It is ordered that
Richard Bellingham, Esquir, the Secretary, and Mr. Hills,
or aney Two of them, are appointed a Comittee to take
order for the printing of Lawes Agreed vppon to be
printed, to determine of all Things in reference thereunto.
Agreeing with the President ffor the printing of them with
all Expedition and to Alter the title if there be Cawse."
" At a General Court of Elections, held at Boston, the
third of May, 1654. It is ordered by this Court that
henceforth the Secretary shall, within tenn dayes after
this present sessions, and so from time to time, deliver a
copie of all Lawes that are to be published unto the
President or printer, who shall forthwith make an Impres-
sion thereof to the noumber of five. Six, or Seven hundred
as the Court shall order, all which Coppies the Treasurer
shall take of and pay for in wheate, or otherwise to Con-
tent, for the l^oumber of five hundred, after the rate of
one penny a Sheete, or eight shillings a hundred for five
hundred sheetes of a Sorte, for so many sheetes as the
bookes shall contajne, and the Treasurer shall disterbute
the bookes, to every magistrate one, to every Court one,
to the Secretary one, to each towne where no magistrate
dwells one, and the rest amongst the Townes that beare
publick charge with this jurisdiction, according to the
Massachusetts. 51
noumber of freemen in eacli Towne. And the order tliat
Ingageth the Secretary to transcribe coppies for the Townes
and others, is in that respect repealed." ^
" At a General Court held at Boston 9th of June, 1654,
Upon Conference with Mr. Dunster, [president of the
college] and the printer in reference to the imprinting of
the Acts of the General Court, whereby we understand
some inconveniencies may accrue to the Printer by print-
ing that Law which recites the agreement for printing.
It is therefore ordered, that the said law be not put forth
in print, but kept amongst the written records of this
Court."
Whether Green was, or was not acquainted with print-
ing, he certainly, some time after he began that business,
prosecuted it in such a way as, generally, met approbation.
He might, by frequenting the printing house, when it was
under the care of Daye, have obtained that knowledge of
the art, which enabled him, with good workmen, to carry
it on ; be this as it may, it is certain that as he proceeded
with the execution of the business, he seems to have
acquired more consequence as a printer ; his work, how-
ever, did not discover that skill of the compositor, or
the pressman, that was afterwards shown when Johnson,
who was sent over to assist in printing the Indian Bible,
arrived.
In 1658, Green petitioned the general court for a grant
of land. The court took his petition into consideration,
and determined as follows, viz.
" At the Second Sessions of the General Court held at
Boston the 19th of October, 1658, in answer to the Peticon
of Samuel Green, of Cambridge, printer. The Court
^ I have quoted ancient records in many instances, as they not only
give facts correctly, but convey to us the language, etc., of the periods in
which they were made.
52 History of Printing in America.
judgeth it meete for his Encouragement to grannt him
three hundred acres of Land where it is to be found."
In 1659, the records of the colony contain the following
order of the General court. " It is ordered by this Court
that the Treasurer shall be and hereby is empowered to dis-
burse out of the Treasury what shall be necessary tending
towards the printing of the Lawes, to Samuel Greene, re-
ferring to his Pajnes therein or otherwise." This edition
of the Laws was ordered to be printed December 1658,
and was finished at the press, October 16th, 1660.
From the Manuscript records of the commissioners of
the United Colonies, who were agents for the corporation
in England for propagating the gospel among the Indians
in ]^ew England, we find that in 1656 there were two
presses in Cambridge, both under the care of Green. One
belonged to the college, which undoubtedly was the press
that Mr. Glover purchased in England, and Daye brought
over to America; the other was the property of the
corporation in England. There were types appropriated
to each.
The corporation, for a time, had their printing executed
in London ; but when the Indian youth had been taught
to read, &c., at the school at Cambridge, established for
the purpose, and Mr. Eliot and Mr. Pierson had translated
Primers and Catechisms into the Indian language for the
common use of the Indians, and eventually translated the
Bible, it became necessary that these works should be
printed in America, under the inspection of the transla-
tors. For this reason the corporation sent over a press
and types, furnished every printing material for their
work, and even paid for mending of the press when out of
repair. In September, 1654, the commissioners in the
United Colonies found that a sufiicient quantity of paper
and types for the purpose of executing the works which
were projected had not been received, they therefore,
Massachusetts. 63
wrote to the corporation in England for an augmentation
to the value of £20.^ The articles arrived in 1655.
Green judging it necessary to have more types for the
Indian work, in 1658, petitioned the General Court to
that purpose. The court decided thereon as follows, viz.
" At a General Court holden at Boston 19th of May,
1658. In answer to the Peticon of Samuel Green, printer,
at Cambridge, The Court Judgeth it meete to Comend
the consideration therof to the Comissioners of the United
Colonjes at their next meeting that so if they see meete
they may write to the Corporation in England for the
procuring of twenty pounds worth more of letters for the
vse of the Indian Colledg."
"When the press and types, &c., sent by the corporation
in England, for printing the Bible and other books in the
Indian Language, arrived they were added to the printing
materials belonging to the college, and altogether made a
well furnished printing house. ^ The types were very good,
and the faces of them as handsome as any that were made
at that time; they consisted of small founts of nonpareil,
brevier, long primer, small pica, pica, english, great primer,
and double pica ; also, small casts of long primer and pica
Hebrew, Greek, and blacks. The building occupied for a
printing house, was well suited to the business. It had
been designed for a college for the Indian youth.
' All the sums are in sterling money.
' General Daniel Gookin, who lived in Cambridge, and who, in 1662,
was appointed one of the two first licensers of the press, mentions in his
work, entitled Historical Collections of the Indians of New England dedicated
to King Charles II, that " the houses erected for the Indian college, built
strong and substantial of brick, at the expense of the Corporation in
England for propagating the Gospel in New England, and cost between
300^. and 400^. not being improved for the ends intended, by reason of
the death and failing of Indian scholars, was taken to accommodate
English scholars, and for placing and using the Printing Press belonging
to the college," &c. This building was taken down many years since.
It stood not far from the other buildings of the college.
54 History of Printing in America.
Green now began printing the Bible in tbe Indian lan-
guage, which even at this day would be thought a work of
labor, and must, at that early period of the settlement of
the country, have been considered a business difficult
to accomplish, and of great magnitude. It was a work of
so much consequence as to arrest the attention of the
nobility and gentry of England, as well as that of King
Charles, to whom it was dedicated. The press of Harvard
college, in Cambridge, Massachusetts, was for a time, as
celebrated as the presses of the universities of Oxford and
Cambridge, in England. Having obtained many particu-
lars relating to the printing of this edition of the Bible, I
will follow Green through that arduous undertaking.
In 1659, Hezekiah Usher, merchant, and bookseller, of
Boston, agent for the corporation, charges that body £40
paid Green for printing " the Psalms and Mr. Pierson's
Cattechisme," &c., and credits 80 £ in printing types; he
also gives credit for one hundred and four reams of paper
sent by the corporation toward printing the IS'ew Testa-
ment " in the Indian language." The corporation in a
letter dated London, April 28, 1660, and directed to the
commissioners, observes : " Conserning youer Printing
the New Testament in the Indian Language, a sheet
whereof you*haue transmitted to vs, wee concurr with
youerselues therin, and doe approue of that prouision you
have made for printing the same conceiueing and offering
as our judgments that it is better to print fifteen hundred
than but a thousand; hopping that by incurragement
from Sion Collidge, with whom we haue late conference,
you may bee enabled to print fifteen hundred of the
Quid Testament likewise."
Usher, in his account rendered to the corporation in
1660, debits the stock of the corporation with two hundred
reams of printing paper, "bought since he rendered his
last account," and with printing ink and types, and
Massachusetts. 55
" setting them in the presse," the gross sum of £120 1 8 ;
and, to " cash paid Mr. Green for distributing the ffont of
letters and printing six sheets of the New Testament in
Indian att four pounds per sheet, £24."
In September 1661, the commissioners, who that year
met at Plymouth, wrote to Mr. Usher ; and among other
things, thanked him for his " care in prouiding Matterials
and furthering the printing of the Bible, and desire the
continuance of the same vntill it bee Issved;" and to
" pay Mr. Green for printing the same as formerly ; " also
to " demaund and receiue of Mr. Green the whole Impres-
sion of the 'New Testament in Indian, now finished; and
take care for the binding of two hundred of them strongly
and as speedily as may bee with leather or as may bee
most serviceable for the Indians ; and deliuer them forth
as you shall haue direction from any of the commissioners
for the time being of which keep an exact account that
soe it may bee seen how they are Improved and disposed
of; alsoe, wee pray you take order for the printing of a
thousand coppyes of Mr. Eliotts Catichismes which we
vnderstand are much wanting amongst the Indians, which
being finished, Receiue from the Presse and dispose of
them according to order abouesaid."
The agent, in his account current with the corporation
in 1662, has, among other charges, one for " Disbursements
for printing the Bible as per bill of particulars £234 11 8."^
The following is the bill of particulars, as charged by Green, viz :
To mending of the windowes of the printing house, ... £ 1 05
To pack thrid and uellum, , 5 6
To 2 barrens of Inke and leather for balls, 20 0 0
To hide for the presse being broken, 1 00
To 160 Reams of Paper Att 6s. per ream, 48 0 0
To printing the Title sheet to the New Testament,. . . 10 0
To printing 1500 Cattechismes, 15 0 0
To printing 21 sheets of the Old Testament, att 31b. 10s.
per sheet Mr. lohnson being absent, 73 10 0
56 History of Printing in America.
This bill was only for one year ending September, 1662.
At that time Green, by direction, gave to the commis-
sioners :
" An account of the Vtensils for printing belonging to the Corporation,
in the custody of Samuell Green of Cambridge Printer and giuen
in vnder his hand, viz :
The presse with what belongs to it with onetinn pann and two frisk-
etts.
Item two table of Cases of letters [types] with one ode [odd] Case.
Item the ffontt of letters together with Imperfections that came
since.
Item one brasse bed, one Imposing stone.
Item two barrells of Inke, 3 Chases, 2 composing stickes one ley
brush 2 candlestickes one for the Case the other for the Presse.
Item the frame and box for the sesteren [water trough.]
Item the Riglet brasse rules and scabbard the Sponge 1 galley 1
mallett 1 sheeting [shooting] sticke and furniture for the chases.
Item the letters [types] that came before that were mingled with the
colledges."
At the meeting of the commissioners in September, 1663,
the agent charges the corporation with the balance due for
printing the Bible, which he paid that month to Green, in
full for his services, £140 12 6. Green, at this meeting,
gave in an account of all the printing paper he had received
at different times, from the corporation and their agent,
amounting to 469 reams ; 368 reams of which he had used
in printing the Bible, 30 reams in printing two Catechisms,
and there remained in his hands 71 reams.
At 'the meeting of the commissioners in September,
1664, among the articles charged in the agent's account
To printing 25 sheets with his healp att 50 shill. per
sheet, 62 10 0
To binding 200 Testaments att 6 d. a peece, 5 0 0
To Mr. Johnsons board, 7 5 9
£234 11 8
Massachusetts. 57
with the corporation, was the following bill of sundries
paid to Green, viz :
"To expences about the presse for mending it; makeing
new Chases, and to twenty seauen skins for balls &c. £ 4 4 4
To two smale Chests to put the Bibles in [20 Copies] that
were sent to England. 5 0
To printing the Indian Psalmes to go with the Bible, 13
sheets att 2 lb per sheet, 26 0 0
To printing the Epistle dedicatory to the Bible, 10 0
To printing Baxter's Call in Indian, eight sheets at 50s.
per sheet, 20 0 0
To printi-ng the Psalter in Indian, 9 sheets, at 20s. 9 0 0
To one yeares board of Johnson, 15 0 0
The agent, in his account for 1669, charges, " Cash
paid Green for binding and clasping 200 Indian Bibles
at 2 s. 6 d. £25.— For binding 200 Practice of Piety
at 6d. £5.— For do. 400 Baxter's Call at 3s. per 100,
12s." &c.
I have made a calculation from the documents I have
seen, and find the whole expense attending the carrying
through the press, 1000 copies of the Bible, 500 additional
copies of the ]^ew Testament, an edition of Baxter's Call
to the Unconverted, an edition of the Psalter, and two
editions of Eliot's Catechism, all in the Indian language,
including the cost of the types for printing the Bible, and
the binding a part of them, and also the binding of a part
of Baxter's Call, and the Psalters, amounted to a fraction
more than £1200, sterling. The Bible was printed on a
fine paper of pot size, and in quarto. After the first
edition of the Bible, and some other books in the Indian
language, had been completed at the press belonging to
the corporation for propagating the gospel, &c., the cor-
poration made a present of their printing materials to the
college. On this occasion the government of the college
ordered as follows :
58 History of Printing in America.
"Harvard Colledge Sept. 20, 1670. The honorable
Corporation for the Indians having ordered their Print-
ing Presse, letters, and Ytensils to be delivered to the
Colledare, the Treasurer is ordered forthwith to take order
for the receiveing thereof, and to dispose of the same for
the Colledge use and improvement."^ Green, by direc-
tion, gave to the president a schedule of the articles, and
valued them at £80. That sum must have been very low.
"With these types he began another edition of the Indian
Bible.2
Some small religious treatises having been published in
1662, which the general court, or some of the ruling
clergy, judged rather too liberal, and tending to open the
door of heresy, licensers of the press were appointed ; ^
but on the 27th of May, 1663, the general court " Ordered
that the Printing Presse be at liberty as formerly, till this
Court shall take further order, and the late order is
hereby repealed." * After this order was passed, a more
free use of the press seems to have been made ; this
immediately arrested the attention of government, and
soon awakened their fears ; and the following rigid edict
was in consequence passed, viz.
" At a General Court called by order from the Gover-
nour, Deputy Governour, and other Magistrates, held at
Boston 19th of October 1664. For the preventing of
Irregularyties and abuse to the authority of this Country,
by the Printing Presse, it is ordered by this Court and the
authority thereof, that theeir shall no Printing Presse be
allowed in any Towne within this Jurisdiction, but in
1 College Records vol. i.
"The New Testament, of which five hundred octavo copies were
printed, was first put to the press, and finished, in 1681, and the whole
Bible completed in 1686.
'Major Daniel Gookin and the Rev. Jonathan Mitchell were the first
appointed licensers of the press. [Ancient records of the colony.]
* Ancient records of the colony.
Massachusetts. 69
Cambridge,^ nor shall any person or persons presume to
print any Copie but by the allowance first had and
obtayned under the hands of such as this court shall from
tjme to tjme Impower; the President of the CoUedge,
Mr. John Shearman, Mr. Jonathan Mitchell and Mr.
Thomas Shepheard, or any two of them to survey such
Copie or Coppies and to prohibit or allow the same
according to this order; and in case of non observance
of this order, to forfeit the Presse to the Country and be
disabled from Vsing any such profession within this Juris-
diction for the- tjme to Come. Provided this order shall
not extend to the obstruction of any Coppies which
this Court shall Judge meete to order to be published
in Print." ^
Government appears not only to have required a com-
pliance with the above law, but to have exercised a power
independent of it. The licensers of the press had per-
mitted the reprinting of a book written by Thomas k
Kempis, entitled Imitation of Christ &c., a work well
known in the Christian world. This treatise was repre-
sented to the court by some of its members, in their
session in 1667, as being heretical ; whereupon the court
passed an order as follows : " This Court being informed
that there is now in the Presse reprinting, a book that
Imitates of Christ, or to that purpose, written by Thomas
Kempis, a popish minister, wherein is contayned some
things that are lesse safe to be infused amongst the people
of this place, Doe comend to the licensers of the Presse
the more full revisale thereof, and that in the meane tjme
there be no further progresse in that work."
^ By this order it sliould seem that -another press had been set up, or
what is most probable, intended to be, in Boston. But I have not found
any book printed in Boston, or in any other town in Massachusetts,
excepting Cambridge, until the year 1674.
^Ancient manuscript records of the colony.
60 History of Printing in America.
In 1671, the general court ordered an edition of the
laws, revised, &c., to be printed. Heretofore the laws had
been published at the expense of the colony. John Usher,
a wealthy bookseller, who was then or soon after treasurer
of the province, made interest to have the publishing of
this edition on his own account. This circumstance pro-
duced the first instance in this country of the security of
copyright by law. Usher contracted with Green to print
the work, but suspecting that Green might print additional
copies for himself, or that Johnson, who was permitted to
print at Cambridge, would reprint from his copy, two
laws, at the request of Usher, were passed to secure to
him this particular work. These laws are copied from
the manuscript records ; the first was in May, 1672, and
is as follows, viz : " In answer to the petition of John
Vsher, the Court Judgeth it meete to order, and be it by
this Court ordered and Enacted, That no Printer shall
print any more Coppies than are agreed and paid for by
the owner of the Coppie or Coppies, nor shall he nor any
other reprint or make Sale of any of the same without the
said Owner's consent upon the forfeiture and penalty
of treble the whole charge of Printing and paper of the
quantity paid for by the owner of the Coppie, to the
said owner or his Assigns."
"When the book was published. Usher, not satisfied
with the law already made in his favor,, petitioned the
court to secure him the copyright for seven years. In
compliance with the prayer of his petition, the court in
May, 1673, decreed as follows: "John Vsher Having
been at the sole Chardge of the Impression of the booke
of Lawes, and presented the Governour, Magistrates,
Secretary, as also every Deputy, and the Clark of the
deputation with one. The Court Judgeth it meete to
order that for at least Seven years, Ynlesse he shall have
sold them all before that tjme, there shall be no other or
Massachusetts. 61
further Impression made by any person thereof in this
Jurisdiction, under the penalty this court ^hall see cause
to lay on any that shall adventure in that Kind, besides
making ffull sattisfaction to the said Jno Ysher or his
Assigns, for his chardge and damage thereon. Voted by
the whole court met together."
A revised edition of the laws of the colony was put to
the press in 1685. Respecting this edition the court
" Ordered, for the greater expedition in the present revisal
of the Laws they shall be sent to the Presse Sheete by
Sheete, and the Treasurer shall make payment to the
Printer for the same, Paper and work; and Elisha Cook
and Samuel Sewall Esqrs. are desired to oversee the
Presse about that work."
There is among the records of the colony for 1667,
one as follows : " Layd out to Ensign Samuel Green of
Cambridge printer three hundred Acres of land in the
wilderness on the north of Merrimacht River on the west
side of Haverhill, bounded on the north east of two little
ponds beginning at a red oak in Haverhill," &c. " The
court allowed of the returne of this farme as laid out." By
the records of the earliest English proprietors of Cam-
bridge, it appears that Green was the owner of several
valuable tracts of land in and about that town.
Green often mentioned to his children, that for some
time after his arrival in 'New England, he, and several
others, were obliged to lodge in large empty casks, hav-
ing no other shelter from the weather; so few were the
huts then erected by our hardy and venerable ancestors.
He had nineteen children; eight by his first wife, and
eleven by a second, who was daughter of Mr. Clarke,
an elder in the church in Cambridge, and to whom he
was married Feb. 23, 1662.' Mne of the children by
'Middlesex Records of Marriages and Deatlis, vol. iir.
62 History of Printing in America.
the second wife lived to the age of fiftj-two years, or
upwards.
The Cambridge company of Militia elected Green to
he their captain ; and, as such, he bore a commission for
thirty years. He took great pleasure in military exer-
cises ; and when he became through age too infirm to walk
to the field, he insisted on being carried there in his chair
on days of muster, that he might re\dew and exercise his
company.^
He was for many years chosen town clerk. And in the
Middlesex Records, vol. i, is the following particular, viz :
"At a County Court held at Cambridge the 5th 8th
month 1652, Samuel Green is alowed Clearke of the
Writts for Cambridge."
Green continued printing till he became aged. He was
a pious and benevolent man, and as such was greatly
esteemed. He died at Cambridge, January .1st, 1702,
aged eighty-seven years.
Until the commencement of the revolution in 1775,
Boston was not without one or more printers by the name
of Green. These all descended from Green of Cambridge.
Some of his descendants have, for nearly a century past,
been printers in Connecticut. One of them, in 1740,
removed to Annapolis, and established the Maryland
Gazette^ which was long continued by the family.
~So printing was done at Cambridge after Green's death.
The press was established in this place sixty years ; and,
about fifty of them. Green, under government, was the
manager of it. He was printer to the college as long as
he continued in business.
Soon after his decease, the printing materials were
removed from Cambridge and probably sold. It does
not appear that the corporation of the college owned any
1 Boston News Letter, Jan., 1733.
Massachusetts. 63
types after this time till about the year 1718, when Mr.
Thomas Hollis, of London, a great benefactor to the col-
lege, among other gifts, presented to the university a
fount, or cast, of Hebrew, and another of Greek types,
both of them of the size of long primer. The Greek was
not used till 1761, when the government of the college
had a work printed entitled, Pietas et Gratulatio Collegii
Cantahrigiensis. apud Novanglos, dedicated to King George
m, on his accession to the throne ; two of these poetical
essays being written in Greek, called these types into
use. They were never used but at that time, and were in
January, 1764, destroyed by the fire that consumed Har-
vard hall, one of the college buildings, in which the types
and college library were deposited; the cast of Hebrew
escaped, having been sent to Boston some time before to
print Professor Sewall's HebrcAV Grammar.
The following is a catalogue of the books that I have
ascertained were printed by Green, and by Green and
Johnson ; the greater part of them I have seen. Those
in which Marmaduke Johnson was concerned, have the
names of the printers added.
Catalogue of Books printed hy Green.
1649. " A Platform of Church Discipline gathered out of the
word of God : and agreed upon by the Elders ; and Messengers of
the Churches assembled in the Synod at Cambridge in New Eng-
land to be presented to the Churches and General! Court for their
consideration and acceptance, in the Lord. The Eight Moneth
Anno 1649. Printed by ;S'. G. at Cambridge in New England and
are to be Sold at Cambridge and Boston Anno Dom : 1649." Quarto,
of pot size, 44 pages.
[This book appears to be printed by one who was but little ac-
quainted with the typographic art; it is a proof that Green was not
bred to it, and that this was one of the first books from the press
after he began printing. The type is new pica, or one but little
worn ) the press work is very bad, and that of the case no better.
The punctuation in the title is exactly copied ; the compositor did
64 History of Printing in America.
not seem to know the use of points ; there are spaces before com-
mas, periods, parentheses, &c. The head of The Preface is in two
lines of large capitals, but has no point after it — nor is there any
after FINIS, which word is in two line capitals at the end of
the book. The pages of the Preface have a running title ; with
the folio, or number of the pages, in brackets immediately follow-
ing in the centre of a line, thus,
The Preface [2]
The printer did not appear to have any acquaintance with sig-
natures. The book is printed and folded in whole sheets, without
insets ; in the first sheet, at the bottom of the second page, is Aa,
third page Aaa, fifth page J.aa, seventh page Aaaa. The second
sheet has the signature A at the bottom of the first page of that
sheet; A a, third page, A a a, fifth page, and Aaaa, seventh
page. The third sheet begins with B, which the following sheets,
have as many signatures to each as the first and second ; but
all, excepting those on the first and third pages of a sheet, were
uncommon, and have not any apparent meaning. Every part of the
work shows the want of common skill in the compositor. Facs, and
ornamented large capitals cut on wood, are used at the beginning of
the preface, and at the first chapter of the ^ork. A head piece of
flowers is placed at the beginning of the text, and a line of flowers
between each chapter. In the book are many references to scrip-
ture, in marginal notes, on brevier. Letters of abbreviation are
frequently used — such as comend, allowace, compay, acquait, fro,
offece, ofi'eded, partakig, cofession, &c. The spelling is very ancient,
as els, forme, vpon, owne, wildernes, powr, eyther, wee, acknow-
ledg, minde, doctrin, therin, wherin, himselfe, patrone, choyce,
soveraigne, sinne, satisfie, griefe, &c. As I believe this book to be
one of the first printed by Green, I have been thus particular in
describing it ; soon after this period his printing was much im-
proved.] [The Platform, &c., was reprinted in London, in 1653,
for " Peter Cole, at the Sign of the printing Press, in Cornhill, near
the Royal Exchange."]
1650. Norton's [John] Heart of New England rent at the Blas-
phemies of the present Generation. 4to. 58 pages.
1650. The Psalms, Hymns, and Spiritual Songs of the Old and
New Testament, faithfully translated into English Metre. For the
Use, Edification and Comfort of the Saints in publick and private,
especially in New England. 2 Tim. 3 : 16, 17. Col. 3 : 16, Eph. 5 :
Massachusetts. 65
18, 19. James 5 : 13." Crown 8vo, 308 pages. [This was the
New England version of the Psalms, revised and improved by
President Dunster and Richard Lyon, mentioned by the Rev.
Thomas Prince.]
1653. Eliot's [John] Catechism. [In the Indian language.
Printed at the expense of the corporation in England for propagat-
ing the gospel among the Indians in New England.]
1655. God's Mercy shewed to his People in giving them a faithful
Ministry and Schooles of Learning, for the continual Supplyes thereof.
Delivered in a sermon Preached at Cambridge the Day after the
Commencement, by Charles Chauncy, B. D., President of Harvard
College, in New England. Published with some additions thereto, at
the Request of divers Honoured and much Respected Friends, for'
publick Benefit, as they judged. Small 8vo, 56 pages.
1656. An Almanack for the year of our Lord 1656. By T. S.
Philomathemat. Foolscap. 8vo. 16 pages [This Almanack I own.
It appears that an Almanack was annually printed at Cambridge
from the first establishment of the press, till near the close of the
17th century. Many of them I have seen, and these I shall more
particularly notice.]
1657. An Almanack for the year of our Lord 1657. By S. B.
Philomathemat. Foolscap. 8vo. 16 pages. [I have a copy of this.]
1657. Mather's [Richard] Farewell Exhortation to the Church
and People of Dorchester, in New England. " Printed at Cam-
bridge." 4to. 28 pages.
The Life and Death of that deservedly Famous Mr. John Cotton,
the late Reverend Teacher of the Church of Christ at Boston in
New England. Collected out of the Writings and Information of
the Rev. Mr. John Davenport, of New Haven, the Rev. Mr. Samuel
Whiting at Lynne, the pious Widow of the Deceased, and others.
And compiled by his unworthy Successour. 4to. 56 pages.
1658. Pierson's Catechism. [In the Indian language, for the
use of the Indians in New Haven jurisdiction.]
1659. Versions of the Psalms in the Indian Language.
1660. The Humble Petition and Address of the General Court
Sitting at Boston, New England, unto the High and Mighty Prince,
Charles the Second. 4to, 8 pages.
1660. The Book of the General Lawes and Libertyes concerning
the Inhabitants of the Massachusets, collected out of the Records
of the General Court, for the several years wherein they were made
and established. And now Revised by the same Court, and disposed
66 History of Printing in America.
into an Alphabetical order, and published by the same Authority in
the General Court holden at Boston, in May, 1649. Whosoever
tJiere/ore resisteth the Power ^ resisteih the Ordinance of God, and
they that resist, receive to themselves damnation. Rom. 13 : 2.
Folio, 100 pages. Cambridge, [N. E.] Printed according to Order
of the General Court, 1660. [This volume has a Preface addressed
" To our Beloved Brethren and Neighbours the Inhabitants of the
Massachusets, the Governour, Assistants, and Deputies Assembled
in the General Court of that Jurisdiction wish Grace and Peace in
our Lord Jesus Christ," signed, " By Order of the Generall Court,
Edward Rawson, Secret." There is an Alphabetical Table or Index
at the end. It was printed by Samuel Green, but his name does
not appear in the imprint. Only one perfect copy of this work can
be found, and that is in the Library of the American Antiquarian
Society.] '
1661. The New Testament of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.
Translated into the Indian Language and ordered to be printed by
the Commissioners of the United Colonies in New England, at the
Charge, and with the Consent of the Corporation in England for the
Propagation of the Gospel amongst the Indians in New England.
The Indian title is thus, Wusku Wuttestamentum Nul-Lordumun
Jesus Christ Nuppoquohwussuaeneumun. With marginal notes.
Printed by Samuel Green and Marmaduke Johnson. The whole in
the Indian language, except having two title pages, one of which is
in English. Quarto. \_Appendix E.^ [Some copies were dedicated
to the king.]
1661. Eliot's [John] Catechism. [In the Indian language]
Second edition. [1000 copies were printed.]
1661. The Psalms of David in Indian Verse, entitled, Wame
Ketoohomae Uketoohomaongash David. 4to. [This Indian version
accompanied the New Testament, and when the Old Testament was
finished they were bound up together.]
1662. Propositions to the Elders and other Messengers of the
Churches, concerning Baptisme. Rec9mmended by the General
Court. 4to, 48 pages.
1662. Answer of the Elders and other Messengers of the
Churches assembled at Boston 1662, to the Questions proposed to
them by order of the Honoured General Court. 4to. 60 pages.
1662. An Almanack for 1662.
' It was Secretary Rawson's private copy. — H.
Massachusetts. 67
1662. Anti-Synodalia Scripta Americana. By John AlHn of
Dedham. 4to. 38 pages. ' [No printer's name nor year are men-
tioned. This was reprinted in London.]
1663. The Holy Bible : Containing the Old Testament and the
New. Translated into the Indian Language, and ordered to be
printed by the Commissioners of the United Colonies in New Eng-
land, at the Charge and with the Consent of the Corporation in
England for the Propagation of the Gospel amongst the Indians in
New England. [Appendix E.'\ Quarto. Printed by Samuel Green
and Marmaduke Johnson. It had marginal notes ; and also an Indian
title page, for which see the second edition in 1685. [This work
was printed with new types, full faced bourgeois on brevier body
cast for the purpose, and on good paper. The New Testament which
was first printed in 1661, was on th(5 same types and like paper.
The Old Testament was three years in the press.
1663. An Almanack for 1663. By Israel Chauncy. ^iXofiaSyis*
Printed by S. Green and M. Johnson.
1663. Davenport's [John, of New Haven] Another Essay for
investigation of the Truth in answer to two Questions concerning,
I. The subject of Baptisoie. II. The Consociation of Churches.
Cambridge. Printed by Samuel Green and Marmaduke Johnson.
4to. 82 pages.
1663. Shepard's Church Membership. 4to. 50 pages.
1663. Shepard's Letter on the Church Membership of Children
and their Right to Baptisme. Printed by S. Green and M. Johnson.
Certain Positions out of the Holy Scriptures, premissed
to the whole ensuing Discourse. Printed at Cambridge. 4to. 80
pages. [Year and printer's name not mentioned.]
1663. Cotton's [John] Discourse on Civil Government in a New
Plantation. 4to. 24 pages. Printed by S. Green and M. Johnson.
1663. Higginson's [John] Cause of God and his People in New
England. An Election Sermon at Boston, 1663. 4to. 28 pages.
1663. Several Laws and Orders made at Several General Courts.
In the years 1661, 1662, 1663. Printed and Published by order of
the General Court. 8 pages. Folio. No imprint. [Printed by
Samuel Green.]
1664. Shepard's Sincere Convert. 12mo.
1664. Anti-Synodalia Americana, 4to. 100 pages. Second
edition. Reprinted at Cambridge by S. G. & M. J., for Hezekiah
Usher of Boston.
'This is an error, tlie author was Rev. Charles Chauncy, John Allin
wrote a reply. — U.
68 HiSTOKY OF Printing in America.
1664. Animadversions upon the Anti-Synodalia Americana,
printed in Old England in the Name of the Dissenting Brethren
in the Synod held at Boston in New England 1662, and written
hy John Allin, Pastor of the Church in Dedham. 4to. 86 pages.
Reprinted by S. Green and M. Johnson.
1664. Defence of the Answers and Arguments of the Synod
met at Boston in the yeare 1662. 4to. 150 pages. Printed by S.
Grreen & M. Johnson, for Hezekiah Usher of Boston. By Richard
Mather.
1664. Defence of the Synod by some of the Elders. 48 pages,
small type. Printed by S. G. & M. J., for Hezekiah Usher of
iBoston.
' 1664. Several Laws and Orders made at Several General Courts.
In the years 1661, 1662, 1664. Printed and Published by Order
of the General Court. 4 pages, folio. No imprint. [Printed by
S. Green.]
1664. Baxter's Call to the Unconverted. Translated into the
Indian Language by the Rev. John Eliot. Small 8vo. 130 pages.
[1000 copies were printed.]
1664. The Psalter. Translated into the Indian Language by
the Rev. John Eliot. Small 8vo. 150 pages. [500 copies were
printed.]
1664. Indian Grammar. About 60 pages. 4to. [No year is
mentioned, as I find is often the case with other printers besides
Green, but it must have been printed about 1664.]
1664. Whiting's [Samuel] Discourse on the Last Judgment.
]2mo. 170 pages. Printed by S. G. and M. J.
1664. Chauncy's [Israel] Almanack for 1664. Printed by S.
Green and M. Johnson.
1665. Nowell's [Alexander] Almanack for 1665.
1665. Collection of the Testimonies of the Fathers of the New
England Churches respecting Baptism. 4to. 32 pages.
1665. Laws and Orders made at the General Courts in
May 3, August 1, and October 11, 1665. Printed and Published
by order of the General Court. 4 pages, folio. No imprint.
[Printed by Samuel Green.]
1665. Manitowompae Pomantamoonk : Sampwshanau Christi-
anoh uttoh woh an Pomantog wussikkitteahonat God. 12mo. 400
pages. [Written in the language of the aborigines of New England.]
The Psalms, Hymns, and Spiritual Songs of the Old and
New Testament, Faithfully Translated into English Metre. For the
Use, Edification and Comfort of the Saints in publick and private.
Massachusetts. 69
especiallyin New England. Small 12mo. 100 pages, two columns
to each, in nonpareil. " Cambridge. Printed for Hezekiah Usher
of Boston."
[This was, I believe, the third edition of the New England Ver-
sion of the Psalms after it had been revised and improved by presi-
dent Dunster, &c., and the fifth, including all the former editions.
\_Appendix E."] I have a complete copy of this edition, but the name of
the printer, and the year in which it was printed, are not mentioned.
It is calculated by being printed in a small page, with a very small
type, to bind up with English editions of the pocket Bible ; and, as
the printing is executed by a good workman, and is the best that I
have seen from the Cambridge press, I conclude, therefore, it could
not be printed by Green before the arrival of Marmaduke Johnson
in 1660 ; I have no doubt it was printed under Johnson's care; and,
probably, soon after the Indian Bible came from the press in 1663.
Johnson was a good printer, and so called by the corporation in
England, who engaged, and sent him over, to assist Green in print-
ing that work. Although in this edition the typography far exceeds
in neatness any work then printed in the country, it is very incor-
rect; but this might have been more the fault of the corrector of
the press, than of the printer. My belief that it was published
about the year 1664, or 1665, is confirmed by its being printed for
Hezekiah Usher, the only bookseller that I can find an account of
at that time, in New England. He dealt largely in merchandise,
and was then agent to the corporation in England, for propagating
the Gospel in New England. It is a curious fact, that nonpareil
types were used so early in this country ; I have not seen them in
any other book printed either at Cambridge, or Boston, before the
revolution ; even brevier types had been but seldom used in the
printing houses in Boston, earlier than 1760. The nonpareil used
for the Psalms was new, and a very handsome faced letter.]
1665. The Conditions for New Planters in the territories of his
Royal Highness the Duke of York. Printed at Cambridge, on the
face of half a sheet.
1665. Practice of Piety. [Translated into the Indian language.]
Small 8vo. about 160 pages.
1666. Whiting's [Samuel, of Lynn] Meditations upon Genesis
xviii, from ver. 23 to the end of the chapter. 12mo. 350 pages.
*' Printed and Sold at Cambridge." [No printer's name, but un-
doubtedly from Green's press.]
1666. Flint's [Josiah] Almanack for 1666. *iXo|ui,a&r)f, after
Flint's name. " Printed Anno Dom. 1666."
70 History of Printing in America.
1666. Several Laws and Orders made at the General Court
Held at Boston the 23d of May, 1666, and 10th of October follow-
ing. Printed and published by Order of the General Court. 4
pages, folio. [Printed by S. Green.]
1667. Mitchell's [Jonathan] Nehemiah upon the Wall. An
Election Sermon, May, 1667. "Printed at Cambridge." [No
printer's name.]
1667. Practice of Piety. Translated into the Indian language,
by the Rev. John Eliot. Second edition.
1667. Beakenbury's [Samuel] Almanack for 1667.
1668. Dudley's [Joseph] Almanack for 1668.
1668. Elegy on the Rev. Thomas Shepard, Pastor of the Church
in Charlestown. By Urian Oakes. 4to.
1668. Wilsoniana Memoria. Or the Life of the Rev. John
Wilson. 12mo.
1668. Several Laws and Orders made at the General Courts of
Election, held at Boston, New England, the 29th of April, 1668.
Printed and Published by their Order. 12 pages, folio. No im-
print. [Printed by S. Green.]
1668. Several Laws and Orders made at the General Court held
at Boston, in New England, October 14th, 1668. Printed and
Published by their Order. 16 pages, folio. [Printed by S.
Green.]
1669. Morton's [Nathaniel] New England's Memorial. 216
pages, 4to. Printed by S- G. & M. J. for John Usher of Boston.
1669. An Almanack for 1669. By J. B. Printed by S. G. &
M.J.
1670. Danforth's Election Sermon at Boston, 1670. 4to. 24
pages. Printed by S. Green and M. Johnson.
1670. Stoughton's [William] Election Sermon, 1670. 4to.
1670. An Almanack for 1670. By J. R. Printed by S. G. &
M.J.
1670. Life and Death of. that Reverend Man of God, Mr. Rich-
ard Mather, Teacher of the Church in Dorchester, New England.
4to. 42 pages. Printed by S. Green and M. Johnson.
1670. Walley's [Thomas, of Boston] Balm of Gilead to heal
Sion's Wounds. An Election Sermon, preached at New Plimouth,
1669. 20 pages, 4to. Printed by S. Green and M. Johnson.
1670. Mather's [Samuel] Testimony from the Scripture against
Idolatry and Superstition, preached in Dublin 1660. 4to. 80 pages.
[No printer's name.] " Reprinted at Cambridge."
Massachusetts. 71
1671. Mather's [Eleazar, of Northampton] Exhortation to the
present and succeeding G-enerations. 4to. 32 pages. Printed by
S. G.kM J.
1671. An Almanack for 1671.
1672. An Artillery Election Sermon 1672. By the Rev. Urian
Oakes. 4to.
1672. Mather's [Increase] Word to the present and succeeding
Generations of New England. 4to. 36 pages.
1672. Eye Salve, or a Watch Word from our Lord Jesus Christ
unto his Churches, especially in the Colony of Massachusetts. An
Election Sermon preached at Boston 1672. By Thomas Shepard,
of Charlestown. 4to. 56 pages. '
1672. Allin's [John, of Dedham] Spouse of Christ coming out
of Affliction leaning upon her Beloved. 4to. 32 pages. " Printed
at Cambridge by Samuel Green, and are to be Sold by John Tappan
of Boston."
1672. The General Laws and Liberties of the Massachusetts
Colony, Revised and alphabetically arranged. To which are added,
Precedents and Forms of things frequently used. With a com-
plete index to the whole. Re-printed by order of the General
Court Holden at Boston, May 15, 1672. Edward Rawson, Seer.
Whosoever therefore resisteth the Power, resisteth the Ordinance of
God; and they that resist shall receive to themselves damnation.
Rom. 13, 2. Folio, 200 pages. [Well printed. There is a small
wooden cut of the colony arms as a frontispiece opposite to the title
page, indififerently executed, and a large handsome head piece cut
on wood at the beginning of the first page of the laws. Printed by
S. Green, for John Usher of Boston.]
1672. The Book of the General Laws of the Inhabitants of
New Plimouth, collected out of the Records of the General Court.
Published by fche Authority of the General Court of that Jurisdic-
tion, held at Plimouth the 6th day of June, 1671. The following
text of scripture is in the title page — Be subject [?] to every Ordi-
nance of Man for the Lord's sake. 1 Pet. ii. 13. Folio. 50 pages,
1672. Indian Logic Primer. By John Eliot.
1672. Several " Laws and Orders " made at the General Court
at Boston, 1672. 8 pages. Folio.
1673. The Book of the General Laws for the People within the
Jurisdiction of Connecticut. Collected out of the Records of the
General Court. Lately revised and published by the Authority of
the General Court of Connecticut, 1672. Has a text from scripture
72 History of Printing in America.
in the title page, viz. — Let us walk honestly as in the Day^ not in
Rioting and Drunkenness ; not in Chambering and Wantonness ;
not in Strife and Envying. Rom. xiii. 13. i [There is a small
wooden cut of the arms of Connecticut in the title page. The arms
are fifteen grape vines, with a hand over them holding a scroll, on
which is this motto. — Sustinet qui transtulit.'] Folio. 76 pages.
1673. New England 'Pleaded with, and pressed to Consider the
Things which concern her Peace. An Election Sermon 1673. By
Urian Oakes. 4to. 64 pages.
1674. Samuel Torrey, of Weymouth. Election Sermon at Ply-
mouth. 4to.
1674. The Unconquerable, All-Conquering, and more than Con-
quering Souldier, or the Successful Warre which a Believer wageth
with the Enemies of his Soul. An Artillery Election Sermon,
June, 1672. By Uriau Oakes. 4to. 46 pages.
1674. David Serving his Generation. An Election Sermon be-
fore the G-eneral Court of New Plimouth, June, 1674. By Samuel
Arnold of Marshfield. 4to. 24 pages. Imprimatur John Oxen-
bridge and Increase Mather.
1674. Several "Laws and Orders," made at the General Court
at Boston, 1674. 4 pages. Folio.
1674. Moody's [Joshua] Souldiers Spiritualized, or the Christian
Souldier orderly and Strenuously engaged in the Spiritual Warre,
and so fighting the Good Fight. A Sermon preached at Boston on
Artillery Election 1674. 4to. 48 pages.
1674. Fitch's [James, of Norwich] Holy Connexion. An Elec-
tion Sermon at Hartford, Connecticut, 1674. 4to. 24 pages.
1675. Several "Laws and Orders" made at the Sessions of the
General Court at Boston in 1675. Folio, 20 pages.
1675. Mather's [Increase] First Principles of New England
concerning the subject of Baptisme and Church Communion. 4to.
56 pages.
1675. Mather's [Increase] Discourse concerning the subject of
Baptisms. 4to. 82 pages.
1676. Heart Garrisoned; or the Wisdome and Care of the
Spiritual Souldier above all Things to Safeguard his Heart. An
Artillery Election Sermon. By Samuel Willard. 4to. 24 pages.
1676. A Brief History of the War with the Indians in New
England from June 24, 1675, when the first Englishman was
*In Mr. Brinley's copy the citation is from " Rom. 13. 1. 3," two more
appropriate verses. — H.
Massachusetts. 73
murdered by the Indians, to August, 1776, when Philip, alias Meta-
comet, principal Author and Beginner of the War was slain. By
Increase Mather. 4to. 56 pages.
1677. Several " Laws and Orders," made at the first Session of
the .General Court for Elections 1677, at Boston. Folio. 4 pages.
1679. An Almanack for 1679. By Philomath.
1680. Wusku Wuttestamentum Nul-lordumun Jesus Christ
Nuppoquohwussuaeneumun. [The New Testament in the Indian
Language. The greater part, including the title page, was printed
in 1680, but the Testament was not completed till the year following.
This was a second edition and consisted of 2,500 copies ; 500 of
which were bound up with the Indian Catechism, and the remainder
reserved to complete a second edition of the whole Bible which came
from the press in the beginning of the year 1686.
1680. A Confession of Faith owned and consented to by the
Elders and Messengers of the Churches assembled at Boston, May
12, 1680, being the Second Session of that Synod.
1682. Narrative of the Captivity and Restoration of Mrs. Mary
Rowlandson. 8vo.
1682. Oakes's [Urian] Fast Sermon, delivered at Cambridge
4to. 32 pages.
1682. Ornaments for the Daughters of Zion; or the Character
and Happiness of a Virtuous Woman. By Cotton Mather. 12mo.
116 pages. Printed by S. G. & B. G. for Samuel Phillips of Bos-
ton.
1684. An Almanack for 1684.
1684. Dennison's [Daniel] Irenicon ; or a Salve for New Eng-
land's Sore. 8vo. 50 pages.
1685. The New England Almanack for 1686. " Printed at
Cambridge by Samuel Green, sen.. Printer to Harvard Col. A. D.
1685."
1685. The Holy Bible, containing the Old Testament and the
New. Translated into the Indian Language, and ordered to be
printed by the Commissioners of the United Colonies in New Eng-
land, &c. This was a second edition of Eliot's Indian Bible ; and,
like the first, it had marginal notes, and an Indian translation of the
New England Version of the Psalms. The Rev. Mr. Cotton, a great
proficient in the Indian language, assisted Mr. Eliot in revising and
correcting this edition. Both editions had title pages in English
and Indian. The title in the Indian language is as follows : Mamvsse
Wunneetupanatamwe Up-Biblum God Naneeswe Nukkone-Testament
kah wonk Wusku Testament. Ne quoshkinnumuk nashpe Wuttineu-
74 History of Printing in America.
mob Christ noh asoowesit Joliii Eliot. Nahclitoeu ontchetoe
Printewoomuk. Cambridge: Printeuoop nasbpe Samuel Grreea. 4to.
It was six years in tbe press. Two thousand copies were printed. ^
It was not so expensive as the first edition. Mr. Eliot bad tbe
management of it; and, in bis letters to the Hon. Robert Boyle,
president of the corporation for propagating the gospel among the
Indians in New England, be acknowledges tbe reception of £900
sterling, in three payments, for carrying it through tbe press.
1685. Manitowampae pomantamoonk sampwsbanau Christianob.
&c., second edition, 400 pp. small 8vo. [Practice of Piety.]
1686. The New England Almanack for 1687.
1687. Practice of Piety. [Translated into the Indian language.]
Third edition.
1687. Eliot's Catechism. [In the Indian language. This was
a third or fourth edition printed at the expense of the corporation.]
1687. Primer, in the Indian Language. [It bad gone through
several previous editions at tbe expense of tbe corporation.]
1689. Sampwutteabae Quinnuppekompauaenin, Wahuwomook
oggussemesuog Sampwutteabae Wunnamptamwaenuog, &c. Noh
asoowesit Thomas Shepard. This is Shepard's Sincere Convert,
translated into Indian by the Rev. John Eliot, and was licensed to
be printed by Grindal Rawsou. 12mo, 164 pages.
1691. An Almanack. By John Tully. "Cambridge. Printed
by Samuel Green and B. Green, and are to be sold by Nicholas
Buttolpb at Gutteridge's Coffee House, in Boston, 1691."
1691. Nasbauanittue Meninnunk wutch Mukkiesog Wasses^-
mumun wutch Sogkodtunganash Naneeswe Testamentsash ; wutch
Ukkesitchippooonganoo Ukketeabogkounooh. Nob asoowesit John
Cotton. [This is John Cotton's Spiritual Milk for American Babes.
Translated by Grindal Rawson.] 12mo. 14 pages. [See old edi-
tions of tbe New England Primer.] Printeuoop nasbpe Samuel
Green kab Bartholomew Green.
1691. Ornaments for the Daughters of Zion ; or the Character
and Happiness of a Virtuous Woman. By Cotton Mather. 12mo,
114 pages. Re-Printed by Samuel Green and Bartholomew Green
for Nicholas Buttolpb, at Gutteridge's Coffee House, Boston.
» Letter from the Rev. John Eliot to the Hon. Robert Boyle in London.
Mr. Eliot gave a part of his salary toward printing the work. It went to
the press in the beginning of the year 1680, and was not completed till
the beginning of 1686. Mr. Eliot lived till 1690.
Massachusetts. 75
1691. Things to be looked for. An Election Sermon. By
Cotton Mather. 12nio. 84 pages. Reprinted by Samuel Green and
Bartholomew Green.
1692. Tully's Almanack for 1692. Printed by Samuel Green
and Bartholomew Green for Samuel Phillips of Boston.
Marmaduke Johnson was an Englishman, and had been
bred to the printing business in London. The corpora-
tion in England for propagating the gospel among the
Indians engaged and sent him over to America in 1660,
to assist in printing the *Bible in Indian.
In a letter dated. Cooper's Hall in London, April 28th
1660, and directed to the commissioners of the United Colo-
nies, who had the whole management of Indian affairs, the
corporation writes : " Wee haue out of our desire to fur-
ther a worke of soe great consernment, [printing the
whole Bible in the Indian language] agreed with an able
printer for three yeares vpon the tearmes and conditions
enclosed. Wee desire you at the earnest request of Mr.
Johnson the printer, and for his incurragement in this
undertaking of printing the bible in the Indian language,
his name may bee mentioned with others as a printer and
person that hath bine instrumentall. therin ; for whose
diet, lodging and washing wee desire you to take care of."
The commissioners in their answer to the corporation,
dated New Haven the 10th of September, 1660, observe ;
"Such order is taken by aduice of Mr. Eliott Mr. Vsher
Mr. Green and Mr. Johnson that the Impression of the
ould and New Testament shalbee carryed on together
which they have alredy begun and Resolue to prosecute
with all diligence ; a sheet of Geneses wee have seen which
wee have ordered shalbee Transmitted vnto you ; the
printers doubte not but to priht a sheete euery weeke and
compute the whole to amount to a hundred and fifty
sheets. Mr. Johnson wilbee gratifyed with the honour
76 History of Printing in America.
of the Impression and acomodated in other respects wee
hope to content." The commissioners this year charged
the corporation with £1 4s. paid for " the expenses of
Johnson the printer att his first arrivall before he settled
at Cambridge."
In a letter dated, Boston Sept. 10, 1662, and addressed
to the Hon. Robert Boyle, governor of the corporation in
England, the commissioners of theUnited Colonies observe :
" The bible is now about half done ; and constant pro-
gresse theriu is made ; the other halfe is like to bee finished
in a yeare ; the future charge is vncertain ; wee have beer
with sent twenty coppies of the 'New Testament [in Indian]
to bee disposed of as youer honors shall see meet. The
trust youer honors hath seen meet to repose in vs for the
manageing of this worke we shall endeauor in all faithful-
ness to discharge. Wee craue leave att present for the
preuenting of an objection that may arise concerning the
particulars charged for the printing wherin you will find
2 sheets att three pounds ten shillings a sheet, and the
rest butt att 50 shillings a sheet, the reason wherof lyes
heer : It pleased the honored corporation to send ouer one
Marmeduke Johnson a printer to attend the worke on
condition as they will enforme you ; whoe hath caryed
heer very vnworthyly of which hee hath bine openly Con-
victed and sencured in some of our Courts although as
yett noe execution of sentence against him : peculiare
fauor haueing bine showed him with respect to the cor-
poration that sent him ouer; but notwithstanding all
patience and lenitie vsed towards him hee hath proued
uery idle and nought and absented himselfe from the
worke more than halfe a yeare att one time ; for want of
whose assistance the printer [Green] by his agreement
with vs was to haue the allowance of 21 lb. the which is
to bee defallcated out of his sallery in England by the
honored Corporation there."
Massachusetts. 77
The commissioners, in this letter to the corporation,
mentioned some bad conduct of Johnson, of which he
was convicted, but they do not particularize his offence.
I find in the records of the county court of Middlesex for
1662, that in April of that year, Johnson was indicted for
" alluring the daughter of Samuel Green, printer, and
drawing away her affection without the consent of her
father." This was a direct breach of a law of the colony.
Johnson was convicted, fined five pounds for that offence ;
and having a wife in England, was ordered " to go home
to her," on penalty of twenty pounds for neglecting so to
do. At the same court Johnson was fined twenty pounds
for threatening the life of any man who should pay his
addresses to Green's daughter. In October, 1663, Johnson,
not having left the country agreeably to his sentence, was
fined twenty pounds, and ordered " to be committed till
he gave security that he would depart home to England
to his wife the first opportunity." Samuel Goffe and John
Bernard were his sureties that he should depart the
country within six weeks, or in a vessel then bound to
England. Johnson, however, for some cause that cannot
be ascertained, [the records of the next county court be-
ing destroyed by fire] was permitted to remain in the
country. His wife might have died ; he had influential
friends ; and made his peace with Green, with whom he
was afterwards concerned in printing several books.
The commissioners received an answer to the letter last
mentioned, from the governor of the corporation, dated
London April 9th, 1663, at the close of which the go-
vernor remarks : " Conserning Marmeduke Johnson the
printer wee are sorry hee hath soe miscarryed by which
meanes the printing of the bible hath bin retarded we are
resolved to default the 21 lb. you mention out of his sallary.
Mr. Elliott whose letter beares date three monthes after
youers, writes that Johnson is againe Returned into the
78 History of Printing in America.
worke whose brother alsoe hath bine with vs and gives vs
great assurance of his brothers ReformatioTi and following
his busines diligently for the time to come ; and hee being
(as Mr. Elliott writes) an able and vsefull man in the
presse we haue thought fitt further to make tryall of him
for one yeare longer and the rather because vpon Mr.
Elliotts motion and the goodnes of the worke ; wee have
thought fitt and ordered that the Psalmes of Dauid in
meter shallbee printed in the Indian language, and soe
wee hope that the said Johnson performing his promise of
amendment for time to come may bee vsefull in the fur-
thering of this worke which we soe much desire the finish-
ing of: We haue no more but comend you to the Lord.
Signed in the name and by the appointment of the Cor-
poration for the propagating of the Gospell in America.
Per Robert Boyle Gouernor."
The commissioners wrote from Boston, Sept. 18th, 1663,
to the corporation, as was their annual custom, rendering
a particular account of their concerns, and of the expendi-
tures of the money of the corporation. Respecting John-
son they observe : " Some time after our last letter Mar-
meduke Johnson Returned to the Presse and hath carried
himselfe Indifferently well since soe farr as wee know but
the bible being finished and little other worke presenting ;
wee dismised him att the end of the tearme you had con-
tracted with him for ; but vnderstanding youer honorable
Corporation hath agreed with him for another yeare ; wee
shall Indeavour to Imploy him as wee can by printing the
Psalmes and another little Treatise of Mr. Baxters which
Mr. Elliott is translating into the Indian language which
is thought may bee vsefull and profitable to the Indians ;
and yett there will not bee full Imployment for him ; and
for after times our owne printer wilbee sufficiently able to
print of any other worke that wilbee necessary for theire
Massachusetts. 79
vse soe that att the yeares end hee may be dismised ; or
sooner if hee please : and If there bee occation further to
Imploy him It were much better to contract with him heer
to print by the sheete than by allowing him standing
wages : "Wee were forced vpon his earnest Request to lett
him fine pounds in parte of his wages to supply his present
nessesitie which must bee defaulted by youer honors with
his brother : his last yeare by agreement with him begin-
eth the 20th of August last from the end of his former
contract till that time hee was out of this Imployment
and followed his own occaeions."
The corporation in their next letter to the commissioners
write : " Concerning Marmeduke Johnson the printer
whose Demeanor hath not been suitable to what hee
promised wee shall leave him to youerselues to dismisse
him as soone as his yeare is expired if you soe think fit."
The next meeting of the Commissioners was at Hart-
ford, September 1, 1664 ; they then informed the corpora-
tion in England, that they had " dismised Marmeduke
Johnson the Printer att the end of his tearme agreed for
hauing Improued him as well as wee could for the yeare
past by imploying him with our owne printer to print such
Indian workes as could be prepared which hee wa's not
able to doe alone with such other English Treatises which
did present ; for which allowance hath bine made propor-
tionable to his laboure; some time hath bine lost for want
of imployment but for after time wee hope to haue all
books for the Indians vse printed vpon ezier tearmes by
our owne printer especially if it please youer honers to
send ouer a fonte of Pica letters Roman and Italian which
are much wanting for printeing the practice of piety and
other wo'rkes ; and soe when the Presses shallbee Improued
for the vse of the English wee shalbe carefull that due
alowance be made to the Stocke for the same ; It seemed
Mr. Johnson ordered all his Sallery to be receiued and
80 History of Printing in America.
disposed of in England which hath put him to some
straightes heer which forced vs to allow him fine pounds
formerly (as we Intimated in our last) and since hee hath
taken vp the sume of four pounds all which is to be
accoumpted as parte of his Sallery for the last yeare ; the
remainder wherof wee doubt not youer honors will satisfy
there."
Before the Bible was finished, Johnson, being in great
want of money, applied to the commissioners of the United
Colonies to pay him his wages here instead of receiving
them, agreeably to contract, in England. Upon which the
commissioners " ordered in Answare to the request of
Marmeduke Johnson for payment of his wages heer in
New England; notwithstanding his couenant with the
Corporation to receiue the same in England which hee
sayeth is detained from him; which yett not appearing
to the comissioners they could not giue any order for the
payment of it heer; but vpon his earnest request that
there might bee some Impowered to relieue him in case it
could appeer before the next meeting of the Comissioners
that noe payment was made to him in England the Comis-
sioners of the Massachusetts Collonie is Impowered to act
therein according to theire Discretion."
The Rev. Mr. Eliot, ^ who translated the Bible into the
Indian language, appears to have been very friendly to
Johnson. After he was dismissed from employment at
the press of the corporation, Mr. Eliot proposed to the
commissioners in September, 1667, that Johnson should
have " the font of letters [types] which the Corporation
sent over for their vse by him, when he came from Eng-
land," and which had been but little worn, at the price
they cost in England, which was £31 17s. 8d. sterling;
' Mr. Eliot was by some styled " Apostolus nostrorum Temporum inter
Indos Nov ADgliae." He died 1690, aged 86.
Massachusetts. 81
to which proposal the commissioners assented. These
types he received in part payment of his salary.
In 1670, April 28th, Johnson, being released by death
or divorce from his wife in England, married Ruth Cane
of Cambridge, which is recorded in the register of the
town for that year.
In September, 1672, the commissioners ordered their
agent, Hezekiah Usher, to pay Johnson £6 " for printing,
stitching and cutting of a thousand Indian Logick Primers."
This is the last business I can find performed by Johnson
for the corporation. His name appeared after Green's in
the imprint of the first edition of the Indian translation
of the Old and New Testament, and to several other books
which were not printed for the corporation for propagating
the gospel among the Indians. It is not probable that they
had any regular partnership, but printed a book in con-
nexion when convenient. I have seen no book with his
name in the imprint after 1674.
Johnson was constable of Cambridge in 1673, and per-
haps some years preceding. In April, 1674, the county
court allowed him " his bill of costs, amounting to three
shillings ; and ten shillings and six pence for journeys
that were by law to be paid by the county treasurer." It
appears that he was poor, and rather indolent. He de-
parted this life in 1675, and his wife soon followed him.
The following is an extract from the Middlesex records,
vol. Ill, p. 176. " At a County Court held at Charlestowne
June 19, 1677. Mr. John Hayward Attorney in behalfe
of the Commissioners of the United Coloneys pl'fF against
Jonathan Cane, Executor to the last will and testament of
Ruth Johnson administratrix to the estate of her husband
Marmaduke Johnson deceased, in an action of the case
for deteyning a font of Letters, bought by the said John-
son with money y'- he received for y'* end and use of y'*
Honourable Corporation in London constituted by his
82 History of Printing in America.
Majestie for propagating of the gospell to the Indians in
New England, and also for deteyning a Printers chase,
and other implements that belong to a Printing Presse,
and is apperteyning to the said Indian Stocke according
to attachmt. dated 8, 4, 77. Both parties appeared & joyned
issue in the case. The Jury having heard their respective
pleas & evidences in the case, brought in their verdict,
finding for the pl've that the Defdt. shall deliver the wt.
of Letters expressed in the attachment, with other mate-
rials expressed in the attachment, or the value thereof in
money, which wee find to be forty pounds, with costs of
court. The Defdt. made his appeale to the next Court of
Assistants."
Beside the books printed by Green and him, which
appear in Green's catalogue, I find the following printed
solely by Johnson, viz.
Catalogue of Books printed by Johnson.
1665. Communion of Churches ; or, the Divine Management of
Gospel Churches by the Ordinance of Councils, constituted in Order,
according to the Scriptures. As also the Way of bringing all
Christian Parishes to be particular reforming Congregational
Churches : humbly proposed as a Way which hath so muche light
from the Scriptures of Truth, as that it may be lawfully submitted
unto by all ; and may by the Blessing of the Lord be a means of
uniteing those two Holy and eminent Parties^ the Presbyterians and
the Congregationah'sts — As also to prepare for the hoped-for Resur-
rection of the Churches ; and to propose a Way to bring all Christ-
ian Nations unto an Unity of the Faith and Order of the Gospel.
Written by John Eliot, Teacher of Roxbury in N. E. Crown 8vo.
38 pages. The following is the Preface to the work.
" Although a few copies of this small script are printed, yet it is
not published, only committed privately to some godly and able
hands to be viewed, corrected, amended, or rejected, as it shall be
found to hold weight in the sanctuary ballance, or not. And it is
the humble request of the Author, that whatever objections, rectifi-
cations or emendations may occurre, they may be conveyed unto
him ; who desireth nothing may be accepted in the Churches, but
Massachusetts. 83
what is according to the will and minde of God, and tendeth to
holiness, peace, and promotion of the holy kingdome of Jesus Christ
The procuring of half so many copies written and corrected, would
be more difficult and chargeable than the printing of these few. I
beg the prayers as well as the pains of the precious Servants of the
Lord, that I may never have the least finger in doing any thing that
may be derogatory to the holiness and honour of Jesus Christ and
his churches. And to this I subscribe myself, one of the least of
the labourers in the Lord's vineyard. John Eliot."
1668. The Rise, Spring and Foundation of the Anabaptists : or
the Re-Baptised of our Times. 58 pages. Quarto.
1668. Grod's Terrible Voice in the City of London, wherein you
have the Narration of the late dreadful Judgment of Plague and
Fire; the former in the year 1665 and the latter in the year 1666.
32 pages. Quarto.
1668. The Righteous Man's Evidence of Heaven. By Timothy
Rogers. Small Quarto.
1671. Cambridge Platform of Church Discipline. Second Edi-
tion. 40 pages. Quarto.
1672. " Indian Logick Primer."
1673. Wakeman's Young Man's Legacy to the Rising Genera-
tion. A Sermon, preached on the Death of John Tappin, of Boston.
46 pages. Quarto.
1673. Mather's [Increase] Woe to Drunkards. Two Sermons.
34 pages. Quarto. [Printed by Johnson] " and sold by Edmund
Ranger, Book Binder, in Boston."
1674. Exhortation unto Reformation. An Election Sermon.
By Samuel Torrey, of Weymouth. 50 pages. Quarto.
1674. Cry of Sodom enquired into, upon occasion of the Ar-
raignment and Condemnation of Benjamin Goad, for his prodigious
Villany. By S. D. Quarto. 30 pages.
Bartholomew Green, son of Samuel Green, by his
second wife, was in business a few years with his father at
Cambridge. In the year 1690 he removed to Boston, and
set up his press. The same year his printing house and
materials were destroyed by fire ; and he, in consequence
of his loss, returned to Cambridge, and was again con-
nected with his father. The few books which I have seen
that were printed by his father and him in company, are
84 History of Printing in America.
taken notice of with his father's. He resumed business
in Boston in 1692. ^See Printers in Bosion.~\
BOSTON.
About fortj-five years from the beginning of the settle-
ment of Boston a printing house was opened, and the
first book I have found printed in this town was by
John Foster. He was born in Dorchester, near Boston,
and educated at Harvard College, where he graduated in
1667. Printers at this time were considered as mere
agents to execute the typographic art ; the presses were
the property of the college, but all their productions were
under the control of licensers appointed by the govern-
ment of the colony ; that government had restricted print-
ing, and confined it solely to Cambridge, but it now
authorized Foster to set up a press in Boston. It does
not appear that he was bred to printing, or that he was
acquainted with the art; the probability is, that he was
not ; but having obtained permission to print, he employed
workmen, carried on printing in his own name, and was
accountable to government for the productions of his press.
The General court, at the session in May, 1674, passed
the order following : " Whereas there is now granted that
there may be a printing Presse elsewhere than at Cam-
bridge ; for the better regulation of the Presse it is ordered
and Enacted that the Rev. Mr. Thomas Thatcher and Rev.
Increase Mather, of Boston, be added unto the former
Ijicensers, and they are hereby impowered to act accord-
ingly."
If Foster's printing equalled, it could not be said to
excel, that of Green or Johnson, either in neatness or
correctness. He printed a number of small tracts for
himself and others. The earliest book which I have seen
Massachusetts. 85
from the press under his care was published in 1676, and
the latest in 1680. He calculated and published Almanacks.
To his Almanack for 1681 he annexed an ingenious dis-
sertation on comets seen at Boston in ISTovember and
December, 1680.^ He died at Dorchester, September 9,
1681,. aged thirty three years. His grave stone bears the
following inscription, viz :
" Astra colis vivens, moriens super aethera Foster
Scande precor, coelum metiri disce supremum :
Metior atque meum est, emit mihi dives Jesus,
Nee tenior quicquam nisi grates solvere."
In English thus ?
Thoa, 0 Foster, who on earth didst study the heavenly
bodies, now ascend above the firmament and survey the
highest heaven. I do survey and inhabit this divine region.
To its possession I am admitted through the grace of
Jesus ; and to pay the debt of gratitude I hold the most
sacred obligation.
Two poems on the death of Foster were printed in 1681 ;
one of them was written by Thomas Tilestone, of Dor-
chester, and the other by Joseph Capen, afterwards minis-
ter of Topsfield, Massachusetts. The latter concluded with
the following lines :
" Thy body, which no activeness did lack,
Now's laid aside like an old Almanack ;
But for the present only's out of date,
'Twill have at length a far more active state.
Yea, though with dust thy body soiled be,
Yet at the resurrection we shall see
A fair Edition, and of matchless worth,
Free'from'ERRATAS, new in Heaven set forth;
'Tis but a word from GoD, the great Creator,
It shall be done when he saith jJmprimatar."
' See Collections of Massachusetts Historical Society, vol. ix. Chrono-
logical and topographical account of Dorchester, written by the Rev. T. M.
Harris.
86 History of Printing in America.
Whoever has read the celebrated epitaph, by Franklin,
on himself, will have some suspicion that it was taken
from this original. »
Samuel Sew all. "When Foster died, Boston was with-
out the benefit of the press ; but a continuance of it in
this place being thought necessary, Samuel Sewall, not
a printer but a magistrate, &c., a man much respected, was
selected as a proper person to manage the concerns of it,
and as such was recommended to the General court. In
consequence of this recommendation, the court in October,
1681, gave him liberty to carry on the business of printing
in Boston. The license is thus recorded : ^ " Samuel
Sewall, at the Instance of some Friends, with respect to
the accommodation of the Publick, being prevailed with
to undertake the Management of the Printing Presse in
Boston, late under the command of Mr. John Foster, de-
ceased, liberty is accordingly granted to him for the same
by this court, and none may presume to set up any other
Presse without the like Liberty first granted."
Sewall became a bookseller. Books for himself and
others were printed at the press under his management,
as were several acts and laws, with other work for govern-
ment. Samuel Green, jun., was his printer. In 1682 an
order passed the General court for the treasurer to pay
Sewall £10 175., for printing the election sermon delivered
that year by the Rev. Mr. Torrey. I have seen several
books printed by the assignment of Sewall.
In 1684, Sewall by some means was unable to conduct
the press, and requested permission of the General court
to be released from his engagement, which was granted.
The record of his release is in the words following:
" Samuel Sewall by the providence of God being unable
' Records of the Colony for 1681.
Massachusetts. 87
to attend the press &c., requested leave to be freed from
his obligations concerning it, which was granted."
In 1684, and for several subsequent years, the loss of
the charter occasioned great confusion and disorder in the
political concerns of the colony. Soon after Sewall re-
signed his office as conductor of the press in Boston, he
went to England ; whence he returned in 1692. He was,
undoubtedly, the same Samuel Sewall who, when a new
charter was granted by King William, was for many years
one of the council for the province ; and who, in 1692,
was appointed one of the judges of the superior court ; in
1715 judge of probate ; and in 1718 chief justice of Massa-
chusetts. He died January 1, 1729-30, aged seventy-eight
years.^
James Glen. Printed for or by the assignment of Samuel
Sewall, to whom government had committed the manage-
ment of the press after the death of Foster. He printed
under Sewall less than two years. I have seen only three or
four works which bear his name in the imprint, and these
were printed for Sewall. One was entitled Covenant Keeping,
the Way to Blessedness, by Samuel Willard. 12mo. 240 pages.
" Boston : Printed by James Glen, for S. Sewall, 1682."
I do not recollect the titles of the others, which were
pamphlets. All the printing done by Glen was at Sewall's
press.
Samuel Green, Junior, was the son, by his first wife,
of Samuel Green, who at that time printed at Cambridge.
He was taught the art in the printing house of his father.
His books bear the next earliest dates to Foster's and
Glen's. In 1682, he printed at the press which, by order
See Prince's Funeral Sermon, and Allen's Biographical Dictionary.
88 History of Printing in America.
of the General court, was under the management of Sewall,
and for some time hy virtue of an assignment from Sewall.
He worked chiefly for booksellers. Many books printed
for them are without the name of the printer, and some
without date.^ After Sewall' ceased to conduct the press.
Green was permitted to continue printing, subject to the
control of the licensers.
John Dunton, a London bookseller, who visited Boston
while Green was in business, in 1686, and after his return
to England published the history of his own Life and
Errors, mentions Green in his publication in the following
manner: "I contracted a great friendship for this man;
to name his trade will convince the world he was a man
of good sense and understanding ; he was so facetious and
obliging in his conversation that I took a great delight in
his company, and made use of his house to while away
my melancholy hours." ^ Dunton gives biographical
sketches of a number of men and women whom he visited
in Boston in 1686, and represents Green's wife as a most
excellent woman, even as a model from which to draw
the picture of the best of wives." ^
Green printed for government, and soon after his death
the General court ordered the treasurer to pay his heirs
£22 17s. " due him for his last printing."
In 1690, Boston was visited with the small pox. Before
the practice of inoculation was introduced, this disease, at
^ Printers should insert in their' imprints to books, newspapers, &c., not
only their names, but the year, and mention both the state and town where
their presses are established. Many towns in the United States bear the
same name. Some newspapers, and many books, have been published
in certain towns; and the state not being designated in the imprints,
in many instances it cannot be determined, especially by those at a dis-
tance, in which of the states they were printed.
''Dunton's Life and Errors, printed at London, 1705, pp. 129.
^ Her maiden name was Elizabeth Sill. She was born in Cambridge.
Massachusetts. 89
every visitation, swept off a large number of inhabitants.
In July of that year, Green fell a victim to that loathsome
disorder; he died after an illness of three days; and his
amiable wife, within a few days after her husband,' was
carried off by the same epidemic.
Richard Pierce. On an examination of the books
printed in Boston before the year 1700, it appears that
Richard Pierce was the fifth person who carried on the
printing business in that place. Whether he had been
bred a printer in England, or had served an apprenticeship
with Green at our Cambridge, cannot be determined.
There was a printer in London by the name of Richard
Pierce, in 1679 ; and it is not improbable that he emigrated
to this country, and set up his press in Boston. I have
seen some books printed by him on his own account, and
a number for booksellers ; they are mentioned in the cata-
logue of books printed in America before the revolution.
I have not found any thing printed by him before 1684, or
after 1690.
Bartholomew Green has been mentioned as a printer
at Cambridge, in connection with his father. He began
business at Boston in 1690, immediately after the death of
his brother, with the best printing apparatus then in the
country. He was married the same year ; and soon after
his printing house was consumed, and his press and types
' I am favored by Kosseter Cotton, Esq., of Plymouth, -with an original
letter, dated at Plymouth, Aug. 5, 1690, to his great grandfather, the Rev.
John Cotton, then on a visit to Barnstable, from his son, which mentions
among other articles of information from Boston, " the small pox is as
bad as ever ; Printer Green died of it in Three days, his wive also is dead
with it." This letter contains much news of the day ; it states that, " on
Saturday Evening about fourteen houses, besides warehouses and Bi-ue-
houses, were burnt at Boston, from the Mill Bridgh down half way to
the Draw Bridgh." By this it should seem, that at that time, there was
a street along side of the Mill creek.
90 History of Printing in America.
entirely destroyed by a fire, which began in his neighbor-
hood. This misfortune obliged him to return to Cam-
bridge; and he continued there two years, doing busi-
ness in company with his father. Being again furnished
with a press and types, he reestablished himself in Bos-
ton, and opened a printing house in Newbury street.
The imprint to several of the first books from his press,
is, " Boston : Printed by B. Green, at the South End of
the Town."
In April, 1704, he began the publication of a newspaper,
entitled The Boston News Letter. Published by Authority.
It was printed weekly, on Mondays, for John Campbell,
postmaster, who was the proprietor. After the News-
Letter had been printed eighteen years for Campbell,
Green published it on his own account. It was the first
newspaper printed in the British colonies of North America,
and had been published fifteen years before any other
work of the kind made its appearance. It was continued
by Green and his successors until the year 1776, when the
British troops evacuated Boston.'
After his father's death Bartholomew Green printed for
the college, and he was for nearly forty years printer to
the governor and council of Massachusetts ; but the acts
and laws printed by him were done for a bookseller, Ben-
jamin Elliot, from 1703 to 1729, as appears from the im-
prints. He was the most distinguished printer of that
* Bartholomew Green began the. printing of TJie Boston News-Letter,
in Newbury street, in a small wooden building, to which another room
was annexed some years after, for the accommodation of his son. This
building was burnt down in January, 1734 ; it was previously occupied
as a printing house both by young Green and John Draper, who did busi-
ness independently of each other. Another house of like dimensions was
built on the same spot by John Draper, the successor of the elder B.
Green. This building was occupied as a printing house until the British
troops evacuated Boston, in 1776. At that place began and ended the
printing of Tlie Boston News-Letter. That house was built and occupied
by Richard, the son and successor of John Draper.
Massachusetts. 91
period in this country, and did more business than any
other of the profession; yet he worked chiefly for the
booksellers. John Allen was concerned with him in
printing many books, in the imprints of which both their
names appeared ; there was not, however, a regular part-
nership between them.
Through the whole course of his life, Green was dis-
tinguished for piety and benevolence; he was highly
respected ; and, for many years, held the office of a deacon
in the Old South church in Boston. He died December
28, 1732. The following character of him is extracted
from The Boston News-Letter, of January 4, 1733 :
"Bartholomew Green was a person generally known
and esteemed among us, as a very humble and exemplary
Christian, one who had much of that primitive Christianity
in him which has always been the distinguishing glory of
New England. We may further remember his eminency
for a strict observing the sabbath ; his household piety ;
his keeping close and diligent to the work of his calling ;
his meek and peaceable spirit ; his caution of publishing
any thing offensive, light or hurtful ; and his tender sym-
pathy to the poor and afflicted. He always spoke of the
wonderful spirit of piety that prevailed in the land in his
youth with a singular pleasure." ■ [See History of Newsjpapers
in the second volume of this work.']
John Allen. I have not seen any book with his name
in the imprint, published earlier than the year 1690. He
printed, sometimes in connection with Bartholomew Green,
and sometimes with Benjamin Harris; but was not in
regular partnership with either. There is no evidence
•that he had printing materials of his own until 1707 ; at
this time he opened a printing house in Pudding lane, near
the post office, and did business on his own account. In
November of this year he began printing The Boston News-
92 History of Printing in America.
Letter, for the proprietor, Mr. Campbell, postmaster.
Soon after this e.vent he published the following advertise-
ment, viz :
" These are to give IN'otice, that there lately came from
London a Printing Press, with all sorts of good new
Letter, which is now set up in Pudding Lane near Tthe
Post-Office in Boston for publick use : "Where all persons
that have any thing to print may be served on reasonable
terms."
Allen printed The News-Letter four years ; when a fire
which consumed most of the buildings in Cornhill, and
many in King street, Queen street, and the contiguous
lanes, is supposed to have burnt his printing house. The
fire broke out on the evening of the 2d of October, 1711.
On the preceding day he had printed The New s- Letter ;
but on the next week that paper was again printed by
Green ; or as the imprint runs, " Printed in ISTewbury-
Street, for John Campbell, Post-Master." I have seen a
number of books printed after this time by Allen alone,
the last of which is Whittemore's Almanack, bearing the
date of 1724.
While he was connected with Green, and previous to
1708, the acts, laws, proclamations, &c., of government,
were printed by them, and Allen's name appeared with
Green's as " Printers to the Governour and Council."
Allen printed no book that I have seen on his own account ;
all the business he executed in the line of his profession
was for booksellers. He was from England. There is in
an ancient library in Boston, a copy of Increase Mather's
Mystery of Israel's Salvation, printed in London, by John
Allen, in 1669. It is supposed that he came to Boston by
encouragement from the Mathers.
Massachusetts. 93
Benjamin Harris. His printing house was " over against
the Old Meeting House in Cornhill." ^ He removed
several times ; and once printed " at the London Coffee-
House," which I believe he kept, in King's street; at
another time in Cornhill, " over against the Blew Anchor."
The last place of his residence I find mentioned, was in
Cornhill, " at the Sign of the Bible."
He printed, principally, for booksellers; but he did
some work on his own account. He 'kept a shop, and
sold books. I have not met with any book of his printing
earlier than 1690, nor later than 1694. In 1692 and 1693,
he printed The Acts and Laws of Massachusetts, containing
about one hundred and thirty pages, folio, to which the
charter was prefixed. The imprint is, " Boston : Printed
by Benjamin Harris, Printer to his Excellency the Go-
vernour and Council." His commission from Governor
Phips, to print them, is published opposite to the title
page of the volume in the words following :
"By his Excellency. — I order Benjamin Harris to print the Acts
and Laws made by the Great and General Court, or Assembly of
Their Majesties Province of Massachusetts Bay in New England,
that so the people may be informed thereof.
William Phips.
" Boston, December 16, 1692."
In the title page of the laws, printed by him in 1693, is
a handsome cut of their majesties' arms. This was in the
reign of William and Mary.^
* This church in Boston was burnt down in the great fire of 1711 ; but
was soon rebuilt, on a new site, a number of rods to the south of the spot
where the old building stood, and was, for many years, known by the
name of The Old Brick ; which, in 1808, was taken down, a new church
having been erected for the society in Summer street.
"^ The following is a more accurate description of this rare volume from
the copy in the library of the Antiquarian Society : It contains 1. The
Charter of William and Mary. Imprint : " Printed at London, and Re-
94 History of Printing in America.
Harris was from London ; he returned there about the
year 1694. Before and after his emigration to America
he owned a considerable bookstore in that city. John
Dunton's account of him is. thus :
" He had been a brisk asserter of English Liberties, and
once printed a Book with that very title. He sold a pro-
testant Petition in King Charles's Reign, for which he was
fined five Pounds ; and he was once set in the Pillory, but
his wife (like a kind Rib) stood by him to defend her Hus-
band against the Mob. After this (having a deal of Mer-
cury in his natural temper) he travelled to New England,
where he followed Bookselling, and then Coffee -selling,
and then Printing, but continued Ben Harris still, and is
now both Bookseller and Printer in Grace Church Street,
as we find by his London Post ; so that his Conversation is
general (but never impertinent) and his "Wit pliable to all
inventions. But yet his Vanity, if he has 'any, gives no
alloy to his Wit, and is no more than might justly spring
from conscious virtue; and I do him but justice in this
part of his Character, for in once travelling with him from
Printed at Boston, in New England. By Benjamin Harris, over against
the Old Meeting House, 1692," 13 pp.
2. Several Acts and Laws, &c. Imprint, Boston. Printed by Benjamin
Harris, Printer to His Excellency the Governour and Council, 1692. 16 pp.
These are the Acts, &c., of the first Session,. begun June 8, 1692.
3. Acts and Laws, &c., with the Imprint and the order of Gov. Phips as
stated by Mr. Thomas. These are the Acts, &c., of what is called in the
title page the Second Session, " Begun the eighth day of June, 1692, and
continued by adjournment unto Wednesday the twelfth day of October
following," Besides the title and table of contents there are ninety pages
to this part.
4. Another title page, with the Acts and Laws of the Third Session, ter-
minating on the succeeding eighth of February. 6 pp. The date is
1693.
5. Another title page, with the Acts and Laws of the Fourth Session,
ending on the second day of March. 2 pp. This has upon the title page
the arms of the English crown. Subsequent Acts and Laws of 1693,
bear the imprint of Bartholomew Green. — H.
Massachusetts. 95
Bury-Fair, I found him to be the most ingenious and
innocent Companion, that I had ever met with." ^
Timothy Green was the son of Samuel Green, junior,
of Boston, and grandson of Samuel Green of Cambridge.
The earliest books which I have met with of his print-
ing, bear date in 1700. He had a printing house at the
north part of the town, in Middle street, near Cross street.
He printed and sold some books on his own account ; but,
as was customary, printed principally for booksellers.
The imprint to some of his books is, " Boston : Printed
by Timothy Green, at the North Part of the Town.'' I have
seen other books printed at the same time by his uncle
Bartholomew, with this imprint, " Boston : Printed by B.
Green, at the South Part of the Town." Although several
printers had succeeded each other, there had never been
more than two printing houses open at the same time in
Boston ; and, at this period, it does not appear that the
number was increased. T. Green continued in business,
at Boston, until 1714. He then received encouragement
from the general assembly of Connecticut, and removed
his press to New London. [See Printers in Connecticut.']
James Printer, alias James the Printer. This man was
an Indian native ; born at an Indian town called Hassana-
mesitt,^ now the town of Grafton, in the county of "Wor-
cester, Massachusetts. His father was a deacon of the
church of Indian Christians established in that place.
James had two brothers ; the one, named Anaweakin,
^Duntori's Life and Errors, prmted in London, 1705. Dun ton was an
English bookseller, who had been in Boston ; he was bred to this business
by Thomas Parkhurst, who published Mather's Magnolia, and other books
for New England ministers. Dun ton had a knowledge of the booksellers
in England, Scotland, Ireland, Holland, andNew England ; and published
sketches of their characters. \_See Booksellers, Boston.^
^ Signifying a place of small stones.
96 History of Printing in America.
was their ruler ; the other, named Tarkuppawillin, was
their teacher ; they were all esteemed on account of their
piety, and considered as the principal persons of that Indian
village.' James, when a child, was taught at the Indian
charity school, at Cambridge, to read and write the English
language, where, probably, he received the Christian name
of James. In 1659, he was put apprentice to Samuel
Green, printer, in that place, which gave him the surname
of Printer. Green instructed him in the art of printing ;
and employed him whilst his apprentice as a pressman,
&c., in printing the first edition of the Indian Bible.
A war taking place between James's countrymen and
the white people, James, fired with a spark of the amor
patrice, left his master secretly, and joined his brethren in
arms. A number of skirmishes were fought, in all which
the Indians were repulsed with loss ; they, in consequence,
became disheartened ; and the associated tribes separated,
and retired to their respective places of residence; at
which time, 1676, the government of Massachusetts issued
a proclamation, or, as Hubbard, in his Narrative of the
Indian Wars, terms it, " Put forth a Declaration, that what-
soever Indians should within fourteen days next ensuing,
come in to the English, might hope for mercy. Amongst
sundry who came in, there was one named James the
Printer^ the superadded Title distinguishing him from others
of that name, who being a notorious Apostate, that had
learned so much of the English, as not only to read
and write, but had attained some skill in printing, and
might have attained more, had he not like a false villain
run away from his Master before his time was out ; he
having seen and read the said Declaration of the English,
did venture himself upon the Truth thereof, and came to
sue for his life ; he aflirmed with others that came along
Major Daniel Gookin's account of the Indians in New England.
Massachusetts. 97
with him, that more Indians had died since the War began
of diseases (such as at other times they used not to be
acquainted withal) than by the sword of the English." *
In this war, the Narraganset Indians lost their celebrated
chief, king Philip, of Mount Hope ; after which the colony
enjoyed great tranquillity.
James, it is supposed, remained in and near Boston till
1680 ; and, doubtless, worked at the printing business,
either with his former master, at Cambridge, or with
Foster, who had lately set up a press, the first established
in Boston, and must have well known James, who lived
with Green when Foster was at college. In 1680, he was
engaged with Green at Cambridge in printing the second
edition of the Indian Bible. The Rev. John Eliot, in a
letter to the Hon. Robert Boyle at London, dated March,
1682-3, observes respecting this second edition, "I desire
to see it done before I die, and I am so deep in years, that
I cannot expect to live long ; besides, we ha^ve but one
man, viz., the Indian Printer, that is able to compose the
Sheets, and correct the Press with understanding." In
another letter, dated " Roxbury, April 22, 1684," to the
Hon. Mr. Boyle, from the Rev. Mr. Eliot, he mentions,
" We present your honours with one book, so far as we
have gone in the work, and humbly beseech that it may
be acceptable till the whole Bible is finished ; and then
the whole impression (which is two thousand) is at your
honours command. Our slow progress needeth an apol-
ogy. We have been much hindered by the sickness
the last year. Our workmen have been all sick, and we
have but few hands (at printing) one Englishman, and
a boy, and one Indian,- and many interruptions and
1 Hubbard's Narrative of the Troubles icith the Indians in New England,
&c., 4to edition ; " printed by Authority," at Boston, 1677, p. 96.
" Undoubtedly J. Printer. This surname of Printer was continued by
the descendants of James, who owned and left to his posterity some
98 History of Printing in America.
diversions do befall us, aud we could do but little this
very hard winter."
We hear no more of James until the year 1709, when an
edition of the Psalter, in the Indian and English languages,
made its appearance with the following imprint. — " Bos-
ton, 'N. E. Printed by B. Green and J. Printer, for the
Honourable Company for the Propagation of the Gospel
in l^ew England, &c." — In Indian thus, Upprinthomunneau
B. Green, kah J. Printer, wutche quktianiamice Chapanukkeg
wutche onchektouunnat wunnaunchummookaonk ut New En-
gland. 1709.'
Some of James's descendants were long living in
Grafton ; they bore the surname of Printer.
Thomas Fleet was born in England and there bred to
the printing business. When young he took an active part
in opposition to the high church party. On some public
procession, probably that of Dr. Sacheverel, when many
of the zealous members of the high church decorated their
doors and windows with garlands, as the head of their
party passed in the streets. Fleet is said to have hung
out of his M'indow an ensign of contempt, which inflamed
the resentment of his opponents to that degree, that he
was obliged to secrete himself from their rage, and to
embrace the first opportunity to quit his country.
valuable tracts of land in Grafton, county of Worcester, Mass., the place
of his nativity. An action respecting a part of this land, owned by
Abigail Printer, was decided in the Court of Common PFeas, in said
Worcester in 1810. She was probably, the great-granddaughter of James.
'Bartholomew Green was the son of James's former master; James
was well known among all the neighboring tribes ; and one motive for
employing him in printing this Psalter, might have been, to excite the
greater attention among the Indians, and give it a wider circulation ;
besides, his knowledge of both languages enabled him to expedite thq
work with more facility and correctness than any other person.
Several books were, about this time, translated into the Indian language,
and printed, which might have afforded employment to James ; but I have
seen only the Psalter with his nahie as the printer.
Massachusetts. 99
He arrived at Boston about the year 1712, and soon
opened a printing house in Pudding Lane, now Devon-
shire street. The earliest book I have seen of his print-
ing bears date 1713. He was a good workman ; was a
book printer, and he and T. Crump were concerned in
printing some books together.
But the principal performances of Fleet, until he began
the publication of a newspaper, consisted of pamphlets
for booksellers, small books for children, and ballads. He
made a profit on these, which was sutficient to support
his family reputably. He owned several negroes, one of
which worked at the printing business, both at the press
and at setting types; he was an ingenious man, and cut,
on wooden blocks, all the pictures which decorated the
ballads and small books of his master. Fleet had also two
negro boys born in his house; sons, I believe, to the man
just mentioned, whom he brought up to work at press and
case ; one named Pompey and the other Cesar ; they were
young when their master died ; but they remained in the
family, and continued to labor regularly in the printing
house with the sons of Mr. Fleet, who succeeded their
father, until the constitution of Massachusetts, adopted in
1780, made them freemen.^
Fleet continued printing in Pudding Lane, till early in
1731, he then hired a handsome house in Cornhill, on the
north corner of Water street, which he afterwards pur-
chased ; and occupied it through the residue of his life.
He erected a sign of the Heart and Crown, which he never
altered ; but after his death, when crowns became unpopu-
lar, his sons changed the Crown for a Bible, and let the
Heart remain. Fleet's new house was spacious, and con-
tained sufficient room for the accommodation of his
' See discussion of this question in Massachusetts Historical Collections, 4tli
series, iv, 333, and Moore's Notes on the History of Slavery in Massachusetts,
200.— H.
100 History of Printing in America.
family and the prosecution of his printing business, besides
a convenient shop, and a good chamber for an auction
room. He held his vendues in the evening, and sold
books, household goods, &c., as appears by the following
advertisement whij^h he inserted in the ^ Boston Weekly
News-Letter, March 7th, 1731.
" This is to give Notice to all Gentlemen, Merchants,
Shopkeepers and others, that Thomas Fleet of Boston,
Printer, (who formerly kept his Printing House in Pud-
ding Lane but is now removed into Cornhill at the sign of
the Heart ^ Crown, near the lower end of School Street),
is willing to undertake the Sale of Books, Household
Goods, "Wearing Apparel, or any other Merchandize, by
Vendue or Auction. The said Fleet having a large &
commodious Front Chamber fit for this Business, and a
Talent well known and approved, doubts not of giving
entire Satisfaction to such as may employ him in it ; he
hereby engaging to make it appear that this Service may
be performed with more Convenience and less Charge at
a private House well situated, than at a Tavern. And,
for further Encouragement, said Fleet promises to make
up Accompts with the Owners of the Goods Sold by him,
in a few Days after the sale thereof."
In September, 1731, a new periodical paper was pub-
lished in Boston, entitled, The Weekly Rehearsal ; intended
principally, to contain essays, moral, political and com-
mercial.^ John Draper was first employed to print the
Rehearsal for the editor, but soon relinquished it, and
Fleet succeeded him as the printer of it ; and, in April,
1733, he published the Rehearsal on his own account. It
was then, and had been in fact, from the beginning, no
more than a weekly newspaper; but, while in the manage-
ment of Fleet, it was the best paper at that time published
' See Behearsal, in tlie History of Newspapers in this work.
Massachusetts. 101
in New England. In August, 1735, Fleet changed The
Weekly Behearsal into The Boston Evenmg Post. ■ The last
number of the Rehearsal was 201, and the first number of
the Evenmg Post, was 202, which shows that the Evening
Post was then intended to be a continuation of the Behear-
sal; but the next Boston Evenmg Post was numbered 2,
and it became a new hebdomadal paper, which was pub-
lished every Monday evening.
Fleet was industrious and economical ; free from super-
stition ; and possessed a fund of wit and humor, which
were often displayed in his paragraphs and advertisements.
The members of Fleet's family, although they were very
worthy, good people, were not, all of them, remarkable for
the pleasantness of their countenances ; on which account
he would, sometimes, indulge himself in jokes which were
rather coarse, at their expense. He once invited an inti-
mate friend to dine with him on pouts ; a kind of fish
of which the gentleman was remarkably fond. When
dinner appeared, the guest remarked that the pouts were
wanting. " O no," said Fleet, " only look at my wife and
daughters."
The following is an advertisement of Fleet, for the sale
of a negro woman — it is short and pithy, viz: " To be
sold by the Printer of this paper, the very best Kegro
Woman in this Town, who has had the small pox and the
measles ; is as hearty as a Horse, as brisk as a Bird, and
will work like a Beaver." The Evenmg Post, Aug. 23, 1742.
In number 50 of The Boston Evenmg Post, Fleet pub-
lished the following paragraph, under the Boston head :
" We have lately received from an intelligent and worthy
Friend in a neighboring Government, to the Southward of
us, the following remarkable Piece of News, which we beg
our Readers Patience to hear, viz : That the printer there
gets a great deal of Money, has Twenty Shillings for every
Advertisement published in his ISTews-Paper, calls Us
102 History of Printing in America.
Fools for working for nothing, and has lately purchased
an Estate of Fourteen Hundred Pounds Value.^ "We should
be heartily glad (»had we Cause for it) to return our Friend
a like surprizing Account of the Printers Prosperity here.
Put alas ! the reverse of our Brother's Circumstances
seems hereditary to Us: It is well known we are the
most humble, self-denying Set of Mortals (we wish we
could say Men) breathing ; for where there is a Penny to
be got, we readily resign it up to those who are no "Ways
related to the Business, nor have any Pretence or Claim
to the Advantages of it.^ And whoever has observ'd our
Conduct hitherto, has Reason enough to think, that we
hold it a mortal Crime to make any other Use of our
Brains and Hands, than barely to help us
" To purchase homely Fare, and fresh small Beer,
(Hard Fate indeed, we can't have better Cheer ! )
And buy a new Blue Apron once a year.3
" But as we propose in a short Time to publish a Disser-
tation upon the mean and humble state of the Printers of this
Town, we shall say no more at present upon this important
Subject, and humbly Pardon for so large a Digression.
Only we would inform, that in this most necessary Work,
we are promised the Assistance of a worthy Friend and
able Casuist, who says he doubts not but that he shall
easily make it appear, even to the Satisfaction of the
'This friend, it is supposed, was James Franklin, nephew to Dr. Ben-
jamin Franklin, who was established in Rhode Island ; and, at that time,
the paper currency of that colony was greatly depreciated.
^ Two or three of the Boston newspapers were then printed for post-
masters, or past postmasters ; and printing in general was done for book-
sellers. Master printers had but little more profit on their labor than
journeymen.
' It was usual then, and for many years after, for printers, when at
work, to wear blue or green cloth aprons ; and it would have been well if
this practice had not been laid aside.
Massachusetts. 103
Printers themselves, that they may be as good Christians/
as useful Neighbors, and as loyal Subjects, altho' they
should sometimes feed upon Beef and Padding^ as they
have hitherto approved themselves by their most rigid
abstemious way of living."
In February, 1744, a comet made its appearance and
excited much alarm. Fleet on this occasion published the
followino; remarks : " The Comet now rises about five
o'clock in the Morning, and appears very large and bright,
and of late it has been seen (with its lucid Train) in the
Day-time, notwithstanding the Luster of the Sun. This
uncommon Appearance gives much uneasiness to timo-
rous People, especially Women, who will needs have it,
that it portends some dreadful Judgments to this our Land :
And if, from the Apprehension of deserved Judgments,
we should be induced to abate of our present Pride and
Extravagance, &c., and should become more humble,
peaceable and charitable, honest and just, industrious and
frugal, there will be Reason to think, that the Comet is the
most profitable Itinerant Preacher 2 and friendly iVeiy Light
that has yet appeared among us." — Efening Post, ISTo. 446.
Fleet had often occasion to complain of the delin-
quency of his customers in making payment for his
paper; and in reminding them of their deficiency he
sometimes indulged himself in severity of remark, that
men of great religious professions and service should
neglect to pay him his just demands. One of his dunning
advertisements is as follows :
" It will be happy for many People, if Injustice, Extor-
tion and Oppression are found not to be Crimes at the last ;
which seems now by their Practice to be their settled
'Most of the printers in Boston, at that time, were members of the
church ; to which circumstance Fleet, probably, alluded.
'^ Preachers of this class, who with their adherents were vulgarly called
New Lights, were then frequent in and about Boston.
104 History of Printing in America.
Opinibn : And it would be well for the Publisher of this
Paper, if a great many of his Customers were not of the
same Sentiments. Every one, almost, thinks he has a
Right to read News ; but few find themselves inclined to
pay for it. 'Tis great pity a Soil that will bear Piety so
well, should not produce a tolerable Crop of Common
Honesty." — Evming Post, No. 690, Oct., 1748.
The preceding extracts from the Evening Post, are sufio.-
cient to enable our readers to form some acquaintance
with the publisher of that paper ; and, when they consider
the time when the extracts were published, they will be
the more pleased with his independence of character.
Fleet published the Evening Post until his death ; and his
sons continued it till the memorable battle at Lexington,
in 1775, the commencement of the revolutionary war,
when its publication ceased. He was printer to the house
of representatives in 1729, 1730 and 1731. He died in
July, 1758, aged seventy-three years ; was possessed of a
handsome property, and left a widow, three sons, and two
daughters. One of the sons, and the two daughters, were
never married.
T. Crump. — The first book I have seen with Crump's
name in it, was printed in 1716, by T. Fleet and himself.
Fleet and Crump printed several books together, but never,
I believe, formed a regular partnership. It seems to have
been the custom with master printers in Boston, at that
time, when their business was on a very small scale,
instead of hiring those who had served a regular appren-
ticeship at the trade, as journeymen, to admit them as
temporary partners in work, and to draw a proportion of
the profit. For example, two printers agreed to a joint
agency in printing a book, and their names appeared in
the imprint; if one of them was destitute of types, he
allowed the other for the use of his printing materials, the
Massachusetts. 105
service of apprentices, &c., and when the book came from
the press, the bookseller (most books were then printed
for booksellers), paid each of the printers the sum due for
his proportion of the work; and the connection ceased
until a contract was formed for a new job. This method
accounts for a fact of which many have taken notice, viz.,
books appear to have been printed the same year by T.
Fleet and T. Crump, and by T. Fleet separately ; and so
of others. This was the case with Samuel Green and
Marmaduke Johnson, at Cambridge. Their names appear
together in the imprint of a book, and in the same year
the name of S. Green appears alone. The same thing took
■place with Bartholomew Green and John Allen, and with
Benjamin Harris and John Allen. Allen's name often
appeared with Green's, and sometimes with Harris's ; but
still oftener the names of Green and Harris appear alone
in the books issued from their respective printing houses.
I can recollect that, when a lad, I knew several instances
of this kind of partnership.
Crump, after his connection with Fleet, printed some
books, in which his name only appears in the imprints.
He did but little business. I have not seen any thing
printed by him after the year 1718.
Samuel Kneeland began business about the year 1718.
His printing house was in Prison lane,^ the corner of
Dorset's alley. This building was occupied for eighty
years as a printing house by Kneeland and those who suc-
ceeded him ; Kneeland was born in Boston, and served
an apprenticeship with Bartholomew Green. He had
respectable friends, who, soon after he became of age, fur-
nished him with means to procure printing materials.
Kneeland was a good workman, industrious in his business,
' Now Court street.
106 History of Printing in America.
and punctual to his engagements. Many books issued
from his press for himself and for booksellers, before and
during his partnership with Timothy Green, the second
printer of that name.
William Brooker, being appointed postmaster at Boston,
he, on Monday, December 21st, 1719, began the publica-
tion of another newspaper in that j)lace. This was the
second published in the British colonies, in Korth Ame-
rica, and was entitled The Boston Gazette. James Franklin
was originally employed as the printer of this paper ; but,
in two or three months after the publication commenced,
Philip Musgrave was appointed postmaster, and became
the proprietor. He took the printing of it from Frank-
lin, and gave it to Kneeland.
In 1727, a new postmaster became proprietor of the
Gazette, and the printer was again changed. Soon after
this event, in the same year, Kneeland commenced
the publication of a fourth newspaper,^ entitled. The New
England Journal. This was the second newspaper in New
England published by a printer on his own account. In
four months after the establishment of this paper, Knee-
land formed a partnership with Green already mentioned,
son of that Timothy Green who, some years before,
removed to ISTew London. The firm was Kneeland &
Green. When this partnership took place, Kneeland
opened a bookshop in King, now State street, on his own
account, and Green managed the business of the printing
house for their mutual interest. After attending to book-
selling, for four or five years, Kneeland gave up his shop,
returned to the printing house, and took an active part in
all its concerns. They continued the publication of The
New England Journal, nearly fifteen years ; when, on the
'The New England Gourant had been printed several years before, but
at this time was discontinued.
Massachusetts. 107
decease of the proprietor of the Boston Gazette, his heirs,
for a small consideration, resigned that paper to Kneeland
and Green. They united the two papers under the title
of The Boston Gazette, and Weekly Journal.
The partnership of Kneeland and Green was continued
for twenty-five years. In 1752, in consequence of the
father of Green, in N"ew London, having become aged and
infirm, the partnership was dissolved, and Green removed
to that place, where he assumed his father's business.'
The concerns of the printing house were, after Green went
to Connecticut, continued by Kneeland with his accustomed
energy. Soon after the dissolution of their partnership,
The Boston Gazette and Weekly Journal was discontinued ;
and Kneeland, when a few months had elapsed, began
another paper entitled The Boston Gazette or Weekly Adver-
tiser."^
The booksellers of this time were enterprising. Knee-
land and Green printed, principally for Daniel Henchman,
an edition of the Bible in small 4to. This was the first
Bible printed, in America, in the English language. It
was carried through the press as privately as possible, and
had the London imprint of the copy from which it was
reprinted, viz : " London : Printed by Mark Baskett,
Printer to the King's Most Excellent Majesty," in order
to prevent a prosecution from those in England and Scot-
land, who published the Bible by a patent from the crown ;
or. Cam prkilegio, as did the English universities of Oxford
and Cambridge. When I was an apprentice, I often
heard those who had assisted at the case and press in
printing this Bible, make mention of the fact. The late
' In the Historical Magazine, ix, new series, 39, and Boston Traveller, Sept.
5, 1866, the Christian History, printed weekly for Thomas Prince Jr. by
Kneeland and Green, in 1743-4, is claimed to have been the first religious
newspaper in the world. — M.
^ See Newspapers, Appendi.x, vol. n.
108 History of Printing in America.
Governor Hancock was related to Henchman, a-nd knew
the particulars of the transaction. He possessed a copy of
this impression. As it has a London imprint, at this day
it can be distinguished from an English edition, of the
same date, only by those who are acquainted with the
niceties of typography. This Bible issued from the press
about the time that the partnership of Kneeland and Green
expired. The edition was not large ; I have been informed
that it did not exceed seven or eight hundred copies.^
An edition of the New Testament, in duodecimo, was
printed by Rogers and Fowle, not long before the time
when this impression of the Bible came from the press,
for those at whose expense it was issued. Both the
Bible and the Testament were well executed. These
were heavy undertakings for that day, but Henchman was
a man of property ; and it is said that several other prin-
cipal booksellers in Boston were concerned with him in
this business. The credit of this edition of the Testament
was, for the reason I have mentioned, transferred to the
king's printer, in London, by the insertion of his imprint.
Kneeland was, for a great length of time, printer to the
governor and council, and during several years he printed
the acts, laws and journals of the house of representatives.
He was diligent, and worked at case when far advanced in
years. The books he published were chiefly on religious
subjects ; he printed some political pamphlets. He was
independent in his circumstances ; a member of the Old
South church; and was a pious, friendly, and benevolent
man. He left four sons, all of whom were printers ; two
of them, Daniel and John, set up a press, in partnership.
^ The authenticity of this statement has been questioned by Bancroft,
the historian, and an account of some fruitless investigations concerning
the edition is given in O" Callaghan's List of Editions of American Bibles,
p. xiii. — M.
Massachusetts. 109
before their father's death ; but the other two never were
in business on their own account.
He died December 14, 1769, aged seventy-three years.
The following is extracted from the Evening Post of Decem-
ber 18, 1769 : " Last Thursday died, after a long indispo-
sition, Mr. Samuel Kneeland, formerly', for many years,
an eminent Printer in this Town. He sustained the
character of an upright man and a good Christian, and as
such was universally esteemed. He continued in business
till through age and bodily Infirmities he was obliged to
quit it. His Funeral was very respectfully attended on
Saturday Evening last."
James Franklin was the brother of the celebrated Dr. Ben-
jamin Franklin. He was born in Boston, where his father,
who was a respectable man, carried on the business of a
tallow chandler, at the Blue Ball, corner of Union street.
"With this brother Dr. Franklin lived several years, as an
apprentice, and learned the art of printing. I have been
informed that James Franklin served an apprenticeship
with a printer in England, where his father was born, and
had connections.
In March, 17}f ,^ J. Franklin came from London with a
press and types, and began business in Boston. At first
he printed a few pamphlets for booksellers. In 1719, a
' Before the new style took place in 1752, there was much confusion
respecting dates, particularly in regard to the months of Januaiy and
February. Some writers began the year in Januarj^, and others in March.
The difficult}' was to determine whether January and February closed an
old year, or began a new one. It became necessary to have some mode,
by which it might be"known to what year January and February belonged,
whenever these months were mentioned. For this purpose the following
method was adopted : During January, February, and to the 2oth of
March, the year was thus marked, 1716-17, or 17jf, meaning, that by the
ancient mode of calculating, the month mentioned belonged to the year
1716 ; but, by the new calculation, to the year 1717. After the 24th of
March there was no difficulty ; for by both calculations, the succeeding
months were included in the new year.
110 History of Printing in America.
postmaster was appointed wlio established a second news-
paper ; for until this time The Boston News-Letter was the
only paper which had been published in British America.
The title of the new paper was The Boston Gazette, and J.
Franklin was employed to print it ; ^ but, within seven
months, Philip Musgrave, being appointed to the post-
office, became the proprietor of the Gazette, and employed
another printer ; and Franklin employed his press other-
wise until August 6, 1721 ; when, encouraged by a num-
ber of respectable characters, who were desirous of having
a paper of a different cast from those then published, he
began the publication, at his own risk, of a third news-
paper, entitled. The New England Courant. Franklin's
father and many of his friends were inimical to this under-
taking. They supposed that one newspaper was enough
for the whole continent ; and they apprehended that
another must occasion absolute ruin to the printer.
Franklin, notwithstanding their remonstrances, continued.
This weekly publication, like the others issued in Boston,
contained only a foolscap half sheet, but occasionally was
enlarged to a whole sheet. The patrons of the paper
formed themselves into a club, and furnished it with short
original essays, generally one for each week, in imitation
of the Spectator and other periodical publications of that
class. These essays soon brought the Courant into notice ;
the rigid puritans warmly opposed it ; but men of differ-
' Dr. Franklin, in writing his life, was incorrect in asserting, that the
Courant was the second newspaper published in America. There were
three papers published at that time, viz., first. The Bostan News-Letter ;
secondly. The Boston Gazette; and the third was The American Mercury,
published at Philadelphia ; of course the Courant was the fourth. The
doctor probably fell into this mistake, from his knowledge that his brother
first printed the Gazette, which, in fact, was the second paper published
in Boston. He seems to have mentioned the events of his youth
from recollection only ; therefore, we cannot wonder if he erred in
respect to some circumstances of minor importance. In more material
concerns, he was substantially correct.
Massachusetts. Ill
ent sentiments supported it. Among others, the Rev.
Increase Mather, who was one of Franklin's first sub-
scribers, very soon denounced The Courant, by an adver-
tisement in The Boston Gazette, No. 114.^
The Courant contained very little news, and but few
advertisements. It took a decided part against the advo-
cates of inoculation for the small pox, which was then
beginning to be introduced : it was hostile to the clergy,
and to some of the most influential men in civil govern-
ment ; and, it attacked some of the religious opinions of
the day; in consequence, frequent assaults were made
upon its writers ; and, in their defence, they abounded
more in severe, and not always the most refined, satire,
than in argument. While, therefore, the Courant gained
a currency with one part of the community, it excited the
resentment of another, and soon attracted the notice of
government.
Franklin had not published The New England Courant
twelve months, before he was taken into custody, publicly
censured, and imprisoned four weeks, by the government,
for publishing what were called scandalous libels, &c.^
Being released from his confinement, he continued the
publication of the Courant until January 14, 1723, when
an order of council, in which the house of representatives
concurred, directed, " That James Franklin be strictly
forbidden by this Court to Print or Publish the New
England Courant, or any Pamphlet or Paper of the like
Nature, except it be first supervised by the Secretary of
this Province."^ This order, this stride of despotism,
could, it seems, at that time, be carried into eiSfect; but,
at this day, a similar attempt would excite indignation, or
a contemptuous smile.
^ For this advertisement, see History of Newspapers — Boston.
'' See resolve of council, July 5th, 1732, in History of Newspapers.
^ For this act of the legislature, see Newspapers.
112 History of Printing in America.
Franklin was not inclined to subject his paper to licensers
of the press, and he was unwilling to stop the publication
of it ; but, he dared not proceed in defiance of the order
of the legislature. The club wished for the continuance
of the paper; and, a consultation on the subject was
held in Franklin's printing house, the result of which
was, that to evade the order of the legislature, the New
England Courant should, in future, be published by Benja-
min Franklin, then an apprentice to James. Accordingly,
the next Courant had the following imprint : " Boston,
printed and sold by Benjamin Franklin, in Queen Street,
where advertisements are taken in." About a year after-
ward, J. Franklin removed his printing house to Union
street. The' Courant was published in the name of Benja-
min Franklin, for more than three years ; ^ and, probably,
until its publication ceased; but it appears from Dr.
Franklin's life, that he did not remain for a long time
with his brother after the Courant began to be printed in
his name.
J. Franklin remained in Boston for several years. He
continued to publish the Courant, and printed several
small works. He had a brother, by the name of John,
who was married and settled at ]!^ewport in the business
of a tallow chandler. N^ot satisfied with his situation in
Boston, and receiving an invitation from his brother and
other persons in Rhode Island, he removed to l^ewport,
and set up the first printing press in that colony ; and, in
the latter part of September, 1732, he published the first
number of The Rhode Island Gazette. — See Rhode Island.
James Franklin had learned, in England, the art of
calico printing, and did something at the business, both
in Boston and Newport. The Boston Gazette of April 25,
1720, then printed by him for the postmaster, contains
'Appendix G.
Massachusetts. 113
the following advertisement : " The Printer hereof prints
Linens, Calicoes, Silks, &c., in good Figures, very lively
and durable colours, and without the offensive smell which
commonly attends the Linens printed here." ^
Benjamin Franklin. Well known and highly cele-
brated in this country and in Europe, was born in Boston,
January 17th, 170|. His father was an Englishman, and
served an apprenticeship with a silk dyer in Northamp-
tonshire,^ He came to Boston with his wife and three
children ; and, after his arrival in America, he had four
other children by the same wife. She dying, he married
a native of Xew England, by whom he had ten children ;
two daughters excepted, Benjamin was the youngest child
by the second wife.'
Franklin's father settled in Boston; but, finding the
business to which he had been bred insufficient to afford
him a maintenance, he relinquished it, and assumed that
of a soap boiler and tallow chandler, in which occupations
Benjamin was employed from the tenth to the twelfth
year of his life.
Franklin was dissatisfied with the business of his father,
and felt a strong inclination for a seafaring life. His
father was extremely averse to that plan, and through fear
that Benjamin might, in a clandestine manner, get to sea,
he concluded to bind him apprentice to his nephew, who
was settled in Boston, as a cutler ; but not agreeing with
his nephew on conditions, and Benjamin expressing a
wish to be a printer, his father consented to gratify this
' James Franklin died in 1735, leaving his printing office to his wife
and family, who continued it successfully for several years after his
death. — M.
'More probably wool dyer in Oxfordshire. See Autobiography of B.
Franklin. — E.
' FranklMs Life, first London edition, 12mo, from which I have taken
most of the particulars respecting him.
114 History of Printing in America.
inclination. At this time, 1717, James Franklin returned
from England with printing materials, and commenced
business in Boston ; and Benjamin, at the age of twelve
years, signed indentures, and became his apprentice.
Pleased with his new employment, Frankhn soon be-
came useful to his brother. He borrowed books, and read
them with avidity and profit. At an early age, he wrote
stanzas on the capture of Black Beard, a noted pirate,
and on other occurrences. These verses, he observes,
" were miserable ditties," but his brother printed them, and
sent Benjamin about the town to sell them. One of these
compositions, he remarks, " had a prodigious run, because
the event was recent, and had made a great noise."
When his brother printed a newspaper, Benjamin felt
increased satisfaction with his business ; and he soon
began, privately, to compose short essays, which he art-
fully introduced for publication without exciting suspicion
of his being the author. These were examined and
approved by the club of writers for the Courant, to the
great gratification of the writer, who eventually made
himself known.
It has already been stated, in the account given of James
Franklin, that he was forbidden by the General court to
proceed in the publication of the Courant, except on cer-
tain conditions. With the terms dictated James deter-
mined that he would not comply ; and, with a view to
evade the injunctions of the government, the name of his
brother Benjamin was substituted in the place of his own,
and the publication was continued. " To avoid the censure
of the General assembly, who might charge James Frank-
• lin with still printing the paper under the name of his
apprentice, it was resolved that Benjamin's indentures
should be given up to him, with a full and entire discharge
written on the back, in order to be produced on any
emergency; but that to secure to James the service of
Massachusetts. 115
Benjamin, it was agreed the latter should sign a new con-
tract, which should be kept secret during the remainder
of the term." This, Benjamin observes, in his Life, was
a very shallow arrangement, but it was put into immediate
execution. Though the paper was still issued in Benjamin's
name, he did not remain with his brother long after this
arrangement was made. They disagreed, and in the
eighteenth year of his age he privately quitted James, and
took passage in a vessel for New York. At this time
there was but one printer in New York, and from him
Franklin could obtain no employment ; but he gave our
adventurer encouragement, that his son, who printed in
Philadelphia, would furnish him with work. In pursuit of
this object, he entered a ferry boat on his way to Phila-
delphia; and, after a very disagreeable passage, reached
Amboy. From that place he traveled on foot .to Burling-
ton, where he was hospitably entertained, for several days,
by an aged woman who sold gingerbread. When an
opportunity presented to take passage in a boat, he
embraced it, and reached Philadelphia in safety.
As Franklin afterwards obtained the highest offices in
civil government, and was greatly celebrated as a states-
man and a philosopher, the particulars of this apparently
inauspicious period of his life are singularly interesting ;
I will, therefore, give his own narrative of his entrance
into the capital of Pennsylvania, of which he was destined
to become the governor.
" On my arrival at Philadelphia, I was in my working
dress, my best clothes being to Come by sea. I was
covered with dirt ; my pockets were filled with shirts and
stockings ; I was unacquainted with a single soul in the
place, and knew not where to seek for a lodging. Fatigued
with walking, rowing, and having past the night without
sleep, I was extremely hungry, and all my money consisted
of a Dutch dollar, and about a shilling's worth of coppers,
116 History of Printing in America.
which I gave to the boatmen for my passage. As I had
assisted them in rowing, they refused it at first ; but I
insisted on their taking it. A man is sometimes more gene-
rous when he has little, than when he has much money ;
probably because in the first case he is desirous of con-
cealing his poverty. I walked towards the top of the street,
looking eagerly on both sides, till I came to Market street,
where I met a child with a loaf of bread. Often had I
made my dinner on dry bread, I enquired where he had
bought it, and went straight to the baker's shop, which
he pointed out to me. I asked for some biscuits, expect-
ing to find such as we had at Boston ; but they made, it
seems, none of that sort in Philadelphia. I then asked
for a threepenny loaf. They made no loaves of that price.
Finding myself ignorant of the prices, as well as the dif-
ferent kinds of bread, I desired him to let me have three
penny worth of bread of some kind or other. He gave
me three large rolls. I was surprized at receiving so
much ; I took them, however, and having no room in my
pockets, I walked on with a roll under each arm, eating
the third. In this manner I went through Market street
to Fourth street, and passed the house of Mr. Read, the
father of my future wife. She was standing at the door,
observed me, and thought, with reason, that I made a very
singular and grotesque appearance.
" I then turned the corner, and went through Chestnut
street, eating my roll all the way ; and, having made this
round, I found myself again on Market street wharf, near
the boat in which I haul arrived. I stepped into it to take
a draught of the river water ; and, finding myself satisfied
with my first roll, I gave the other two to a woman and
her child, who had come down the river with us in the
boat, and was waiting to continue her journey. Thus
refreshed, I regained the street, which was now full of
well dressed people, all going the same way. I joined
Massachusetts. 117
them, and was tlius led to a large Quaker's meeting-liouse,
near the market place. I sat down with the rest, and
after looking round me for some time, hearing nothing
said, and being drowsy from my last night's labor and
want of rest, I fell into a sound sleep. In this state I
continued till the assembly dispersed, when one of the
congregation had the goodness to wake me. This was
consequently the first house I entered, or in which I slept,
at Philadelphia.
"I began again to walk along the street by the river
side, and looking attentively in the face of every one I met,
I at length perceived a young quaker, whose countenance
pleased me. I accosted him, and begged him to inform
me where a stranger might find a lodging. We were
then near the sign of the Three Mariners. They receive
travellers here, said he, but it is not a house that bears a
good character ; if you will go with me I will shew you a
better one. He conducted me to the Crooked Billet, in
Water street. There I ordered something for dinner, and
during my meal a number of curious questions were put
to me ; my youth and appearance exciting the suspicion
that I was a runaway. After dinner my drowsiness
returned, and I threw myself on a bed without taking ofi"
my clothes, and slept till six o'clock in the evening, when
I was called to supper. I afterward went to bed at a very
early hour, and did not awake till the next morning.
" As soon as I got up I put myself in as decent a trim
as I could, and went to the house of Andrew Bradford
the printer. I found his father in the shop, whom I had
seen at New York. Having travelled on horseback, he
had arrived at Philadelphia before me. He introduced
me to his son, who received me with civility, and gave me
some brealcfast; but told me he had no occasion at present
for a journeyman, having lately procured one. He added,
that there was another printer newly settled in the town,
118 History of Printing in America.
of the name of Keimer, who might, perhaps, employ me ;
and, that in case of a refusal, I should be welcome to lodge
at his house, and he would give me a little work now and
then, till something better should offer.
" The old man offered to introduce me to the new printer.
When we were at his house, ' Neighbor,' said he, ' I bring
you a young man in the printing business ; perhaps you
may have need of his services.' Keimer asked me some
questions, put a composing stick in my hand to see how I
could work, and then said, that at present he had nothing
for me to do, but that he should soon be able to employ
me. At the same time, taking old Bradford for an
inhabitant of the town well disposed towards him, he com-
municated his project to him, and the prospect he had of
success. Bradford was careful not to betray that he was
the father of the other printer ; and from what Keimer
had said, that he hoped shortly to be in possession of the
greater part of the business of the town, led him by artful
questions, and by starting some difficulties, to disclose all
his views, what his hopes were founded upon, and how
he intended to proceed, I was present, and heard it all.
I instantly saw that one of the two was a cunning old fox,
and the other a perfect novice. Bradford left me with
Keimer, who was strangely surprized when I informed
him who the old man was,"
Keimer encouraged Franklin with the hope of employ-
ment in a short time, and he returned to Bradford's. In
a few days after he began to work for Keimer, but con-
tinued to board with Bradford. This was not agreeable
to Keimer, and he procured a lodging for him at Mr.
Read's, who has been already mentioned. " My trunk
and effects being now arrived," says Franklin, " I thought
of making, in the eyes of Miss Read, a more respectable
appearance, than when chance exhibited me to her view,
eating my rolls and wandering in the streets."
Massachusetts. 119
Franklin remained about seven months in Philadelpliia,
worked for Keimer, and formed many acquaintances,
some of thenf very respectable. Accident procured him
an interview with Governor Keith, who made him great
promises of friendship and patronage ; persuaded him to
visit his father, which he accordingly did, and was bearer
of a letter the governor wrote to him, mentioning the son
in the most flattering terms ; and recommending his esta-
blishment as a printer at Philadelphia, under assurances
of success. Franklin was at this time only in the nine-
teenth year of his age, and his father declined to assist in
establishing him in business on account of his youth and
inexperience ; but he answered Governor Keith's letter,
thanking him for the attentions and patronage he had
exercised toward his son. Franklin determined to return
to Philadelphia. At New York, on his way, he received
some attentions from the governor of that colony.^ On
his arrival at Philadelphia he presented his father's letter
to Governor Keith. The governor disapproved of the cau-
tion of his father ; still urged the prosecution of the scheme ;
promised himself to be at all the expense of procuring
printing materials ; and advised Franklin to make a voy-
age to England, and select the types, under his own eye,
at the foundery. To this plan Franklin agreed, and it was
settled that the design should be kept secret, until an
opportunity presented for his taking passage for London.
In the meantime he continued to work for Keimer.
"When a vessel was about to sail, the governor promised
from day to day to give Franklin letters of credit upon his
correspondent in London; and, when he was called onboard
ship, the governor told him that he would send his letters
to him on board. At the moment of sailing, letters were
brought from the governor and put into the ship's letter
' Burnet, who was soon after ofovernor of Massachusetts.
120 History of Printing in America.
bag ; among which Franklin supposed were those that
had been promised him. But when he reached his port,
he found, on investigation, that he had neither letters of
credit nor introduction. The governor had deceived him,
and he landed a stranger in a strange country.
Destitute and friendless, Franklin's only means of sup-
port consisted in his capacity to labor. He immediately
applied to a printer for employment as a journeyman, and
obtained it. In this situation he continued for eighteen
months, and gained much knowledge in the art of print-
ing. He then formed a connection with a mercantile
friend, whom he assisted as a clerk; and, with him, he
returned to Philadelphia. This friend soon died, and
Franklin relinquished the plan of mercantile pursuits.
He returned to the business of a printer as a journeyman ;
but, soon after, opened a printing house of his own in
Philadelphia. [^See Philadelphia Printers.~\
Timothy Green, Jun. He was the son of Timothy
Green, who removed from Boston to N"ew London in 1714 ;
and great grandson of Samuel Green, of Cambridge. I
have seen no printing with his name before 1726. One or
two pamphlets were then printed by S. Kneeland and T.
Green. Several small publications appeared afterwards
with Kneeland's name only. In 1727, a regular partner-
ship took place between them, under the firm of S. Knee-
land & T. Green. This partnership, as has been mentioned,
continued till 1752, when he removed to New London,
and succeeded his father. [^See Kneeland and Green, and
printers in Connecticut.^
Bartholomew Green, Jun., was the son of Bartholomew
Green, printer of The Boston News- Letter, grandson to
Samuel Green, who printed at Cambridge, and served an
apprenticeship with his father. The earliest works I have
Massachusetts. 121
seen printed by Bartholomew Green, Jun., are, a small
book published in 1726, and the Boston Gazette, for the
postmaster, Henry Marshall, in 1727.
He made use of his press and types in the printing house
of his father, till 1734; and was, occasionally, connected
with John Draper, his brother-in-law, in printing pamph-
lets, etc. Draper succeeded to the business of B. Green
the elder in 1732, in the same house. On the night of the
30th of January, 1734, this house, with the greatest part
of its contents, was destroyed by fire. After this misfor-
tune, B. Green, Jr., formed a copartnership with John
Bushell and Bezoune Allen.^ The firm of this company
was Green, Bushell & Allen. They printed a number
of small books for the trade, which were very well executed.
They used handsome types, and printed on good paper.
How long this partnership continued, I cannot say ; it was
dissolved before 1751.
In September, 1751, Green with his printing materials
removed to Halifax, Nova Scotia, intending to establish a
press in that place ; but he died in about five weeks after
his arrival there, at the age of fifty-two years. On his
decease, his late partner Bushell went to Halifax, and
commenced business with Green's press.
Green left several children, and two of his sons were
printers. Bartholomew, the eldest of them, never had a
press of his own. The following peculiarity in his cha-
racter introduced him to a particular intercourse with the
merchants of the town ; he made himself so well acquainted
with every vessel which sailed out of the port of Boston,
^Bezoune, Bozoun, Bozoune or Bozoon Allen, was an ancient and
respectable name in Boston. In 1647, an order of the court was signed
by John Wintbrop, Governor, and Bozoun Allen, on the part of the house.
In 1691, Capt. Bezoone Allen was one of the selectmen. In 1693, Bozoun
Allen held the same office. In 1694, Capt. Bozoone Allen was assessor.
In 1700, Bozoon Allen was chosen representative. — Drake's Boston, pp.
327, 492, 503, 506, 522.— H.
122 History of Printing in America.
as to know each at siglit. Perpetually on the watch, as
soon as a vessel could be discovered with a spyglass in
the harbor, he knew it, and gave immediate information
to the owner; and, by the small fees for this kind of
information, he principally maintained himself for several
years. Afterwards he had some office in .the custom house.
John, another son, will be mentioned hereafter. One of
the daughters of Green was the mother of Mr. Joseph
Deunie, formerly editor of The Farmer's Museum, at Wal-
pole, New Hampshire, and also of The Port Folio, pub-
lished at Philadelphia. Mr. Dennie was reckoned among
the first scholars in the belles-lettres, which our country
has produced.
Gamaliel Rogers served his apprenticeship with Bar-
tholomew Green the elder. About the year 1729, he
began business in a printing house near the Mill Bridge.
He printed for the booksellers. In 1742, he commenced
a partnership with Daniel Fowle, under the firm of Rogers
& Fowle. They opened a printing house in Prisonjane,
for some time called Queen street, and now named Court
street. For those times they entered largely into business,
and the books they printed, in magnitude and variety,
exceeded the usual works of the country. A number of
octavo and duodecimo volumes issued from their house; and
their printing was executed with accuracy and neatness.
Several of these books were printed on their own account.
In 1743, they issued The American Magazine. It was
published in numbers, monthly, printed in a handsome
manner, and in its execution was deemed equal to any work
of the kind then published in London. Several respecta-
ble booksellers were interested in this magazine. It was
continued for three years.
In the beginning of the year 1748, they commenced the
publication of a newspaper entitled The Independent Adver-
Massachusetts. 123
User. A number of able writers supported and enlivened
this publication. Its prominent features were political.
In 1750, they closed the business of the firm, and the
Independent Advertiser was then discontinued.
During the partnership of Rogers and Fowle, they
printed an edition of about two thousand copies of the
New Testament, l^mo, for D. Henchman and two or
three other principal booksellers, as has been .already
observed. This impression of the Testament, the first in
the English language printed in tliis country, was, as I
have been informed, completed at the press before Knee-
land and Green began the edition of the Bible which has
been mentioned. Zechariah Eowle, with whom I served
my apprenticeship, as well as several others, repeatedly
mentioned to me this edition of the Testament. He was,
at the time, a journeyman with Rogers and Fowle, and
worked at the press. He informed me that, on account
of the weakness of his constitution, he greatly injured his
health by the performance. Privacy in the business was
necessary; and as few hands were intrusted with the
secret, the press work was, as he thought, very laborious.
I mention these minute circumstances in proof that an
edition of the Testament did issue from the office of Rogers
and Fowle, because I have heard that the fact has been
disputed.
Rogers and Fowle were correct printers. They used
good types, paper, and excellent ink of their own manu-
facture. They were the only printers, I believe, who at
that time could make good ink. The printing ink used
in this country, until later, was chiefly imported from
Europe. In the first stages of printing, printers made
their own ink and types ; but the manufacture of types
and ink soon became separate branches of business. Most
of the bad printing in the United States, particularly in
New England, during the revolutionary war, was occa-
124 History of Printing in America.
sioned by the wretched ink, and more wretched paper,
which printers were then under the necessity of using.
After the dissolution of the partnership of Rogers and
Fowle, Rogers removed to the west part of the town, then
called lN"ew Boston ; and" there opened a printing house.
For two or three years he did a little business in this place,
when his printing house was, unfortunately, burnt down.
By this accident he was deprived of his press, and the
principal part of his types. Having lost most of his pro-
perty, he did no more business as a printer. His spirits
were broken, and he appeared dejected. At an advanced
period of life he opened a small shop opposite to the Old
South church, where he supported his family by retailing
ardent spirits in small quantities, trifling articles of grocery,
and by vending a few pamphlets, the remnant of his stock.
I went myself frequently to his shop, when a minor. He
knew that I lived with a printer, and for this, or some
other reason, was very kind to me; he gave me some
books of his printing, and, what was of more value to me,
good advice. He admonished me diligently to attend to
my business, that I might become a reputable printer. I
held him in high veneration, and often recollected his
instructions, which, on many occasions, proved beneficial
to me.
Rogers was industrious, and an excellent workman ; an
amiable, sensible man, and a good Christian. In 1775,
soon after the battle at Bunker's hill, when Boston was
wholly in possession of the British troops, and besieged by
the provincials, Rogers was among a number of the infirm
and invalid inhabitants of that town who obtained permis-
sion from the British general to leave it. He sought an
asylum at Ipswich ; removed there, and di^d at that place
in the autumn of that year, aged 70. He left several
daughters but no sons ; two of his daughters married
clergymen; one of them was the "wife of the Rev. Elijah
Massachusetts. 125
Parsons of EastHaddam, in Connecticut, and the other the
second wife of the Reverend Mr. Dana of Ipswich.
John Draper, was the son of Richard Draper, a trader
in Boston. He served his apprenticeship with Bartholo-
mew Green, Sen., whose daughter he married ; and, at the
decease of his father-in-law, occupied his printing house in
Newhury street.
In September, 1731, Draper commenced the publication
of a poUtical paper, entitled The Weekly Rehearsal. It was
printed, according to the custom of those times, on a half
sheet of small paper; and was carried on at the expense
of some gentlemen who formed themselves into a political
or literary club, and wrote for it. At the head of this club
was the late celebrated Jeremy Gridley, Esq.,^ who was
the real editor of the paper. The receipts for the Rehearsal
never amounted to more than enough to defray the expense
of publication. Draper printed this paper only about a
year and a half, and at the expiration of about four years
it was discontinued.
On the 28th of December, 1732, Bartholomew Green
died, and Draper succeeded him in his business ; particu-
larly as publisher of The Boston Weekly News-Letter. In
1734, he printed the laws of the province. He was after-
ward appointed printer to the governor and council, and
was honored with that mark of confidence and favor as
long as he lived.
Draper not only succeeded Bartholomew Green in his
business, but he was heir to his calamities also. On the
night of the 30th of January, 1734, the flames were seen
to burst from his printing house, but too late for any
1 Mr. Gridley was afterward attorney general of the province of Massa-
chusetts, grand master of the society of free masons, president of the
marine society, and a member of the general court. He died in Septem-
ber, 1767.
126 History of Printing in America.
effectual assistance to be afforded. The fire had kindled
in the interior part of the building, which was burnt to
the ground, and nearly the whole of the printing mate-
rials were destroyed. This loss was in some measure
repaired by the friendship of his brethren of the type, who
loaned to him a press, and several founts of letters, till he
could replace those articles by a new printing apparatus
from England.
He printed a number of books for the trade ; but pub-
lished only a few small pamphlets for his own sales. He
annually printed Ames's famous Almanac, for himself
and for booksellers ; of which about sixty thousand copies
were annually sold in the ISTew England colonies.
Draper owned the house in which he resided. It was
in Cornhill, the east corner of the short alley leading to
the church in Brattle street. He was an industrious and
useful member of society, and was held in estimation by
his friends and acquaintances. He died ISTovember 29th,
1762, and was succeeded in business by his son.
The following character of Draper is extracted from the
Boston Evening 'Post of December 6, 1762 :
" On Monday Evening last departed this Life after a
slow and hectic Disorder, having just entered the 61st
Year of his Age, Mr. John Draper, Printer, who for a long
Time has been the Publisher of a JSTews-Paper in this
Town ; and by his Industry, Fidelity and Prudence in his
Business, rendered himself very agreeable to the Public.
His Charity and Benevolence ; his pleasant and sociable
Turn of Mind ; his tender Aftfection as a Husband and
Parent ; his Piety and Devotion to his Maker, has made
his Death as sensibly felt by his Friends and Relations, as
his Life is worthy Imitation." '
' See Historical Magazine, vii, 2d series, p. 219.
Massachusetts. 127
John Bushell was born in Boston, where he served an
apprenticeship. He began business about the year 1734 ;
and, as I have been informed, printed The Boston Weekly
Post Boy, during a short period, for Ellis Huske, postmas-
ter. He was afterward of the firm of Green, Bushell &
Allen. They did but little business while together, and
the connection was dissolved about 1750. Upon the ter-
mination of the partnership, Green, as has been mentioned,
removed to Halifax, Nova Scotia ; and, as he died a few
weeks after his arrival, Bushell went to Halifax, and with
Green's apparatus established a press in that place. He
was the first who printed in that province. \^See Nova
Scotia.']
Bezoune Allen was, probably, the son of John Allen.
He entered on business, according to report, about the
year 1734 ; and was, for several years, of the firm of Green,
Bushell and Allen. This copartnership was formed, I
believe, in 1736. I have seen books printed by them as
late as 1745 ; but I have not discovered that any thing
was printed by Allen separately. They never were in
extensive business ; and what they did consisted, princi-
pally, of small works for the booksellers.
Jonas Green was the son of the elder Timothy Green,
who removed from Boston and settled at New London in
1714, and great-grandson of Samuel Green, printer at
Cambridge. He was born at Boston, and served his
apprenticeship with his father in New London. "When of
age, he came to Boston, and was several years in the print-
ing house of his brother, who was then the partner of S.
Kneeland.
I have seen but one book printed by Jonas Green in
Boston, viz. : A Grammar of the Hebrew Tongue, by Judah
Monis, professor of the Hebrew language, at Harvard Col-
128 History of Printing in America.
lege, in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Good judges pro-
nounced this work to be correctly printed. I have seen a
copy of it in the theological library in Boston, where the
original manuscript is preserved. The Hebrew j:ypes
were a cast belonging to the college, which have since
been used in printing Professor Sewall's Hebrew Grammar,
and I suppose are now iti the museum of the University.
Green resided several years in Philadelphia; and dur-
ing that time was employed in the printing houses of
Bradford and Franklin.
In 1739, as there was not a printer in Maryland, the
legislature of that province employed an agent to procure
one. Green, being well recommended by his employers,
made application to the agent, and obtained the place of
printer to that government. In consequence of the liberal
encouragement he received, he opened a printing house at
Annapolis in 1740. \_See 'printers in Maryland.']
Ebenezer Love. I have not been able to obtain much
information respecting Love. He was born in, or near
Boston, and served his apprenticeship in that town. I
have seen nothing of his printing ; but he was known in
Boston as a printer; indeed, I recollect, myself, that, when
a lad, I heard mention made of him ; but I cannot ascer-
tain that he was at any time actively engaged in the print-
ing business.
In The Boston Evening Pos< of May 14th, 1770, under the
Boston head, is the following parapraph, viz. : " We hear
from New Providence, that on the 23d of January last,
died there after a few days illness of a Bilious Cholic,
Ebenezer Love, Esq., formerly of this town, Printer. For
a number of years past he had resided at that Island, and
carried on Merchandize ; was well esteemed by the Gen-
tlemen there, and elected a member of their House of
Assembly."
Massachusetts. 129
Daniel Fowle was born in Charlestown, near Boston,
and served his apprenticeship with Samuel Kneeland. He
began printing, on his own account, ia 1740, " north side
of King street, opposite the town house." In 1742, he,
and Gamaliel Rogers, formed a partnership in business,
under the firm of Rogers & Fowle.^ A brother of Fowle,
named John, was a silent partner in this firm. They
opened a printing house in Prison lane, the house next but
one to the old stone jail, where the court house now (in
1815) stands. In the account given of Rogers, I have men-
tioned the works done by this company ; and, particularly,
the New Testament, the American Magazine, and the
newspaper, entitled The Independent Advertiser. In taking
notice of Fowle, therefore, I shall begin with the period
at which the partnership was dissolved, that is, in 1760.
Soon after that event, Fowle opened a printing house on
the south side of Anne street, not far from the Flat con-
duit, so called, which at that time stood in Union street.
At the same place he also opened a shop, and kept a small
collection of books for sale. Here he printed a number of
works, chiefly pamphlets, most of which were for his own
sales.
In October, 1754, Fowle, while at dinner, was arrested,
by virtue of an order of the house of representatives,
signed by Thomas Hubbard, their speaker, and taken
before that house, on suspicion of having printed a pamph-
let which reflected upon some of the members. It was
entitled. The Monster of Monsters, by Tom Thumb, Esq.
After an hour's confinement in the lobby, he was brought
before the house. The speaker, holding a copy of the
pamphlet in his hand, asked him, "Do you know any
thing of the printing of this Book ? " Fowle requested to
see it; and it was given him. After examination, he
See Rogers and Fowle.
130 History of Printing in America.
said that it was not of his printing ; and that he had hot
such types in his printing house. The speaker then asked,
" Do you know any thing relating to the said Book ? "
Fowle requested the decision of the house, whether he
was hound to answer the question. No vote was taken,
but a few members answered, " Yes ! " He then observed,
that he had " bought some copies, and had sold them at
his shop." This observation occasioned the following
questions and answers, viz : ^
Question. [By the speaker.] Who did you buy them
of?
Answer. They were, I believe, sent by a young man,
but I cannot tell his name.
Q. Who did he live with ?
[Fowle again desired the decision of the house, whether
he was obliged to give the required information, and a
number of individual members again replied, " Yes ! "
Upon which Fowle answered]
The^oung man, I believe, lives with Royall Tyler.
Q. Did you have any conversation with him [Tyler]
about them ?
A. I believe I might, in the same manner I had with
many others ; not that I thought him the author. It was
never offered me to print.
Q. Did any of your hands assist in doing it ?
A. I believe my negro might, as he sometimes worked
for my brother.^
' Vide Total Edipse of Liberty, a pamphlet written and publislied by D.
Fowle, containing a full account of this arbitrary procedure.
' This negro was named Primus. He was an African. I well remem-
ber him ; he wgrked at press with or without an assistant ; he continued
to do press work until prevented by age. He went to Portsmouth with
his master, and there died, being more than ninety years of age ; about
fifty of which he was a pressman. There is now [1815] in Philadelphia,
a negro pressman named Andrew Cain, but now unable to do hard labor.
He is ninety-four years old. It is said that he has been a good workman.
Massachusetts. 131
Q. Has your brother any help ?
A. No.
Q. Did you see any of it whilst printing ?
A. Yes.
Q. "Whose house was it in ?
A. I think it was my brother's.
Q. Where does he live?
A. Down by Cross street.
Q.' WTiat is his name ?
A. Zechariah.
One of the members then said to Fowle, You do not know
when you lie! Fowle replied, " Begging your pardon, sir,
I know when I lie, and what a lie is as well as yourself."
After this examination, Fowle was again confined for
several hours in the lobby ; and from thence, about ten
o'clock at night, was, by order of the house, taken to the
" common gaol," and there closely confined " among thieves
and murderers." ^ He was denied the sight of his wife,
although she, with tears, petitioned to see him ; no friend
was permitted to speak to him ; and he was debarred the
use of pen, ink and paper.
Royall Tyler, Esq., was arrested, and carried before the
house. When interrogated, he claimed the right of silence,
" Nemo tenetur seipsum accusare," was the only answer he
made. He was committed for contempt ; but was soon
released, on a promise that he would be forthcoming
when required.
The house ordered their messenger to take Fowle's bro-
ther Zechariah into custody, with some others ; but his
physician gave a certificate of his indisposition, and by
this means he escaped imprisonment.
* Fowle was confined in the same room with a thief and a notorious
cheat ; and, in the next cell, was one Wyer, then under sentence of death
for murder, and was soon after executed. [Vide Fowle's Total Eclipse of
Liberty.]
132 History of Printing in America.
After two days close confinement, Fowle was taken
to the keeper's house, and told that " He might go ! " but
he refused ; observing, that as he was confined at midnight
uncondemned by the law, he desired that the authority
which confined, should liberate him, and not thrust him- out
yrivily. He remained with the jailer three days longer ;
when learning from a respectable physician, that his wife
was seriously indisposed, that her life was endangered by
her anxiety on account of his confinement, and his friends
joining their persuasion to this call upon his tenderness,
Fowle was induced to ask for his liberation. He was accord-
ingly dismissed ; and here the prosecution ended. He
endeavored to obtain some satisfaction for the deprivation
of his liberty, but he did not succeed in the attempt.
Disgusted with th-e government of Massachusetts by this
treatment, and being invited by a number of respectable
gentlemen in New Hampshire to remove into that colony,
he accepted their invitation ; and, at the close of the follow-
ing year, established his press at Portsmouth. He was
the first printer who settled in that province ; and, in 1756^
he began the publication of The New Hampshire Gazette}
Fowle was, I believe, the third person whom the
legislature of Massachusetts imprisoned for printing what
was deemed a libel on that body, or on some of its mem-
bers, or for publishing heretical opinions, &c.
Living in the family of Daniel Fowle's brother, I early
became minutely acquainted with the whole transaction,
and deep impressions were then made upon my mind in
favor of the liberty of the press. For this liberty I am now
an advocate, but I still, as I ever did, hold the opinion,
that a line should be drawn between the liberty and the
licentiousness of the press. \_See New Hampshire.']
' This paper is still printed, and is tlie oldest paper extant in the United
States. — M.
Massachusetts. 133
Zechariah Fowle. He was born at Charlestown, near
Boston, of very respectable parents, and served his appren-
ticeship with his brother Daniel, who was at that period
in partnership with Gamaliel Rogers. The first book
which bears the name of Z. Fowle as printer, was'begun
by Rogers and Fowle, viz., PomfreCs Poems, on a new
small pica. On the dissolution of that firm, they assigned
this book over to Z. Fowle, who completed it, and sold
the greater part of the copies, in sheets, to booksellers.
He soon after opened a printing house, and a small shop,
in Middle street, near Cross street, where he printed and
sold ballads and small pamphlets.
E'ot being much known as a printer, and living in a
street where but little business was transacted, he was
selected by a number of gentlemen, who were in opposi-
tion to the measures of the general court, and particularly
to an excise act, to print a pamphlet entitled, The Monster
of 31onsters, satirizing this act, and bearing with some
severity upon individual members of the court. Daniel
was prevailed upon to assist his brother in carrying this
work through the press. Joseph Russell, his apprentice,
then nearly of age, worked at the case, and a negro man
at the press. The pamphlet was small, and appeared with-
out the name of the printer. It was the custom of that
day to hawk about the streets every new publication.
Select hawkers were engaged to sell this work ; and were
directed what answers to give to enquiries into its origin,
who printed it, &c. The general court was at the time in
session. The hawkers appeared on the Exchange with
the pamphlet, bawling out, " The Monster of Monsters ! "
Curiosity was roused, and the book sold. The purchasers
inquired of the hawkers, where the Monster came from ?
all the reply was, " It dropped from the moon ! " Several
members of the general court bought the pamphlet. Its
contents soon excited the attention of the house. Daniel
134 History of Printing in America.
Fowle, wlio was suspected to be the printer, was brought
before the house of representatives and examined, as has
been observed.' Z. Fowle was then ordered into custody,
and Russell who assisted him, Russell was brought before
the house, examined and released. Z. Fowle hearing
that his brother and Russell were arrested, and that the
officer was in search of him, was instantly seized with a
violent fit of the cholic. His illness was not feigned ; he
possessed a slender constitution, was often subject to this
complaint ; and, at this time, it was brought on by the fear
of an arrest. When the officer appeared, the attending
physician certified that he was dangerously ill. With this
certificate the officer departed, and Fowle escaped punish-
ment, the punishment which his brother unj^ustly expe-
rienced.
When Daniel Fowle removed to Portsmouth, Zechariah
took the printing house which he had occupied, in Anne
street. Until the year 1757, Z. Fowle printed little else than
ballads ; he then began an edition of the Psalter for the book-
sellers. In this work he was aided by two young printers
just freed from their indentures, and to whom Fowle
allowed a proportionate partof the profits of the impression.
One of these, Samuel Draper, a very worthy young man,
became a partner with Fowle after the Psalter was printed.
The firm was Fowle & Draper. They took a house in
Marlborough street, opposite the Founder's Arms ; here
they printed, and opened a shop. They kept a great sup-
ply of ballads, and small par^phlets for book pedlers, of
whom there were many at th t time. They printed seve-
ral works of higher consequence, viz. : an edition consist-
ing of twenty thousand copies of The Youth's Instructor in
the English Tongue, comm%Y called the New England
SpeUing Book. This school book was in great repute, and
' Vide Daniel Fowle.
Massachusetts. 135
in general use for many years. Janewaifs Heaven upon
Earth, octavo, Watts's Psalms, and several smaller duode-
cimo volumes, all for the trade. They printed, also, many
pamphlets of various sizes on their own account ; and had
full employment for themselves and two lads. Draper was
a diligent man, and gave unremitted attendance in the
printing house. Fowle was bred to the business, but he
was an indifferent hand at the press, and much worse at
the case. He was never in the printing house when he
could find a pretence for being absent.
After the death of John Draper, Richard, his son, took
his kinsman Samuel as a partner, and Fowle again printed
by himself. The business in his printing house was then
principally managed by a young lad, his only apprentice.
Soon after he separated from Draper, he removed to Back
street, where he continued printing and vending ballads
and small books until 1770 ; at which time Isaiah Thomas
became his partner. This connection was dissolved in
less than three months, and Thomas purchased his press
and types.
Fowle having on hand a considerable stock of the small
articles he usually sold, continued his shop till 1775.
Boston being then a garrison town in the possession of
the British troops, he obtained a permit to leave it, and
removed to Portsmouth, New Hampshire. While in this
place he resided with his brother, and died in his house in
1776.
Fowle was a singular ma^, very irritable and effeminate,
and better skilled in the dt'hiestic work of females, than
in the business of a printing house. His first wife dying in
1759, he married a second ; but had no children by either.
Fowle could not be callec in industrious man ; yet, in
justice to his character, it ou^t to be mentioned, that he
did business enough to give himself and family a decent
maintenance. Although he did not acquire property, he
136 History of Printing in America.
took care not to be involved in debt. He was honest in
his dealings, and punctual to his engagements.
Benjamin Edes was born in Charlestown, Oct. 14, 1732.
He began business with John Gill, in the year 1755, under
the firm of Edes & Gill. They continued in partnership
until the commencement of the revolutionary war. Their
printing house, for a time, was in King street, now State
street; they afterward occupied the printing house for-
merly kept by Rogers and Fowle, then the second house
west of the Court House in Court street. After the
death of Samuel Kneeland, they removed to the printing
house which he, for about forty years, occupied, and there
they remained until hostilities commenced between the
parent state and the colonies.
Two newspapers had been published, entitled The Boston
Gazette, and were, in succession, discontinued. Edes and
Gill began a new paper under the title of The Boston Gazette,
aiid Country Journal, which soon gained an establishment,
and became distinguished for the spirited political essays
which appeared in it. They published many political
pamphlets, and for a number of years were appointed
printers to the general court. They did some business
for booksellers. A small number of octavo and duode-
cimo volumes were occasionally issued from their press ;
but their principal business consisted in the publication oi
the Gazette. When the dispute between Great Britain and
her colonies assumed a serious aspect, this paper arrested
the public attention, from the part its able writers took in
the cause of liberty and their country ; and it gained a
very extensive circulation. Edes was a warm and a firm
patriot, and Gill was an honest whig.^
' In September, 1775, Gill underwent an imprisonment by the British,
of twenty-nine clays, for printing treason, sedition and rebellion. — IV
Force's American Archives, iii, 712. — M.
Massachusetts. 137
Soon after the revolutionary war began, the British
troops closed the avenues between Boston and the country ;
but Edes fortunately made his escape by night, in a boat,
with a press and a few types.
He opened a printing house in Watertown, where he
continued the Gctzette, and printed for the provincial con-
gress of Massachusetts. Here he found full employment,
and his zeal in the cause of his country animated him to
redoubled diligence.
The printing he executed at "Watertown, did not, indeed,
do much credit to the art; but the work, at this time,
done at other presses, was not greatly superior. The war
broke out suddenly, and few of any profession were pre-
pared for the event. All kinds of printing materials
had usually been imported from England; even ink for
printers had not, in any great quantity, been made in
America. This resource was, by the war, cut off; and a
great scarcity of these articles soon ensued. At that time,
there were but three small paper mills in Massachusetts ;
in New Hampshire there were none ; and Rhode Island
contained only one, which was out of repair. The paper
which these mills could make fell far short of the neces-
sary supply. Paper, of course, was extremely scarce, and
what could be procured was badly manufactured, not hav-
ing more than half the requisite labor bestowed upon it.
It was often taken from the mill wet, and unsized. People
had not been in the habit of saving rags, and stock for the
manufacture of paper was obtained with great difficulty.
Every thing like rags was ground up together to make a
substitute for paper. This, with wretched ink, and worn
out types, produced miserable printing.
In 1776, Edes returned to Boston, on the evacuation of
the town by the British army. Gill had remained recluse
in Boston during the siege. They now dissolved their
1^8 History of Printing in America.
connection, and divided their printing materials. Edes
continued to print for the state several years. In 1779, he
took his two sons Benjamin and Peter into partnership ;
their firm was Benjamin Edes & Sons. About three years
after this event Peter began business for himself in Bos-
ton, but was not successful. Benjamin continued with
his father some time longer, and then set up a press and
printed a newspaper in Haverhill, Massachusetts ; but he
was not more fortunate than his brother. The father con-
tinued the business alone, and labored along with The Bos-
ton Gazette. This paper had had its day, and it now
languished for want of that support it derived from the
splendid talents of its former writers, some of whom were
dead, some were gone abroad, and others were employed
in affairs of state. It was further depressed and paralyzed
by the establishment of other newspapers, and by the
exertions of another class of writers, who enlivened the
columns of the new journals with their literary productions.
Edes was a man of great industry. At the beginning
of the revolutionary war he had accumulated a very decent
property, which was not lessened when he returned to
Boston, in 1776. At that time he took a good house in
Cornhill, part of which formed the alley leading to Brattle
street; it was next to that formerly owned by John Dra-
per ; but, some years before his death, he moved into a
house which he then owned in Temple street, and hired
a chamber over the shop of a tin plate worker in Kilby
street, where he erected his press.
The rapid depreciation of paper money proved fatal to
the property of Edes, as well as to that of many others.
He had a large family to support; and he continued to
work, as had been his custom, at case and press, until the
infirmities of age compelled him to cease from labor. In
the advanced period of his life competence and ease for-
sook him, and he was oppressed by poverty and sickness.
Massachusetts. 139
His important services- were too soon forgotten by his
prosperous, independent countrymen.
He died December 11, 1803, at the age of seventy-one
years. His second son, Peter Edes, printed at Augusta,
in the district of Maine.^
Edes began the Boston Gazette and Country Journal, and
with him it ended. No publisher of a newspaper felt a
greater interest in the establishment of the independence
of the United States than Benjamin Edes; and no news-
paper was more instrumental in bringing forward this
important event than The Boston Gazette, \_8ee Newspapers.']
John Gill, the pa^-tner of Benjamin Edes, and the
junior publisher of The Boston Gazette and Country Journal^ ■
was born in Charlestown, Massachusetts. He served his
apprenticeship with Samuel Kneeland, and married one of
his daughters. Gill was a sound whig, but did not possess
the political energy of his partner. He was industrious,
constantly in the printing house, and there worked at
case or press as occasion required. His partnership with
Edes continued for twenty years. They separated at the
commencement of hostilities by the British, in 1775. Gill
remained in Boston during the siege ; he did no business,
and thought it prudent to confine himself to his own
house. He had, fortunately, acquired a competency for
the support of his family under that trial.
After the evacuation of Boston, his connection with
Edes ended. Th«y divided their stock, and settled their
concerns. While Edes continued the publication of the
Gazette, Gill issued another paper, entitled The Continental
1 In Sept., 1775, Peter Edes was a prisoner of the British in Boston, under
a sentence of seventy-five days, for having fire-arms concealed in his
house. — IV Force's Archives, in, 712. See also Historical Magazine, vii,
219, 220, 2d series. He was one of the Boston tea, party, so called.
He died at Bangor, Me., March 30, 1840. Benjamin Edes, Jr. died at
Boston, May 15, 1801, aged 46.— i/.
140 History of Printing in America.
Journal. Having published this paper several years, he
sold the right of it, in 1785, with his printing materials, to
James D. Griffith.
Gill was brother to the Hon. Moses Gill, who, subse-
quently to the revolution, was for several years lieutenant-
governor of the commonwealth of Massachusetts. He
died August 25, 1785, and left several children. The Con-
tinental Journal, which announced to the public the death
of Gill, contains the following observations respecting
him, viz. :
" Oapt. John Gill, for disseminating principles destruc-
tive of tyranny, suffered during the siege of this town in
1775, what many other printers were threatened with, a
cruel imprisonment. He, however, was so fortunate as to
survive the conflict ; but had the mortification, lately, of
seeing the press ready to be shackled by a stamp act
fabricated in his native state ; he, therefore, resigned his
business, not choosing to submit to a measure which
Britain artfully adopted as the foundation of her intended
tyranny in America. His remains were very respectfully
entombed last Monday afternoon." \_See Edes. — Boston
Gazette.']
John Green was the son of Bartholomew Green, Jr.,
who died at Halifax, and the great grandson of Samuel
Green of Cambridge. He was born in Boston, served an
apprenticeship with John Draper, whose daughter he
married, and in the year 1755 began business with Joseph
Kussell. The firm was Green & Russell. Their press
was established in Tremant street, in a house w'hich was
taken down to make room for Scollay's Buildings. In
August, 1757, they issued from their press a newspaper,
entitled The Boston Weekly Advertiser. They repeatedly
altered the title of this paper, but continued its publica-
tion until 1773, when they sold their right in it, to Mills
Massachusetts. 141
and Hicks.^ In 1758 they removed, and opened a printing
house in Queei\ street, in the brick building which made
the east corner of Dorset's alley, and nearly opposite to
the Court House. They printed for some time the jour-
nals of the house of representatives, and the laws of the
government. They also did the printing of the custom
house, and published a number of pamphlets ; but they
never engaged largely in book work.
A few years after this partnership was formed, Russell
opened an auction office, the profits of which were shared
by the firm. Green managed the printing house, and
Eussell the auction room. They continued together until
1775, and by their attention to business acquired a hand-
some property.
Green remained in Boston during the siege, and when
the British troops left the town he became interested in
the Independent Chronicle, then published by Powars and
Willis, but his name did not appear. He was a man of
steady habits, true to his engagements, and well respected.
He died November, 1787, aged sixty years. He had no
children. He was, I believe, the last of the descendants
of Samuel Green of Cambridge who printed in this state.
Joseph Russell was born in Boston, served an appren-
ticeship with Daniel Fowle, and in 1755, entered into part-
nership with John Green.^ Russell was a good workman
in the printing business ; but his talents were more par-
ticularly adapted to the duties of an auctioneer. When
Green and Russell united auctioneering with printing,
Russell took the sole management of the vendue room ;
he soon arrived at celebrity in this line, and had more
employment in it than any other person in Boston. When
^ See Newspapers.
° Russell lived with David Fowle, at the time Fowle was imprisoned,
on suspicion of printing The Monstsr of Monsters. Vid. Zechariah Fowle.
142 History of Printing in America.
his partnership with Green was dissolved, he formed a
connection with Samuel Clap ; and this company, under
the firm of Russell & Clap, continued the business of
auctioneers till the death of Russell.
Russell was full of life, very facetious, but attentive to
his concerns. Few men had more friends, or were more
esteemed. In all companies he rendered liimself agree-
able. He acquired considerable property, but did not
hoard up his wealth, for benevolence was one of his
virtues. He was a worthy citizen, and a friend to his
country. He died at the end of ]^ovember, 1795, aged
sixty-one years.
Benjamin Mecom was a native of Boston. His mother
was sister of James Franklin and of the celebrated
Benjamin Franklin. Mecom served his apprenticeship
with his uncle Benjamin Franklin at Philadelphia. When
of age, having received some assistance from his uncle,
he went to Antigua, and there printed a newspaper ; but
in 1756, he quitted that island, and returned to Boston.
In 1757, he opened a printing house in Cqrnhillj nearly
opposite to the old brick church. At the same place he
kept a shop and sold books. His first work was a large
edition, thirty thousand copies, of The Psalter, for the
booksellers. He printed these on terms so low, that his
profits did not amount to journeymen's wages. This
edition was two years worrying through his pi-ess. After
the Psalter Mecom began to print and publish, on his own
account, a periodical work, which he intended should
appear monthly. It was entitled, The New England 3Iaga-
zine of Knowledge and Pleasure. It contained about fifty
pao-es 12mo, but he published only three or four numbers.
These were issued in 1758 ; but no date either of month
or year appeared in the title page, or in the imprint. In
this magazine were inserted several articles under the
Massachusetts. 143
head of Queer Notions. Each numher, when published,
was sent about town for sale by hawkers ; but few copies
were vended, and the work, of course, was discontinued.
His business was not extensive ; he printed several pam-
phlets/or his own sale, and a few for that of others. He
remained in Boston for a number of years; but when
James Parker & Co., who printed at New Haven, removed
to New York, Mecom succeeded them. Soon afterwards
Dr. Franklin procured Mecom the office of postmaster for
New Haven.
He married in New Jersey, before he set up his press
in Boston. He possessed good printing materials, but
there was something singular in his work, as well as in
liimself. He was in Boston several months before the
arrival of his press and types from Antigua, and had much
leisure. During this interval he frequently came to the
house where I was an apprentice. He was handsomely
dressed, wore a powdered bob wig, ruffles and gloves;
gentlemanlike appendages which the printers of that day
did not assume, and thus apparelled, would often assist,
for an hour, at the pres*.
An edition of The New England Primer being wanted by
the booksellers, Z. Fowle consulted with Mecom on the
subject, who consented to assist in the impression, on con-
dition that he might print a certain number for himself.
To this proposal Fowle consented, and madjj his contract
with the booksellers. Fowle had no help but myself, then
a lad in my eighth year. The impression consisted of ten
thousand copies. The form was a small sixteens, on
foolscap paper. The first form of the Primer being set
up, while it was worked at the press I was put to case to
set the types for the second. Having completed this, and
set up the whole cast of types employed in the work, and
the first form being still at press I was employed as a
fly ; that is, to take off the sheets from the tympan as they
144 History of Printing in America.
were printed, and pile them in a heap; this expedited the
work. While I was engaged in this business, I viewed
Mecom at the press with admiration. He indeed put on
an apron to save his* clothes from blacking, and guarded
his ruffles ; but he wore his coat, his wig, his hat and his
gloves, whilst working at press ; and at case, laid aside
his apron. When he published his magazine with Queer
Notions, this singularity, and some addenda, known to
the trade, induced them to give him the appellation of
Queer Notions. Mecom was, however, a gentleman in his
appearance and manners, had been well educated to his
business, and if queer, was honest and sensible, and called
a correct and good printer. ISee New Haven, Philadelphia^
Antigua.']
Thomas Fleet, Jr., & John Fleet. They were brothers,
and having learned from their father the art of printing,
succeeded him in business at his house in Cornhill, in
1758. I mention them together, because they commenced
printing in partnership, and continued in connection until
separated by death. They carried on the publication of
The Boston Evening Post until the commencement of the
revolutionary war ; when they suspended the publication
of that newspaper, and it was never after resumed. The
impartiality with which the paper was conducted, in those
most critical times, the authenticity of its news, and the
judicious selections of its publishers, gained them great
and deserved reputation.
Both brothers were born in Boston. Their father gave
them a good school education ; they were correct printers,
very attentive to their concerns, punctual in their dealings,
good citizens, and much respected. They printed several
works in octavo, and some volumes in duodecimo, on
their own account; and some in connection with other
printers. Their shop was always supplied with smaller
Massachusetts. 145
articles for the benefit of their sisters, who were never
married.
They remained in Boston during the siege ; and, after-
ward, revived the publication of the Massachusetts Register ,
which originated with Mein and Fleming some years
before, and had been continued by Mills and Hicks.
Thomas died a bachelor, March 2, 1797, aged sixty-five
years. John was married ; he died March 18, 1806, aged
seventy-one, and left several children ; one of whom, by the
name of Thomas, was a printer in Boston at the same house
in which his grandfather began the The Boston Evening Posi}
Richard Draper. He was the son of John Draper, the
successor of Bartholomew Green, proprietor and printer
of The Boston News Letter. He was brought up a printer
by his father, continued with him after he became of age,
and, for some years before his father's death, was a silent
partner with him. On the death of his father, Eichard
continued the News Letter. He was early appointed to
the oflice of printer to the governor and council, which he
retained during life. His paper was devoted to the go-
1 Ann Fleet, the daughter of John, and the last of the name, died in
Boston, July, 1860, aged 89. The estate of Thomas Fleet Sen., at the
northerly comer of Washington and Water streets, which he purchased
in 1744, and from which the Evening Post was issued for upwards of
thirty years, still remained in the hands of his descendants in 1860
although they had discontinued the business of printing in 1808. — Boston
Transcript. Thomas Fleet Sen. was the putative compiler of Mother
Ooose's Melodies, which he first published in 1719. Among the entries
of marriages in the City Registry, under date of June 8, 1715, is that
of Thomas Fleet to Elizabeth Goose, and the idea of the collection is
said to have arisen from hearing his mother-in-law repeat nursery
rhymes to hi^ children. It was characteristic of the man to make such a
collection ; and the first book of the kind known to have been printed
in this country bears his imprint, and the title of Songs far the Nursery
or MotJier Ooose's Melodies for Children. Tlie name of Goose is now
extinct in Boston, bnt monuments remaining in the Granary burial
ground in that city mark the family resting place. — M.
146 History of Printing in America.
vernment ; and, in the controversy between Great Britain
and the American colonies, strongly supported the royal
cause. He added the title of The Massachusetts Gazette, to
The Boston News Letter, and decorated it with the king's
arms,^ Many able advocates for the government filled the
columns of the News Letter, but the opposition papers
were supported by writers at least equally powerful, and
more numerous.
The constitution of Richard Draper was very feeble, and
he was often confined by sickness. Soon after his father's
death, he took his kinsman, Samuel Draper, who was
connected with Z. Fowle, into partnership, under the firm
of R. & S. Draper. Samuel was not permitted to share
in the honor of printing for the governor and council.
In all the work done for them, Richard's name alone
appeared as printer. Samuel Draper died a few years
after this connection was formed,
Richard Draper, having been successful in his business,
erected a handsome brick house, on a convenient spot in
front of the old printing house in "NTpwbn rysfrPPt in which
he resided. He was attentive to his affairs, and was
esteemed the best compiler of news of his day. He died
June 6, 1774, aged forty-seven years. He left no children,
and was succeeded by his widow.
Draper, alone, did very little book printing ; but he was
concerned with Edes & Gill, and the Fleets, in publishing
several volumes of sermons, etc. One month preceding
his death, he commenced a limited copartnership with
John Boyle. Boyle's name appeared in the Gazette with
Draper's, whose ill health rendering him unable to attend
closely to business, Boyle undertook the chief care and
' It was customary, many years before the revolution, among pub-
lishers of newspapers, especially those whose titles embraced the word
Gazette, to ornament the titles with this ensign of royalty. But the
printers in Boston had not followed the fashion.
Massachusetts. 147
management of it. The following sketch of the character
of Richard Draper is taken from the Ecening Post of June
13, 1774.
" He was a man remarkable for the amiable delicacy of
his mind, and gentleness of his manners. A habit en-
feebled and emaciated by remorseless disease, and unre-
mitted distress, could never banish the smile from his
countenance. A well founded confidence in the mercies
of his God, and the happy consciousness of a life well
spent, smoothed the pillow of anguish, and irradiated the
gloom of death with the promise of succeeding joy; in
every relation he sustained in life, his endearing manners
and inflexible integrity rendered him truly exemplary."
Samuel Draper was the nephew and apprentice of John
Draper. He was born at Martha's Vineyard. In 1758,
soon after he became of age, he went into trade with
Zechariah Fowle, who stood in much need of a partner
like Draper. Their connection was mutually advantage-
ous. Fowle had been in business seven years ; but had
made no progress in the advancement of his fortune.
Draper was more enterprising, but had no capital to esta-
blish himself as a printer. He was a young man of cor-
rect habits and handsome abilities. He was industrious,
and, for those times, a good workman. Draper was an
important, acquisition to his partner, although Fowle did
not appear to be highly sensible of it. The connection
continued five years ; during which time they printed, as
has been remarked, three or four volumes of some magni-
tude, a large edition of the Youth's Instructor in the English
Tongue, another of the Psalter ; also, a variety of pamphlets,
chapmen's small books, and ballads. They so far suc-
ceeded in trade as to keep free of debt, to obtain a good
livelihood, and increase their stock. Their printing house
was in Marlborough street; it was taken down in
148 History of Printing in America.
later years, and a new house built on its site, at the
south corner of Franklin street, at the entrance from Marl-
borough street.
The articles of copartnership contemplated a continu-
ance of the connection of Fowle and Draper for seven
years ; hut, on the death of John Draper, Richard, his
son, succeeded to his business. Richard was often con-
fined to his house by ill health, and wanted an assistant ;
he therefore made liberal proposals to Samuel, which
were accepted ; and they entered into partnership. In
pursuance of this new arrangement, the connection between
Fowle and Draper was dissolved ; and Draper recom-
menced business with a more active and enterprising part-
ner. S. Draper continued with his kinsman until his
death, which happened March 15, 1767, at the age of
thirty years. While he was in partnership with Fowle, he
married an agreeable young lady, of a respectable family,
by whom he had two daughters. His widow died in 1812.
He had two brothers who were printers, the eldest of
whom, named Richard, died before 1810 ; the other whose
name was Edward, with a partner, published, for some
time during the war, a newspaper in Boston.
Daniel Kneeland was the son of Samuel Kneeland, and
served his apprenticeship with his father. He began trade
as a bookbinder, in plain work, having been bred to bind-
ing as well as printing. A dispute had arisen between
the printers and booksellers respecting Ames's Almanack,
the particulars of which I do not fully recollect ; but, in
substance, it was as follows. John Draper, and his prede-
cessor Bartholomew Green, had always purchased the
copy of that Almanac, and printed it on their own
account ; but they had supplied the booksellers, in sheets,
by the hundred, the thousand, or any quantity wanted.
About the year 1759, this Almanac was enlarged from
Massachusetts. 149
sixteen pages on a foolscap sheet to three half sheets.
Draper formed a connection with Green & Russel and T.
& J. Fleet, in its publication. A half sheet was printed at
each of their printing houses ; and thiey were not disposed
to supply booksellers as formerly. The booksellers, imme-
diately on the publication of the Almanack, had it reprinted;
and soon after a number of the principal of them set up a
printing house for themselves and engaged Daniel
Kneeland, and John his brother, to conduct it for them,
under the firm of D. & J. Kneeland. The Kneelands con-
tinued to piint for these booksellers several years, in part
of the building occupied by their father as a printing
house ; after which some difficulty arising, the booksellers
put a stop to their press, and divided among them the
printing materials. Daniel Kneeland then dissolved his
connection with his brother John ; and, being furnished
with the press, and a part of the types, which had been
owned by the booksellers, he engaged in printing on his
own account, but worked chiefly for the trade.
About the year 1772, Daniel took, as a partner, a young
man by the name of Nathaniel Davis. The firm was
Kneeland & Davis. This company was, in the course of
two or three years, dissolved by the death of Davis.
Kneeland's business before the revolutionary war was
inconsiderable, and it afterward became still more con-
tracted. He died in May, 1789, aged sixty-eight years.
John Kneeland was another son of Samuel Kneeland,
and he was taught the art by his father. He began print-
ing, in connection with his brother Daniel, for the book-
sellers ; for whom they worked during their partnership,
as has been related. When the connection between the
brothers was dissolved, John entered into partnership
with Seth Adams, under the firm of Kneeland & Adams.
150 History of Printing in America,
They opened a printing house in Milk street, at the corner
of the alley leading to Trinity church.
The principal work of Kneeland & Adams was psalters,
spelling books, and psalm books, for booksellers. Their
partnership continued only a few years. Adams quitted
printing, and became a postrider. J. Kneeland did little,
if any, business, after the commencement of the revolu-
tionary war. He died in March, 1795, aged sixty-two
years.
William Macalpine was a native of Scotland, where
he was bred to bookbinding. He came to Boston early in
life, and set up the trade of a binder; and, afterward,
opened a shop, for the sale of a few common books, in
Marlborough street, opposite to the Old South church.
His business was soon enlarged by supplies of books from
Glasgow. He removed several times to houses in the
same street. A disagreement taking place between the
booksellers and the printers of Ames's Almanack, the princi-
pal booksellers, who set up a press for themselves, and re-
printed this Almanac, ^ refused to furnish Macalpine
with copies either of their Almanac, or of any books
printed at their press. Macalpine, being thus denied a
supply of Ames's Alm/inacic, both by the original printers
of it and by the booksellers who reprinted it, sent to
Edinburgh for a press and types, and for a foreman to
superintend a printing house. In 1762, he commenced
printing; and, annually, furnished himself with Ames's
Almanack, and other books for his own sales.
John Fleming, previous to his connection with John
Mein, was one or two years concerned with Macalpine in
printing.
' Copyrights were not then secured by law in the colonies.
Massachusetts. 151
Maealpine continued in business until the commence-
ment of the revolutionary war ; he was a royalist, and
remained in Boston during the siege ; but he quitted the
town with the British army. He died at Glasgow, Scotland,
in 1788.
John Fleming was from Scotland, where he was brought
up to printing. He came to Boston in 1764 ; and was,
for a short time, connected with his countryman William
Maealpine. Mein, a bookseller, from Edinburgh, having •
opened a very large collection of books for sale, Fleming
separated from Maealpine, and formed a partnership with
Mein. Fleming made a voyage to Scotland, there pur-
chased printing materials for the firm, hired three or four
journeymen printers, and accompanied by them re-
turned to Boston. The company then opened a printing
house in Wiug's lane, since Elm street, and began printing
under the firm of Mein & Fleming. Fleming was Aot
concerned with Mein in bookselling. Several books were
printed at their house for Mein, it being an object with
him to supply his own sales ; none of them, however, were
of great magnitude. Some of these books had a false
imprint, and were palmed upon the public for London
editions, because Mein apprehended that books printed in
London, however executed, sold better than those which
were printed in America ; and, at that time, many pur-
chasers sanctioned his opinion.
Li less than two years after the establishment of this
company they removed their printing materials to New-
bury street. In December, 1767, they began the publica-
tion of a weekly newspaper, entitled. The Boston Chronicle.
This paper was printed on demy, in quarto, imitating, in
its form, The London Chronicle.
The Boston Chronicle obtained reputation ; but Mein,
who edited the paper, soon devoted it zealously to the
152 • History of Printing in America.
support of the measures of the British administration
against the colonies; and, in consequence, the publishers,
and particularly Mein, incurred the displeasure and the
resentment of the whigs, who were warm advocates for
American liberty. The publishers were threatened with
the effects of popular resentment. Mein, according to
his deserts, experienced some specimens of it. The
Chronicle was discontinued in May, 1770, and Mein re-
turned .to Europe.
Fleming was less obnoxious. He remained in Boston ;
and as the Chronicle had been discontinued, the popular
resentment soon subsided. He married a young lady of
a respectable family in Boston ; and soon after his late
partner went to Europe he opened a printing house in
King street, and printed books on his own account. He
issued proposals for publishing Clark's Family Bible in
folio, but did not meet with encouragement.
Fleming continued in Boston until 1773, when he sold
his printing materials to Mills and Hicks, and went to
England with his family. He more than once visited this
country after 1790, as an agent for a commercial house in
Europe ; and subsequently resided some time in France,
where he died.
John Mein, of the firm of Mein & Fleming, was born in
Scotland, and there bred to the business of a bookseller.
He had received a good education, was enterprising, and
possessed handsome literary talents. He arrived at Bos-
ton, from Glasgow, in November, 1764, in company with
Mr. Robert Sandeman,* a kinsman of Mr. Sandeman of
the same Christian name who for a short time was the
1 Mr. Sandeman was the author of the then celebrated letters on the
Rev. Mr. Hervey's Theron and Aspasio. A type founder by the name of
Mitchelson, I believe, arrived in the same vessel with Mein and Sande-
man.
Massachusetts. 153
partner of Mein, and a number of other Scotchmen, on a
visit to this country with a view of settling here. Mein
brought with him a good assortment of books, a quantity
of Irish linens and other goods, and opened a shop in
Marlborough street in connection with Sandeman.^ Their
shop was an old wooden building at the north corner of
the entrance to what is now called Franklin street. Their
firm was Mein & Sandeman.
They continued in company only a few months ; and,
when they separated, Mein took a house in King street, at
the corner of the alley leading to the market, and there
opened a large bookstore and circulating library. He
was connected with a bookseller in Scotland, who was
extensively in trade ; and, by this means, he was supplied,
as he wanted, with both Scotch and English editions of
the most saleable books. He soon found that a concern
in printing would be convenient and profitable. His
countryman, John Fleming, who was a good printer, was
then in Boston ; and with him he formed a connection in
a printing establishment. Fleming went to Scotland, and
procured printing materials, workmen, etc. On his return
they, in 1766, opened a printing house, and printed a
number of books for Mein's sales, and published The Bos-
ton Chronicle, as has been already mentioned.
The Chronicle was printed on a larger sheet than other
Boston newspapers of that day, but did not exceed them
in price. For a time it was well filled with news, enter-
taining and useful extracts from the best European publi-
cations, and some interesting original essays. Mein was
doing business to great advantage, but he soon took a
' The first Robert Sandeman, above mentioned, was brought up a linen
manufacturer. He became a preacher, and adopting the peculiar views
of Rev. John Glass, of Dundee, his father-in-law, he established in Great
Britain and in this country the sect called after him Sandemanian. He
was settled in Danbury, Conn., where he died in 1771.— //
154 History of Printing in America.
decided part in favor of the obnoxious measures of the
British administration against the colonies, and the
Chronicle became a vehicle for the most bitter pieces,
calumniating and vilifying some of those characters in
whom the people of Massachusetts placed high confidence ;
and, in consequence, it lost its credit as rapidly as it had
gained it. Mein, its editor, became extremely odious,
and to avoid the effects of popular resentment, he secreted
himself until an opportunity was presented for a passage
to England. Mein had unquestionably been encouraged,
in Boston, as a partisan and an advocate for the measures
of government. In London, he engaged himself under the
pay of the ministry, as a writer against the colonies ; but
after the war commenced he sought other employment.
Seth Adams served his apprenticeship with Samuel
Kneeland. He began printing in Queen street, with John
Kneeland; they afterwards occupied a printing house in
Mil^ street, at the corner of Boarded alley, since known by
the name of Hawley street. They were three or four
years in business, and printed chiefly for the booksellers.
Adams's father-in-law was the first postrider between Bos-
ton and Hartford. When he died, Adams quitted print-
ing and continued the occupation of his father-in-law.
He died a few years after,
Eze'kiel Russell was born in Boston, and served an
apprenticeship with his brother, Joseph Russell, the part-
ner of John Green. In 1765, he began printing with
Thomas Furber, at Portsmouth, N"ew Hampshire, under
the firm of Furber & Russell. Not succeeding in business,
they dissolved their partnership, and Russell returned to
Boston. He worked with various printers until 1769,
when he procured a press and a few types. With these
he printed on his own account, in a house near Concert
Massachusetts. 155
Hall. He afterward removed to Union street, where to the
business of printing he added that of an auctioneer, which
he soon quitted, and adhered to printing. Excepting an
edition of Watis's Psalms, he published nothing of more
consequence than pamphlets, most of which were small.
In November, 1771, he began a political publication enti-
tled The Censor. This paper was supported, during the
short period of its existence, by those who were in the
interest of the British government.
Russell afterward removed to Salem, and attempted the
publication of a newspaper, but did not succeed. He
again removed, and went to Danvers, and printed in a
house known by the name of the Bell tavern. In a few
years he returned once more to Boston ; and, finally, took
his stand in Essej: street, near the spot on which grew the
great elms, one of which was then standing, and was called
Liberty tree. Here he printed and sold ballads, and pub-
lished whole and half sheet pamphlets for peddlers. In
these small articles his trade principally consisted, and
afforded him a very decent support.
The wife of Russell was indeed an " help meet for him."
She was a very industrious, active woman ; and assisted
her husband in the printing house. A young woman who
lived in Russell's family sometimes invoked the muse,
and wrote ballads on recent tragical events, which being
immediately printed, and set off with wooden cuts of
coffins, etc., had frequently " a considerable run."
Russell died in September, 1796, aged fifty-two years.
His wife continued the business.
Isaiah Thomas descended from a respectable family
which hatd settled near Boston not many years after that
town was founded. His grandfather carried on mercan-
tile business in that place, in a store which he owned, on
the town dock ; and died in the year 1746, leaving four
156 History of Printing in America.
sons and two daughters, who were all arrived at the age
of maturity. His second son, Moses, lived some time on
Long Island, where he married and had two children ;
after which he returned to Boston, and had three more
children ; the youngest of whom is the subject of this
memoir.^
Moses Thomas having expended nearly all his patrimony,
went away, and died in North Carolina; leaving his
widow in narrow circumstances with five dependent child-
ren. Her friends on Long Island took the charge of pro-
viding for the two who were born there, and had been
left in their care ; the others she supported by the profits
of a small shop she kept in Boston. Her diligence and
prudent management ensured success; insomuch that
besides making provision for her family, she was enabled
to purchase a small estate in Cambridge. This place she
afterward unfortunately lost; for being fully possessed
with the idea that the continental paper money, issued
during the revolutionary war, would ultimately be paid
in specie, and having what she thought a very advantage-
ous offer for her house and land in that kind of currency,
she sold the same, and became one among the number of
unfortunate people who lost nearly the whole of their pro-
perty from a misplaced confidence in the paper currency
of the day.
When her son, Isaiah, born at Boston, January 19,
1749, 0. S., was six years of age, he was apprenticed by
his mother to Zechariah Fowle ; who, as has been already
stated, principally made use of his press in printing
' He was engaged as clerk to an officer in the expedition against Cuba,
in 1740, much against tlie wishes of his father Peter, from whom he
absconded and enlisted as a common soldier. The interest of the father
placed him in a better situation than he would have held in the ranks, but
did not obtain his discharge. He afterwards sailed on a voyage to the
Mediterranean. He owned a farm on Long Island, which he cultivated,
while ho kept a shop.
Massachusetts. 157
ballads, and by whom he was soon employed to set types ;
for which purpose he was mounted on a bench eighteen
inches high, and the whole length of a double frame which
contained cases of both ropian and italic. His first essay
with the composing stick, wa? on a ballad entitled The
Lmvyer's Pedigree ; which was set in types of the size of
double pica.
He remained eleven years with Fowle; after which
period they separated, in consequence of a disagreement.
On quitting Fowle, in 1765, he went to Kova Scotia, with a
view to go from thence to England, in order to acquire a
more perfect knowledge of his business. He found typo-
graphy in a miserable state in that province ; and, so far
was he from obtaining the means of going to England,
that he soon discovered that the only printer in Halifax
could hardly procure, by his business, a decent livelihood.
However, he remained there seven months ; during which
time the memorable British stamp act took effect in Nova
Scotia, which, in the other colonies, met with a spirited
and successful opposition.
The Halifax Gazette was printed by a Dutchman, whose
name was Henry. He was a good natured, pleasant man,
who in common concerns did not want for ingenuity and
capacity ; but he might, with propriety, be called a very
unskilful printer. To his want of knowledge or abilities
in his profession, he added indolence; and, as is too often
the case, left his business to be transacted by boys or
journeymen, instead of attending to it himself. His print-
ing affairs were on a very contracted scale ; and he made
no efforts to render them more extensive. As he had two
apprentices, he was not in want of assistance in his print-
ing house ; but Thomas accepted an offer of board for his
services ; and the sole management of the Gazette was im-
mediately left to him. He new modelled the Gazette
according to the best of his judgment, and as far as
158 History of Printing in America.
the worn out printing materials would admit. It was soon
after printed on stamped paper, made for the purpose in
England. To the use of this paper, " the young jSTew
Englandman," as he was called, was opposed ; and, to the
stamp act he was extremely hostile.
A paragraph appeared in the Gazette, purporting that
the people of Nova Scotia were, generally, disgusted with
the stamp act. This paragraph gave great ofience to the
officers of government, who called Henry to account for
publishing what they termed sedition. Henry had not
so much as seen the Gazette in which the offensive article
had appeared; consequently he pleaded ignorance; and,
in answer to their interrogatories, informed them that the
paper was, in his absence, conducted by his journeyman.
He was reprimanded, and admonished that he would be
deprived of the work of government, should he, in future,
suffer any thing of the kind to appear in the Gazette.- It
was not long before Henry was again sent for, on account
of another offence of a similar nature ; however, he escaped
the consequences he might have apprehended, by assuring
the officers of government that he had been confined by
sickness ; and he apologized in a satisfactory manner for
the appearance of the obnoxious publication. But his
journeyman was summoned to appear before the secretary
of the province ; to whose office he accordingly went. He
was, probably, not known to Mr. Secretary, who sternly
demanded of him, what he wanted ?
A. Nothing, sir.
Q. Why came you here ?
A. Because I was sent for.
Q. What is your name ?
A. Isaiah Thomas.
Q. Are you the young New Englandman who prints for
Henry ?
A. Yes, sir.
Massachusetts. 159
Q. How dare you publish in the Gazette that the people
of Nova Scotia are displeased with the stamp act ?
A. I thought it was true.
Sec. You had no right to think so. If you publish any
thing more of such stuff, you shall be punished. You may
go ; but, remember you are not in New England.
A. I will, sir.
Not long after this adventure occurred, a vessel arrived
at Halifax from Philadelphia, and brought some of the
newspapers published in that city.
The Pennsylvania Journal, published the day preceding
that on which the stamp act was to take effect, was in full
mourning. Thick black lines surrounded the pages, and
were placed between the columns ; a death's head and
cross bones were surmounted over the title ; and at the
bottom of the last page was a large figure of a coffin,
benealjh which was printed the age of the paper, and an
account of its having died of a disorder called the stamp
act. A death's head, &c., as a substitute for a stamp, was
placed at the end of the last column on the first page.
Thomas had a strong desire to decorate The Halifax Gazette
in the same manner ; but he dared not do it, on account
of his apprehension of the displeasure of the officers of
government. However, an expedient was thought of
to obviate that difficulty, which was to insert in the
Gazette an article of the following import : " We are
desired by a number of our readers, to give a description
of the extraordinary appearance of the Pennsylvania Journal
of the 30th of October last, 1765. "We can in no better
way comply with this request, than by the exemplification
we have given of that journal in this day's Gazette.'' As
near as possible, a representation was made of the several
figures, emblems of mortality, and mourning columns ;
all which, accompanied by the qualifying paragraph,
160 History of Printing in America.
appeared together in The Halifax Gazette, and made no
trifling bustle in the place.
Soon after this event, the effigy of the stampmaster was
hung on the gallows near the citadel ; and other tokens of
hostility to the stamp act were exhibited. These disloyal
actions were done silently and secretly ; but they created
some alarm ; and a captain's guard was continually sta-
tioned at the house of the stampmaster, to protect him
from those injuries which were expected to befal him. It
is supposed the apprehensions entertained on his account
were entirely groundless. The officers of government had
prided themselves on the loyalty of the people of that
province in not having shown any opposition to the stamp
act. " These things were against them ; " and a facetious
officer was heard to repeat to some of his friends, the old
English proverb : " We have not saved our bacon."
An opinion prevailed, that Thomas not only knew the
parties concerned in these transactions but had a hand in
them himself; on which account, a few days after the
exhibition of the stampmaster's effigy, a sheriff went to
the printing house, and informed Thomas that he had a
precept against him, and intended to take him to prison,
unless he would give information respecting the persons
concerned in making and exposing the effigy of the stamp-
master. He mentioned, that some circumstances had pro-
duced a conviction in his mind that Thomas was one of
those who had been engaged in these seditious proceed-
ings. The sheriff receiving no satisfactory answer to his
inquiries, ordered Thomas to go with him before a magis-
trate ; and he, having no person to consult, or to give him
advice, in the honest simplicity of his heart was about to
obey the orders of this terrible alguazil; but being
suddenly struck with the idea that this proceeding might
be intended merely to alarm him into an acknowledg-
ment of his privity to the transactions in question, he told
Massachusetts. 161
the sheriff he did not know him and demanded informa-
tion respecting the authority by which he acted. The
sheriff answered, that he had sufficient authority ; but on
being requested to exhibit it, the officer was evidently
disconcerted, and showed some symptoms of his not acting
under " the king's authority." However, he answered that
he would show his authority when it was necessary ; and
again ordered this " printer of sedition" to go with him.
Thomas answered, he would not obey him unless he
produced a precept, or proper authority for taking him
prisoner. After further parley the sheriff left him, with
an assurance that he would soon return ; but Thomas saw
him no more ; and he afterward learned that this was a
plan concerted for the purpose of surprising him into a
confession.
A short time before the exhibition of the ef&.gy of the
stampmaster, Henry had received from the stamp-office
the whole stock of paper that was sent ready stamped
from England for the use of the Gazette. The quantity
did not exceed six or eight reams ; but as only three
quires were wanted weekly for the newspaper, it would
have sufficed for the purpose intended twelve months.
It was not inany weeks after the sheriff, already men-
tioned, made his exit from the printing house, when
it was discovered that this paper was divested of the
stamps ; not one remained ; they had been cut off and
destroyed. On this occasion, an article appeared in the
Gazette, announcing that " all the stamped paper for the
Gazette was used, and as no more could be had, it would
in future be published without stamps."
In March, 1767, Thomas quitted Halifax, and went to
New Hampshire ; where he worked, for some time, in the
printing houses of Daniel Fowle, and Furber & Russell.
In July following he retyirned to Boston. There he re-
162 History of Feinting in America.
mained several months, in the employ of his old master,
Z./Fowle.
Receiving an invitation from the captain of a vessel to go
to Wilmington, in North Carolina, where he was assured a
printer was wanted, he arranged his affairs with Fowle,
again left him, by agreement, and went to Newport. There
he waited on Martin Howard, Esq., chief justice of North
Carolina, who was then at that place, and was about de-
parting for Wilmington. To this gentleman he made
known his intention of going to North Carolina, and re-
ceived encouragement from the judge, who gave him
assurances of his influence in procuring business for him
at Cape Fear ; for which place they sailed in the same
vessel.
A gentleman at Newport also favored him with a letter
of recommendation to Robert Wells, printer, in Charles-
ton, South Carolina.
When he arrived at Wilmington, he, in pursuance of
advice from Judge Howard, and several other gentlemen,
waited on Governor Tryon, then at that place. The
governor encouraged him to settle there, and flattered him
that he would be favored with a part of the printing for
government. But as a printer he labored under no incon-
siderable difficulty, that is, he had neither press, nor types,
nor money to purchase them.
It happened that Andrew Steuart, a printer, was then
at Wilmington, who had a press with two or three very
small founts of letters for sale. He had printed a news-
paper,, and as some work was given him by the government,
he called himself king's printer ; but at this period he was
without business, having given great offence to the go-
vernor and the principal gentlemen at Cape Fear. For this
reason he was desirous to sell the materials he had then
in that place, and to return to Philadelphia, where he had
another small printing establishment.
Massachusetts. 163
Purauant to the advice of several gentlemen, Thomas
applied to Steuart, to purchase the press, etc. ; but Steuart,
knowing he could not easily be accommodated with these
articles elsewhere, took advantage of his situation, and
demanded about three times as much for them as they
cost when new. After some debate, Steuart lowered his
price to about double the value. Several gentlemen of
Wilmington offered to advance money, on a generous
credit, to enable Thomas to make the purchase. When
Steuart found the money could be raised, he refused to
let the types go without an appendage of a negro woman
and her child, whom he wished to sell before he quitted
the place. An argument ensued ; but Steuart persisted
in his refusal to part with the printing materials, unless
the negroes were included in the sale. Thomas, after
advising with friends, agreed to take them, finding he
could dispose of them for nearly the price he was to give
for them. He then thought the bargain was concluded ;
but Steuart threw a new difficulty in the way. He had a
quantity of common household furniture, not the better
for wear, which he also wanted to dispose of; and would
not part with the other articles unless the purchaser would
take these also. The furniture was entirely out of Thomas's
line of business, and he had no use for it. He, therefore,
declared himself off the bargain; and afterward, when
Steuart retracted respecting the sale of furniture, Thomas
began to be discouraged by the prospects the place afforded ;
he was not pleased with the appearance of the country;
his money was all gone ; and his inclination to visit Eng-
land was renewed. For these reasons he renounced all
thoughts of settling at Cape Fear at that time; although
a merchant there offered to send to England by the first
opportunity for a printing apparatus, which he would en-
gage Thomas should have on a long credit.
164 History of Printing in America.
With a view to go to England, lie entered himself as
steward on board a ship bound to the West Indies;
expecting when he arrived there he should easily find an
opportunity to go to London. He did duty on board the
vessel ten days ; but imbibing a dislike to the captain, who
was often intoxicated, and attempted to reduce him into a
mere cabin boy, and to employ him about the most servile
and menial ofiBlces, he revolted at these indignities, and
procured his discharge. On this occasion he remembered
the recommendation he had received at Newport to a
printer at Charleston ; and, finding a packet bound there,
he quitted a very kind friend he had gained at Wilming-
ton, and after a long passage, in which he met with many
adventures, besides that lamentable one of spending his
last shilling, he arrived at Charleston.
When he presented the letter of recommendation to
Wells, the printer, he had the mortification to learn he
was not in want of a journeyman. However, Wells civilly
employed him at low wages, and soon put him into full
pay. He continued at Charleston two years ; and had
nearly completed a contract to go and settle in the West
Indies ; but his health declining, he returned to Boston in
1770, after having visited several of the southern colonies.
He now formed a connection with Zechariah Fowle, and
began business by publishing The Massachusetts Spi/, a
small newspaper printed three times in a week.
Thomas's partnership with his former master, Fowle,
continued but three months. He then purchased the
printing materials which Fowle had in his possession, and
gave his security to Fowle's creditor for the payment.
Fowle had, during nineteen years, been in possession of
his press and types, and had not paid for them. The
creditor was a near relation by marriage, and had exacted
only the payment of the annual interest of the debt.
Thomas continued the Spi/, but altered the publication of
Massachusetts. 165
it from three times to twice a week. Each publication con-
tained a half sheet. After having published it three
months in the new form, he discontinued it in December,
1770. On the 5th of March, 1771, he began another paper
with the same title, which was published weekly, on a large
sheet folio.
It was at first the determination of Thomas that his paper
should be free to both parties which then agitated the
country, and, impartially, lay before the public their
respective communications; but he soon found that this
ground could not be maintained. The dispute between
Britain and her American colonies became more and more
serious, and deeply interested every class of men in the
community. The parties in the dispute took the names of
Whigs and Tories ; the tories were the warm supporters of
the measures of the British cabinet, and the whigs the
animated advocates for American liberty. The tories soon
discontinued their subscriptions for the Spy ; and the
publisher was convinced that to produce an abiding and
salutary effect his paper must have a fixed character. He
was in principle attached to the party which opposed the
measures of the British ministry; and he therefore an-
nounced that the Spy would be devoted to the support
of the whig interest.
Some overtures had been previously made by the friends
of the British government to induce him to have the Spy
conducted wholly on their side of the question ; and, these
having been rejected, an attempt was made to force a
compliance, or to deprive him of his press and types. It
was known that he was in debt for these articles, and that
his creditor was an officer of government, appointed by
the crown. This officer, notwithstanding he was a very
worthy man, was pushed on to make a demand of pay-
ment, contrary to his verbal agreement, under the appre-
hension that the monev could not be raised. "When
166 History of Printing in America.
Thomas assumed the debt of Fowle, he gave his bond,
payable in one year, under an assurance thac the capital
might lay as it had done, if the interest annually due should
be punctually paid ; and when contrary to stipulation the
capital was demanded, he borrowed money, and paid one
debt by contracting another.
An essay published in the Spy, November, 1771, under
the signature of Mucius Scsevola, attracted the attention
of the executive of the province. Governor Hutchinson
assembled his council on the occasion ; and, after consulta-
tion, the board determined that the printer should be
ordered before them. In pursuance of this resolution, their
messenger was sent to inform Thomas that his attendance
was required in the council chamber. To this message he
replied, " that he was busily employed in his office, and
could not wait upon his excellency and their honors."
The messenger returned to the council with this answer,
and, in an hour after, again came into Thomas's printing
house and informed him that the governor and council
waited for his attendance ; and, by their direction, inquired,
whether he was ready to appear before them. Thomas
answered, that he was not. The messenger went to make
his report to the council, and Thomas to ask advice of a
distinguished law character. He was instructed to persist
in his refusal to appear before the council, as they had no
legal right to summon him before them ; but, should a war-
rant issue from the proper authority, he must then submit
to the sheriff who should serve such a process upon him.
This was a critical moment ; the affair had taken air, and the
public took an interest in the event. The council pro-
ceeded with caution, for the principle was at issue, whether
they possessed authority arbitrarily to summon whom they
pleased before their board, to answer to them for their con-
duct. The messenger was, however, the third time sent to
Thomas, and brought him this verbal order.
Massachusetts. 167
Mess. The governor and council order your immediate
attendance before them in the council chamber.
T. I will not go.
Mess. You do not give this answer with an intention
that I should report it to the governor and council ?
T. Have you any thing written, by which to show the
authority under which you act ?
Mess. I have delivered to you the order of the governor
and council, as it was given to me.
T. If I understand you, the governor and council order
my immediate attendance before them ?
Mess. They do.
T. Have you the order in writing ?
Mess. No.
T. Then, sir, with all due respect to the governor and
council, I am engaged in my own concerns, and shall not
attend.
Mess. Will you commit your answer to writing?
T. No, sir.
Mess. You had better go ; you may repent your refusal
to comply with the order of the council.
T. I must abide by the result.^
The messenger carried the refusal to the council. The
board for several hours debated the question, whether they
should commit Thomas for contempt ; but it was suggested
by some member that he could not legally be committed
unless he had appeared before them ; in that case his an-
swers might have been construed into a contempt of their
body, and been made the ground of commitment. It was
also suggested that they had not authority to compel his
appearance before them to answer for any supposed crime
or misdemeanor punishable by law, as particular tribunals
had the exclusive cognizance of such offences. The sup-
' This conversation with the messenger is taken from a memorandum
made at the time.
168 History of Printing in America.
posed want of authority was, indeed, the reason why a
compulsory process had not been adopted in the first
instance. There were not now, as formerly, licensers of
the press.
The council, being defeated in the design to get the
printer before them, ordered the attorney general to prose-
cute him at common law. A prosecution was accordingly
soon attempted, and great efibrt made to eflect his con-
viction. The chief justice, at the following term of the
supreme court in Boston, in his charge to the grand jury,
dwelt largely on the doctrine of libels; on the present
licentiousness of the press ; and on the necessity of restrain-
ing it. The attorney general presented a bill of indict-
ment to the grand inquest against Isaiah Thomas for
publishing an obnoxious libel. The Court House was
crowded from day to day to learn the issue. The grand
jury returned this bill. Ignoramus. Foiled by the grand
jury in this mode of prosecution, the attorney general was
directed to adopt a different process ; and to file an in-
formation against Thomas. This direction of the court
was soon known to the writers in the opposition, who
attacked it with so much warmth and animation, and
offered such cogent arguments to prove that it infringed
the rights and liberties of the subject, that the court thought
proper to drop the measure. Unable to convict the printer
either by indictment or information in Suffolk, a proposal
was made to prosecute him in some other county, under
the following pretext. The printers of newspapers circu-
late them through the province, and of course publish them
as extensively as they are circulated. Thomas, for in-
stance, circulates the Spy in the county of Essex, and as
truly publishes the libel in that county as in Suffolk where
the paper is printed. The fallacy of this argument was
made apparent ; the measure was not adopted, and govern-
ment for that time gave over the prosecution ; but, on a
Massachusetts. 169
subsequent occasion, some attempts of that kind were
renewed.'
It became at length apparent to all reflecting men that
hostilities must soon take place between Great Britain and
her American colonies. Thomas had rendered himself
very obnoxious to the friends of the British administra-
tion ; and, in consequence, the tories, and some of the
British soldiery in the town, openly threatened him with
the effects of their resentment. For these and other
reasons, he was induced to pack up, privately, a press and
types, and to send them in the night over Charles river
to Charlestown, whence they were conveyed to Worcester.
This was only a few days before the affair at Lexington.
The press and types constituted the whole of the property
he saved from the proceeds of five years labor. The
remainder was destroyed or carried off by the followers
and adherents of the royal army when it quitted Boston .
On the night of April 18, 1775, it was discovered that a
considerable number of British troops were embarking in
boats on the river near the common, with the manifest
design to destroy the stores collected by the provincials
at Concord, eighteen miles from Boston ; and he was
concerned, with others, in giving the alarm. At day
break, the next morning, he crossed from Boston over to
Charlestown in a boat with Dr. Joseph "Warren,^ went to
Lexington, and joined the provincial militia in opposing the
king's troops. On the 20th, he went to Worcester, opened
a printing house, and soon after recommenced the publica-
tion of his newspaper.^
' On account of some essays addressed to the king, published in the
Spy in September, 1772, and at other periods.
*Dr. Warren was soon after appointed major general of the pro-
vincial troops, and was killed in the battle of Breed's, often called Bunk-
er's hill, June 17, 1775.
' The publication of the Spy ceased for three weeks. It appeared
from the press in Worcester, May 3d, 1775. This was the first printing
done in any inland town in New England.
170 History of Printing in America.
The provincial congress, assembled at Watertown, pro-
posed that Thomas's press should be removed to that
place ; but, as all concerns of a public nature were then in
a state of derangement, it was finally determined that his
press should remain at "Worcester, and that postriders
should be established to facilitate an intercourse between
that place, Watertown and Cambridge ; and at Worces-
ter he continued to print for congress until a press was
established at Cambridge and at Watertown.
During the time he had been in business at Boston he
had published a number of pamphlets, but not many books
of more consequence. Having made an addition to his
printing materials, in 1773, he sent a press and types to
Newburyport,^ and committed the management of the
same to a young printer whom he soon after took into
partnership in his concerns in that place ; and in December
of the sam6 year, he began the publication of a newspaper
in that town. His partner managed their affairs impru-
dently, and involved the company in debt; in consequence
of which Thomas sold out at considerable loss. In Janu-
ary, 1774, he began iu Boston the publication of The Royal
American Magazine ; but the general distress and commotion
in the town, occasioned by the operation of the act of the
British parliament to blockade the port of Boston, obliged
him to discontinue it before the expiration of the year,
much to the injury of his pecuniary interests. [^See Wor-
cester— Newspapers, ^c]
John Boyle served an apprenticeship with Green &
Russell. He purchased the types of Fletcher of Halifax,
and began business as a printer and bookseller in Atari-
borough street Jn 1771, and printed a few books on his
own account. In May, 1774, Boyle formed a partnership
with Richard Draper, publisher of The Alassachusctls
This was the first press set up in Newburyport.
Massachusetts. 171
Gazette, or Boston News Letter. Draper died the following
month, but his widow continued the newspaper, &c.
Boyle was in partnership with the widow until August
following ; they then dissolved their connection, and Boyle
returned to his former stand.
In 1775, Boyle sold his printing materials, but retained
his bookstore, which he continued to keep in the same
place.*
N'athaniel Davis served his apprenticeship with Daniel
Kneeland, and during the year 1772 and 1773 was in
partnership with him ; soon after which he died. They
had a small printing house, where Scollay's Buildings now
stand, at the head of Court street.^ They published a
number of pamphlets, and did some work for booksellers.
\_See Daniel Kneeland.']
Nathaniel Mills was born within a few miles of Bos-
ton, and served his apprenticeship with John Fleming.
Mills had just completed his time of service when
Fleming quitted business. John Hicks and Mills were
nearly of an age, and they formed a copartnership under
the firm of Mills & Hicks. The controversy between
Britain and her American colonies at this period assumed
a very serious aspect, and government was disposed to enlist
the press in support of the measures of the British ministry.
Mills & Hicks were urged by the partisans of government
to purchase Fleming's printing materials, and the right
which Green & Russell had in the newspaper entitled
The Massachusetts Gazette, and Boston Post Boy, &c. They
pursued the advice given them ; and being by this purchase
' Boyle died in 1819. See Buckingham's Reminiscences, i, 42, for further
particulars of him. — M.
" Scollay's Buildings have recently been removed and the laud made
part of the street. — //.
172 History of Printing in America.
furnished with types and with a newspaper, they opened
a printing house in April, 1773, in School street, nearly
opposite to the small church erected for the use of the
French Protestants.^
The British party handsomely supported the paper of
Mills & Hicks, and afforded pecuniary aid to the printers.
Several able writers defended the British administration
from the attack of their American opponents; and the
selection of articles in support of government for this
paper as well as its foreign and domestic intelligence dis-
played the discernment and assiduity of the compilers.
Mills was a sensible, genteel young man, and a good
printer, and had the principal management of the printing
house. The newspaper was their chief concern ; besides
which they printed during the two years they were in Boston
only a few political pamphlets and the Massachusetts Register.
The commencement of hostilities, in April, 1775, put an
end to the publication of their Gazette. Soon after the
war began. Mills came out of Boston, and resided a few
weeks at Cambridge; but returned to Boston, where
he and his partner remained until the town was evacuated
by the British troops. They, with others who had been
in opposition to the country went with the British army
to Halifax, and from thence to Great Britain. After two
years residence in England they came to New York, then
in possession of the British troops.
In New York they opened a stationery store, and did
some printing for the royal army and navy. They after-
wards formed a partnership with Alexander and James
Eobertson, who published the Royal American Gazette in
that city. The firm was Robertsons, Mills & Hicks, and
so continued until peace took place in 1783. Mills and
Hicks then returned to Halifax, Nova Scotia ; but their
• A number of Separatists afterward purchased this church, and settled
as their minister the Rev. Andrew Croswell.
Massachusetts. 173
partnership was soon after dissolved, and Mills went and
resided at Shelburne, in that province.
John Hicks was born in Cambridge, near Boston, and
served an apprenticeship with Green & Russell. He was
the partner of Nathaniel Mills. [For particulars respecting
this company see Nathaniel Mills.']
Hicks, previous to his entering intp partnership with
Mills, was supposed to be a zealous young whig. He was
reputed to have been one of the young men who had the
affi-ay with some British soldiers which led to the memo-
rable massacre in King street, Boston, on the 5th of
March, 1770.
Interest too often biasses the human mind. The officers
and friends of government at that time, unquestionably
gave encouragement to the few printers who enlisted
themselves for the support of the British parliament.
Draper's Massachusetts Gazette and Boston Weekly News
Letter was the only paper in Boston, when, and for some
time before. Mills & Hicks began printing, which disco-
vered the least appearance of zeal in supporting the
measures of the British administration against the colo-
nies— and Draper was the printer to the governor and
council.
The Massachusetts Gazette and Post Boy, &c., printed by
Oreen & Russell, was a rather dull recorder of common
occurrences. Its publishers, although instigated by print-
ing for the custom house, and by other profitable work
for government, did not appear to take an active part in
its favor. The dispute with the parent country daily be-
came more and more important ; and it evidently appeared
that the administration deemed it' necessary that there
should be a greater number of newspapers zealously de-
voted to the support of the cause of Great Britain. It was
therefore decided that Gr^en & Russell should resign the
174 History of Printing in America.
printing of their Gazette to Mills & Hicks ; and these were
animated by extraordinary encouragement to carry it on
with spirit and energy in support of the royal cause. A
number of writers, some of them said to be officers of the
British army, were engaged to give new life and spirit to
this Gazette. Mills & Hicks managed the paper to the
satisfaction of their employers until the commencement
of the revolutionary war, which took place in two years
after they began printing.
The father of Hicks was one of the first who fell in this
war. When a detachment of the British troops marched
to Concord to destroy the public stores collected there by
order of the provincial congress, Hicks's father was among
the most forward to fly to arms, in order to attack this
detachment on its return to Boston, after it had killed a
number of Americans at Lexington, and partially exe-
cuted the design of the expedition to Concord ; and in the
defence of his country he lost his life.
Notwithstanding this sacrifice of his father on the altar
of liberty, Hicks still adhered to the British, and remained
with the royal army, supporting, as a printer, their cause,
until a peace was concluded by the acknowledgment of
the independence of the United States. "When the British
army quitted New York, Hicks, with many other Ameri-
can loyalists, went with them to Halifax. After remaining
there a few years, he returned to Boston. Having acquired
a very considerable property by his business during the
war, he purchased a handsome estate at Newton, on which
he resided until his death.
Joseph Greenleaf was a justice of the peace for the
county of Plymouth, and lived at Abington, Massachusetts.
He possessed some talents as a popular writer, and in
consequence was advised, iirl771, to remove into Boston,
Massachusetts. 175
and write occasionally on the side of the patriots. He fur-
nished a number ©f pieces for the Massachusetts Spy.
These displayed an ardent zeal in the cause of American
liberty, and in the then state of the popular mind, amidst
many pungent, and some more elegantly written communi-
cations, they produced a salutary effect.
ISTot long after he came to Boston, a piece under the
signature of Mucius Scaevola, as has been already men-
tioned, appeared in the Massachusetts Spy, which attracted
the attention of the governor and council of Massachusetts.
They sent for Thomas, the printer, but be did not appear
before them. Greenleaf who was suspected of being con-
cerned in the publication of that paper, was also required to
attend in the council chamber ; but he did not make his
appearance before that board. The council then advised
the governor to take from Greenleaf his commission as a
justice of the peace, as he " was generally reputed to be
concerned with Isaiah Thomas in printing and publishing
a newspaper called the Massachusetts Spy." Greenleaf was
accordingly dismissed as a magistrate.
In 1773, Greenleaf purchased a press and types, and
opened a printing house in Hanover street, near Concert
Hall. He printed several pamphlets, and An Abridgment of
Burn's Justice of the Peace.
In August, 1774, he continued the publication of The
Royal American Magazine begun by Thomas. The revo-
lutionary war closed his printiug busijiess. Greenleaf was
not bred a printer ; but having little property, he set up
a press at an advanced period of his life, as the means of
procuring a livelihood. A son of his, nearly of age, had
learned printiug of Thomas,^ and managed his father's print-
ing house during the short time he carried on business.
' Thomas Greenleaf, afterward the publisher of a newspaper in New
York.
176 History of Printing in America.
Margaret Draper was the widow of Richard Draper.
She published the Massachusetts Gazette and Boston News
Letter after his death. Boyle, who had been connected
with her husband a short time before he died, continued
the management of her printing house for about four
months ; and, during that time, his name appeared after
Margaret Draper's in the imprint of the Gazette. At the
expiration of this period their partnership was dissolved.
Margaret Draper conducted the concerns of the printing
house for several months, and then formed a connection
with John Howe, who managed the business of the com-
pany, agreeably to the advice of her friends, whilst she
remained in Boston. She printed for the governor and
council ; but the newspaper was the principal work done
in her printing house.
A few weeks after the revolutionary war commenced,
and Boston was besieged, all the newspapers, excepting
her's, ceased to be published ; and but one of them, 2^
Boston Gazette, was revived after the British evacuated the
town. It is noteworthy that The News Letter was the first
and the last newspaper which was published in Boston,
prior to the declaration of independence.
Margaret Draper left Boston with the British army, and
went to Halifax : from thence she soon took passage, with
a. number of her friends, for England. She received a
pension from the British government, and remained in
England until her death.
John Howe was born in Boston, and there served a
regular apprenticeship at the printing business. His father
was a reputable tradesman in Marshall's lane. In the
account given of Margaret Draper, mention is m'ade
that Howe became connected with her in publishing her
Gazette, etc. He had recently become of age, and was
a sober, discreet young man ; Mrs. Draper, therefore, was
Massachusetts. 177
induced, a short time before the commencement of the
war, to take him into partnership ; but his name did not
appear in the imprint of the Massachusetts Gazette till Bos-
ton was besieged by the continental army. Howe remained
with his partner until they were obliged to leave Boston,
in consequence of the evacuation of the town by the British
troops in March, 1776. He then went to Halifax, where
he published a newspaper, and printed for the government
of Nova Scotia.'
Salem
Was the third place in the province of Massachusetts
in which a press was established. The first printing house
was opened in 1768, by Samuel Hall. He was born in
Medford, Massachusetts, served an apprenticeship with his
uncle, Daniel Fowle, of Portsmouth, and first began busi-
ness in IS'ewport, in 1763, in company with Anne Franklin,
whose daughter he married.
He left Newport in March, 1768, opened a printing house
in Salem in April following, and began the publication of
The Essex Gazette in August of that year. In three or
four years after he settled in this town, he admitted his
brother, Ebenezer Hall, as a partner. Their firm was
Samuel & Ebenezer Hall. They remained in Salem
until 1775. Soon after the commencement of the war, to
accommodate the state convention and the army, they
removed to Cambridge, and printed in Stoughton Hall,
one of the buildings belonging to Harvard University.
In February, 1776, Ebenezer Hall died, aged twenty-
• A letter from Mr. E. M. MacDonald of Halifax, states that John
Howe died in that city in 1835, aged 82. For some years previous to his
death he held the ofBce of postmaster at Halifax, and also that of king's
printer for the province, the latter office securing to him all the govern-
ment printing, including the publishing of the official gazette. He also
for some years had an interest as partner with John Munro in the Halifax
Journal, although his name did not appear in it. — M.
178 History of Printing in America.
seven years. He was an amiable young man, and a good
printer. He was born in Medford, and was taught the art
of printing by his brother.
In 1776, on the evacuation of Boston by the British
troops, Samuel Hall removed into that town, and remained
there until 1781, when he returned to Salem. He con-
tinued in Salem until November, 1785 ; at which time he
again went to Boston, and opened a printing house, and a
book and stationery store, in Cornhill.
In April, 1789, he began printing, in the French
language, a newspaper, entitled Courier de Boston. This
was a weekly paper, printed on a sheet of crown in quarto,
for J. I^J'ancrede, a Frenchman, who then taught the
language of his nation at the university, and was after-
ward a bookseller in Boston ; but his name did not appear
in the imprint of the paper. Courier de Boston was pub-
lished only six months.
After Hall relinquished the publication of a newspaper,
he printed a few octavo and duodecimo volumes, a variety of
small books with cuts, for children, and many pamphlets,
particularly sermons. He was a correct printer, and
judicious editor; industrious, faithful to his engagements,
a respectable citizen, and a firm friend to his country. He
died October 30, 1807, aged sixty-seven years.
EzEKiEL Russell has been already mentioned. He
removed from Boston to Salem in 1774, and opened, in
Ruck street, the second printing house established in that
place. In the same year he began the publication of a
newspaper, but did not meet with success. He printed
ballads and small books. Having remained about two
years in Salem, he removed to Danvers, and opened a print-
ing house ; from thence, about the year 1778, he returned
with his press to Boston. [^See Boston — Portsmoidh, ^c]
Massachusetts. 179
John Rogers was born in Boston and served an appren-
ticeship there, with William Macalpine. He began the
publication of a newspaper in Salem, at the printing house
of Russell, who was interested in the paper ; but it was
printed only a few weeks. After this failure in the attempt
to establish a paper, I do not recollect to have seen Rogers's
name to any publication. He did not own either press
or types.
Mary Crouch was the widow of Charles Crouch, of
Charleston, South Carolina. She left Charleston in 1780, a
short time before that city was surrendered to the British
troops, and brought with her the press and types of her
late husband. She opened a printing house in Salem, near
the east church, where she published a newspaper for a
short time. When she sold her press, &c., she removed to
Providence, Rhode Island, the place of her nativity, and
there resided.
Newburyport.
At the request of several gentlemen, particularly the
late Rev. Jonathan Parsons, a press was first established
in that" town, in 3 773, by Isaiah Thomas. He opened a
printing house in King street, Newburyport, opposite to
the Presbyterian church. The town was settled at an
early period. In point of magnitude it held the third
rank, and it was the fourth where the press was
established, in the colony. Thomas took as a partner
Henry Walter Tinges. The firm was Thomas & Tinges.
Thomas continued his business in Boston, and Tinges had
the principal management of the concerns at Newburyport.
They there printed a newspaper, and in that work the
press was principally employed. Before the close of a
year, Thomas sold the printing materials toEzraLunt, the
proprietor of a stage, who was unacquainted with printing ;
180 History of Printing in America.
but he took Tinges as a partner, and the firm of this com-
pany was LuNT & Tinges. They continued their connection
until the country became involved in the revolutionary
war ; soon after which Lunt transferred the press and his
concern in printing to John Mycall. Tinges now became
the partner of Mycall.
The partnership of Mycall & Tinges ended in six
months. The business was then conducted by Mycall,
who soon became so well acquainted with it, as to carry it
on, and continue it on a respectable footing, for about
twenty years ; when he quitted printing, and retired to a
farm at Harvard, in the county of Worcester, from whence
he removed to Cambridgeport.^
Tinges was born in Boston, was of Dutch parentage,
and served part of his apprenticeship with Fleming, and
the residue with Thomas. He went from Newburyport
to Baltimore, and from thence to sea, but never returned.
Lunt joined the American army, and finally removed to
Marietta. He was a native of Newburyport.
Mycall was not brought up to printing, but he was a
man of great ingenuity. He was born at Worcester, in
England; and was a schoolmaster at Amesbury at the
time he purchased of Lunt. Some years after he began
printing his printing house and all his printing materials
were consumed by fire. Those materials were soon
replaced by a very valuable printing apparatus.
Worcester.
This was the fifth town in Massachusetts in which the
press was established. In 1774, a number of gentlemen
in the county of Worcester, zealously engaged in the cause
of the country, were, from the then appearance of public
afiairs, desirous to have a press established in Worcester,
' Thomas Mycall died about the year 1826. These three printers are
noticed by Buckingham in his Meminiscences, i, 289-303. — M.
Massachusetts. 181
the shire town of the county. In December of that year,
they applied to a printer in Boston, who engaged to open
a printing house, and to publish a newspaper there, in the
course of the ensuing spring.
Isaiah Thomas, in consequence of an agreement with
the gentlemen as above related, to send a press, with a
suitable person to manage the concerns of it, to this town,
in February, 1775, issued a proposal for publishing a
newspaper, to be entitled The Worcester Gazette ; or, Ame-
rican Oracle of Liberty. The war commencing sooner than
was expected, he was obliged to leave Boston, and came him-
self to Worcester, opened a printing house, and on the 3d
of May, 1775, executed the first printing done in the town.
Thomas remained at Worcester until 1776, when he let
a part of his printing apparatus, and his newspaper, to
two gentlemen of the bar, William Stearns and Daniel
Bigelow, and with the other part removed to Salem, with
an intention to commence business in that place; but
many obstructions to the plan arising in consequence of
the war, he sold the printing materials which he carried
to that town, and, in 1778, returned to Worcester, took
into possession the press which he had left there, and
resumed the publication of the Spy.
He received his types worn down, and found paper,
wretchedly as it was then manufactured, difficult to be
obtained; but, in a few months, he was fortunate enough
to purchase some new types which were taken in a vessel
from London. After some time he also procured paper
which was superior in quality to what was generally
manufactured at that period ; and thus he was enabled to
keep his printing business alive whilst the war continued.
During two or three years he was concerned with Joseph
Trumbull in a medicinal store. On the establishmen^of
peace, an intercourse was opened with Europe, and he
182 History of Printing in America.
procured a liberal supply of new printing materials, engaged
in book printing, opened a bookstore, and united the two
branches of printing and bookselling.
In September, 1788, he recommenced printing in Bos-
ton, and at the same time opened a bookstore there. At
first, the business was managed by three partners, under
the firm of I. Thomas & Co. ; but one of the partners leav-
ing the company, Thomas formed a copartnership with
the other, Ebenezer T. Andrews, who had served his
apprenticeship with him, and^the house took the firm of
Thomas & Andrews.
In 1793, he set up a press and opened a bookstore at
Walpole, New Hampshire, where he began the publication
of a newspaper entitled The Farynefs Museum}
In 1794, "he opened another printing house and a book-
store at Brookfield, Massachusetts. All these concerns
were managed by partners, and distinct from his business
in Worcester ; where he continued to reside, and to carry
on printing and bookselling on his sole account. At
Worcester, he also erected a paper mill, and set up a
bindery ; and was thus enabled to go through the whole
process of manufacturing books.
In 1794, he and his partner at Boston extended a branch
of their bookselliufi^ business to Baltimore. The house
there established was known as the firm of Thomas,
Andrews & Butler; and, in 1796, they established
another branch of their business at Albany, under the firm
of Thomas, Andrews & Penniman, and there opeaed a
printing house and bookstore.
The books printed by him at Worcester, and by him
and his .partners in other places, form a very considerable
catalogue. At one time they had sixteen presses in use ;
I
' It was finally abandoned, after several suspensions and revivals, in
October, 1810. See Biickingliani's lieminisceuces, vol. ii, p. 174, for an ac-
count of its career. — M.
Massachusetts. 183
seven of them at his printing house in Worcester, and five
at the company's printing house in Boston. They printed
three newspapers in the country, and a magazine in
Boston ; and they had five bookstores in Massachusetts,
one in New Hampshire, one at Albany, and one at Balti-
more.
Among the books which issued from Thomas's press at
Worcester, were, in 1791, an edition of the Bible, in folio,
with copperplates, and, an edition, in royal quarto, with
a concordance ; in 1793, a large edition of the Bible in
octavo ; and, in 1797, the Bible in duodecimo. Of this last
size, several editions were printed, as the types, complete
for the work, were kept standing. In 1802, he printed a
second edition of the octavo Bible.
Among the books printed by the company in Boston,
were, The Massachusetts Magazine, published monthly, in
numbers, for five years, constituting five octavo volumes ;
five editions of The Universal Geography, in two volumes
octavo, and several other heavy works ; also, the Bible in
12mo, numerous editions ; the types for which were re-
moved from Worcester to Boston.
In 1802, Thomas resigned the printing at Worcester to
his son Isaiah Thomas, jun., and soon after, transferred to
him the management of the 3fassachiisetts Spy. His son
continued the publication of that paper, and carried on
printing and bookselling.
[>See Boston — Newbury port — Hist, of Newspapers, in
vol. ii.]
184 History of Printing in America.
CONNECTICUT.
There was no press in this colony until 1709 ; and, I
believe, not more than four printing houses in it before
1775.
New London.
The first printing done in Connecticut was in that town ;
forty-five years before a press was established elsewhere
in the colony.^
Thomas Short was the first who printed in Connecticut.
He set up his press in the town of New London in 1709.^ He
was recommended by Bartholomew Green, who at that
time printed in Boston, and from whom he, probably,
learned the art of printing.
In the year 1710,^ he printed an original work, well
known in New England, by the title of The Sayhrook Plat-
form of Church Discipline. This is said to be the first book
printed in the colony. After the Platform he printed a
number of sermons, and sundry pamphlets on religious
1" The state of the case is thus: Nov. 27th, 1707, Gov. Winthrop died.
Dec. 7th, following, the general court was called together, and chose Gov.
Saltonstall. He, minding to have the government furnished with a
printer, moved to the assembly to have one sent for." " Timothy Green
was first applied to, but declined the invitation. Afterwards an engage-
ment was made with Mr. Short." — Oreeii's Memorial, 1745, in Conn.
Archives (Finance, iii, 282). — T.
■■' In October, 1708, the general court accepted Mr. Short's proposition to
print the Public Acts of the Colony for four years, commencing May, 1709,
and " to give a copy for every Town, or place in the Colony that hath a
Clerk or Register," for £50 a-year ; and to print all proclamations, etc., with
" all other public business." It was provided, however, that " he shall set
up a printing press in this Colony." — Col. Rec. of Conn., v, 69. — T.
" Although the title page has the date 1710, the work was not completed
before 1711, and the greater part, if not the whole, of the edition remained
in the hands of Mr. Short's widow until 1714. — Conn. Council Records,
1714, p. 36.-2'.
Connecticut. 185
subjects, and was employed bytbe governor and company
to do the work for the colony. He died at New London,
three or four years after his settlement there.'
Timothy Green has already been taken notice of, as
the son: of Samuel Green junior, of Boston, and grands<m
of Samuel Green senior, of Cambridge. He conducted a
press in Boston thirteen years. Receiving an invitation
from the council and assembly of Connecticut colony,* in
the year 1714 he removed to New London, and was ap-
pointed printer to the governor and company, on a salary
of fifty pounds per annum.^ It was stipulated that for this
sum he should print the election sermons, proclamations,
and the laws which should be enacted at the several sessions
of the assembly.
Besides the work of government, Green printed a number
of pamphlets on religious subjects, particularly sermons.
It has been said of him, that whenever he heard a sermon
which he highly approved, he would solicit a copy from the
author, and print it for his own sales. This honest zeal in
the cause of religion often proved injurious to his interest.
Large quantities of these sermons lay on hand as dead
stock ; and, after his decease, they were put into baskets,
appraised by the bushel, and sold under the value of com-
mon waste paper.
'Miss Caulkins records, that a small headstone in the burial ground at
New London bears this inscription : " Here lyeth the body of Thomas
Short, who deceased Sept. 27th, 1713, in the 30th year of his age." Two
children of Thomas and Elizabeth Short are on record in New London-
Catharine born 1709, and Charles, 1711. His widow married Solomon
Coit, Aug. 8, 1714.— M.
^ He had received a similar invitation before the engagement of Mr.
Short in 1708. In a memorial to the general court in 1738, he says :
" Thirty years since, this Government sent to me to come to be their
printer. I then answered the gentlemen that treated with me, that I was not
willing to leave a certainty for an uncertainty. Mr. Short then came up,
and died here." — Conn. Archives {Finance iii, 1, 2). — T.
^ Trumbull's Uistory of Connecticut.
186 History of Printing in America.
He printed a revised edition of the laws, entitled, Acts
and Laws of his Mojesiie's Colony of Connecticut in Neiv Eng-
land. Imprint — "New-London, Reprinted by Timothy
Green, Printer to his Honour the Governour and Coun-
cil, 1715." He published, also, an edition of the laws
from 1715 to 1750. As early as 1727, he printed Robert
Treat's Almanack ; the celestial signs for which were
rudely cut on em quadrates, and raised to the height of
the letter. Some years before his death he resigned his
printing house and business to his son Timothy, who at
the time was a printer in Boston, and the partner of
Samuel Kneeland.
Green was a deacon of the church in iN'ew London ;
and as a Christian was held in high estimation. His
piety was free from the gloominess and asperity of the
bigot, and he was benevolent in his heart, and virtuous in
his life. He was of a very facetious disposition, and many
of his anecdotes are handed down to the present time.
He died May 5, 1757,^ aged seventy-eight years. He
left six sons, and one daughter who died in East Haddam
in 1808. Three of his sons were printers ; the eldest, who
succeeded him; the second settled at Annapolis, in Mary-
land ; and the third who was connected with his father,
but died before him. Another of his sons by the name of
Thomas, by trade a pewterer, settled in Boston, where he
died leaving several children.
Samuel Green, third son of Timothy Green, was born in
Boston two years before his father left that town. He was
taught printing by his father, and was for several years in
partnership with him. He died in May,1752, at forty years
of age, leaving a family of nine children, three of them sons,
who were printers, and of whom due notice will be taken
in course.
'1758, Caulkins's ITi'si. New-London, p. 489, 3d edition. — M.
Connecticut. 187
Timothy Green Junior, was born in Boston, and came to
New London with his fiither, who instructed him in the art.
He began printing in Boston/ and was for twenty-five
years the partner of Samuel Kneeland, as has been related.
On the death of his brother Samuel, his father being aged,
and unable to manage the concerns of the printing house,
he closed his partnership with Kneeland, and, in compli-
ance with his father's request, removed to New London.
The whole business was resigned to him. He succeeded
his father as printer of the colony ; and, at that time, there
was not another printing house in Connecticut.
On the 8th of August, 1758, he published a newspaper.
This was the second establishment of the kind in the
colony.
After a life of industry, he died October 3,=^ 1763, aged
sixty years. He was amiable in his manners, and much
esteemed by his friends and acquaintances. \_See Boston
Newspapers.']
Timothy Green, 3d, was the son of Samuel Green, and
nephew to the last mentioned Timothy. He was born in
New London, and was taught the art by his uncle, to
whose business he succeeded. The newspaper begun by
his uncle was discontinued, and he established another,
afterwards pubhshed by his son. Li 1773, he set up a
press in Norwich, in company with his brother-in-law,
which was afterwards removed to Vermont.
' Thomas had " seen no printing with his name before 1726." In 1724,
Cotton Mather's Memoirs of Remarkahles in the Life of Dr. Increase Mather
was printed in Boston, in the name of Bartholomew Green. In an " Ad-
vertisement " of errata, at the end of tlie volume, Mather gays : " My
young printer, th£ nephew of him whose name stands in the title page,
tlio' this be the frst book that has entirely jmssed thro' his hand, has bid
pretty fair towards the exactness of that honest and careful Christian "
[Wechsel, the " faultless printer " of Paris.] The " young printer " was
Timothy Jr., the grand-nephew of Bartholomew." — T.
" August 3, CauUdns's History of Neio London, p. 655, 2d ed. — M.
188 History of Printing in America.
Green was printer to the colony. In his profession, and
as a citizen, he was respectable ; a firm and honest whig,
he was attached to the federal constitution of the United
States. He died on the 10th of March, 1796, aged fifty-
nine years. He had eleven children, eight sons and three
daughters. Two sons were printers, one of whom, Samuel,
succeeded his father, the other settled at Fredericksburg,
Virginia, and, in 1787, first printed The Virginia Herald.
Two of his sons, Thomas and John, were booksellers and
binders; another son, named William, was an Episcopal
clergyman.
New Haven.
The second printing house, established in Connecticut,
was in this town.
James Parker & Company. At the commencement of
the war between England and France, in 1754, Benjamin
Franklin and "William Hunter were joint deputy postmas-
ters general for America. As the principal seat of the
war with France, in this country, was to the northward,
the establishment of a post office in New Haven became
an object of some consequence. James Parker, in 1754,
obtained from Franklin the first appointment of post-
master in that place, associated with John Holt, who had
been unfortunate in his commercial business, and was
brother-in-law to Hunter.
Having secured the post office, Parker, who was then
the principal printer at New York, by the advice of Frank-
lin established a press in New Haven at the close of the
year 1754. The first work from his press was the laws of
Yale College, in Latin. On the first of January, 1755, he
published a newspaper.
Holt directed the concerns of the printing house and
post office in behalf of James Parker & Co. Parker
Connecticut. 189
remained at New York. Post riders were established for
the army, and considerable business was done at the post
office and printing house during the war.
Parker had a partner, named Weyman, in New York,
who managed their affairs in that city until the year 1759,
when the partnership was dissolved. This event made it
necessary that a new arrangement should take place.
Holt went to New York in 1760, took the direction of Par-
ker's printing house in that city, and conducted its concerns.
The press and post office in New Haven were left to the
agency of Thomas Green ; Parker & Co. still remaining
proprietors, and continuing their firm on the Gazette till
1764, when they resigned the business to Benjamin Mecom.
Benjamin Mecom, who has been mentioned as a printer,
first at Antigua, and afterward in Boston, removed to
New Haven in 1764, and succeeded Parker & Co. Frank-
lin appointed him postmaster. He revived the Gazette
which had been discontinued, but did very little other
printing. He remained in that city until 1767, and then
removed to Philadelphia. \_See Philadelphia, etc.'\
Samuel Green was the third son of Samuel Green, and
grandson of the first Timothy Green, both printers in
New London, where he was born. He was taught printing
by his uncle Timothy, who succeeded his father and grand-
father^ in New London ; and was the successor of Mecom,
at New Haven, in 1767. He was joined by his brother
Thomas, from Hartford, and they became partners, under
the firm of Thomas & Samuel Green. The newspaper,
which was begun by Parker & Co., and continued by
Mecom, had again been discontinued. These brothers
established another. Their partnership remained until
dissolved by the death of Samuel, one of the parties, in'
February, 1799, aged fifty-six years.
190 History of Printing in America.
After the death of Samuel, the son of Thomas became
a partner with his father, under the firm of Thomas Green
«&; Son. This son was also named Thomas. The establish-
ment continued ten years.
In 1809, a nephew of Richard Draper, Thomas Collier,
who had been a printer at Litchfield, was connected with
Green and his son ; but the same year Thomas Green the
father retired from business. On this occasion he pub-
lished a very aiFectionate and pathetic address to the public.
He died May, 1812, aged seventy-seven years.
The newspaper established by Thomas and Samuel
Green was continued by Eli Hudson.
Hartford.
Printing was first introduced into Hartford, in the year
1764.
Thomas Green, who has been just mentioned as the
partner of Samuel Green in New Haven, was born at 'New
London. He was the eldest son of Samuel Green, printer,
in that place. His father dying, during the early part of
his life he was instructed in printing by his uncle. Green
first commenced printing in Hartford, in 1764. Until that
time New London and New Haven were the only places
in the colony in which presses had been established. He
began the publication of a newspaper, which was the third
printed in Connecticut ; he remained there till 1767, when
he removed to New Haven, and went into a partnership
with his brother. Previous to his leaving Hartford, he
formed a connection with Ebenezer Watson, and con-
ducted the press two years under the firm of Green &
Watson.
Thomas Green was a great-great-grandson of Samuel
Green, who printed at Cambridge, Massachusetts. He died
in 1812, aged 73.
Connecticut. 191
Frederick Green, printer of the Maryland Gazette^ at
Annapolis, was from the same stock, and also a great-great-
grandson of the same Samuel Green.
Samuel Green, printer of the Connecticut Gazette at New
London, and Thomas Green junior, one of the publishers
of the Connecticut Journal, at New Haven, were of the sixth
generation of the name of Green, who had been printers
in this country, being great-great-great-grandSons of
Samuel Green of Cambridge.
Ebenezer "Watson- succeeded Thomas Green, in Hart-
ford, from whom he learned printing. He continued th6
newspaper established by Green. Publishing this paper
was his principal employment, and he became its pro-
prietor at the close of the year 1769. It does not appear
that "Watson was a thoroughly taught printer, though he
practised the art ten years. He died September 16, 1777,
aged thirty-three years. He was remarkable for his hu-
manity, and anxious for the safety of his country, then
contending for its independence, devoted his press to her
cause. He was an ensign in the governor's company of
cadets. This company attended his funeral, and he was
buried with military honors.
"Watson's widow continued the Connecticut Courant in
company with George Goodwin, until she married Bar-
zillai Hudson. Goodwin served his apprenticeship with
"Watson, and was a correct printer. Hudson was not bred
a printer, but came into the business by marrying the
widow of "Watson. Goodwin became the partner of
Hudson, and they were very respectable printers under
the firm of Hudson & Goodwin.
192 History of Printing in America.
Norwich.
This is the fourth town in Connecticut where a press
was established before the revolution. Two printing
houses were opened in the same year.
Green & Spooner. Timothy Green the third, printed in
New London. Judah Paddock Spooner was his brother-
in-law, and served his apprenticeship with him.
Green took Spooner into partnership and furnished press
and types ; and they opened a printing house in Norwich
in 1773. Spooner, by agreement, managed the concerns
of the firm. Their business not answering their expecta-
tions, after the trial of a few years, they removed their
press to Westminster in Vermont.^
Robertsons & Trumbull. Alexander and James Robert-
son were sons of a respectable printer in Scotland. Ihave
mentioned them as at Albany, where they began printing
and remained for several years. John Trumbull was,
I believe, born in Charlestown, Massachusetts ; he served
an apprenticeship with Samuel Kneeland in Boston.
Trumbull entered into partnership with the Robertsons,
and in 1773 they opened a second printing house in Nor-
wich, and soon^ after published a newspaper. This con-
nection was not dissolved until after the British troops took
possession of the city of New York in 1776. The Robert-
sons were royalists; and, soon" after that event, they left
Norwich, and went to New York.
Trumbull remained at Norwich, and continued printing.
He differed in his politics with his partners, one of whom,
James, had been in the political school of Mein & Fleming
of Boston, for whom he worked two or three years as a
1 Spooner established himself first at Hanover, in 1778, and removed to
Westminster in 1781. See History of Norwich, 364, 2d ed.— M.
Connecticut. 193
journeyman ; but, politics apart, James was a worthy man
and a very good printer. Of Alexander I had no know-
ledge ; but I have been informed that he was, unfortunately,
deprived of the use of his limbs, and incapacitated for
labor. He was, however, intelligent, well educated, and
possessed some abilities as a writer.
Trumbull was an honest, well meaning man, and attached
to his country. His printing was chiefly confined to his
newspaper, and small articles with which he supplied
country chapmen. He died in August, 1802, at the age of
fifty-two years.
Alexander and James Robertson remained in Kew York
till 1783, when the royal army and the refugees quitted the
city. The Robertsons went to Shelburne, in ISTova Scotia,
where they published a newspaper. Alexander died in
Shelburne, in December, 1784. James returned to Scot-
land, his native country, and began business as a printer
and bookseller in Edinburgh. ^
' Miss Caulkiojs; in her HisUyry of Norwich has additional facts relating to
these partners. She says of Trumbull : " He was remarkable for his genial
humor, and always had a merry turn or witty remark at hand." — H.
194 History of Printing in America.
RHODE ISLAND.
Printing was introduced into Connecticut about twenty-
two years before a press was established in Rhode Island.
There were but three printing houses in the colony before
1775, and only two newspapers.
Gregory Dexter, a printer in London, was a corre-
spondent of the celebrated Roger Williams the founder of
Providence. Dexter printed, in England, in •1643, Wil-
liams's Key into the Language of America, and the first Alma-
nack for Rhode Island and Providence Plantations in New Eng-
land. Soon after. Dexter quitted printing, left his native
country, and joined Williams in Providence, where he be-
came a distinguished character in the colony. He was one
of the parties named in the charter, and for a number of
years one of the assistants under the authority granted by
that charter. He was one of the first town clerks, and
wrote an uncommonly good hand. He possessed hand-
some talents, and had been well educated. From him de-
scended the respectable family of the Dexters in Rhode
Island.
It is said that after Samuel Green began printing at
Cambridge, Dexter went there, annually, for several years,
to assist him in printing an Almanac. ^
Newport.
The press was first established in this town in the year
1732 ; and was the only one in the colony till 1762.
James Franklin. It has been stated that Franklin was
the publisher of The New-England Courant. Soon after
Manuscript papers of President Stiles, of New Haven.
Rhode Island. 195
that paper was discontinued he removed from Boston with
his printing materials to Newport, and there set up his
press in a room " under the Town School-House." He did
some printing for government, published a newspaper a
few months, and an Almanac annually.
He was the first who printed in Ehode Island ; but only
published a few pamphlets, and other small articles, be-
side those mentioned above. lie died in February, 1735.
\_See Boston.'l
Anne Franklin, the widow of James Franklin, suc-
ceeded her husband. She printed for the colony, supplied
blanks for the public offices, and published pamphlets, &c.
In 1745, she printed for government an edition of the laws,
containing three hundred and forty pages folio. She was
aided in her printing by her two daughters, and afterward
by her son when he attained to a competent age. Her
daughters were correct and quick compositors at case ; and
were instructed by their father whom they assisted. A
gentleman who was acquainted with Anne FrankHn and
her family, informed me that he had often seen her daugh-
ters at work in the printing house, and that they were
sensible and amiable women.
James Franklin Junior, the son of James and Anne
Franklin, was born in Newport : and, as soon as he was of
age, became the partner of his mother, and conducted their
concerns in his own name. He began printing about the
year 1754, published The Mercivri/ in 1758, and died August
22, 1762. He possessed integrity and handsome talents,
which endeared him to very respectable associates.
After his death, his mother resumed the business ; but
soon resigned the management of it to Samuel Hall, with
whom she formed a partnership under the firm name of
196 History of Printing in America.
Franklin &Hall:^ This firm was of short duration, and
was dissolved by the death of Anne Eranklin, April 19,
1763, at the age of sixty-eight. They printed an edition
of the laws in folio, which was completed about the time
that Anne Franklin died.
Samuel Hall. After the death of his partner, Hall
printed in his own name. An account of him has already
been given among the printers of Massachusetts. He re-
mained at Newport five years, continued the publication of
the Mercury, and found considerable employment for his
press.
In March, 1768, he resigned the printing house in New-
port to Solomon Southwick, and removed to Salem, Mas-
sachusetts. [See Salem.']
Solomon Southwick was born in Newport, but notbrought
up to the business of printing. He was the son of a fisher-
man ; and, when a lad, assisted his father in selling fish in
the market place. The attention he paid to that employ-
ment, the comeliness of his person, and the evidences he
gave of a sprightly genius, attracted the notice of the
worthy Henry Collins, Avho at that time was said to be the
most wealthy citizen in Newport, one of the first mercan-
tile characters in New England, and greatly distinguished
in the colony of Rhode Island for philanthropy and benevo-
lence. Mr. Collins took a number of illiterate boys, whose
parents were poor, under his patronage, and gave each an
education suited to his capacity ; several of whom became
men distinguished in the learned professions. Among the
objects of his care and liberality was young Southwick,
vvho was placed at the academy in Philadelphia, and there
' Anne Franklin's brother-in-law, the celebrated Benjamin Franklin,
who then printed in Philadelphia, had, at that time, a partner by the
name of Hall ; and the firm in Philadelphia was likewise Franklin & Hall.
Rhode Island. 197
provided for till he had completed his studies. Mr. Collins
then established him as a merchant, with a partner by the
name of Clarke.
Soathwick and Clarke did business on an extensive scale.
They built several vessels and were engaged in trade to
London and elsewhere ; but eventually they became bank-
rupts, and their partnership was dissolved.
After this misfortune, Southwick married a daughter of
Colonel John Gardner, who for several years had been
governor of the colony, and by this marriage he became
possessed of a handsome estate.
About this time Samuel Hall, who had a desire to leave
Newport and remove to Salem, oiFered his printing esta-
blishment for sale. Southwick became the purchaser in
March, 1768, and succeeded to the business of Hall. He
continued the publication of The New York Mercury, and
made some attempts at book printing. He published for
his own sales several small volumes ; but the turbulence
of the times checked his progress in this branch of printing.
Southwick discovered a sincere and warm attachment
to the interests of the country. He was a firm whig, a
sensible and spirited writer, and in other respects was
qualified to be the editor of a newspaper, and the con-
ductor of a press in times of revolutionary commotion.
The severity of the British government, to the province
of Massachusetts particularly, was manifested by several
acts of parliament which were passed in 1774. By one of
these acts the people were deprived of many of their
chartered rights and privileges. By another the port of
Boston was shut, and the transaction of every kind of com-
mercial business on the waters of this harbor was inter-
dicted. These arbitrary edicts aroused the indignation
of the people in all the colonies. They loudly expressed
their resentment in various ways, and the press became
the organ^through which their sentiments were energetic-
ally announced.
198 History of Printing in America.
Southwick was among the number of printers who were
not backward to blow the irumjKt in our Zion^ and to sound
an alarm in the holy mountain of our liberties. He wrote
and printed an address to the people of Rhode Island,
which was headed Math the motto, " Join or die! " This
motto had appeared in several of the newspapers, as will
be mentioned hereafter. In this appeal, Boston was re-
presented as in a state of siege ; which was actually true ;
for the harbor was completely blockaded by ships of war,
and a large number of troops were quartered in the town.
It was also further stated that these measures of the British
government were a "direct hostile invasion of all the colo-
nies." The address was concluded by observing, that " the
generals of despotism are now drawing the lines of circum-
vallation around our bulwarks of liberty, and nothing but
unity, resolution and perseverance, can save ourselves and
posterity from what is worse than death, slavery."
Southwick, by his publications and exertions in the
cause of the country, became very obnoxious to those who
w^ere of the opposite party ; and he, with other zealous
whigs, were marked as objects for punishment. When
the British fleet and army took possession of Newport, in
1776, he barely eluded the threatened evil. As soon as a
part of the army had landed, detachments of both horse
and foot were sent into all parts of the town to arrest the
patriots, who were endeavoring to effect an escape.
Southwick, his wife, with a child in her arms, and some
other persons, had got on board an open boat, and were
just putting off from the shore into a very rough sea,
occasioned by a high wind, when a party of soldiers who
were in pursuit of them came in sight. Southwick's
wife had a brother who was a royalist, and as such was
known to the British officers; who however, wished to
secure the retreat of his sister and her husband. Aware
of their danger, this brother put himself in the way of
Rhode Island. 199
their pursuers, and for a few moments arrested their
attention, by giving them information of the several parts
of the town whence the proscribed whigs would probably
attempt to make their retreat, &c. This friendly inter-
ference gave Southwick and his friends time to get a few
rods from the shore before the party arrived at the spot
they had just quitted. The boat was yet within reach of
their shot The soldiers fired at them but w^ithout effect.
The passengers fortunately received no injury, and were
soon wafted to a place of safety.'
Southwick was, at this time, a member of the general
assembly of Rhode Island. He owned two new houses in
Newport, that, with other property which he left at that
place, were destroyed. He sought an asylum in Attle-
borough, on the frontier of Massachusetts, and there
erected a press ; but being soon after appointed commis-
sary-general of issues for the state of Rhode Island, he re-
moved to Providence.
As soon as the British troops evacuated Newport he
returned to that town and resumed the publication of his
newspaper, which he continued till the year 1787, when, by
ill health, and embarrassed circumstances, he was obliged
to relinquish business, and to place the Mercury in other
hands.*
His pecuniary concerns were greatly impaired by the
rapid depreciation of the paper currency, before the esta-
' Mr. Southwick escaped with his wife and eldest son Solomon, but a
younger child and its nurse were captured. — M.
* In a historical sketch of the Mercury, published in that paper when it
had completed a century of its existence, June 12, 1858, it is asserted that
Southwick did not return to resume his paper, but that Henry Barber re-
viyed its publication in 1780. As yet no copies of the Mercury have been
found that were published from 1776 to 1780, when Barber's name appears ;
but it is mentioned by Mr. Thomas in the second volume of this work, that
Southwick resumed its publication at Attleborough, Mass. Copies of the
Mercury are preserved in the library of the American Antiquarian Society
at Worcester, which show that Southwick was associated with Barber in
May, 1785 ; that ho was printing it alone in 1787 ; and that Barber was
200 History of Printing in America.
blishment of peace. He, like many others, cherished a
belief that the nominal sum specified in the bills would
eventually be made good in spepie. The impracticability
of the thing was not considered, even when one hundred
dollars in paper would purchase but one of silver. The
delusion was not discovered by some till they found them-
selves involved in ruin. The government of the union
were indebted to Southwick both for his services and for
money loaned. This debt, like others of the kind, was
liquidated by notes known by the name of final settlement.
In the course of some months after they were issued, they
were sold in the market for one-eighth part of their nomi-
nal value. To this depreciated state was national paper
reduced before the assumption of the public debt by the
new government ; and, when it was in that state, South-
wick was compelled to sell his final settlement notes for
the support of himself and family. He was engaged in, the
cause of his country in the times of her adversity and dan-
ger, but he had no portion of the benefits resulting from
her prosperity. Assailed by poverty, and borne down by
again printing it in his own name in 1788. Southwick's monument is
still seen in the cemetery at Newport. A copy of the inscription has been
furnished by Mr. Fred. A. Pratt, the present editor of the Mercury, as
follows :
" In memory of | Solomon Southwick, Esq., ] a gentleman of liberal |
education and expansive mind, | for many years | editor and proprietor
of the I Newport Mercury \ and commissary general for the | state of
Khode Island | in the Revolutionary war. | He died Dec. 23, 1797, | in
the 66th year of his age.
Just, generous, benevolent and sincere,
Was he whose hallowed dust reposes here ;
If e'er a partial prayer he breathed to heaven,
That prayer was for his country's glory given."
The house which Mr. Southwick occupied on his return to Newport,
with his printing office, is that in which the Newport Bank is now lo-
cated. Children of his son, Henry C, reside in Albany, and preserve
volumes of the Mercury and other mementos of their ancestor, among
which is a diploma from the College and Academy of Philadelphia for
proficiency in Philosophy and Mathematics, 1757, conferring upon him
the degree of B.A. — M.
Rhode Island. 201
infirmity, he lived in obscurity from the year 1788 to the
time of his death ; and, being unable to provide for his
children, he left them to make their own way in the world.
He lost his'wife, who was an excellent woman, in 1783 ;
and he died himself December 23, 1797, aged sixty-six
years.
His son who bore his name, settled at Albany, and was
for many years the publisher of The Albany Register}
Providence.
For many years the principal part of the trade of the
colony was carried on at Newport. At length Providence
rose to eminence and became the successful rival of New-
port. Printing was introduced there in 1762.
William Goddard, the son of Doctor Giles Goddard,
postmaster at New London, in Connecticut, was the first
who established a printing press in Providence, and was
soon after appointed deputy post-master.
'Mr. Southwick left five children: Solomon, Henry C, Wilmarth,
Eliza, and John. Solomon became editor of TJie Albany Register, which
was began in 1788 as a democratic paper, and with which he was con-
nected for a period of nearly thirty years. He was successively clerk
of the house of assembly at Albany ; clerk of the senate ; sheriff of the
county ; manager of the state literature lottery ; state printer; regent of
the university ; postmaster of the city ; and president of the Mechanics
and Farmers' bank. For a considerable time he was at the head of the
democratic oarty, wielding almost unlimited influence upon the political
destinies of the state. Besides the Register; which he published in his own
name from 1808 to 1817, he also published The Christian Visitant,m 1815,
and The Plough Boy, an agricultural paper, in 1819. He edited the National
Democrat, in 1817 ; the National Observer, inl826 ; the Family Newspaper, va.
1838. He was twice nominated for governor, but his party was at the time
in the minority. He was a voluminous writer, and left several published
volumes. He died suddenly Nov. 18, 1839, aged 66. His brother
Henry C, was a practical printer, and was sometime associated with him
in the business. He married Jane, a sister of John Barber who established
the Register, and whom he succeeded as its proprietor. She survived him
several years. Of six sons but one left posterity. The Albany Barbers
were of a dififerent family from those of Newport.— M.
202 History of Printing in America.
Goddard served his apprenticeship with James Parker,
printer in New York. He opened a printing house in
Providence in 1762, and soon after published a newspaper.
There was at that time but one other paper printed in the
colony, viz. at ISTewport ; yet after a trial of several years,
Goddard did not meet with such encouragement as to in-
duce him to continue his Gazette. He left his printing
house, &c., in the care of his mother, and sought for him-
self a more favorable place of residence.
On leaving Providence he was for a short time concerned
with Holt, in New York, in publishing Parker's Gazette and
Post Boy ; and as a silent partner drew a share of the pro-
fits. After the repeal of the stamp act, in 1766, he closed
his concerns with his friends Parker and Holt, and went
to Philadelphia, and there printed a newspaper, &c.
I shall have occasion again to mention Goddard, who
was in business several years in Philadelphia ; and after-
wards at Baltimore, where he finished his professional
labors.
As a printer he was ingenious and enterprising. He
made several strong efibrts to acquire property, as well as
reputation ; but by some means his plans of business fre-
quently failed of success. He was most fortunate in his
concerns for a few years after the termination of the war.
At length he supposed that he had become possessed of a
competency to carry him through life " without hard rub-
bing." In this apprehension he quitted business, returned
to New England, and resided several years on a large farm
near Providence, of which he was the proprietor, and died
•Dec. 23, 1817, aged 77.
Major General Charles Lee, an officer in the American
army during the revolutionary war, owned a landed estate
in Berkeley county, Virginia, and left by will one-third
part of this estate to Goddard and Eleazar Oswald, to whom
he professed himself to have been under obligations.
Rhode Island. 203
Few could conduct a newspaper better than Goddard.
He was a capable editor, and his talents were often drawn
into requisition. He, like many others, was a laborious
agent in the cause of his country, and in many instances
where he had neither honor nor profit for his reward.
When the loaves and fishes were to be divided, aspiring,
interested, nominal patriots, crowded him into the back
ground, and his services were in a great measure forgotten.
Goddard, however, received from the postmaster general
the appointment of surveyor general of post roads ; and,
in this instance, fared better than many others, whose public
services were never rewarded by any office whatever, either
of profit or honor. \_See Philadelphia — Baltimore — News-
paper.']
Sarah Goddard, the mother of William Goddard, was
the daughter of Lodowick Updike, whose ancestors were
amons: the first settlers of Rhode Island, and her brother
was for some years attorney general of the colony. She
received a good education, acquired an acquaintance with
several branches of useful and polite learning, and married
Dr. Giles Goddard, of New London, who left her a widow.
After her son had been a few years in business, she became
his partner. He left the management of the printing house
and newspaper to her, and she conducted them with much
ability for about two years, when John Carter supplied the
place of her son ; the firm was then Sarah Goddard & Com-
pany. She resigned the business to Carter in 1769, removed
to Philadelphia the same year, and died there in January,
1770. \_See Newspapers in vol. ii.]
John Carter was born in Philadelphia, and served his
apprenticeship with Franklin & Hall, in that city. He
was the partner of Sarah Goddard from 1766 to 1768 in-
clusive; and, in 1769, he became the successor of William
204 History of Printing in America.
and Sarah Goddard, and proprietor of the Providence
Gazette.
For more than twenty years his printing house was
"at Shakespear's Head, opposite to the Court House;"
after which it was near the bridge, and opposite to the
market.
He was postmaster before the revolution, and for many
years subsequent to it. He was well acquainted with the
art which he practised, and the productions of his press
exhibit evidence of a good and correct workman.
He was a staunch supporter of the cause of our country,
before its independence; and after that important event
took place, he did not lose sight of her best interests. He
prosecuted printing in an accurate manner for forty-six
years. His character as a man of honor and integrity was
well established : he died in August, 1814, aged sixty-nine
years.
John "Waterman was bred a seaman, and became the
master of a vessel. Preferring the mechanic arts, he left
the pursuits of commerce, and built a paper mill two miles
from Providence, which probably was the first erected in
the colony. In 1769, he purchased the press and types
which were, for many years, owned and used by Samuel
Kneeland of Boston ; with these he opened a printing house
near his paper mill, but made little use of them.
New Hampshire. 205
NEW HAMPSHIRE.
The printing for -this colony was executed in Boston,
Massachusetts, until 1756. Only two printing houses were
opened in New Hampshire before the year 1775, and one of
these had for several years been shut. The productions of
the press were few : the largest work printed was the laws
of the province.
POKTSMOUTH.
Although this place was the capital of the colony, and
had been settled a long time, yet no means had been used
to introduce printing into it until about the year 1755,
when several of the influential inhabitants exerted them-
selves for this purpose ; and, in the year following, the press
was established there, at which was executed the first print-
ing done in New Hampshire.
Daniel Fowle, who had been arrested and imprisoned
in Boston, on a charge of having published a libel against
the government of Massachusetts, was, as has been stated,
solicited by several gentlemen in Portsmouth, and after-
wards encouraged by the government, to set up a press in
that town. He accordingly removed from Boston to Ports-
moi^th in July, 1756, and soo^ after published a newspaper.
Fowle did but little at book printing ; it being his princi-
pal business to publish the newspaper. He was appointed
printer to the government; and the laws, &c., were issued
from his press.
In September, 1764, he took his nephew Robert Fowle
as his partner. The firm of the company was Daniel &
Robert Fowle. They remained together until 1774, when
they separated, and Robert soon after removed to Exeter.
Daniel Fowle continued in business until his death, but
206 History of Printing in America.
did not acquire much property. He married into a very
respectable family in Boston, some years before be re-
moved from that town, but had no children. He received
the commission of a magistrate a short time after he set-
tled at Portsmouth. He was a correct printer and indus-
trious. He was mild in his disposition, agreeable in his
manners, liberal in his sentiments, and attached to the cause
of his country. He died in June, 1787, aged 72 years.
\_See Boston — Bist. J^ewsp.']
Thomas Furber was born in Portsmouth, and served
his apprenticeship with Daniel Fowle. Some zealous whigs,
who thought the Fowles were too timid in the cause of
liberty, or their press too much under the influence of the
officers of the crown, encouraged Furber to set up a second
press in the province. He in consequence opened a printing
house in Portsmouth, toward the end of 1764, and soon
after published a newspaper. In 1765, he received as a
partner Ezekiel Kussell. Their firm was Furber & Rus-
sell. Excepting the newspaper, they printed only a few
hand-bills and blanks. The company became embarrassed,
and in less than a year its concerns terminated, and the
partnership was dissolved. Upon the dissolution of the
firm, the press and types were purchased by the Fowles.
Furber became their journeyman, and Russell went to
Boston.
Furber had been taught plain binding, and undertook
to connect it with printing. Although he was not very
skillful, either as a printer or as a binder, he began the
world under favorable circumstances ; and, had he been
attentive to his afiairs, he might have been successful.
He was good natured and friendly, but naturally indolent;
and, like too many others, gavehimself up to the enjoyment
of a companion, when he should have been attending to his
business. He died in Baltimore, at the house of William
New Hampshire. 207
Goddard, who had employed him for a loug time and
shown him much friendship. He left a widow and several
children.
Exeter.
A difference in the political sentiments of D. and R.
Fowle, printers and copartners at Portsmouth, was the
cause of their separation in 1774 ; and probably the reason
of the establishment of a press in Exeter.
Robert Fowle was the son of John Fowle, who was
several years a silent partner with Rogers & Fowle in Bos-
ton, and afterwards an Episcopal clergyman at Norwalk in
Connecticut. He served his apprenticeship with his uncle,
at Portsmouth; and when of age became his partner, as
has been mentioned. This copartnership being ended they
divide^^ their printing materials. Robert, who was neither
a skillful nor a correct printer, took the press and types
which had been used by Furber, and settled at Exeter.
He did some work for the old government, and, in 1775,
some for the new. He made several attempts to establish
a newspaper, and in 1776 began one, which he published
more than a year.
The new paper currency of New Hampshire had been
printed by Fowle, and it was counterfeited ; and suspicion
rested on him as having been concerned in this criminal
act. He was a royalist, and fled within the British lines
in New York. By this step the suspicion, which might
not have been well founded, was confirmed. Thus ended
the typographical career of Robert Fowle. With other
refugees from the United States, he was placed upon the
British pension list. Some time after the establishment
,of peace, he returned to this country, married the widow
of his younger brother, who had succeeded him at Exeter,
and resided in New Hampshire until he died. Robert
Fowle had very respectable connections.
208 History of Printing in America.
PENNSYLVANIA.
This was the second English colony in America, where
the press was established.
The charter of the province was granted to William
Penn, in the year 1681 ; and, about the year 1686, a print-
ing press was established " near Philadelphia."
Philadelphia.
This city was laid out, and the building of it begun by
its proprietor, in 1683. In less than six years after the
city was founded printing was practiced here.
William Bradford was the first printer who settled in
this colony. He was the son of William and Anne Brad-
ford, of Leicester, England, at which place he was born
in the year 1660.^ He served his apprenticeship in London,
with Andrew Sowle, printer in Grace Church street, and
married his daughter Elizabeth. Sowle was intimately
acquainted with George Fox, a shoemaker of Nottingham,
and the founder of the English sect of quakers. Sowle
was one of this sect, and printed for the society. Brad-
ford adopted the principles of the quakers, and was among
the first emigrants from England to Pennsylvania in 1682,
and landed at the spot where Philadelphia was soon after
laid out before a house was built. The next year his wife
arrived.^
' The inscription on Bradford's tombstone, in Trinity church yard, New
York, says : " He was bom in Leicestershire, in old England, in 1660." But
The American Almanackfor 1739, printed by him, has in the record of events
which have occurred in the month of May : " The printer born the 20th
1663." That day was accordingly selected for commemoration in 1863.
(See Wallace's Address). — H.
' Thomas Holme, who was William Penn's surveyor general, drew a
plan of the city of Philadelphia, which was engraved and printed in
Pennsylvania. 209
At what place he first settled is rather uncertain ; but
it was, as he expresses it, " near Philadelphia." The
Swedes had begun a colony in Delaware as early as 1626,
and made a settlement at Chester, now a part of Penn-
sylvania. The Dutch conquered the Swedes and attached
Delaware to the government of New York. By agreement
with the Duke of York, Penn, after his arrival, assumed
the government of Delaware, and united it, in matters of
legislation, with Pennsylvania. The general assembly
was holden at Chester, and this borough became for a time
a place of consequence. It is probable that Bradford
resided there until Philadelphia assumed the appearance
of a city. He might, however, have set up his press at
Burlington, which is but eighteen miles distant from Phila-
delphia, and was then the capital of New Jersey. The
first work printed by Bradford, which has reached us with
a date, is, " An Almanack for the year of the Christian
account 1687. Particularly respecting the Meridian and
Latitude of Burlington, but may indifferently serve all
places adjacent. By Daniel Leeds, Student in Agriculture.
Printed and sold by William Bradford, near Philadelphia
in Pcnnsilvania pro Anno 1687." This is a sheet almanac
in twelve compartments for the twelve months. The
year begins with March and ends with February, as was
usual in the seventeenth century. At the bottom of the
sheet are an explanation of the almanac, an account of
the eclipses for the year, courts and fairs at Burlington and
Philadelphia, and short rules in husbandry.*
London, in 1683, and had this title and imprint, viz : "A portraiture of the
city of Philadelphia in the Province of Pennsylvania in America, by
Thomas Holme, surveyor-general. Sold by Andrew Sowle in Shoreditch,
London." By this it appears that in 1683, Sowle either lived or had a shop
in Shoreditch.
' Mr. Wallace, in his Commemorative Address, says : " The earliest issue of
Bradford's press, known to me, is an Almanack for the year 1686, pro-
210 History of Printing in America.
It appears that at the time Bradford printed this
almanac he lived near Philadelphia, and Chester, as I
have said, was near this city.^
In 1689, Bradford lived in the city. I possess a quarto
pamphlet by George Keith, respecting the New England
churches, printed by Bradford in Philadelphia that year.
It is the oldest book I have seen printed in the city. Ihave
another pamphlet, of seventy-four pages, printed by him in
1690, entitled, *' A Refutation of Three Opposers of Truth
by plain Evidence of the holy Scriptures, viz : Pardon Til-
linghast, B. Keech, and Cotton Mather; and a few Words
of a Letter to John Cotton. By George Keith." — Imprint
"Philadelphia, Printed and Sold by William Bradford
Anno 1690." I have another quarto pamphlet, of seventy-
duccd of course in 108o. It was called Knlcndarinm Pennsylvaniense or
AmeriaCs Messenger, an Almanack.
"In 1G86 he produced Burnyeafs Ejn'stle. The title is 'An Epistle
from John Burnyeat to friends in Pennsylvania, to be by them dispensed
to the Neighboring Provinces, which for Convenience and Dispatch was
thought good to be Printed, and so ordered by the Quarterly meeting of
Philadelphia the 7th of 4th Month 1686. Printed and Sold by William
Bradford, near Philadelphia, 1680."
" Of an Almanack which was issued in 1687, more than one copy is
exinnV— Address, pp. 26-29.
The fact that in 1688, Bradford issued proposals for printing " a large
Bible," was accidentally discovered by Mr. Nathan Kite of Philadelphia,
one hundred and fifty years afterwards, he having found a copy of tlie
proposals in print serving as the inner lining paper of the cover of a
book. The proposals are given in full in the appendix to Mr. Wallace's
address. — H.
1 It has been suggested that Bradford first settled at Kensington, about
two miles to the eastward of Philadelphia, on the banks of the Delaware ;
at which place there were at that time two or three houses, and where
remained the great oak tree, under which William Penn held a treaty
with the Indians, until the 8d of March, 1810, when it was overthrown by
a tornado. Proud, in his History of Pennsylvania, observes in a note:
" The Quakers had meetings for religious worship, and for the economy
of their society, as early as the fore part of the year 1681, at the house of
Thomas Fairlamb, at Shakamaxon, near or about the place where Kensing-
ton now stands, nigh Philadelphia." This fact renders it, in a degree, pro-
bable, that Bradford did settle at Kensington. The creek at the north
end of the city is known to this day by the Indian name Shakamaxon.
Pennsylvania, 2X1
two pages, written by George Keith, entitled : '^ A Serious
Appeal to all the more Sober, Impartial and Judicious
People of New England, to whose Hands this may come."
It is a vindication of the quakers from the attack of Cotton
Mather, etc. " Printed and Sold by William Bradford at
Philadelphia in Pennsylvania, in the year 1692."
In the year 1692, much contention prevailed among the
quakers in Philadelphia, and Bradford took an active part
in the quarrel. George Keith, by birth a Scotchman, a
man of good abilities and well educated, was surveyor
general in New Jersey ; and the society of Friends in the
city employed him in 1689, as the superintendent of their
schools. Keith having attended to this duty nearly two
years became a public speaker in their religious assemblies;
but being, as the quakers asserted, of a turbulent and over-
bearing spirit, he gave them much trouble. They forbade
him speaking as a teacher, or minister, in their meetings.
This, and some other irritating circumstances, caused a
division among the Friends, and the parties were violently
hostile to each other. Bradford was of the party which
was attached to Keith, and supported him ; their opponents
were the majority. Among them were Lieutenant Go-
vernor Lloyd, and most of the quaker magistrates. Keith
and Thomas Budd wrote against the majority, and Brad-
ford published their writings.
Keith was condemned in the city meetings, but appealed
to the general meeting of the Friends ; and, in order that
his case might be generally known and understood, he
wrote an address to that body which he caused to be
printed, and copies of it to be dispersed among the Friends
previous to their general meeting. This conduct was
highly resented by his opponents. The address was de-
nominated seditious, and Bradford was arrested and im-
prisoned for printing it The sherifi* seized a form
containing four quarto pages of the types of the address ;
212 History of Printing in America.
and also took into his custody a quantit}' of paper, and a
number of books, which were in Bradford's shop, with all
the copies of the address which he could find. The civil
authority took up the business ; and, as Keith and Brad-
ford state the facts, they who persecuted them in the reli-
gious assemblies condemned and imprisoned them by civil
process; the judges of the courts being the leading cha-
racters in the meetings. Several of Keith's party were
apprehended and imprisoned with Bradford; and among
them^ Thomas Budd, and John McComb. The offence of
the latter consisted in his having two copies of the address
which he gave to two friends io compliance with their
request.
The following was a warrant for committing Bradford
and MacComb :
" Whereas William Bradford, printer, and John Mac-
Comb, taylor, being brought before us upon an informa-
tion of Publishing, Uttering and Spreading a Malitious
and Seditious paper, intituled An Appeal from the twenty-
eight Judges^ to the Spirit of Truth, &c. Tending to the
disturbance of the Peace and the Subversion of the present
government, and the said Persons being required to give
Securitie to answer it at the next Court, but they refused
so to do. These are therefore by the King and Queens
Authoritie and in our Proprietarys Name, to require you
to take into your Custody the Bodies of William Bradford
and John MacComb, and them safely keep till they shall
be discharged by due Course of Law. Whereof fail not
at your Peril ; and for your so Doing, this shall be your
sufficient Warrant. Given under our Hands and Seales
this 24th of August, 1692.
«' These to John White Sheriff of Philadelphia or his
Deputies."
1 " Twenty-eight," meaning those who condemned Keith, in what he
called " their Spiritual Court."
Pennsylvania. 213
Signed by Arthur Cook, and four others.
The day after the imprisonment of Bradford and his
friends, a " Private Sessions," as it was called, of the
county court, was holden by sixjustices, all quakers, who,
to put a better complexion on their proceedings, requested
the attendance of two magistrates who were not quakers.
This court assembled, it seems, for the purpose of con-
victing Keith, Budd, and their connections, of seditious
conduct, and of condemning them without a hearing; but
the two magistrates who were not quakers, if we credit
Keith and Bradford, reprobated the measure, and refused
to have any concern in it, declaring that the whole transac-
tion was a mere dispute among the quakers respecting
their religion, in which the government had nq concern.
They, however, advised that Keith, and others accused,
should be sent for, and allowed to defend themselves, and
affirmed that if any thing like sedition appeared in their
practice, they would join heart and hand in their prosecu-
tion. To this the quaker magistrates would not consent,
and the others in consequence left the court. The court
then, as is stated in a pamphlet,^ " proceeded in their
work, and as they judged George Keith in their spiritual
court, without all hearing or trial, so in like manner, they
prosecuted him in their temporal court without all hear-
ing." The pamphlet further states that " one of thejudges
declared that the court could judge of matter of fact without
evidence, and therefore without more to do proclaimed
George Keith, by the common cryer, in the market place,
to be a seditious person, and an enemy to the king and
queen's government." [Appendix H.'\
' This pamphlet is entitled, " New England Spirit of Persecution, trans-
mitted to Pennsilvania, and the Pretended Quaker found Persecuting the
True Christian Quaker in the Tryal of Peter Boss, George Keith, Thomas
Budd and William Bradford, at the Sessyons held at Philadelphia the
Ninth, Tenth, and Twelfth Days of December, 1693. Giving an account
of the most Arbitrary Proceedings of that Court."
214 History of Printing in America.
Bradford and MacComb, who had been imprisoned,
appeared at this court, and requested that they might be
brought to trial ; pleading that it was very injurious to
them and their familes to remain in confinement. They
claimed, as free born English subjects, the rights secured
by Magna Charta, among which was the prompt adminis-
tration of justice ; and Bradford, in particular, desired that
his trial might then take place, " because, not only his
person was restrained, but his working tools, and the paper
and books from his shop, were taken from him, and
without these he could not work and maintain his family.'*
At this court the following conversation took place
between the judges and the prisoners, all of whom were
qtiakers :
" Justice Cook. What bold, impudent and confident
men are these to stand thus confidently before the Court?
" 31acComh. You may cause our hats to be taken ofi*
if you please.
" Bradford. We are here only to desire that which is the
right of every free born English subject, which is speedy
justice, and it is strange that that should be accounted
impudence, and we impudent fellows therefore, when we
have spoke nothing but words of truth and soberness, in
requesting that which is our right, and which we want ;
it being greatly to our- prejudice to be detained prisoners.
" Justice Cook. If thou hadst been in England, thou
would have had thy back lashed before now.
" Bradford. I do not know wherein I have broke any
law so as to incur any such punishment.
" Justice Jemmgs. Thou art very ignorant in the law.
Does not thee know that there's a law that every printer
shall put his name to the books he prints, or his press is
forfeited ?
" Bradford. I know that there was such a law, and I
know when it expired.
Pennsylvania. 215
" Justice Cook. But it is revived again, and is in force
and without any regard to the matter of the book provides
that the printer shall put his name to the books he prints,
which thou hast not done."
The prisoners continued to press for a trial.
" Justice Cook. A trial thou shall have, and that to
your cost, it may be.
" Justice Jennivgs. A trial thou shalt have, but, for
some reason known to us, the court defers it to the next
sessions, and that is the answer we give, and no other you
shall have."
The trial was, accordingly, put over to the next term.
The only offence which appeared against MacComb was
his joining with Keith and his party, and disposing of two
copies of Keith's printed address to his quaker brethren.
For this he was not only imprisoned, but also deprived by
Lieutenant Governor Lloyd of a license to keep an ordi-
nary, or house of public entertainment, for which he had,
a few months before his confinement, paid the lieutenant
governor twelve pieces of eight, or three pounds twelve
shillings of the then currency.
At the next session of the court, on the 6th of the fol-
lowing December, Bradford was placed at the bar. " The
presentment was read," the substance of which was, that
the 9th, 10th, 11th and 12th articles of the pamphlet
called " An Appeal," had a tendency to weaken the hands
of the magistrates ; and William Bradford was presented
as the printer of that seditious paper. The following pro-
ceedings of the court are extracted from the pamphlet
above mentioned :
" Clerk. What say you William Bradford, are you
guilty as you stand presented, or not guilty ?
" Bradford. In the first place, I desire to know whether
I am clear of the mittimus, which differs from the pre-
sentment ?
216 History of Printing in America.
" The clerk and the attorney for the government read
and perused the mittimus and presentment, and finding
them to differ, said, that when William Bradford was
cleared according to law he was cleared of the mittimus.
Bradford insisted on knowing whether, on the issue of the
presentment, he was clear of the mittimus. After a long
debate on the subject, Bradford was told that he was clear
of the mittimus on the issue of the presentment.
" Bradford. What law is the presentment founded on?
^^ Attorney for the Government. It is grounded both on
statute and common law.
" Bradford. Pray let me see that statute and common
law, else how shall I make my plea ? Justice Cook told
us last court, that one reason why ye deferred our trial
then, was that we might have time to prepare ourselves
to answer it ; but ye never let me have a copy of my pre-
sentment, nor will ye now let me know what law ye pro-
secute me upon.
" Attorney. It's not usual to insert in indictments against
what statute the offence is, when it's against several statutes
and laws made.
" Justice White. K thou wilt not plead guilty, or not
guilty, thou wilt lose thy opportunity of being tried by thy
country.
" The court then ordered the clerk to write down that
William Bradford refused to plead ; which he did ; but as
he was writing it down, Bradford desired they would not
take advantage against him, for he refused not to plead, but
only requested that which was greatly necessary in order
to his making his own defence. Several in the court re-
questing on the prisoner's behalf that the court would not
take advantage against him, they admitted him to plead,
and he pleaded not guilty.
"The jury were then called over, and attested; but
before they were attested, Bradford was asked if he had
Pennsylvania. 217
any exceptions to make against any of them that were
returned for the jury.
" Bradford. Yes, I have, and particularly against two
of them, Joseph Kirle and James Fox ; for at the time when
I was committed to prison, Arthur Cook[one of the judges]
told me, that Joseph Kirle had said, that if the proceed-
ings of the magistrates were thus found fault with, that
they must not defend themselves against thieves and rob-
bers, merchants would be discouraged of coming here with
their vessels, &c. ; and I except against James Fox, because
the first day after Babbit and his company w^ere taken, I
being at Sam Carpenter's, there was Governor Lloyd,
James Fox, and several others, and in discourse concerning
the taking of the said privateers, James Fox greatly
blamed William Walker, because he found fault with
some justices that were quakers for commanding men,
and as it were pressing them to go against the said pri-
vateers; and also James Fox joined with Thomas Lloyd
in saying he would mark them as enemies to the govern-
ment and well being of the province, who were neutral in
the case of going against Babbit and his crew ; by which
instances I think it appears that these two persons have
prejudged the cause that is now to come before them.
" Joseph Kirle acknowledged that he had spoken such
words, and desired to be discharged ; but the court would
not allow of the exceptions.
" Clerk. .These are no exceptions in law.
'■'■ Attorney. Hast thou at any time heard them say
that thou printed that paper ? for that is only, what they
are to find.
" Bradford. That is not only what' they are to find,
they are to find also, whether this be a seditious paper or
not, and whether it does tend to the weakening of the
hands of the masristrates.
218 History of Printing in America.
" Attorney. No, that is matter of law, which the
jury is not to meddle with, but find whether William
Bradford printed it or not, and the bench is to judge
whether it be a seditious paper or not, for the law has
determined what is a breach of the peace, and the penalty,
which the bench only is to give judgment on.
" Justice Jennings. You are only to try, whether "Wil-
liam Bradford printed it or not.
" Bradford. This is wrong, for the jury are judges in
law as well as the matter of fact.
" The attorney again denied it; whereupon some of the
jury desired to know what they were to try, for they did
believe in their consciences, they were obliged to try and
find whether that paper was seditious, as well as whether
Bradford printed it ; and some of them desired to be dis-
charged.
" A great noise and confusion among the people.
" Some on the bench showing their willingness to allow
of Bradford's exceptions to the two jurors, Justice Cook
said, ' I will not allow of it ; is there four of us of a mind ? '
Then the attorney read the 9th, 10th, 11th and 12th articles
of the said printed appeal, &c., and commented thereupon,
and then said, William Bradford is presented for printing
and publishing this seditious paper, whereof you of the
jury are to find him guilty, if it appears to you that he has
printed it.
" Bradford. I desire you of the jury, and all men pre-
sent to take notice, that what is contained in this paper is
not seditious, but wholly relating to a religious diflference,
and asserting the quakers' ancient principles, and it is not
laid down positive that they ought not to have proceeded
against the privateers, but laid down by the way of query
for the people called quakers to consider and resolve at
their yearly meeting, whether it was not a transgression
Pennsylvania. 219
of the quakers' principles to hire and commissionate men
to fight ?
" Justice Cook. If it was intended for the yearly meet-
ing at Burlington, why was it published before the meeting ?
" Bradford. Because it might be perused and considered
of by Friends before the meeting, even as the bills that are
proposed to be passed into laws, they are promulgated a
certain number of days before the assembly meets, that
eacli may have opportunity to consider them.
" Then the attorney read the act^ against printing any
book without the printer's name to them; and he said,
That was one act which they prosecuted William Bradford
upon.
" George Keith answered the attorney. ' It may be
observed the singular and extraordinary severity of those
justices, called quakers, who will pick out a statute made in
Old England, and prosecute a man upon it here, which might
ruin him and his family, though it's not certain whether
that act be in force ; most of William Penn's and the
quakers' books were printed without the name of the printer
when that act was in force, and yet we never heard that any
printer in England was prosecuted for that; these here
because they cannot fix the matter to be any breach of the
peace they'll prosecute the printer for not putting his name
to what they suppose he printed.'
" Note. That all the time those persons were on trial,
the grand jury sat by them, overawing and threatening
them, when they spoke boldly in their own defence, and
one of the jury wrote down such words as they disliked,
signifying that they would present them. Justice Cook bid
them take notice of such and such words, thereby overawing
the prisoners, that they had not liberty to plead freely.
When Thomas Harris, at the request of the prisoners,
' An act of the British parliament. 14 Car. 2 cap. 33.
220 JIiSTORY OF Printing in America.
began to say something to the matter, they stopt him and
.bid an officer take him away, and Arthur [justice] Cook
said that he should plead no more there.
" After a long pleading, D. Lloyd, their attorney, began
to summons up the matter to the jury, and concluded by
saying, it was evident William Bradford printed the sedi-
tious paper, he being the printer in this place, and the
frame ' on which it was printed was found in his house.
" Bradford. I desire the jury and all present to take
notice, that there ought to be two evidences to prove the
matter of fact, but not one evidence has been brought in
this case.
" Justice Jennings. The frame on which it was printed
is evidence enough.
^^ Bradford. But where is the frame? There has no
frame been produced here ; and if there had, it is no evi-
dence, unless you saw me print on it.
" Justice Jennings. The jury shall have the frame with
them; it cannot well be brought here; and besides the
season is cold, and we are not to sit here to endanger our
health. You are minded to put tricks upon us.
'■^Bradford. You of the jury, and all here present,
I desire you to take notice, that there has not one evidence
been brought to prove that I printed the sheet, called An
Appeal ; and, whereas they say the frame is evidence which
the jury shall have; I say, the jury ought not to hear, or
have any evidence whatsoever, but in the presence of the
judges and prisoners.
"Yet this was nothing minded, but Sam [justice] Jen-
nings summoned up to the jury, what they were to do,
viz : to find, first, whether or not that paper, called the
Appeal, had not a tendency to the weakening the hands
of the magistrates, and the encouragement of wickedness ?
' Called by printers form, containing the pages in types.
Pennsylvania. 221
Secondly, whether it did not tend to the disturbance of the
peace ? and, thirdly, whether William Bradford did not
print it, without putting his name to it as the law requires ?
The jury had a room provided for them, and the sheriff
caused the frame to be carried in to them for an evidence
that William Bradford printed the Appeal. The jury con-
tinued about forty-eight hours together, and could not
agree; then they came into court to ask whether the law
did require two evidences to find a man guilty? To
answer this question, the attorney read a passage out of a
law book, that they were to find it by evidences, or on
their own knowledge, or otherwise ; now, says the attorney,
this otherwise is the frame which you have, which is evi-
dence sufficient.
" Bradford. The frame which they have is no evidence
for I have not seen it ; and how do I, or the jury, know
that that which was carried in to them is mine?
"Bradford was interrupted; the jury were sent forth
again, andan officer commanded to keep them without meat,
drink, fire, or tobacco. In the afternoon the jury came
into the court again, and told, they were not like to agree ;
whereupon the court discharged them,
" Bradford then said to the court, that seeing he had
been detained so long a prisoner, and his utensils with
which he should work had been so long kept from him,
he hoped now to have his utensils returned, and to be dis-
charged from his imprisonment.
^^ Justice Jennings. No! Thou shalt not have thy
things again, nor be discharged ; but I now let thee know
thou stand in the same capacity to answer next court, as
before.
" Next court being come, Bradford attended, and desired
to know, if the court would let him have his utensils, and
he be discharged ?
222 History of Printing in America.
" Justice Cook. Thou shalt not have thy goods until
released by law.
" Bradford. The law will not release them unless
executed.
" Justice Cook. If thou wilt request a trial, thou may
have it.
" Whereupon Bradford queried, whether it be according
to law to seize men's goods, and imprison their persons,
and to detain them under the terror of a gaol, one six
months after another, and not bring them to trial unless
requested by the imprisoned? Whether, when a jury is
sworn, well and truly to try, and true deliverance make
between the proprietor and prisoner, it is not illegal to
absolve them from their oaths, dismiss them, and put the
cause to trial to another Jury ?" ^
Soon after this session of the court Bradford was by
some means released from his confinement. It is said,
that in the examination of the frame, the jury, not being
acquainted with reading backwards, attempted to raise* it
from the plank on which it was placed, and to put it in a
more favorable situation for inspection ; and that one of
them assisting with his cane, pushed against the bottom
of the types as the form was placed perpendicularly, when,
like magic, this evidence against Bradford instantly
vanished, the types fell from the frame, or chase as it is
termed by printers, formed a confused heap, and prevented
further investigation.^
' These extracts from the printed contemporaneous account of Brad-
ford's trial are not literal transcripts of the original ; but the forms of
expression were sometimes condensed, and sometimes paraphrased, by
Thomas, while meaning always to preserve the sense. — H.
^ Proud, in his History of Penmylmnia, mentions, that George Keith
had published several virulent pieces, one of which indecently reflected
on several of the principal magistrates in their judicial capacity,
whereby their authority with the lower classes of the people was lessened.
The printer, William Bradford, and John MacComb who had published
it, were apprehended by a warrant from five magistrates, and examined,
Pennsylvania. 223
Bradford having incurred the displeasure of the domi-
nant party in Pennsylvania, and receiving encouragement
to settle in New York, he, in 1693, removed to that city ;
but 'it is supposed he had a concern in the press which
was continued in Philadelphia. [See New York.l
Reiniek Jansen. At this distance of time, it cannot be
ascertained how long before or after 1699 Jansen printed
in Philadelphia; nor is it certain that he owned a press.
It has been supposed by some, that after William Bradford
differed and seceded from his quaker brethren who had
the principal concern in public affairs, they procured and
set up another press ; and by others, that Jansen was either
an apprentice, or a journeyman to Bradford; that after
Bradford had removed to New York, in 1693, he left Jan-
sen to manage a press in Philadelphia ; and that, for pru-
dential reasons, Jansen conducted the press in his own
name, and had a share in the profits of the business. Some
arrangement of this kind, probably, took place, and con-
tinued during the minority of Andrew, the son of William
Bradford.
Whatever was the nature of this connection, it is certain
that there was little business for the press in Philadelphia,
excepting the disputes among the quakers; but there was
more employment for that in New York ; and that the ma-
terials of both the printing houses united would not have
formed a large apparatus.
and upon their contemptuous behavior, and refusal to give security, were
committed. He adds, " But they, were soon discharged, without being
brought to a trial." This does not altogether agree with the account of
the trial printed at the time, and which it is probable had not come to
the knowledge of Proud. Respecting Keith and Budd, Proud says, they
were also presented by the grand jury of Philadelphia, as authors of
another book of the like tendency, entitled. The Plea of the Innocent, in
which they defamed Samuel Jennings, " a judge and a magistrate."
This presentment was prosecuted ; " so the matter was brought to a trial,
and the parties fined 5/. each ; but the fines were never exacted."
224 History of Printing in America.
I have met with only one book with Jansen's name in
the imprint. The title of that one, at large, is, " God's
Protecting Providence Man's surest Help and Defence in
the Times of the greatest difficulty and most Imminent
danger, Evidencedin the Remarkable Deliverance of Divers
Persons from the Devouring Waves of the Sea, amongst
which they Suft'ered Shipwreck. And also from the more
cruelly devouring jawes of the inhumane Canibals of
Florida. Faithfully related by one of the persons con-
cerned therein. Printed in Philadelphia by Reinier Jansen,
1699."
Jacob Taylor. I have not met with any thing printed
by him, and doubt his having been a printer. As it appears
by the journals of the assembly that he was consulted about
printing the laws of the province in 1712, some persona
have been of opinion that at that time he printed in Phila-
delphia. I can find no other evidence of this fact than
what appears in the following extracts from the journals
of the assembly of Pennsylvania, viz :
In 1712, " on the ninth of the third month," the assembly
determined that it would " be of great use and benefit to
the country to have the laws printed, and thereupon sent
for Jacob Taylor, to treat with him about the same. He
informed the house, that according to the best of his judg-
ment, the charges thereof would amount to one hundred
pounds besides paper."
It was this circumstance, I am led to suppose, that in-
duced Andrew Bradford, who was connected with his
father in New York, to leave that city, and commence
printing in Philadelphia; for on the " twenty-fourth of the
ninth month," the assembly chose a committee, " to treat
with Jacob Taylor, and the other printers in town, about the
charge it will require to print the laws of this province, and
report the same to this house this qfternoon" The printers
Pennsylvania. 225
(hen in iown^ were doubtlessWilliam and Andrew Bradford
from New York, as it cannot be discovered that, at that
time, there were any other professors of the art nearer than
New London and Boston. It is possible that Jan sen niight
have been of the number, but it is believed that he died, or
had left Philadelphia, before this time. However this may
have been, the committee performed the service which was
required of them, and made their report in the after part of
that day. Seven persons were then immediately chosen, who
" with the speaker's assistance, were appointed trustees on
behalf of the province to employ one or more persons in
printing five hundred volumes of the laws thereof, and that
50 pounds of the province stock shall be paid by the trea-
surer as money comes into his hands, (after paying 500^.
to the lieutenant governor, &c.), unto the said trustees,
towards defraying the charges aforesaid ; and, that what
it amounts to more by a true account of the whole expense,
and due credit given for the sales made of the said books,
produced to the assembly for the time being, the same
shall be a debt chargeable on this province, to be paid out
of the public stock thereof."
As there would not be sufficient money in the treasurer's
hands for the use of printing the laws, after paying the 500^.
to the lieutenant governor, and the members of the assembly
for their services^ it was, on the " seventh of the fourth
month. Ordered, Thatthe trustees appointed to get the laws
' I conceive that this expression, to correspond with others in the ex-
tracts from the journals which follow, should read thus, "to treat with
Jacob Taylor, and others who are printers in town "— meaning the
printers who came to town on this business. This remark is justified, in
some measure, by the delay of the assembly, which it seems waited a fort-
night after they took up the subject before they proceeded farther with
it. This gave time for the printers in New York to get information of
what was transacting relative to printing the laws, and to come to Phila-
delphia ; and, it appears that as soon as they arrived, a committee was
chosen to consult with them and Taylor, and was directed to make a re-
port the same day.
226 History of Printing in America.
printed may take up money at interest to defray the charges
thereof, which shall be allowed a debt upon this province,
to be discharged with the first public money that comes
to the treasurer's hands, after the aforesaid payments are
discharged, and that the note issued for the said fifty pounds
be made payable accordingly."
Notwithstanding all these preparatory measures for
printing the laws, the trustees did not proceed with the
business. On " the thirteenth of thfe eleventh month in
I7lf," the subject was again brought forward in the
assembly, and a committee of three persons was appointed,
" to treat with any printer, or other person or persons of
this city, about the charge and method of printing the said
laws, and bring their proposals in writing to this house."
On the " fifteenth of the eleventh month," the same
year, " the committee appointed to treat, &c., brought in a
proposal in writing from Jacob Taylor, which was read, and
ordered to lie on the table." On the " third of the twelfth
month, a proposal from Andrew Bradford, printer, was
read and ordered to lie on the table." And on the tenth
of that month, another committee was chosen to contract
^'■with such printer as they shall think jit to print the
laws ; " and were authorized to " employ such clerks as
they shall find necessary, to' procure a correct copy of the
said laws for the press." The committee had power,
" where they shall observe any two or more laws of the
same tenor or effect, (unless they be supplementary to
each other) to omit such of them as shall appear to be
redundant, only taking care that their titles be printed."
Andrew Bradford was employed to print the laws; and, it
is probable that it was at this time he established himself
in Philadelphia.
Although the following extract from the journals of the
assembly relates to Bradford, I will insert it in this place
as it is the conclusion of the business respecting this
Pennsylvania. 227
edition of the laws, which made a volume of one hundred
and eighty-four pages, folio, viz :
" 1714. 6th mo. 4. A petition from Andrew Bradford,
setting forth that by order of the governor and assembly
he has printed the laws of this province ; that the repeal
of several laws by her Majesty, has put a stop to the sale
of them ; and desiring to be relieved by this house ; was
received, and ordered to lie on the table."
" 1714. 6th mo. 5. Resolved that the speaker issue his
warrant unto Richard Hill, to pay unto Andrew Bradford,
printer, thirty pounds for fifty bound volumes of the laws
of this province.
If Taylor was not a printer, it is not improbable that he
might be desirous to contract for printing the laws, with a
view of having the work executed in Boston, and making
a profit thereby. There was a Jacob Taylor, who for
about thirty years annually calculated an almanac, which
was published in Philadelphia, by Andrew Bradford ; he
was probably the same person ; he died in 1746. I can
learn nothing farther of him.
Andrew Bradford, was the son of WiUiam Bradford, who
first printed in Pennsylvania. He was born in Philadelphia,
went to l^ew York with his father, and of him learned the
art of printing. When his minority ended, he was one
year the partner of his father. About the year 1712, he
returued to Philadelphia, and from that time to 1723, was
the only printer in the colony.
His printing house was " in Second street, at the sign
of the Bible." He sold pamphlets and school books, and
till 1730 frequently advertised other articles for sale, such
as whalebone, live geese feathers, pickled sturgeon, choco-
late, Spanish snuflf, &c., and executed common binding.
He printed for the government, and published polemical
pamphlets, which, during many years, afforded employment
228 History of Printing in America.
for the press wherever it was established. In 1732, he was
postmaster/ and, in 1735, became a considerable dealer in
books and stationery. December 22, 1719, Bradford pub-
lished the first newspaper printed in Pennsylvania, The
American Mercury. John Copson appears to have been a
partner in this publication for about two years.^ In 1739,
his foster son, William, was his partner ; this connection
lasted about eleven months, and ended in 1740.
When Franklin made his first visit to Philadelphia in
1723, a second printing house was opening by Keimer.
Franklin, although a journeyman in this rival printing
house, boarded some time with Bradford. It is evident
from Franklin's statement, that Bradford was not merely
civil, he was friendly to this young stranger ; and, although
he had no employment for him, yet he made him welcome
to his house, " till something better should offer." When
mentioning Bradford, and his rival Keimer, Franklin ob-
serves, they were both " destitute of every qualification
necessary to their profession." The first " was very illi-
terate,^ and the latter " ignorant of the world."
In 1738, Andrew Bradford purchased the house^ in South
Front street, which was kept in possession of the family,
and long after occupied as a prin4:ing house by Thomas
Bradford, publisher of The Ti-ue American, a daily news-
paper. He printed three or four Almanacs annually,* viz :
' In the Discourse on Andrew Bradford before the Historical Society of
Pennsylvania, in 1869, by Horatio Gates Jones, Esq., it is said that Brad-
ford's paper, the Weekly Mercury of April 4th, 1728, has a statement that
" the Post Office will be kept at the house of Andrew Bradford." He
may therefore have had the appointment thus early. — H.
"Bradford, in 1720, calls Copson a bookseller; but, in 1721, Copson
styles himself a merchant.
' Mr. Jones, in his discourse, controverts this charge of illiteracy against
Bradford — H.
* Mr. Jones, p. 21, enumerates seven almanacs printed by Bradford,
rivals of Poor Richard, besides a sheet almanac. — M.
Pennsylvania. 229
Jacob Taylor's, Titan Leeds's, John Jerman's, and William
Birkett's ; these he published many years.
Bradford increased his property, and became easy in his
circumstances. He was postmaster; and retained the
office for several years after Franklin opened a third print-
ing house in Philadelphia. However correct Franklin's
opinion of him may be, it is certain that Bradford possessed,
in a considerable degree, the confidence and esteem of his
fellow citizens; as he was chosen one of the common
council of the city, and was in this office at the time of his
death.
In 1741, he published a periodical work, entitled. The
American Magazine, or Monthly View of the Political State of
the British Colonies. This work was soon discontinued.
His wife died in December, 1739 ; and, in 1740, he
married Cornelia Smith, a native of New York, who was
related to his father's second wife. He died November
23, 1742,' aged about fifty-six years ; and was buried in
Christ church burying ground. On this occasion The
American Mercury appeared in mourning six weeks.
[See Newspapers — Philadelphia.']
Samuel Keimer was bred to printing in London, where
he married; and leaving his wife in England, he came to
this country and opened a printing house " in High street,
near the Market-House, at Philadelphia," in 1723. Until
that time Bradford was the only printer in the colony.
Keimer's printing materials consisted " of an old damaged
press, and a small cast of worn out English types, con-
tained in one pair of cases." ^ He soon made a small addi-
tion to his types, which enabled him to print pamphlets,
and other small works. He was bred a compositor, and
* Mr. Jones in his discourse on Andrew Bradford, saj'^s he died " on the
night of the 24th of November." — M.
■■' Franklin's Life.
230 History of Printing in America.
like other European compositors, knew little of the ma-
nagement of the press. When he wanted to use this small
printing apparatus, he had neither man nor boy to assist
him. His press was found to be def -^ient in some of its
parts, and it had not been put together. At this time
Franklin arrived in Philadelphia, and sought employment.
Keimer engaged him to put his press in order, and hired
him as a journeyman.
The first production of Keimer's press was an elegy of his
own on the death of AquillaRose, printer, a young man of
excellent character, secretary to the general assembly, and
the principal workman in Bradford's printing house.
Keimer was engaged on this elegy mentally and manually
when he first saw Franklin, who observes that Keimer was
a poet, but " could not be said to lorite in verse, for his
method was to set the lines in types as they flowed from
his muse." '
Soon after printing this elegy he published a small
pamphlet, which he called A Parable. This was said to be
the joint work of himself and Franklin. It gave offence to
the quakers, and produced the following advertisement in
The American Mercury, viz :
" Whereas one Samuel Keimer, who lately came into
this Province of Pennsylvania, hath Printed and Published
divers Papers, particularly one Entituled A Parable, &c.,
in some Parts of which he assumes to use such a Slile and
Language, as that perhaps he may be Deemed, where he is
not known, to be one of the People called Quakers. This
may therefore Certifie, That the said Samuel Keimer is
not one of the said People, nor Countenanced by them in
the aforesaid Practices. Signed by Order of the Monthly
Meeting of the said People called Quakers, held at Phila-
delphia, the 29th Day of the Ninth Month, 1723.
" Samuel Preston, CI."
1 See the article Barbadoes, for a specimen of. Keimer's poetry.
Pennsylvania. 231
Keiraer kept a small shop and sold blanks, and a few-
other articles. Among other things, in July, 1724, bayberry
wax candles, and fine white Liverpool soap. He printed
pamphlets, and " rubbed along " for some time, till Frank-
lin left him. His business, thus far, had not been very pro-
ductive of profit ; but, during the absence of Franklin, he
took a larger house, procured new types, opened a shop
which was well supplied with stationery, employed four or
five hands in his printing house, and improved his condi-
tion in life. Franklin found Keimer in this situation when
he returned from England; and having been disappointed
in his expectations he again became a journeyman to his
former employer.
Among other small works printed by Keimer, was a
spurious edition of Jacob Taylor's Almanac for 1726, of
which all but the calculations were compiled and written
by Keimer. Taylor disowned the work in a long poetical
essay, not of the most delicate kind, which he published
in Bradford's paper, and it was soon after followed by an
advertisement of the following purport :
" Whereas there hath been lately Published and Spread
abroad in this Province and elsewhere, a lying Pamphlet,
called an Almanack,setoutandPrintedby Samuel Keimer,
to reproach, ridicule, and rob an honest Man of his Repu-
tation, and strengthening his Adversaries, and not only
so, but he hath ^Notoriously Branded the Gospel Minister
of the Church of England with ignominious Names, for
Maintaining a Gospel Truth, and reproacheth all the Pro-
fessors 'of Christ and Christianity, as may be seen in hia
Almanack in the Month of December; now all judicious
Readers may fairly see what this Man's Religion Consisteth
in, only in his Beard and his sham keeping of the Seventh
Day Sabbath, following Christ only for Loaves and Fishes.
This may give Notice to the Author of this Mischief, that
if he do not readily Condemn what he hath done, and
232 History of Printing in America.
Satisfy the Abused, he may expect to be Prosecuted as the
Law shall direct.
" Aaron Goforth, Seuior."
The following year he printed another Almanac for
17.27, which he called Titan Leeds's, and sent .a parcel of
them to Boston, New York, &c., for sale, where they met
a good market. The publication of this Almanac was
the cause of a quarrel between him and Bradford, who pro-
nounced it to be a forgery. Keimer made a contract with
the legislature of New Jersey, to print the money bills for
that province ; and he sent Franklin with a press to Bur-
lington to execute this business ; who, having accomplished
the job, returned to Philadelphia. He soon after quitted
the employment of Keimer, and, with a partner, opened
another printing house.
No friendship appeared to exist between Keimer and
Franklin, who soon became a powerful rival to Keimer,
whose affairs were in an embarrassed state. Franklin in-
tended to publish a newspaper, and kept, as he thought,
his intention secret, until he could make the necessary
preparation for the undertaking. The design, however,
came to the knowledge of Keimer, who immediately pub-
lished a prospectus of one which would speedily issue from
his own press ; and, notwithstanding Franklin's endeavors
to prevent it, the paper made its appearance December 24,
1728. Franklin, being thus anticipated in the execution
of a favorite plan, under a borrowed signature ridiculed
Keimer and his paper in Bradford's Mercury ; and' by this
and other means, succeeded in counteracting the circulation
of the paper. Keimer soon found that he was unable to
continue his gazette. Franklin well knew his situation,
and offered to pay him a small sum, if he would resign the
paper to him. The offer was accepted.
Pennsylvania. 233
Soon after this transaction, Keimer became inattentive
to business ; and, in consequence, involved himself in debt
and was obliged to sell his stock and his printing ma-
terials to satisfy his creditors ; which having done, he went
to Barbadoes and settled there. Franklin mentions Keimer
as " having been one of the French prophets," and that " he
knew how to imitate their supernatural agitations." ^ He
characterizes him as " a perfect novice, and totally ignorant
of the world ;" but, afterward observes, that " he was a
great knave at heart, that he possessed no particular reli-
gion, but a little of all upon occasion." It does not appear
that he was destitute of all worldly knowledge, but he was
unfortunate. He might possibly have been more success-
ful in business, had not his exertions been counteracted by
those who in pecuniary concerns possessed more sagacity
than he did. ^See West Indies.']
Benjamin Franklin. A sketch of the early part of the
life of FrankUri, as one of the printers in Boston, has
already been given. We left him, after his return from
England, employed for a second time in the printing
house of Keimer. Hugh Meredith was then an appren-
tice in the same house, but his apprenticeship had nearly
expired. Dissentions took place between Keimer and
Franklin, and they parted. Franklin was about returning
to Boston ; but Meredith persuaded him to remain in
Philadelphia. He represented to him that Keimer was
embarrassed in business and must soon fail; and observed
that this event would make an opening for Franklin, who
said he could not go into business for the want of capital.
Meredith proposed a connection, and mentioned that his
father, who had a high opinion of Franklin, would advance
whatever sum was necessary to establish them in business.
' The visionaries he referred to appeared about the year 1724.
284 History of Printing in America.
Franklin closed with the proposal. Meredith's father
approved of the partnership ; and engaged with a merchant
in the city to send to England for a press and types.
Franklin, in consequence of this arrangement, com-
promised his difference with Keimer and returned to his
employment. The agreement was kept secret, until the
printing apparatus arrived. At this time Meredith's in-
dentures expired ; and he and Franklin immediately com-
pleted articles of association. They took a house near the
market, set up their press, and began to use it under the
firm of Meredith & Franklin. Their first work was forty
sheets of foolscap, folio, of the History of the Quakers,
printed for the use of those of that sect who resided in or
near Philadelphia. Franklin daily completed at case the
work of a sheet and distributed the forms; Meredith did
the press work. The text was on a pica type, and the
notes, which were long, on smaller letter. After they had
been in business twelve months, they became, as has been
mentioned, the proprietors of Keimer's newspaper; and
were appointed printers to the general assembly. These
advantages resulted from the management of Franklin,
who soon after succeeded in his plan of supplanting Brad-
ford in the post office.
Before the complete revolution of two years, this part-
nership was dissolved, and Franklin came into possession
of the whole business, which he conducted with skill and
reputation. By means of his industry and economy he
soon paid his debts, and began to accumulate property.
He opened a shop well tilled with stationery, and did some-
thing at bookbinding and bookselling. He annually pub-
lished Poor RicharcVs Almanack, which became celebrated ;
likewise a neat pocket almanac; and in 1741, he com-
menced the publication of a magazine, which was con-
tinued six months. In 1741, he printed Cicero's Cato
Major on old Age, with numerous notes in octavo and
Pennsylvania. 235
quarto. This work was translated by J. Logan of Phila-
delphia, and is, probably, the very first translation of a
Latin classic, made and published in British America.^
The Greek words were printed from Italic characters. After
this he became a considerable bookseller.
Franklin remained fifteen years without another partner,
but being much engaged in public life, he, in January
174|, entered into a connection with David Hall. The firm
was Franklin & Hall. At this time the Gazette had an
extensive circulation in Pennsylvania and in the neighbor-
ing colonies, and the business of the printing house was
very lucrative. Hall took the sole management of the
concern ; and, as I am well informed, Franklin received
X1,000. currency per annum, for a number of years, as a
relinquishment of his share of the profits of the business.
In 1765, Franklin sold out all his interest in the printing
house to Hall, and the partnership was dissolved February
1, 1766. Besides his connection with Hall, Franklin had
a copartnership with Anthony Ambruster,^ the printer of
a newspaper in Philadelphia, in the German language.
This concern began in 1754 or 1755, and ended in 1758.
In 1730, he married the daughter of Mr. Eead.^ She was
the young woman whom he saw standing at the door of her
father's house, when he walked the streets of Philadelphia
with a roll of bread under each arm, while eating a third.
^ The reader will call to mind the fact that a translation of the last ten
books of Ovid's Metamorphoses was made in Virginia by George Sandys,
the colonial treasurer, between 1621 and 1620. It was printed in London
in 1626.— H
' See Anthony Ambruster, further on.
^ The birthday of Deborah Read cannot now be ascertained ; she was
married to Franklin 1 Sept., 1730, and died 19 Dec, 1774. The head-stone
of John Read, who died 2 Sept., 1724, found under the Franklin monu-
ments, is supposed to be that of her father. The two are always mentioned
as Mr. and Miss Read in the notices of them. There is a pedigree of Frank-
lin's descendants in the N. E. Gen. Register, viii, 374. — M.
236 History of Printing in America.
In 1753, Franklin was appointed a deputy postmaster
general for the colonies. In 1755, he received a commission
as colonel of a regiment of militia, and after the defeat of
General Braddock, he raised, by order of government, a
body of troops, and marched them to the western frontier,
then invaded by the enemy. He built a fort, and placed a
competent garrison in it, and then returned to Philadelphia.
In 1757 he was appointed agent for the province of Penn-
sylvania, and in this capacity went to England, with a
petition to the king. He remained in England until 1762,
when he returned to Philadelphia. In 1764 he again went
to London as agent for the province. In 1766 he visited
Holland, and the next year went to France. While in
England, he was appointed agent forthe province of Massa-
chusetts Bay. Soon after the commencement of the revo-
lutionary war he returned to America, and was employed
in her councils. In 1776 he was appointed to assist in the
negotiations at the court of France, and went to Paris for
that purpose ; and in 1778 he concluded a treaty of alliance
between that cabinet and the United States of America.
In September, 1783, he, with Mr. Jay and Mr. Adams,
signed at Paris the articles of peace on the part of the
United States, with Mr. David Hartley on the part of Great
Britain. He afterward signed articles of amity and com-
merce between this country and Sweden, and Prussia. In
1784 he returned to Philadelphia. In 1786 he was elected
president of the supreme executive council of Pennsylvania^
and was soon after chosen president of several distinguished
societies formed in Philadelphia, some of which had, by his
former exertions, been greatly aided in their establishment.
Franklin was celebrated as an electrician ; but as my
principal object is only to take notice of him as a printer,
I must refer those who wish to be acquainted with him as
a philosopher, to his Life and Works.
Pennsylvania. 237
His son, William, was postmaster in Philadelphia in
1754 ; clerk of the assembly of Pennsylvania in 1756 ;
appointed governor of New Jersey in 1762, and was in that
office when the revolutionary war began.
The following anecdote, which has been published on
both sides of the Atlantic, discovers the spirit with which
Franklin edited his paper, and marks his pointed dislike
of prostituting the press to purposes of defamation and
scurrility.
Soon after the establishment of his paper, a person
brought him a piece, which he requested him to publish
in the Pennsylvania Gazette. Franklin desired that the
piece might be left for his consideration until next day,
when he would give an answer. The person returned at
the time appointed, and received from Franklin this com-
munication : " I have perused your piece, and find it to be
scurrilous and defamatory. To determine whether I
should publish it or not, I went home in the evening, pur-
chased a two penny loaf at the baker's, and with water
from the pump made my supper ; I then wrapped myself
up in my great coat, and laid down on the floor and slept
till morning, when, on another loaf and a mug of water, I
made my breakfast. From this regimen I feel no incon-
venience whatever. Finding I can live in this manner, I
have formed a determination never to prostitute my press
to the purposes of corruption, and abuse of this kind, for
the sake of gaining a more comfortable subsistence." '
The following facts will show that Franklin retained a
regard for the trade until the close of his life. In 1788,
about two years before his death, a number of printers and
1 Bills of lading formerly began with " Shipped by the Grace of God,"
&c. Some people of Philadelphia objected to this phraseology as making
light of serious things. Franklin therefore printed some without these
words and inserted in his paper the following advertisement: " Bills of
Lading for sale at this office, with or without the Grace of God."
238 History of Printing in America.
booksellers met together in Philadelphia, to form some
regulations for the benefit of the trade. Bache, grandson
of Franklin, and myself, were of the number. After the
first meeting, I conversed with Dr. Franklin on the subject of
our convention. He approved the measures proposed,
and requested that the next meeting might be at his house,
as he was unable himself to go abroad. The meeting was
accordingly holden there ; and although he was- much
afflicted with pain, he voluntarily took minutes of the pro-
ceedings, and appeared to be interested in them.^ He evi-
dently had much at heart the success of his grandson,
who was then printing, at the recommendation of his
grandfather, an edition of the minor classics.
Franklin, after the commencement of the war, brought
from Europe a very valuable printing apparatus, which he
purchased in London. He also imported the materials of
a type foundery, which had been used in Paris. These
articles for a foundery, though extensive, did not prove
very valuable. He put the whole into the possession of
his grandson, Benjamin Franklin Bache, who for some
time carried on book printing, but eventually published a
newspaper well known by the name of The Aurora; and
made litttle use of the materials for the foundery.
In 1788, Franklin retired from public business. He
had, for several of the preceding years, been troubled with
a calculus, which increased to such a degree as, during a
few months preceding his death, to confine him to his bed.
In April, 1790, he was seized with an inflammation of the
breast, attended with a fever, which terminated his earthly
existence on the 19th of th^t month, at the age- of eighty-
five years.^ He left by will 1,000/. to the city of Philadelphia,
1 Several attempts have been made to establish rules and regulations for
the benefit of the trade, but they have generally not proved successful.
'On the 30th of April, 1800, ten years after his death, " a fete was cele-
brated in the Temple of Victory, at Paris [France] in memory of Ben-
Pennsylvania. 239
and the same sum to his native town Boston, These surils
were to be loaned annually to young mechanics of a cer-
tain description in the manner and on the conditions by him
prescribed for one hundred years, a certain part of the pro-
ceeds then to be applied to particular public uses, and the
other part again loaned for another hundred years, after
which the final amount to be appropriated for the benefit of
the public in the manner directed in his will.^ He be-
queathed to the Pennsylvania Hospital the old debts due to
him as a printer, stationer and postmaster previous to the
year 1757. The sums are small, and although numerous,
have produced little or nothing.
Long before his death, he wrote the following epitaph
upon himself:
The Body of
Benjamin Franklin, Printer,
(Like the cover of an old Book,
Its contents worn out.
And stript of its lettering and gilding)
Lies here, food for worms !
Yet the work itself shall not be lost,
For it will, as he believed, appear once more
In a new
And more beautiful edition,
Corrected and amended
By its Author.
Hugh Meredith was the son of a worthy and respectable
farmer. He was born in Pennsylvania, and bred to hus-
bandry.
Having more taste for books than for agriculture, at the
age of thirty he came to Philadelphia, and bound himself for
several years as a pressman to Keimer. He was with him
jamin Franklin, one of the benefactors of humanity." — Publiciate Paris
paper. Franklin's father died in Boston, January 16, 1745. Peter Frank-
lin, brother to the doctor, and postmaster in Philadelphia, died in July,
1766, aged 74.
240 History of Printing in America.
when Franklin returned from his first voyage to London.
Franklin, being again employed in Keimer's office, became
intimate with Meredith. Their acquaintance produced
the copartnership of which an account has already been
given. Franklin mentions Meredith as " honest, sensible,
having some experience, and fond of reading, but addicted to
drinking." Meredith, the father, aware of this propensity
in his son, was the more ready to promote his connection
with Franklin, and readily helped them, in the hope that
Franklin, whom he knew to be temperate, " would cure
his son of the too free use of brandy." Franklin, however,
in that attempt, did not succeed. He soon considered
Meredith as a dead weight, and was desirous to throw him
off, which he effected with ease.
Meredith was frank and ingenuous. He found that his
partner was dissatisfied, and discovered that he himself
was not well qualified to be a printer. His father, owing
to some recent disappointments, was not able to make the
last payment for the press and types, now become due to
the merchant who imported them. From these considera-
tions, Meredith was induced to propose a dissolution of
the partnership, and offered to relinquish his right in
the stock and business, on the moderate condition that
Franklin should take upon himself the debts of the com-
pany, pay Meredith thirty pounds currency, and furnish
him with a new saddle. The offer was gladly embraced ;
the necessary writings were immediately executed, and the
partnership was dissolved. Meredith received the thirty
pounds and the saddle, joined a number of his Pennsyl-
vania friends who were farmers, and with them went and
settled in North Carolina.
David Harry was born in Pennsylvania. His parents
were respectable, and his connections opulent. He served
an apprenticeship with Keimer, and had just completed it
Pennsylvania. 241
when Keimer was obliged to sell his press and types.
Harry purchased them, and succeeded his master in busi-
ness. This took place about July, 1729.
Franklin, who had then separated from Meredith, was
fearful that in Harry he should find a powerful rival, and
was induced to propose a partnership to him. Harry re-
jected the proposal with some disdain. Franklin observes,
that "Harry lived extravagantly, pursued amusements,
neglected business, and business neglected him." Before
the expiration of the year 1730, he followed his late master,
Keimer, to Barbadoes, and took with him his printing
materials.
In Barbadoes Harry began printing, and employed
Keimer as his journeyman. He had never acquired the
habit of industry, and Barbadoes was not a place calcu-
lated to cure him of a dissipated course of life. In a few
months he became deeply involved in debt, and was induced
to sell his press and types to Keimer, who found friends
to assist him in the purchase. Harry returned. to Pennsyl-
vania, and followed husbandry.
"William Bradford Third, was the son of William
Bradford Junior, and grandson of the first William Brad-
ford who printed in Philadelphia. He was born in New
York. When very young, his uncle, Andrew Bradford,
who had no children, adopted and educated him as his son
and heir, and instructed him in the art of printing. When
he was about nineteen years of age, his affectionate foster
mother, the wife of Andrew, died, and some time after,
his foster father married Cornelia Smith, of New York.
She had an adopted niece, whom she was desirous that
William Bradford, the adopted nephew of her husband,
should marry when he became of age. William's affec-
tions being engaged by another object, the plan was frus-
trated ; and, in consequence, she imbibed a settled prejudice
242 History of Printing in America.
against liim, and did not attempt to conceal it. She treated
Mm unkindly, and finally lie was obliged to leave the
house of his foster father. She prevailed on her husband
to revoke the will which he had made in favor of William,
and to make one in her own favor. It has been said, that
her conduct in general was such as rendered her husband
very unhappy. William when about twenty years of age
became the partner of Andrew; but the wife caused this
partnership to be dissolved, after it had continued one
year. It began in December, 1739, and ended in De-
cember, 1740.^
In 1741 Bradford went to England ; visited his rela-
tions there ; returned in 1742 with printing materials and
a collection of books, and began business on the west side
of Second street, between Market and Chestnut streets.
In the same year he married the daughter of Thomas Budd
who was imprisoned with the first William Bradford in
1692. In December, 1742, he commenced the publication
of a newspaper, which was continued by him and his suc-
cessors until after the year 1800. In 1743, he removed to
the southeast corner of Blackhorse alley, where, at the
sign of the Bible, he printed and sold books.
In 1748 he was chosen lieutenant of a militia company,
and in 1756 was made captain.
In 1754 Bradford removed to the corner of Market and
Front streets, and there opened a house for the con-
venience of the commercial part of the community, which
was called the London Cofiee House. In 1762 he opened,
in company with a Mr. Kydd, a marine insurance office,
where much business was done. In 1766 he took his son
Thomas as a partner in the printing business. Their firm
was William & Thomas Bradford.^
* These circumstances were related to me by one of the family.
^ They printed the journals of congress in 1776. — M.
Pennsylvania. 243
Bradford was a warm advocate for, and a stauncli de-
fender of the rights of his country. He was among the
first in the city to oppose the British stamp act, in 1765 ;
and he was equally hostile to the succeeding offensive
measures of the British ministry. He literally complied
with a resolve of the early revolutionists, " to risk life and
fortune for the preservation of the liberty of his country"
by taking arms in an early stage of the revolutionary war;
and, although he had reached the age at which the law
exempts men from military service, he encountered the
fatigues of a winter campaign, and did duty as a major of
militia in the memorable battle of Trenton. He shared
the honors of the day at Princeton, and returned colonel
of the regiment of which he went out major. He was at
Fort Mifflin when it was attacked by the Hessians ; and
in several other engagements.'
A few days before the British troops took possession of
Philadelphia, Bradford was entrusted by Governor Wh9,r-
ton with the command of the city, and the superintend-
ence of removing the stores. Having performed this duty,
he left the city as 'the enemy was entering it, and re-
paired to Fort Mifflin, where he remained until that fort-
ress was evacuated. From that time Bradford remained
at Trenton until the British army left Philadelphia, when
he returned to the city, and reopened his printing house
and coffee room ; but the customs and manners of the
citizens were changed, and he perceived that business had
found new channels. He returned from the hazards of
public service with a broken constitution and a shattered
» He was afterwards appointed deputy commissary general. On Sep-
tember 11, 1777, congress resolved : " That Major General Armstrong be
directed, forthwith to cause all the printing presses and types in this city
and Germantown, to be removed to secure places in the country, ex-
cepting Mr. Bradford's press in this city, with English types." But it
does not appear that this resolve was carried into effect.
244 History of Printing in America.
fortune. He soon lost his aiFectionate wife. Age ad-
vanced upon him with hasty steps, and a paralytic stroke
warned him of his approaching dissolution. After a few
more feeble attacks, he calmly yielded to the king of terrors.
After peace was established, he had consoled himself
under his misfortunes ; and, in his most solitary hours, re-
flected with pleasure, that he had done all in his power to
secure for his country a name among independent nations;
and he frequently said to his children, " though I bequeath
you no estate, I leave you in the enjoyment of liberty."
He was a very respectable printer.
He died September 25, 1791, aged 72. His body was
interred in the Presbyterian graveyard, in Arch street;
and his obsequies were attended by a large number of
citizens, and particularly by those who were the early and
steady friends of the revolution.
Bradford left three sons, and three daughters. His
eldest son, Thomas, has been mentioned as the partner of
his father. The second son, William, studied law, became
attorney general of the United States, and died August
25, 1793; Schuyler, the third son, died in the East Indies.
Cornelia Bradford was the second wife, and eventually
the widow of Andrew Bradford. She succeeded her hus-
band in the business of printing and bookselling in 1742.
About four months after his death, she took Warner as a
partner in the concerns of the printing house. The firm
was Isaiah Warner & Cornelia Bradford. This partner-
ship lasted only till October, 1744, when the widow resumed
the press, and continued printing until 1746, at which
time, or soon after, she retired from business. She died
in 1755. Her estate was settled by George Smith and
Cornelia his wife, who, on the 11th of September of that
year, published an advertisement for that purpose in The
Pennsylvania Journal.
Pennsylvania. 245
Isaiah Warnek was born in Philadelphia, and served his
apprenticeship either with Bradford or Franklin. In 1742,
he opened, in Chestnut street, the fourth printing house in
that city; and pubUshed Jacob Taylor's Almanack, and
several small works, which appear to be well executed.
Soon after the death of Andrew Bradford, Warner entered
into partnership with his widow. This partnership ended
in the autumn of 1744. I have seen none of his printing
after that time, and cannot find any further account of him.
At the close of this year, three newspapers were printed
in Philadelphia, \dz. : The Mercury, the Gazette, and the
Journal.
George Brintal. I am not sure that Brintal was a
printer. All that I can gather respecting him, is, that
when "Warner's partnership with Cornelia Bradford ceased,
Brintal managed the concerns of her printing house ; and
some time after had an interest in the publication of the
American Mercury. I have not found his name in the
imprint to that paper, of which I have files to 1746.
Joseph Crellius. In 1743, he lived in Market street,
but the same year removed to Arch street. He was a
German, and printed a newspaper weekly in bis native
language. He kept an evening school, and taught the
English and German languages grammatically.
His was the first German newspaper published in Phila-
delphia. I cannot learn how long it existed ; but it .was
certainly continued several years.
GoDHART Armbruster. Hg was from Manheim, Ger-
many, where he served his apprenticeship to the printing
business. He came to Philadelphia in the year 1743, and
soon after began printing in the German language. In
1746, he advertised several small books from his press, to
246 History of Printing in America.
be sold by him " at the German printing house in Race
street." About this time he began the publication of a
newspaper in German.
His brother, Anthony Armbruster, was for some time
connected with him; but the business appears to have
been conducted in the name of Godhart till 1752, when it
was carried on by Anthony. A few years after Godhart
returned to Europe, where he died.
David Hall has been mentioned as the partner of
Franklin. He was born in Scotland ; and brought up a
printer in Edinburgh. From that place he went to Lon-
don, and worked in a printing house in which Strahan,
afterward a famous law printer to the king, was at that
time a journeyman. After Hall came to this country he
was eighteen years in partnership with Franklin ; and, in
May, 1766, when that connection was dissolved, he formed
another with William Sellers, under the firm of Hall &
Sellers. Their business was lucrative; they printed for
government, and continued the Pennsylvania Gazette.
Besides printing. Hall, before, during, and after his partner-
ship with Franklin, conducted a book and stationery store
on a large scale, on his own account. Had he not been
connected with Franklin he mis^ht have been a formidable
rival to him in the business of printing and bookselling.
Hall & Sellers were the printers of the paper money issued
by congress during the revolutionary war.
He died December 24, 1772, aged fifty eight years.
Hall was well acquainted with the art of printing ; and
was an industrious workman, of first rate abilities ; a pru-
dent and impartial conductor of the Gazette ; and a be-
nevolent and worthy man.
James Chattin printed in Philadelphia as early as 1752.
His printing house was " in Church- Alley, next door to
Pennsylvania. 247
the Pipe." He was employed cliiefly on pamphlets; and
was, I believe, a quaker. In 1755 he advertised his pub-
lications at reduced prices, for sale " at the Newest Print-
ing-Office in Market Street, South Side of the Jersey
Market." In 1771 he informed the public that he had
long been out of employment ; and that he proposed to do
business punctually, and with secresy, as a conveyancer
and bookkeeper, and had taken an office for that purpose
in Second street. After being several years a master
printer, he was reduced to the condition of a journeyman.
AiifTHONY Armbruster was born in Manheim, in Ger-
many and was the brother of Gotthart, alias Godhart,
Armbruster, who has been mentioned as a printer of books
etc., in the German language, in Philadelphia. Anthony
left Germany and came to Philadelphia with his brother,
or arrived soon after him, about 1743. Whether he served
a part, or the whole of his apprenticeship in Germany, is
not known, but he was employed in the printing house of
his brother many years after his arrival. Although his
name did not at any time appear in copartnership with his
brother, they were thought to be connected together in
business from 1748 to 1753.
A society was formed in London for the benevolent
purpose of " promoting religious knowledge among the
German emigrants in Pennsylvania." I cannot ascertain
the exact time when this society was instituted, but it was,
probably, as early as 1740. A press for printing religious
tracts, school books, etc., in the German language, was, by
this society, established in Philadelphia. From the funds
of this society it is supposed Joseph Crellius received some
aid in printing a newspaper and some small school books
in the German language, in Philadelphia, as early as 1743.
Sower of German town, about this time, was assisted in
248 History of Printing in America.
carrying througli his press an edition of the German trans-
lation of the Bible.
Crellius, in his publication of a German newspaper, was
followed by Godhart Armbruster, and he was succeeded by
his brother Anthony, all of whom, it is probable, were
printers to the society, and made use of their press. The
fact is substantiated as relates to Anthony Armbruster.^
In 1753 the business was conducted by him, and until
1756, in Third street. He there printed in German, The
History of the First Martyrs, 326 pages, 12mo. Also The Tme
Christian's Monument, with copper plates. Anthony under-
stood copper-plate as well as letter-press printing. The
latter he could perform, as was then fashionable, with two
colors, black and red. In this way he printed, for several
years, his German Almanac. Sower of Germantown, at
that time, printed his Almanac in like manner, but both
discontinued the practice about 1758.
Anthony Armbruster, in 1754, entered into a copartner-
ship with Benjamin Franklin, which continued till 1758.^
Part of the time Franklin was in England. In Anthony's
books is kept, from 1754 to 1758, an account current with
Benjamin Franklin, which relates to the German otRce.
Before, and for the first two or three years of the partner-
ship between Armbruster and Franklin, they were on very
intimate terms. Armbruster named one of his children
Benjamin Franklin, and on this occasion Franklin stood
its godfather, Armbruster failed in business while Franklin
was in England, and a general settlement of his printing
^ See farther on, an account of German newspapers published in Phila-
delphia.
^ This appeared from the account books of Armbruster, in the posses-
sion of one of his sons who resided in Philadelphia. In these books Arm-
bruster charges Franklin for translating the Almanac into German, £200
each year; 4 years, £800. The almanacs were charged at 5s. per dozen ;
demy paper is charged at 12s. per ream ; calf skins, Is. per pair.
Pennsylvania. 249
concern did not take place until after Franklin's return, in
1762. They then differed, and it seems were no longer
friends. Armbruster soon after, to ridicule Franklin, pub-
lished a caricature print, in which, within a group, Franklin
was conspicuously represented in a very ludicrous situation.
Anthony Arnibruster's printing materials, in 1760, passed
into the hands of Lewis Weiss and Peter Miller, neither of
whom were printers. They were conveyancers, and both
Germans. They continued the German paper, and Anthony
was their printer during the short time they had the press.
In 1762 Anthony again obtained the press and types
which had been used by "Weiss and Miller, or otherwise
procured a printing apparatus, for in July, that year, he
opened a printing house " at the upper end of Moravian
Alley." There he printed German school books, and some
small articles in English. Nicholas Hasselbaugh, it is said,
was for a short time the silent partner of Anthony. Whether
Anthony continued the publication of the German news-
paper in 1763, I cannot learn, but he published one in 1764,
when the press was removed to Arch street. Miller at the
same time advertised that "he has now set up a new print-
ing office in Moravian Alley, near the Brethren's church.-'
During the time he was in business, Anthony made seve-
ral removals, and at one time he resided in Race street.
Armbruster again failed in business, and could not re-
cover his standing as a master printer. Again his press
and types went into other hands. He now became a jour-
neyman, and was employed for several years by printers in
the city ; after which he was a pressman to Isaac Collins,
in Trenton, New Jersey. After remaining some considera-
ble time with Collins, he returned to Philadelphia, and
from thence went to Germantown, where he was again
employed as a journeyman. He was three times married.
His first wife was a good worker at press, and often assisted
her husband in that employment.
250 History of Printing in America.
Anthony was naturally very superstitious, and after he
became a journeyman, he was, at times, under a species of
insanity. Many accounts are given of his extraordinary
conduct when he was afflicted with mental derangement.
Like many others, he believed that Blanchard and other
pirates had, in their time, hid money and other treasures
along the sea coast of the northern part of this continent,
and on the shores of the Delaware and other rivers. With
a number of associates he spent much time in fruitless
searches after that which they could not find. He im-
agined that he could, by a special charm, raise or lay the
devil ; notwithstanding which he was often in great fear and
dread of a visit from his Satanic majesty. He believed in
witchcraft, and was in fear of attacks from witches. Like
Baron Swedenborg he apprehended that he had inter-
course with invisible spirits. Many stories are related of
him as evidence of his mental delusion.
He died at Germantown, July, 1796, at the age of seventy-
nine years, and was buried in the Dutch church burying
ground, in Fifth street, Philadelphia. He left several
children.
Weiss & Miller. Lewis Weiss and Peter Miller were
Germans. They were both conveyancers, and unacquainted
with printing. They appear to have been friends to An-
thony Armbruster, and in 1760, when he failed in business,
took his press and types, and employed him to conduct
the concerns of the printing house. The German Gazette
was continued, and the printing of that and other works,
done in their names, for about two years, when this con-
nection seems to have dissolved, and Armbruster again
began printing on his own account.
Whilst this partnership continued, they published the
German Almanack that had for many preceding years been
printed by Armbruster. The imprint to that for 1762 is.
Pennsylvania. 251
in English, thus : " Printed and to be sold at the High
Dutch Printing-House, in Race street, and also sold by
Peter Miller, and by distant merchants." At the end of
this Almanac is an advertisement of " Peter Miller, in
Second street, at the sign of the hand and pen, where he
writes deeds, &c., agreeably to the latest forms." In 1762
"Lewis Weiss and Peter Miller" advertise "just pub-
lished and to be sold by them in Philadelphia, the char-
ters and acts," etc.
The same year William Bradford, David Hand, and
Lewis Weiss, advertised to take in subscriptions, at their
several places of abode, for an engraved plan of the
city and liberties of Philadelphia. In 1764, Armbruster
advertises his intention of printing " a new edition of
Backmeyefs English and Dutch Grammar,^' for which sub-
scriptions were received by himself, and several others
whose names are mentioned. Among them is that of
Peter Miller, in Second street. This Peter Miller was
called a man of wit. He was for many years employed
by the city proprietors as a surveyor. He died of the
dropsy, in 1794, and was buried in the Quaker's burying
ground, between Third and Fourth streets.
Weiss & Miller, August 12, 1762, advertise" Charters
and Acts of Assembly from the first settlement of the pro-
vince, and collection of Laws that have been in force, etc.,
in 2 volumes, to be had either in foUo or price 40s.
bound. Published by Lewis Weiss and Peter Miller."
Andrew Steuart was born in Belfast, Ireland, and served
his apprenticeship with James Macgee, in that city. He
set up a press " in Laetitia-Court," Philadelphia, in 1758.
His business was confined to pamphlets, ballads, and small
jobs. He afterwards lived at the Bible-in-Heart in Second
street, between Market and Arch streets.
252 History of Printing in America.
Steuart was not over nice as it respected the publications
of others. In 1762, he reprinted, immediately after its
first appearance from the press, Science, a Poem, by Francis
Hopkinson, Esq. This poem was published in quarto,
price Is. 6d. by Dunlap, Hall, and others. Steuart's edi-
tion was in 12mo. and he advertised it for sale " at three
pence single, one shilling per dozen, or six shillings a hun-
dred," with this remark, that as his " object was to promote
the circulation of this excellent piece, he hoped that neither
the author or anyone else would imagine that he intended to
" Rob him of his gain,"
Or, that his design was
" To reap the labour'd harvest of his brain."
About the year 1764, Steuart went to "Wilmington, IlTorth
Carolina, with a press, and part of his types ; and he left
the other part, and his book shop, in the care of Thomas
Macgee and his apprentice Joseph Crukshank. He never
returned. The business was continued in Philadelphia, in
his name, until he died. This event took place in 1769, at
Cape Fear.
He owned a lot of land in Spruce street, and had accu-
mulated other property. [See North Carolina.']
"William Dunlap was a native of the north of Ireland.
He served his apprenticeship in Philadelphia, with "William
Bradford. In 1754, he began printing at Lancaster; but
removed from thence to Philadelphia in 1757, and married
a relation of Mrs. Franklin, wife of Benjamin Frankliti, in
consequence of which connection Franklin appointed him
postmaster.
He opened a printing house and bookstore in Market
street, and did considerable business as a printer, bookseller
and stationer, till 1765. His printing was correctly and
Pennsylvania. 253
handsomely executed. He also engaged in the study of
divinity. In the year 1766, he sold off the principal part of
his stock in trade at auction, resigned the management of
his printing house to his nephew John Dunlap, as a partner,
and went to England. He obtained ordination in the
church of England, and returned to America in 1767; and
in 1768 became the rector of the parish of Stratton, in
King and Queen's county, Virginia.
He printed John Jerman's Almanack in 1757, and began the
publication of Father Abraham's Almanack, which he con-
tinued annually. When he settled in Virginia, he resigned
his business and his printing materials to his nephew for
an ample consideration, to be paid by installments.
Henry Miller. A friend of his, well acquainted with his
history, has informed me his name was John Henry Miller ;
but that he styled himself in the imprint to the books he
published in Philadelphia, Henry Miller only. He was
born in the principality of Waldeck on the Upper Rhine,
March 12, 1702, where his parents then resided. In 1715,
they returned to their native place, a town near Zurich, in
Switzerland, and took with them their son whom they ap-
prenticed to a printer in Basle. After his apprenticeship
he was at first employed in a printing house at Zurich,
but soon set up a press and published a newspaper. Quit-
ting business at Zurich, he traveled to Leipsic and Altona ;
from thence to London; from London to Amsterdam; then
through France ; and again to Germany and Holland. In
1741 he came to America, and was for sometime in Frank-
lin's printing house in Philadelphia. In 1742 he returned
to Europe ; married there in 1743, and in 1744 opened a
printing house in Marieuburg, Germany, and there pub-
lished a newspaper. His residence at Marienburg was not
of long continuance ; as he again set out on his travels,
visited England a second, and Holland a third time, and
254 History of Printing in America.
returned to Germany. In 1751 he came again to America,
and was concerned in a German printing house in Phila-
delphia or Lancaster ; but soon after was employed by
"William Bradford. In 1754 he once more embarked for
Europe, where he remained until 1760, when he returned
to Philadelphia with new printing materials and opened a
printing house in Second street.
In 1762 he began the publication of a newspaper in the
German language, which he continued some years after
the revolutionary war ended. He published annually a
German almanac.
He printed school and some other books in the German,
and a few in the English language ; and dealt considerably
as a bookseller. In 1771, his printing house was " in
Race Street, opposite Moravian Alley." In 1776, he com-
pleted printing in six volumes, folio. The Votes, etc., of the
General assembly of Pennsylvania, passed in many of the
preceding years.
Miller was a good scholar and an excellent printer. He
corresponded with some literary characters in Germany
and Holland. In his religion he was a Moravian, and in
politics a whig. He was a warm advocate of American
liberty. He removed from Philadelphia at the time the
royal army took possession of the city in 1777. He left
his printing materials in his house. These were used by
the British in printing proclamations, etc. They carried
off part of them when they left Philadelphia. After they
evacuated the city. Miller returned to it, and resumed the
publication of his newspaper, etc.
On the 26th of May, 1779, he discontinued his pubhc
journal, and at that time published a farewell address to
his readers. In that address he observed, that it was nearly
fifty years since he first published a newspaper in Switzer-
land ; that he had been obliged to continue business till
that time of life; that he was then approaching the age of
Pennsylvania. 255
fourscore ; but, that a man, when he arrives to his sixtieth
year, should commence his sabbath, or day of rest from
the cares and troubles of this life. In 1780, he resigned
business altogether; sold his printing materials, and re-
tired to Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. He died there March
31, 1782, aged eighty years. His wife died some years
before, at the same place. She was a well-bred woman ;
spoke the French language fluently, and was an excellent
painter in water colors. In this employment she was for
some time engaged as a preceptress in Bethlehem. Miller
was noted as a pedestrian, and frequently went to Bethle-
hem, fifty-three miles from Philadelphia, and returned on
foot. Having no family, he bequeathed, it is said, a part of
his property to Melchior Steiner, who had been his ap-
prentice.
James Adams began printing in Philadelphia about the
year 1760 ; and, in 1761, he removed to Wilmington, De-
laware. [See Delaware.^
Thomas Bradford was the eldest son of William Brad-
ford, the second printer of that name in Philadelphia, and
was born on the 4th of May, 1745. Thomas's mother was
daughter of Thomas Budd, who sided with George Keith,
etc., in their opposition to Lieutenant Governor Lloyd and
his party, in the noted quarrel among the quakers in 1692.
Budd, at this time, was arrested and imprisoned with the
first William Bradford for writing and publishing against
the prevailing party of their quaker brethren. Thomas
was named after his father-in-law. He was for several
years in the college at Philadelphia ; but in 1762, his father
took him from that seminary, and placed him in his print-
ing house; and in 1766, received him as a partner in busi-
ness, as has been before related. Their printing house
was then at the corner of Front and Market streets. The
256 History of Printing in America.
father died in 1791 ; the son continued the business, and
published a daily paper in Philadelphia, till 1814.
Thomas Bradford was the great grandson of William
Bradford, who first printed in Pennsylvania, and who was
one of the first settlers of the colony.
William Sellers, the partner of David Hall, was from
England, and served his apprenticeship in London. He
began business about 1764, and kept a book and station-
ery store " in Arch Street, between Second and Third
Street." On the death of David Hall, his sons, William
and David, became the partners of Sellers. The firm of
Hall & Sellers was continued, and printing executed, as
usual, at the old stand in Market street.^ Sellers was a
correct and experienced printer, a good citizen, well known,
and as well respected.
He died February, 1804, aged seventy-nine years.
William Goddard has already been mentioned as a
printer at Providence. He opened a printing house in
Philadelphia, November, 1766. There he entered into
partnership with two men of eminence in their line, Joseph
Galloway, by profession a lawyer, speaker of the house
of assembly, and afterwards a delegate to congress, and
Thomas Wharton the elder, a merchant of the sect of
quakers ; both men of large property and great influence.
They were to supply a capital to carry on business exten-
sively, and each of them to own s, quarter part of the
printing materials, and to draw a proportional part of the
profits. Goddard was to pay for and to own half of the
materials, to manage the concerns of the printing house
in his own name, and to draw one half of the proceeds of
1 " The Newest Printing Office" on the board over the door, remained
until I8I4. It was placed there by Franklin.
Pennsylvania. 257
trade. The last clause in the contract between the par-
ties, was, from the political character of Galloway and
Wharton, thought to be singular; it was as follows,
viz.: "In case Benjamin Franklin, Esq., [then in Eng-
land] on his return to Philadelpbia, should incline to be-
come a partner in the business, he shall be admitted as
such ; and in that case, the shares, parts and proportions
of the expense, charges and profits aforesaid, shall be as
follows, viz., two ninths thereof shall belong to Joseph
Galloway, two ninths thereof to Thomas Wharton, two
ninths to Benjamin Franklin, and three ninths thereof to
William Goddard." Galloway and Wharton were strongly
attached to the measures of the British ministry, but cau-
tious of expressing their opinions. The firm printed for
the assembly of Pennsylvania, and published a newspaper,
Tlie Pennsylvania Chronicle, which for some time bore tbe
appearance of impartiality; but at length Mr. Dickinson,
author of the celebrated Farmer's Letters, and several
other reputable characters on the side of the country,
were violently attacked and abused. Galloway and others,
behind the curtain^ wrote, and Goddard,' who was tied to
the pursestrings of his partners, was compelled to publish
as they directed. Difiiculties soon arose, from various
causes, between the members of this partnership. God-
dard was dissatisfied with the power which Galloway and
Wharton arrogated over him, and they were displeased
with his management of the paper, and other concerns of
the firm. He stated, in a pamphlet entitled The Part-
nership, which he published after their separation, that
they threatened ta ruin him, if he did not follow their di-
rections, and accede to their proposal to admit another
partner into the firm, viz., Benjamin Towne, then a jour-
neyman printer. This intended partner Goddard knew
' See his account of the partnership.
258 History of Printing in America.
was to be a spy upon his actions, and a check upon his
management of the concerns of the company ; hut he was
obliged to submit and receive him in l^Tovember, 1769.
The firm of the company was now Goddard & Towne.
In July, 1770, their disagreement grew to a rupture ; and
after a connection of about nine months with Towne, they
separated.
A state of hostility ensued, and newspapers, handbills,
and pamphlets were filled with the ebullitions of their ani-
mosity. Goddard endeavored to prevent the reelection of
Galloway to a seat in the house of assembly, but failed ;
for although Galloway did not succeed in the county of
Philadelphia, he obtained his election in the county of
Bucks. His real political character was not then known,
and his influence continued to be greater than Goddard
could counteract, although he fought like a veteran. God-
dard was unable to answer the demands of the creditors of
the company, who were urged to press him for payment ;
and he became embarrassed, but was enabled to leave the
city honorably in 1773, and go to Baltimore, where he
hoped to obtain business more lucrative, and a residence
more tranquil. He succeeded in gaining many valuable
friends in Maryland and the states adjacent.
Goddard's partners, Galloway, "Wharton, and ♦Towne,
after the establishment of independence, were all proscribed
as enemies to the country, by the legislature of Pennsylva-
nia.^ [See Providence — Baltimore — NevjspajpersJ]
John Dunlap was born in the north of Ireland. He was
the nephew of William Dunlap, by whom he was taught
' Galloway fled to England at the commencement of the revolution, and
his large estate was confiscated. Wharton, who had more prudence,
remained in the country. He had many worthy connections, and, politics
aside, was not destitute of those amiable qualities which create respect.
His estate was not confiscated.
Pennsylvania. 259
printing in Philadelphia. When -William went to Eng-
land to take orders for the church, in 1766, he left the
management of his printing house to his nephew, who, in
his own name, conducted the business for their joint bene-
fit. Book printing had been their object ; but, after the
uncle was settled in the church at Virginia, he resigned the
printing house and its concerns to John, who purchased
the printing materials and printed on his own account, and
established a newspaper. His printing house was " on the
south side of the Jersey Market." In 1778 congress
appointed Dunlap to print their journals, and for five years
he continued to be their printer. He retired from busi-
ness in 1795, with a handsome fortune and a good
reputation. He received from government, as payment
for printing, several lots of land in Philadelphia. This
land when it came into his possession was valued at only
a few hundred pounds, Pennsylvania currency ; but the
great increase of buildings soon made it more valuable,
and in 1809 he sold one square, extending from Market to
Chestnut street, and from Eleventh to Twelfth street, for
more than one hundred thousand dollars.
Dunlap executed his printing in a neat and correct man-
ner. It is said that, whilst he conducted a newspaper, he
never inserted a paragraph which wounded the feelings of
an individual ! After the war commenced, in 1775, he was
appointed a captain of a company of horse in the city
militia. In 1808 he resigned his commission.
Dunlap died, in Philadelphia, November 27, 1812, of
apoplexy, aged sixty five. His funeral was attended by
the field, staft'and commissioned officers of the first brigade,
first division, of Pennsylvania militia, the troop of horse of
which he was formerly commander, and by a large con-
course of other citizens.
260 History or Printing in America.
Benjamin Mecom has been mentioned as a printer in
Antigua, Boston, and New Haven. He removed from Con-
necticut, and opened a printing house in Philadelphia, in
1768. He attempted a small periodical work, which will
be mentioned with the newspapers and magazines published
in that city. Afterwards he was in the printing house of
Goddard in Philadelphia, and, in 1774, he left the city,
and was employed by Isaac Collins, at Burlington, IS'ew
Jersey, where he closed his typographical career. He lived
some time in Salem county, and finished his earthly pilgrim-
age soon after the beginning of the revolutionary war.
Mecom, though singular in his manners, and deficient
in the art of managing business to profit, was a man of
ingenuity and integrity ; and as a printer he was correct
and skillful. He was the first person in this country, as
far as I know, who attempted stereotype printing. He
actually cast plates for several pages of the New Testament
and made considerable progress towards the completion of
them, but he never effected it.
Robert Bell was born in Glasgow, Scotland, where he
was brought up to book-binding. He then went to Berwick-
upon-Tweed, and worked sometime at that business; after
which he removed to Dublin and commenced bookseller,
and had an extensive trade ; but in a few years failed. He
married in Dublin, and was for some time the partner of
George Alexander Stevens, of facetious memory.
He came to America abDut the year 1767, and esta-
blished himself first as a book auctioneer, and afterwards
as a bookseller, in Philadelphia. In 1772, he published
Blackstone' s Commentaries in four volumes octavo ; in which
undertaking he was 8upf)orted by a liberal subscription.
He had before published Rohertsoii's Charles Fifth. These
two works may be considered as the first fruits of a spirit
of enterprise in book printing in that city. Soon after the
Pennsylvania. 261
publication of Blacksione's Commentaries, he opened a print-
ing house in Third street, where the Union Ubrary had
lately been kept, and printed several other works of less
magnitude.
Bell was the publisher of the celebrated pamphlet en-
titled Common Sense, written by Thomas Paine. He em-
ployed Paine some time afterwards as a clerk, etc. When
Common Sense was committed to the press, there was a
scarcity of paper ; and all the broken quires of paper in
Bell's warehouse were collected and culled for the first im-
pression. The work had a very rapid sale, went through
several editions in Philadelphia, and was republished in
all parts of United America.
After the war took place, Bell became celebrated as a
book auctioneer ; and as such was known from "Virginia
to New Hampshire. He disposed, in that way, of his
"jewels and diamonds," in New York, Boston, Baltimore,
Norfolk, etc.^ He was a thorough bookseller, punctual
and fair in his dealings; and, as a companion, he was
sensible, social and witty.
He left Philadelphia in 1784, with an intention to visit
Charleston, South Carolina, where he had sent a quantity
of books to sell at auction ; but on his way was taken sick
at Eichmond, Virginia, and died there September 23,
1784, aged nearly sixty years.
Joseph Crukshank was born in Philadelphia, and
served an apprenticeship with Andrew Steuart. He was
one of the society of Friends, and printed books for them
as well as for his own sales. He opened a printing house
in 1769, and soon after a book and stationery store, in
Third street, near Market street, in company with Isaac
' His advertisements for the sale of books by auction, were commonly
headed with " Jewels and Diamonds to be sold or sacrificed, by Robert
Bell, humble Provedore to the Sentimentalists."
262 History of Printing in America.
Collins. Their firm was Crukshank & Collins. The
partnership continued only one year, when it was dissolved,
and Collins removed to Burlington.
Crukshank took a good stand in Market street, and
traded very considerably. In 1772, he printed for Bell
Blacksione's Commoitaries in four volumes octavo ; also
several other works of importance. Fair in his dealings,
punctual in his payments, and amiable in his manners, he
was greatly esteemed by his fellow citizens.
William Evitt, was born in Pennsylvania, and served
an apprenticeship with Andrew Steuart. In 1770, he
printed " at the Bible-in-Heart, Strawberry- Alley," with
the press and types which had been Steuart's, which he
purchased. He issued proposals for publishing weekly,
on Saturday evening, a newspaper, to be entitled The
Pennsylvania Evening Post. This paper never made its
appearance ; but one of the same title was, afterwards, pub-
lished by Benjamin Towne.
X can find no other particulars of Evitt which will be
creditable to the trade. He was, for a time, a journey-
man ; and, afterwards, became a soldier in the American
army, and died in the service of his country.
William Hall & David Hall Junior, were the sons of
David Hall, and were taught printing by their father.
After his death, in 1772, they became the partners of
Sellers ; and the firm of Hall & Sellers was continued
until the death of Sellers. The business was then for seve-
ral years managed in the names of William & David Hall.
It was, afterwards, transferred to William Hall Junior.
William Hall Senior, was for several successive years, a
member of the Pennsylvania legislature.
Pennsylvania. 263
James Humphreys Junior, was the son of James Hum-
phreys, a conveyancer, etc. He was born in Philadelphia,
received an education at the college in that city, and was
there placed under the care of an uncle, to study physic ; but
disliking the profession, he became an apprentice to Wil-
liam Bradford, and was by him taught printing. Supplied
with good printing materials, he began business " at the
lower corner of Black-horse Alley, in Front Street," and
in January, 1775, he published a newspaper.
Humphreys printed several books before the commence-
ment of the revolutionary war, and among them were
Sterne's Works in five volumes, duodecimo, WetienhalVs Greek
Grammar, corrected for the use of the college in Philadel-
phia ; and afterwards. Strictures on Paine s Common Sense.
Two editions of the last work, consisting of several thousand
copies each, were sold in a few months.
Humphreys having acted as clerk in the court of chan-
cery, and, as a qualification, taken the oath of allegiance
to the British king; he, on that account, refused to bear
arms in favor of his country, and against the government
of England ; and was, in consequence, denounced as a tory.
His paper, it has been said, was under the influence of the
British government, and he was several times in the hands
of the people. He had done no injury to the individu-
als who were dissatisfied with his political opinions, and
from them he received no essential abuse. Among the
whigs he had good friends, one of whom was Doctor Rit-
tenhouse, a literary character well known in our country.
Benjamin Towne, who began the publication of The
Eceniufj Post, a rival paper, was not friendly to Humphreys,
and published a number of pieces calculated to excite the
popular resentment against him. November 16, 1776,
Humphreys was attacked by a writer in Towne's paper
under the signature of A Tory. Not knowing what might
be the consequence of these assaults, in those times of
264 History of Printing in America.
commotion, Humphreys discontinued his paper, quitted
business, and went into the country. At the very time
Towne published these pieces, Humphreys had loaned
him the paper on which The Evening Post was publislied,
without any prospect of payment.
Humphreys, thus driven from Philadelphia, remained
in the country till the British army approached the city ;
and then returned and remained there while it was pos-
sessed by the British troops ; with whom he again left the
city, accompanied the army to New York, and there con-
tinued as a merchant until the establishment of peace.
He then went to England, procured a supply of good
printing materials, and after some time went to Nova
Scotia, and opened a printing house in Shelburne, and
published a newspaper called The Nova Scotia Packet. Not
meeting with sufficient encouragement, the Packet was
discontinued ; he closed his printing and employed him-
self as a merchant at Shelburne ; in this situation he re-
mained until 1797, when, having suffered loss by French
privateers, he again returned to Philadelphia, and there
opened a printing house. From that time till he died he
was employed in book printing, and a number of valuable
works have come from his press. He was a good and ac-
curate printer, and a worthy citizen. He died February
10, 1810, aged sixty-three years.
His sons, who succeeded to their father's business, re-
linquished it in 1812, and the stock was disposed of at
auction. Several of his daughters were good compositors,
and often worked at the case.
Benjamin Towne was born in Lincolnshire, and brought
up to printing in England. He was first a journeyman to
Goddard, and then his partner. He purchased the right
which Galloway and Wharton had in the printing house
managed by Goddard. This partnership did not continue
Pennsylvania. 265
a year, but ended in 1770. In 1774, Towne opened a print-
ing house on his own account.
James Humphreys had proposed to publish a news-
paper, professedly impartial. Towne immediately issued
a proposal for another paper. It was supposed that Hum-
phreys's paper w^ould be in the British interest. Towne
took opposite ground. Both papers appeared before the
public in January, 1775. Suspicion was soon excited
against Humphreys's Ledger^ and was kept awake by the
publications in Towne's Ecening Post. In less than two
years Towne succeeded in obliging Humphreys to discon-
tinue the Ledger ; and, through fear of popular resentment,
to leave the city.
Towne remained a whig until the British army took
possession of Philadelphia ; he then became a royalist.
At that time Humphreys returned and renewed the Led-
ger. Towne continued The Ecening Post. There was this
difference between Humphreys and Towne : the first pos-
sessed a candid mind, and was apparently guided by
moral principle ; Towne appeared to be artful, and gov-
erned by self interest. When the British troops evacuated
the city, Humphreys went with them. Towne, although
proscribed by the state government for joining the royal
standard, remained ; and again adopted the language of a
whig ; but his conduct gained no friends among the loyal-
ists, and it lost him the confidence of those who had been
his patrons. But he was permitted, without molestation,
to pursue his business, and I believe he continued his
paper, which was handsomely executed, till 1782.
When congress first met in Philadelphia, after the Brit-
ish army evacuated it, Doctor Witherspoon, who was then
a member, went into the bookstore of Aitkeu, where he
met w^ith Towne. After some conversation, Towne re-
quested the doctor to furnish him w^th intelligence and
266 History of Printing in America.
essays for the Evcnivg Post, as he formerly had done. The
doctor refused, and told him that it would be very impro-
per for a member of congress to hold intercourse with a
man who was proscribed by law; but he added, "if j'ou
make your peace with the country first, I will then assist
you." "How shall I do it, doctor?" "Why," answered
the doctor, "write and publish a piece acknowledging
your fault, professing repentance, and asking forgiveness."
" But what shall I say ?" The doctor gave some hints ;
upon which Towne said, " Doctor, you write expeditiously
and to the purpose ; I will thank you to w^ite something
forme, and I will publish it." "Will you? then I will
do it," replied the doctor. The doctor applied to Aitken
for paper and ink, and immediately wrote, " The humble
Confession, Recantation and Apology of Benjamin Towne,"
etc. It was an excellent production, and humorously iron-
ical; but Towne refused to comply with his promise to
publish, because the doctor would not allow him to omit
some sentences in it. It, however, made its appearance,
sometime after, in several newspapers; and, passing for
the genuine work of Towne, raised his reputation as a
writer. When Doctor Witherspoon's works were pub-
lished, this recantation was among them. Appendix H.
Towne was not deficient in intellect and was a decent
workman. He w^as a bon vivant, but he did not possess the
art of accumulating and retaining wealth. He died July
8, 1793.
Robert Aitken was born at Dalkeith, in Scotland, and
served a regular apprenticeship with a bookbinder in
Edinburgh. He came to Philadelphia, as a bookseller, in
1769; returned to Scotland the same year, came back to
Philadelphia in 1771, and followed the business of book-
selling and binding, both before and after the revolution.
In 1774, he became a printer. In 1775, he published a
Pennsylvania. 267
magazine, and in 1782, an edition of the Bible, small duo-
decimo, on a brevier type. This edition, said to be the first
printed in America, which is, however, a mistake,^ was
recommended to the public by congress, as a pious and
laudable undertaking in the existing state of the country.
A copy of this resolve of congress is printed at the end of
the Old Testament. Imprint — " Philadelphia, Printed
and sold by R. Aitken, at Pope's head, above the Coffee
House in Market street, mdcclxxxii."
After the revolutionary war he printed several valuable
works. Among them were the first three volumes, in
quarto, of The Transactions of the American Philosophical So-
ciety. He had a son bred to printing, who was some time
his partner.
Aitken died in July, 1802, aged sixty-eight years. For
thirty-one years he had been a citizen of Philadelphia.
He was industrious and frugal. His printing was neat and
correct. In his dealings he was punctual, and he acquired
the respect of those who became acquainted with him.
Jane Aitken, his daughter, continued his business. She
had in 1810 a printing house in Philadelphia; and printed
Thompson's Translation of the Bible, in four volumes, octavo.
The printing was well and handsomely executed. She
obtained much reputation by the productions which issued
from her press.
Story & Humphreys. Enoch Story, the elder, and
Daniel Humphreys, were copartners. They began print-
ing " in Norris's alley, near Front Street," in 1775. The
well known Joseph Galloway, once the partner of God-
dard, in order to promote his political views, is said to have
procured the materials of a printing house for Story, who
took Humphreys, not then engaged in business, into part-
nership. Their chief employment was a newspaper, which
See Printers in Uambridge, Boston and Oermantovni.
268 History of Printing in America.
they had published but a few months when their printing,
house and materials were burnt, and their partnership
was in consequence dissolved. Story was bred a mer-
chant, but was unfortunate in mercantile affairs, and un-
successful in other business.
Daniel Humphreys, son of Joshua Humphreys, served
his time with William Bradford, and was a fellow appren-
tice with James Humphreys ; but they were not related.
Daniel, some time after his misfortune by fire, opened
another printing house ; and from June, 1783, to July, 1784,
was a partner of Ebenezer Oswald in the publication of the
Independent Gazetteer; and afterwards began another news-
paper, which he published several years. The typography
of this paper was neatly executed. He had a printing
house in Philadelphia till 1811; was noted as a good proof
reader, and in this business was often employed. He died
June 12, 1812.
Enoch Story, the younger^ was the kinsman of Enoch
Story, who was the partner of Daniel Humphreys. He served
his apprenticeship with William Hall, and began business
at Baltimore. In 1775, and for some time after, he was a
job printer in Strawberry alley, Philadelphia. He died in
Baltimore.
John Douglas Macdougall, printed in Chestnut street,
in Philadelphia, in 1775, and probably before that time.
He was not, I believe, long or largely in trade. He was
born in Ireland, and had, previously to engaging in busi-
ness in this city, worked in the printing house of John
Waterman, Providence, Rhode Island. He died in New
York, August, 1787.
Samuel Dellap, printed several small works, which he
sold at his shop " in Front street, between Market and
Pennsylvania. 269
Arch streets," in 1771, and after. About the year 1792, he
sold books by auction in kn outhouse belonging to the
Black Horse Tavern, in Market street, north side, between
Fourth and Fifth streets. In this place he died of the
yellow fever in 1793, aged about fifty-three years.
He went frequently to ]S"ew York, where he advertised
his* publications, and collected old books ; these he sold at
auction in Philadelphia.
Melchior Steiner and Charles Cist. Steiner was born
in Switzerland. He was the son of the Rev. John Conrad
Steiner, who came to Philadelphia, and was, for some time,
pastor of the Dutch Presbyterian church in Race street.
He served his apprenticeship with Henry Miller, and suc-
ceeded him in business. Cist was born in St. Petersburgh,
Russia, where he received a good education , and was brought
up a druggist and apothecary, and afterwards studied phy-
sic. He came to America in 1769, and engaged with
Henry Miller as a translator of English into German ; by
continuing in the employment of Miller several years he
acquired a considerable knowledge of printing. These
two entered into partnership under the firm of Steiner &
Cist. They executed book and job work, in both the Ger-
man and English languages, "in Second street, at the
corner of Coat's alley." This copartnership was of short
continuance. Kot long after the commencement of the
revolutionary war, they published a newspaper in the Ger-
man language ; but, for want of sufficient encouragement,
it was discontinued in April, 1776.
Theyleft Philadelphia when the British army approached
it; and returned when it was evacuated in 1778. In
1779 they published a German newspaper. In 1781 they
dissolved their copartnership. Steiner continued the paper
three or four years, but by neglecting business, became
poor. Cist pursued it ^prudently, and acquired considera-
270 History of Printing in America.
ble property. When the seat of government was removed
to Washington, Cist carried his press there, remained with
it several years, and built two or three houses in that city.
Cist died near Bethlehem, December 1, 1805, and was
buried in the Moravian churchyard, in that place.
Steiner ceased to be a master printer, and became a
clerk in a public office, in 1794. He died in Washington
in the winter of 1807, aged about fifty years.
In 1810 there were in the county and in the city of
Philadelphia, fifty-one printing houses, one hundred and
fifty-three printing presses, and seven paper mills.^
The first press established west of the Allegany, was in
Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, in 1786, by John Scull, under
the patronage of Judge Brackenridge.
Germantown.
Christopher Sauer, alias Sower. This eminent printer
was born in the town of Lauterburg, in Germany, in the
year 1694. The business he was bred to was that of a tailor.
He came to America in 1724, and took up his residence in
Germantown , where for some time his principal employment
was making button molds, which he found to be profitable.
He followed various other occupations for fourteen years
after his arrival, but had no concern in printing. He left
Germantown, and was, at one time, engaged as a farmer;
at other times was conberned in casting stoves at a furnace
near Reading, in Pennsylvania, and discovered great in-
genuity in casting. After being several years absent from
Germantown, he returned to that place, and for some time
lived with a noted German doctor by the name of Witt,
who was commonly called a conjuror. From this man.
Sower gained some medical knowledge. At lengi by
accident he became a printer.
'Mease's Picture of Philadelphia, published 1811.
Pennsylvania. 271
The Baptists, or Tunkers, in Germany, raised by sub-
scription, a sum of money, in order to purchase religious
books and disperse them among their poor friends in Penn-
sylvania, and to establish a press there to print for the same
purpose. Accordingly a press and types, with a quantity
of books, were sent out and intrusted to the management
of a German Baptist by the name of Jacob Gaus. He was
to have the use of, and the emolument arising from the
press, on condition that he should distribute a certain num-
ber of copies of each of the religious books he should print,
among the poor Germans. This person did not possess
the ability necessary for the undertaking, and no other
person wiio was thought- to have sufficient ability for the
purpose was found to take his place. The business was
suspended and the press and types viewed as useless lum-
ber. At length Sower appeared, and was so fortunate as
to get the press, types, and the books ' into his possession,
though not without much opposition. He was opposed by
the friends of Gaus, and particularly by Alexander Mack,
the first minister, and the spiritual father of all the Tun-
kers, or German Baptists, at that time in Pennsylvania.
The transfer of the property being made to Sower, he
immediately began business according to the benevolent
intentions of those who were at the expense of the esta-
blishment. The German books sent over were distributed
gratuitously among the poor. The press was set to work
on religious tracts, and a proportion of them given away.
Others were sold, and produced a profit to the printer. In
a short time. Sower so managed the concern as to gain the
' It is uncertain whether these were from the society formed in England
for diffi'.sing religious information among the German settlers, or from a
similar' society in Germany, but there can be no doubt that one or more
presses ■♦'ere established in Pennsylvania by pious friends in Europe ; and
that nof only the press at Germantown, but that at Ephrata, was supported
for this purpose.
272 History of Printing in America.
approbation even of his opposers. The ingenuity of Sower,
his great attention to the establishment, with the aid of
some good workmen whom he procured from Germany,
soon placed the business on a respectable footing, and it
became profitable to him. In 1788 he published a German
Almanac. This was the first in that language printed in
the country. It was continued annually by him and his
successors, for forty years. In the year 1739 he published
a small newspaper in German ; and in 1743, he issued from
his press, on a German long primer type, and in that
language, an edition of the Bible, in 4to. This was the
second Bible printed in British America. The first was
the Indian translation, from the press in Cambridge,
Massachusetts, as early as 1663. Sower's edition of the
German Bible' was nearly three years in the press. The
price to subscribers was only fourteen shillings currency,
bound ; but it was to others twenty shillings. This was
the largest work that had issued from any press in that
colony, and it was not equalled for many years after. The
edition consisted of a thousand copies.^
Sower printed a number of minor works in German,
and Juvenal in English. For those in English he employed
a proof reader, as he never could acquire the correct or-
thography of the language.
After he printed the Bible, he erected a mill for manu-
facturing paper, and was, for a short time, concerned in
that business ; and also in that of book binding.
When particular sorts of his types were deficient, he
contrived to cast new ones as they were wanted. In short,
his ingenuity enabled him to complete the manufacture of
any article which he undertook. It is said he was sufli-
ciently adroit at sixteen different trades or avocations, by
^ For a bibliographical account of this edition of 1,he German Bible, see
O'Callaghan's List of EdUions of the Holy Scriptures, pp. xii, B2.et seq. — 3f.
Pennsylvania. 273
following either of which he could secure a maintenance.
Among them were those of stove caster, farmer, clock-
maker, tailor, distiller, farrier, apothecary, paper maker,
tanner, tin plate worker, lampblack maker, printers' ink-
maker, bookbinder and printer. To the last of these he
was particularly attached ; as an evidence of which, he
desired on his death bed, that the printing business might
always continue among his descendants ; and that some
one or other of them would acquire and practice the art.
He was religious in the temper of his mind, and quiet
in his deportment. Although inclining to Mennonism,
he was called a Separatist; but in fact, did not join any
particular sect.
He married in Germany. His wife died December 24,
1752. He died September 25, 1758, aged sixty-four, and
was buried in his own land, at the back of his dwelling
house in Germautown. He had but one child, a son, who
succeeded him in business.
Christopher Sower Junior, was born in Witgenstein,
near Marburg in Germany, and was only three years of age
when he arrived in Philadelphia with his father, by whom
he was employed in various occupations until 1738, when
his father commenced printing ; he was then instructed in
that art.
He commenced business as a bookbinder some years
before the death of his father, but at his decease he suc-
ceeded him in the. printing house. This was in 1758,
when he was thirty-seven years old. He continued the
establishment on an enlarged scale, printed many valuable
books, and published a weekly newspaper. In 1763, he
finished a quarto edition of the Bible, in German, on a
pica type ; and completed another in 1776.' The types for
' For a particular account of Bibles and Testaments printed in America,
see O'Callaghan's List of American Bibles. — H.
274 History of Printing in America.
that last mentioned, were cast at his own foundeiy. This
foun.dery was the first of the kind in British America.
The materials for it he received from Germany in 1772.^
In 1773 he built a paper mill on the Schuylkill, and
manufactured both writing and printing paper. He had
previously established a bindery. He made printing ink
of the best quality, and excellent lampblack for this pur-
pose. His presses were made under his own inspection,
in his extensive establishment. Thus the various branches
of business necessary to complete a printed book were exe-
cuted by him, or by his own immediate workmen. Most
of these branches he could perform himself, and at some
of them he was a first-rate workman. He possessed in this
respect the genius of his progenitor. The printing exe-
cuted at his German press was both neat and correct.
His ink was remarkably good.
Besides t?ie various branches of bookmaking, he dealt
in drugs and medicines. Of these articles he imported and
sold large quantities. He conducted his business with
high reputation. His influence in the community, espe-
cially among the Germans, was very extensive. No medi-
cines could be esteemed effectual, unless procured at
Sower's apothecary shop; no almanac, unless published
by him, could be correct in time and weather ; and no
newspaper promulgated truth but Christopher Sower's
German Gazette. As an instance of his popularity among
his neighbors, it is mentioned that at the time when there
was a warm contention between the people of Pennsylva-
nia and the proprietors, the quakers, who were desirous of
obtaining some exclusive privileges, had an ascendency in
the legislature, to which body they had petitioned. A new
election was approaching. The petition of the quakers
was unpopular with those who were not of that sect.
' See Tyj)e Founderies in America, vol. i. p. 28.
Pennsylvania. 275
Sower, in his German Gazette, zealously opposed the peti-
tion, and at the time of the election of new members, at
the head of three hundred qualified voters, proceeded in
regular order from Germantowu to Philadelphia, and suc-
cessfully supported the candidates opposed to the quakers.
This happened about the year 1760, and appears to be the
only instance of his taking such an active part in political
affairs.
In 1777 lie gave up the management of the printing
house to two of his sons. He possessed by inheritance from
his father, and from his own exertions, an independent
estate, and was inclined to quit the fatigues of business
and the further pursuit of wealth, and pass the remainder
of his life in religious repose. He is represented as well
balanced in his temper ; in his disposition, pacific ; in his
habits, industrious and plodding ; in conduct, exemplary ;
and in religion a saint, commanding respect, and the silent
and sullen veneration even of the most profligate. " Such
was the even tenor of his way." But " man is born to
trouble as the sparks fly upward." The days of his afliic-
tion approached. Often does the mariner, after a long and
successful voyage, approach within view of his desired
haven, when suddenly, by adverse gales, on an unseen
rock, he suffers shipwreck. Sower now began to experi-
ience such trying scenes as would prove his fortitude as a
man, and test his virtue as a Christian.
It does, not appear that he actually declared himself,
during the revolutionary struggle, either for or against the
colonists. It rather seems that he was disposed " to sub-
mit to the powers that be for conscience sake." The Tun-
kers, or German Baptists, were generally rich. Men of
property are at all times generally opposed to a revolution.
It was supposed that Sower and his Christian brethren
wished to remain neutral, and that they consented " rather
to bear the ills they had, than to fly to those they knew
276 History of Printing in America.
not of." His property was greatly injured by the war;
particularly by the battle of Germantown. The war had
commenced in favor of the British, and it was uncertain
how the contest would end.
His son Christopher had rendered himself obnoxious to
the whigs, and had fled to the enemy. He and other
friends of Sower had alarmed his fears, and strongly in-
sisted on his going for safety to Philadelphia, then in pos-
session of the British troops. Whatever might lead him
to the measure, true it is that on the nineteenth of Octo-
ber, 1777, fifteen days after that battle he deserted his
home, and went into the city. He remained there till
May 23, 1777, [? 8], when he returned to Germantown.
This was twenty-four days before the enemy evacuated
Philadelphia. After his arrival he was arrested in his own
house. This measure was justified by his having been
with the British army. With an inflamed and exasperated
populace this was sufficient proof of his being a traitor.
They went to him and demanded his signature to the
oath prescribed by congress. He replied that he would
cheerfully swear allegiance to the state, but could not, con-
sistently with his religious faith, engage to perform all
which that oath required. He was therefore made a
prisoner and taken to the American army and confined five
days. He was afterwards released on parole, and allowed
to reside in Mathatchen, twenty-one miles from German-
town. While in durance, before he reached the army, some
ill-disposed persons deprived him of his remarkable and
full grown beard, and otherwise maltreated him. Whilst a
prisoner with the army he had to endure other indignities
from the soldiers. He bore all, however, with Christian
resignation.
One circumstance, rather extraordinary, took place at
this time, which has often been mentioned, and the fact
attested, both by his friends, and those who were then
Pennsylvania. 277
Lis political enemies. He was denuded at the camp by
the soldiers, then arrayed in tattered regimentals, and pa-
raded. His pantaloons were seized by a soldier who put
them on his own limbs. A short time after, this soldier
was seized with agonizing pains in all parts of his body,
and exclaimed : " I can neither live nor die ! I am in tor-
ment. Take oft' the old man's trowsers, that I rtiay die !"
They were taken off", and the soldier presently expired.
The cause that produced the pains and sudden death of
tlje soldier is not stated. By some of the friends of Sower,
who esteemed him a saint, this incident was thought to
be a judgment of God for the cruelty with which he had
been treated.
He returned to Mathatchen on the twenty-third of
June, 1778. While he remained there, the court for the
confiscation of estates opened its session in the town of
Lancaster, whither all those concerned were, by public
advertisement, notified to appear during the month of
June, and show cause, if any they had, why final proceed-
ings as to their estates should not be taken. His case
came on at this court the very day he arrived in German-
town. A newspaper was rarely seen in Germantown at
that time, and not ha^ng seen the notification he knew
nothing of the sitting of the court until it was too late for
him to make his appearance. His estate was confiscated,
and neither he nor his friends had faith enough to petition
the court on the subject. This was a fatal blow to the
fortunes of Sower. Had he appeared in court this stroke
might have been arrested. As no overt act could be
alleged against him, his property to the amount of 90,000
dollars, might have remained in his hands It was now
seized, and soon after sold at auction at a very low rate.
Besides his house, lands, drugs, medicines, paper, and
types, all his books, bound and in quires, were sold.
Among the books in sheets was the greater part of his
278 History of Printing in America.
edition of the German Bible, consistingof a thousand copies;
These went off by the hammer for less than a quarter of
the price of a like quantity of ordinary wrapping pap^r.
The books were in the German language, with which the
very few persons who attended the sale in order to make
purchases were acquainted, and they placed but little
value on the articles. His printing materials and book
stock were purchased by a printer from the city, who did
not know their value. Instead of having the book stock
bound, he sold a part of it to be used as covers for cart-
ridges, proper paper for that purpose being at that time
not to be obtained. Thus what was, at first, intended for
the salvation of men's souls, proved eventually the de-
struction of their bodies.
Sower's property "was seized on the twenty-seventh of
July, 1778. When the officers came to his house for this
purpose he was at breakfast. They began to take an in-
ventory of his property, and demanded his keys. He de-
livered them with much composure, only observing that
if they had a better right to them than himself, they must
take them. The day following he received notice to quit
the premises, and he took a final leave of his home and of
his effects, and went to the hous^of his brother-in-law,
Henry Sharpnach, in the same town. Here Sower resided
two years, and employed himself in binding books. In
addition to his misfortunes, having been in extensive
trade, he had many debts due to him, which were now
cancelled in continental bills. These were a lawful tender,
but had depreciated in value at the rate of ninety dollars
in bills to one dollar in specie. But he was otherwise
treated by some of his Christian brethren. He had con-
siderable sums in their hands and they paid him the full
value of the sums which they had borrowed.
His type foundery, having been in the possession of
Justin Fox, the master workman, and kept and used in
Pennsylvania. 279
buildings in the neighborhood occupied by him, was on
this account supposed to be his property, and thus escaped
confiscation.^
It was the opinion of many of Sower's friends, that when
the war should end he would be indemnified for the loss
he sustained. For this reason neither he nor his friends
interfered in the sales of his confiscated property.
A German bookbinder in Germantown, by the name of
Siebert, and his son-in-law Michael Breemeyer, who shortly
after established himself as a printer in that place, hearing
that the Bible sheets were selling for the use already men-
tioned, went to Philadelphia and repurchased what re-
mained, and also a part of the printing materials. They
recommenced the printing business in Germantown.
They reprinted such parts of the Bible as had been de-
stroyed, and having completed the purchased copies, they
bound and sold them.
The greater part of Sower's types had been wantonly
mixed and thrown together in heaps. Several thousand
pounds weight were afterwards sold by the person who
purchased them at auction, to Justin Fox, Sower's type
founder in Germantown.
He had, cast and standing in his printing house, types
for the whole of the German hymn book. After he com-
pleted his last issue of the quarto edition of the Bible,
his foundery was engaged in casting types sufficient to keep
the whole Bible standing. The battle of Germantown
put a stop to this proceeding when the work was nearly
complete.
Sower removed from the house of his brother-in-law in
1780 to Mathatchen. He kept house at this place, assisted
by his daughters.
He was fond of walking, and preferred that mode of
' See the article, Type Fovnderies.
280 History of Printing in America.
traveling to riding. It is said he usually progressed on
foot four miles an hour. Within a fortnight before his
death, he walked on a sabbath morning, twelve miles from
his home, up to Shippack, to supply the pulpit for his
Christian brethren in that place. After the religious ser-
vices for the day were over, he returned home on foot.
On this day, it has been said, he appeared to have a pre-
sentiment of his approaching dissolution, as he observed to
the congregation, in the course of his preaching, that this
was the last time he could perform that service for them.
At the request of a worthy member of congress, the Hon.
Frederick Augustus Muhlenburgh, afterwards speaker,
he drew up a statement of his sufferings. This was com-
pleted eight days before his death, when he observed that
he had "now finished nearly all he had to do." The
minister who preached his funeral sermon mentioned that
to him Sower had foretold his death, and that two of his
sons would speedily follow him.^
His working hours at Mathatchen were employed in
binding books ; and this business, it appears, was to be the
means by which his pilgrimage on earth was to be ended.
He had undertaken to bind some of the same quarto Bibles
which he had last printed, and which had been repurchased.
He began the process of binding these books by the labor-
ious employment of beating them, as is usual, and impru-
dently completed as much of this work in half a day as is
usually done in a whole day. The weather was warm, and
by this exertion he became overheated. He went out to
a spring where he drank so freely of water as to produce
a fit of apoplexy, which soon after terminated his mortal
existence.
He was a rigid and exemplary member of the society
called Tunkers, a sect of the German Baptists, and em-
' This prediction was fulfilled.
Pennsylvania. 281
braced their creed, not bj education, but by conversion,
and was ordained a minister in their religious assemblies,
June 10, 1753. His wife and some of his children were
church members of the same society.
He, with a number of his friends of this sect, had at one
time agreed not to marry, but to devote their time as much
as possible to religious duties. Sower, however, was the
first to annul this agreement, and married in 1751. His
wife died in 1777.
The rapid emigration of Germans to Pennsylvania may
in considerable degree be attributed to Sower and his
father. The letters which they wrote and sent to the land
of their nativity, gave such a favorable representation of the
climate of the province, where land was so easily to be
obtained, as induced great numbers of their countrymen,
with their families, to emigrate, and settle there.
Sower was a very conscientious printer. The Associate
Presbytery of Pennsylvania (or, Seceders, as sometimes
called) ordered, about the year 1765, that some of their
actions, or something of the kind, should be published, and
deputized John Pulton, a papermaker of Oxford township,
near Lancaster, to engage the printing. Fulton called on
Sower to have it done. " My friend," replied Sower, " I do
not print everything. If irreligious, or otherwise danger-
ous, I always refuse ; but if you will leave the piece for my
perusal I will give you an answer." Fulton called again,
and Sower informed him he would gladly print the piece.
Sower was remarkably temperate and regular in his
habits. He never drank ardent spirits, was very economi-
cal, rose at four in the morning, and spent an hour in
devotional exercises. At five his whole family were called
up and proceeded to their various employments.
He died August 26, 1784, aged sixty-two years, leaving
eight children — five sons and three daughters. On his
282 History of Printing in America.
tombstone in the burying ground of the Mennonists in
Mathatcben, the following lines are sculptured, viz :
" Death, thou hast conquered me,
' Twas by thy darts I'm slain ;
But Christ shall conquer thee,
And I shall rise again.
" Time hastens on the hour.
We just shall rise and sing,
0 Grave ! where is thy power ?
0 Death ! where is thy sting? "
Christopher Sower Third, was brougbt up a printer
by bis father, Christopher Sower Junior, and was for some
time concerned with him in business. He was a member
of the German Baptist church, and of the sect called
Tunkers, from which he withdrew, and left the United
States with the British army, at the close of the revolu-
tionary war.
In 1777, his mother dying, his father resigned the
management of the printing house to Christopher and
his brother Peter. Soon after this connection in business
commenced, the troubles occasioned by the war increased,
especially in the neighborhood of Germantown, and caused
at first temporary suspension, and soon after a total end
to their business in Germantown. On the fourth of Octo-
ber, of this year, the day on which the battle was fought
in this place, they fled to Philadelphia. Till this time they
continued the German newspaper, and had printed the
German Almanack for 1778. This was the 40th number
of this annual publication which had issued from the press
of the Sowers. This ended the partnership of these
brothers. They had both become obnoxious to their
countrymen by speaking and acting in favor of the enemy.
Peter remained in Philadelphia till it was evacuated by
the British army. He then went to New York, and be-
Pennsylvania. 283
came a student in physic. At the close of the war he left
that city in a vessel for New Providence, where he died
soon after his arrival.
Christopher the third did not possess the prudence of his
father or his grandfather. At the beginniug of the war he
warmly espoused the cause of the country, and thus became
popular ; but he soon turned to the opposite side, and so
conducted as to endanger the safety of his person. It is
said this change in him was effected by the instigation of
Joseph Galloway, who was an intimate in the family, and
a notorious adherent to the cause of the British govern-
ment. He was a man of influence, a member of the
Pennsylvania legislature, and had for some years preced-
ing been the silent partner of William Goddard in the
publication of the Pennsylvania Chronicle.^ He was a man
who was possessed of handsome talents, and he conducted
his Gazette with ability, though with severity against his
countrymen.
Christopher resumed the publication of the Germantown
Gazette, in Philadelphia, as soon as he could get his press
and German types for the purpose. This business was
speedily accomplished, and the paper was published till the
British army removed from that city to JS'ew York.
Sometime after the battle of Germantown, a detachment
of the British army left Philadelphia, and for some forage,
or other purpose, proposed to pass through Germantown,
and return by the ridge road. Sower 3d, having some pri-
vate business to transact, took advantage of this escort to
proceed to his former residence, to obtain some papers of
family importance. He stepped into his house, obtained
the papers, and was proceeding to join the detachment,
when, unapprehensive of danger, he was apprehended
opposite the market house, by Capt. Coleman, an officer in
' See an account of that public journal in the second volume.
284 History of Printing in America.
the American army, who was lurking for stragglers. Sower
was then taken to the American camp, detained five weeks,
and then exchanged. Captain Coleman was an active par-
tisan. He lived many years after the war, in Third street,
opposite to the Golden Swan tavern.
When Sower 3d was brought to headquarters. General
Washington, after some interrogatories, addressed him
thus : " Well, Mr. Sower, you will be likely now to get
some sour sauce." Sower would not have been exchanged
at all, or at least not so soon as he was, but for the occur-
rence of a fortunate incident. He had somehow received
information of George Lusk, a powder manufacturer,
being at a certain place unprotected. Lusk had been a
next door neighbor to Sower, and was now the princi-
pal person on whom the Americans depended for a supply
of gunpowder. Sower knew the estimation in which he
was held, and instantly formed the plan for making him a
prisoner, in order to effect his own release. The plan suc-
ceeded and Lusk was taken prisoner, and some time after
exchanged for Christopher, who returned to Philadelphia.
Threats were given out against the lives of both ; but an
even exchange was at length effected. They, perhaps,
owed their lives to each other.
Christopher went to New York with the British army,
and sometime after embarked in a ship of war for Eng-
land. He returned to New York, where he remained
till the war was ended. He visited England again ; after
remaining there two years, he went " with his family to
New Brunswick, and there published The Royal Gazette.
He was appointed postmaster for that province, and he
obtained a colonel's brevet from the British government,
which entitled him to half pay for life.
In 1779 he left that colony, and went in search of health,
and to visit his brothers, to Baltimore, where, shortly after
his arrival, he was attacked with apoplexy and died on
the third of July of that year, aged forty-six.
Pennsylvania. "285
Daniel Sower, another brother of Christopher 3d, was
bj profession, a papermaker, and after his apprenticeship
was ended, conducted the mill built by his father. This
mill was given to Daniel by his father, but the legal con-
veyance not having been made, the property was confis-
cated and sold as the property of the father. Daniel
purchased another mill, but within a short time after, sold
it, and turned his attention to agriculture in Chester
county, Pennsylvania.
David Sower was also brother to Christopher 3d. He
acquired a knowledge of the art of printing, and estab-
lished a printing house in N"orristown, Pennsylvania, and
there published a newspaper, which he relinquished to his
son Charles in 1711. ? (1811.) After which David opened
a store in Mathatchen ; besides which he now pursued the
business of a farmer.
Samuel Sower, the youngest brother to Christopher,
was brought up a housewright, and settled on Chestnut hill,
near Germantown. He then became a printer, and also
an apothecary. In 1794, he removed to Baltimore, where
he attended to the business of printing and bookselling
till 1804, when he commenced a type foundery in copart-
nership with William Gwynn. He afterwards purchased
the foundery which had been owned by his father and
worked by Justus Fox. He continues now, [1815] the
type making business in Baltimore, under the firm of S.
Sower & Co. Samuel is an ingenious mechanician. He
cast the diamond type for a small pocket Bible which was
lately printed in that city. To this type he added an
italic. Diamond italic has not been, I believe, attempted in
Europe, unless very recently.
Of Christopher's three sisters, one died in infancy, another
in two or three years after her father, and the third is now
[1815] living.
286 History of Printing in America.
The treaty of peace in 1803 would have enabled Christo-
pher Sower, the second of that name, to have recovered a
part of his landed estate, but as the Tunkers will not, in
any case, commence lawsuits, he received no benefit from
the provision made in the treaty for those in his situation ;
and it is added that several of the children received some
compensation from the British government.
See note at the end of the volume in relation to Christo-
pher Sower, 3d.
Lancaster.
Miller & Holland were copartners in a printing es-
tablishment in Lancaster in 1751. They printed some small
works in the German language, and, in 1752, published a
newspaper in German and English. This firm was of short
continuance. In 1753 I find that a book, then lately pub-
lished, was advertised for sale " by Samuel Holland, printer
in Lancaster, and no mention was made of Miller.^
"William Dunlap, began printing in Lancaster in
1754, in the English and German languages. He remained
there till the beginning of the year 1757, when he removed
to Philadelphia. [See Philadelphia.']
Lahn, Albright and Stiemer, mentioned in the first
edition of this work, I am informed did not begin business
until the conclusion of the revolutionary war.
Francis Bailey began business in 1771, in company
with Stewart Herbert, but they did not continue a long
time in partnership. In 1772, and after, Bailey's printing
house was in Spring street, Lancaster. The types with
^This was probably Henry Miller, then lately returned from Europe,
and who went again to Europe in 1754, but previously worked about
twelve months for Bradford in Philadelphia. [See Henry Miller.]
Pennsylvania. 287
whicli he began business, were manufactured in German-
town. Afterwards he manufactured types for himself and
others. As a mechanician he was celebrated.
Bailey was instructed in printing by Peter Miller at
Ephrata, Lancaster county. He r.emoved to Philadelphia
in 1778 or 1779, and published a newspaper in that city.
He eventually returned to Lancaster. His daughter-in-law
in 1818 conducted a press in Philadelphia.
Stewart Herbert began printing with Francis Bailey
in 1771. A separation appears to have taken place soon
after, and Herbert opened a printing house " in Queen
street, Lancaster," and printed there in 1774. He after-
wards printed a small newspaper in Hagerstown, Mary-
land.
Andrew Steuart in 1761, had a shop in Lancaster; but
I do not find that he had a press there.
Ephrata.
This place, situated near Cocalico creek in Lan-
caster county, has been called Dunkardtown, and Tun-
kardtown,.but is now known by the name of Ephrata. It
was settled in 1733, by a sect called, by some, Tunkers,
and by others, Dunkers or German Baptists, most of
whom were from Germany, or of German extraction. They
believe in the general redemption and salvation of the
human race. They are generally well informed, peaceable
in their disposition, simple in their language, and plain in
their dress. They neither swear nor fight, nor go to law,
nor take interest for money loaned. They commonly wear
their beards. At first they kept the first day sabbath, but
afterwards the seventh day.
Peter Miller, a venerable and pious leader and teacher
among the Tunkers, began with them the settlement
288 History of Printing in America.
of Ephrata. About the year 1746, Miller opened a printing
house, and he and his associates erected a paper mill.
Miller printed a number of books in the German language,
and a few in English ; all on religious subjects, and written
chiefly by himself.
In 1748 and 1749, he wrote and printed in Dutch, a work
entitled Shltiqen ©cljau ^(atjel^ It made fourteen hun-
dred and twenty-eight pages, which he published in two
volumes, and then translated it into German. The paper
on which it was printed, was manufactured at Ephrata
village. This work gave employment to Miller for more
than two years. During that time his bed was a bench ;
his pillow a wooden block of about four inches in thick-
ness and width, and ten inches in length ; and lie slept but
four hours in twenty-four.^
" Miller was born in Germany in 1709 ; had his educa-
tion in the university of Heidelberg ; came to this country
1 In the title page of each volume is an impression from a cut. One cut
is enclosed with a circle, and engraved on wood ; the other on type
metal.
''This information I received from Mr. Francis Bailey, of Lancaster,
Pa., an ingenious and very respectable printer, taught by Miller. Mr.
Bailey mentions that he has often witnessed Miller resting in the manner
I have represented, and that he has slept in the same room with Miller in
a similar way. He also informs me " that during the time l^ditigeii Sctjau
^[at^eS was in the press, particular sorts of the fonts of types on which it
was printed ran short. To overcome this difficulty, one of the workmen
constructed a mold that could be moved so as to suit the body of any
type not smaller than brevier, norlarger than double pica. The mold con-
sisted of four quadrangular pieces'of brass ; two of them with mortices to
shift to a suitable body, and secured by screws. The best type they could
select from the sort wanted, was then placed in the mold, and after a
slight corrosion of the surface of the letter with aquafortis to prevent sol-
dering, or adhesion, a leaden matrix was cast on the face of the type,
from which, after a slight stroke of a hammer on the type in the matrix,
we cast the letters which were wanted. Types thus cast answer tolerably
well. I have often adopted a method somewhat like this to obtain sorts
which were short ; but instead of four pieces of brass, made use of an
even and accurate composing stick, and one piece of iron or copper
having an even surface on the sides ; and instead of a leaden matrix, have
substituted one of clay, especially for letters with a bold face.
Pennsylvania. 289
in 1730; settled with the Dutch Presbyterians in Phila-
delphia ; and was the same year ordained a preacher among
them. In 1735 he embraced the principles of the Baptists ;
and in 1744 he received another ordination to be the prior
or head of the society at Ephrata."^ After Miller left the
Presbyterian society in Philadelphia, he removed to Berks
county, where he discovered a valuable quarry of agate,
and he, in company with one Conrad "Weiser, a celebrated
Indian interpreter, became concerned in working this
quarry, and in exporting large quantities of the agate to
Germany. But Miller's religious impressions soon ledhim
to believe that his time and talents should be more usefully
employed ; and Weiser dying. Miller forsook the business
of the quarry, and then associated with the Dunkers, and
began the settlement of Ephrata.
Among the brethren of his religious sect. Miller went
by the paternal name of Jabez, alluding to I Chronicles,
chap, iv, verses 9 and 10. His chin bore that digni-
fied and characteristic mark of manhood given by the
creator, a beard, flowing over his bosom. His counten-
ance, it is said, was continually so serene that all who saw
him might pronounce that he had not only made a treaty
of peace with himself, but with all the world.
It is not supposed that Miller was bred to printing; but
it is understood he obtained a knowledge of the art after
he arrived in Pennsylvania from the second Christopher
Sower of Germantown. They were of the same religious
sect, and in some way associated in the general government
of the church of which they were members.
Miller was a good classical scholar, a man of most amia-
ble manners, and highly respected. He died about the
year 1790, aged eighty years.
'Edwards's History of Baptists, printed 1770.
290 History of Printing in America.
NEW YORK.
This colony was settled by tlie Dutch, and remained
in their possession until 1664, when it was surrendered to
the king of England, and by him granted to the duke of
York. ISTo press was established under the Dutch govern-
ment.
In 1665, The Conditions for New Planters in the Territories
of His Royal Highness the Duke of York, who was afterwards
king of England, were printed on one side of a foolscap
half sheet. A gentleman,* who possessed one of the printed
copies of these conditions, informed me that, on its margin,
in ancient writing, were these words, " This was printed
at Boston in May 1665." Cambridge was undoubtedly
meant, as a press was not established in Boston till some
years after this time. This writing is, however, proof that
in 1665 there was no printing press in ISTew York. The
small quantity of printing necessary for the colony was
probably done at Cambridge, or at Boston, until about
1684, when William Bradford began printing in Pennsyl-
vania. It does not appear that any printing was executed
in New York until 1693.
In 1700, some gentlemen in Boston applied to Bartho-
lomew Green of that town, to print a pamphlet, entitled,
" Gospel Order Revived, Being an Answer to a Book lately
set forth by the Reverend Mr. Increase Mather, President
oi Harvard College, &c. entituled. The Order of the Gospel,
^c. Dedicated to the Churches of Christ in New-England.
By sundry Ministers of the Gospel in New-England." Green
declined printing the pamphlet before it had been sub-
mitted to the licensers of the press, to which the authors
would not consent. Some months after, the pamphlet
' Hon. Ebenezer Hazard, of Philadelphia ; late postmaster general.
New York. 291
was published, and appeared without the name of the
printer, or the place of his residence. The imprint was,
*' Printed in the year 1700." To the pamphlet was pre-
fixed the following advertisement, viz.
" The Reader is desired to take Notice, that the Press
in Boston is so much under the a?^? of the Reverend Author
whom we answer, and his Friends, that we could not obtain
of the Printer there to print the following sheets, which is
the only true Reason why we have sent the Copy so far
for its Impression."
The pamphlet, on its appearance in Boston, particularly
the advertisement attached to it, produced considerable
agitation. Green to clear himself of the aspersion, as he
termed it, of his press being under control, etc., published
a handbill, a newspaper was not then published in English
America. In this handbill, Green asserts that the pamphlet
was printed at New York. Appendix. 1
This pamphlet, of which I have a copy, contains fifty
two pages, small quarto, incorrectly and badly printed,
and is, the laws excepted, the only book printed in New
York as early as 1700, which I have seen, that contained
more than thirty-eight pages. ^
New Y'ork.
The first press in the colony was erected in that city,
in the year 1693.
William Bradford, the first who printed in Pennsylva-
nia, introduced the art into New York. He continued
his printing in Philadelphia until some time in the year
1693, when he set up a press in New Y^ork, and was ap-
pointed printer to the government. The first book from
' The first printing done in New York was Gov. Fletcher's proclamation,
printed by Bradford in 1693, and dated Aug. 25. The Laics noticed above
were printed the same year. — M.
292 History of Printing in America.
his press was a small folio volume of the laws of the colony,
beariDg the date of that year. In the imprint he styles
himself "Printer to their Majesties," and directs to his
printing house, " at the Sign of the Bible."
In 1698, he printed " The Proceedings of His Excellency
Earle Bellemount, Governor of New York, and his council,
on the 8th of May 1698," one sheet folio. Imprint — " New
York, printed by William Bradford, printer to the King,
1698."
His imprint to "an account of the illegal trial of
Nicholas Bayard in 170J," is, " Printed by William Brad-
ford at Sign of the Bible New York, 1702."
In 1709, November 12, the general assembly of the
colony ordered, " that Mr. Bradford do print all the acts
of the general assembly of this colony now in force." A
warrant from the speaker, of the same date, " appoints and
orders William Bradford" to print the laws in conformity
to the resolve of the general assembly. The laws were
printed by him accordingly, and he completed them in the
year following, with this imprint. " Printed by William
Bradford^ printer to the Queen's most excellent majesty
for the colony of New York, 1710." ^
I have a pamphlet printed in that city in 1711, by " Wil-
liam and Andrew Bradford," from which it appears that,
at that time, there was some connection in business between
Bradford and his son Andrew ; but that concern could
have been only for a year or two, for Andrew, in 1712,
removed to Philadelphia.
' Smith in bis History of New York, pp. 109, 110, mentions tliat in 1703,
the governor proposed to the assembly to lay a duty of ten per cent, on
certain articles, but they resolved to the contrary. On which " the very
printer, clerk, and door keeper, were denied their salaries." He also
says, p. 117, " the assembly of 1709, agreed to raise money for several
designated purposes, among which were small salaries to the priuter,clerk
of the council, and Indian interpreter."
New York. 293
Franklin' mentions that when he first visited New York
aboutl723, "William Bradford was a printer, and it appears
the only printer, in that city. Franklin applied to him for
work ; Bradford having but little business could not employ
him ; but he recommended him to his son, who then printed
in Philadelphia, and Franklin accordingly went there.
Franklin observes, thatBradford was the first who printed
in Pennsylvania, but had " quitted that province on account
of a quarrel with George Keith, the governor," etc. He
must have made a mistake ; there had been no governor of
Pennsylvania by the name of George Keith. Sir William
Keith was appointed governor in 1717 ; but Bradford had
settled in New York twenty four years prior to that event.
There was a George Keith, ^ who has already been taken
notice of as a man of abilities, a schoolmaster, and preacher
among the quakers, and the author of several tracts in
their defence, which were printed by Bradford when he
resided in Philadelphia. This George Keith was violently
hostile to President Lloyd, who governed Pennsylvania in
the absence of the proprietor.^ Bradford as has been stated
became interested in the quarrel, and he, with Keith and
others, seceded from the quakers, which eventually caused
Bradford's removal to New York.
' Life of Franklin.
" George Keith repelled the attack of Increase and Cotton Mather upon
the quakers, and then differed with his brethren, who in consequence
disowned him ; afterwards he went to England, took holy orders, returned
to America, as a missionary from the Society for propagating the gos-
pel in foreign parts, and, in 1702, preached a sermon " at her Majesties
Chapel, at Boston in New England," entitled " The Doctrine of the Holy
Apostles and Prophets the Foundation of the Church of Christ." This
sermon was printed, at Boston, the same year. He again returned to Eng-
land, and in 1706, published " a journal of [his] travels from New Hamp-
shire to Caratuck, on the continent of America." At this time he was
rector of Edburton in Sussex, England. It was posterior to this event that
he became a Baptist, and the founder of a sect called Keithian Baptists.
' See William Bradford, under the head of Philadelphia.
294 History of Printing in America.
Bradford continued to print for the government of !N"ew
York ; and during thirty years was the only printer in the
province. On the 16th of October, 1725, he began the publi-
cation of the first newspaper printed in that colony.
Bradford is characterized by Franklin as " a cunning old
fox." Be this as it may, he was very kind to Franklin
when the latter was a young and needy adventurer, as is
apparent from the account which Franklin himself gives
of their first and second, interviews. He had two sons, An-
drew and "William, and a daughter, all by his first wife ; both
sons were brought up to printing. Andrew, who was
named after his grandfather Andrew Sowles, printer in
London, settled in Philadelphia. William not enjoying
health on land, soon after he became of age adopted the
life of a seaman. Tacey, his daughter, who was named
after her grandmother, the wife of Andrew Sowles, was
married to Mr. Hyat, who was several years sheriff of
Philadelphia county.
Bradford, having buried his first wife, married a widow
in the city of New York, of the name of Smith, who had
several children by her former husband. This marriage,
it has been said, was attended with no small injury to his
pecuniary interests. He continued his residence in the city,
and enjoyed a long life without experiencing sickness or
the usual infirmities of age. Several years before his death
he retired from business, and lived with his son William,
in Hanover square. As early as 1728, he owned a paper-
mill at Elizabeth town, New Jersey. When this mill was
built, I cannot determine ; but probably it was the first that
was erected in New Jersey.
On the morning of the day which closed his life, he
walked over a great part of the city. He died May 23,
1752, aged ninety two years. The New York Gazette
which announced his death on the Monday following, men-
tions, " that he came to America seventy years ago ; was
New York. 295
printer to the governmeut upwards of fifty years, and was
a man of great sobriety and industry; a real friend to the
poor and needy, and kind and affable to all. His temper-
ance was exceedingly conspicuous ; and he was almost a
stranger to sickness all his life. He had left off business
several years past, and being quite worn out with old age
and labor, his lamp of life went out for want of oil." He
was buried in Trinity churchyard, where his tombstone yet
remains. The inscription on this stone concludes thus.
" Reader, reflect how soon you'll quit ttis stage,
You'll find but few attain to sucli an age ;
Life's full of pain ; lo, here's a place of rest;
Prepare to meet your God, then you are blest.
" Here also lies the body of Elizabeth, wife to the said William Brad-
ford, who departed this life July 8, 1731, aged 68 years."
l^See Philadelphia — Hist, of Newspapers.']
John Peter Zenger was established in N"ew York as
early as 1726, and printed in Smith street. Afterwards,
in 1734, he removed " to Broad-Street near the upper End
of the Long Bridge." It appears that his business for
several years was confined to printing pamphlets for the
authors of them, and some small articles for himself.
In the latter part of the year 1733 he began the publica-
tion of a newspaper. Until this time only one had been
printed in the city, and there was no other paper issued
from any press between Philadelphia and Boston.
Zenger's Jourval soon assumed political features which
excited general attention in the colony ; several writers in
this paper attacked the measures of government with a
boldness which was unusual in those days. Zenger was,
in consequence, arrested, confined in prison for several
months, debarred the use of pen, ink and paper, denied
the conversation of his friends, and finally tried upon a
296 History of Printing in America.
charge of libellous publications in his Journal ; but he was
acquitted by the jury, to the great mortification of the
officers of the government, and to the no less gratification
of the citizens.^
Zenger was poor.^ Sometime after his commitment his
counsel moved that he might be admitted to bail ; but the
court demanded bail which was deemed to be excessive.
Zenger was examined respecting his property ; and he made
oath " that, his debts being paid, he was not worth forty
pounds, the tools of his trade and his wearing apparel ex-
cepted." Notwithstanding this oath, the court " ordered
that he might be admitted to bail, himself in 400^. with
two sureties, each in 200^., and that he should be remanded
till he gave it. Zenger " knowing this sum to be ten times
the amount of what indemnity he could give to any per-
son to whom he might apply to be his bondsman, declined
to ask that favor of his friends, and submitted to further
confinement."
Zenger was a German. In one of his newspapers, pub-
lished during his imprisonment, he mentioned, that " tho'
he was a poor printer, he should remember that he had
good German blood in his veins." ^ He and Bradford
were, for a number of years, the only printers in New York,
and for a long time they carried on a paper war against
each othei:. In December, 1734, a writer in Bradford's
Gazette accused Zenger of publishing " pieces tending to
1 See Newspapers.
" See Doc. Hist. N. F., iv, 630 ; Life Lord Stirling, 45 ; Smith's Hist. N.
T., II, 16, et seq. — M.
' Among the Palatines that arrived in New York in 1710 were Johanna
Zangerin aged 33, and her son John Peter aged 13. On the 26th Oct. of
that year, the latter was apprenticed to William Bradford, the printer,
by Gov. Hunter, when his mother's name was written Hannah Zenger
{in being a common termination to feminine names in German.) See
iV^. Y. Doc. Hist., 4to, III, 340, 341. His indentures are to be found in
Hist. Mag., 1864, pp. 35, 36. — M.
Ne>^ York. 297
set the province in a flame, and to raise sedition and tu-
mults ;" and deridingly upbraided liim with being brought
to America at the expense of government, etc. Zenger,
in his Journal, refutes the charges of criminality brought
against him. He was then in confinement, and dates
" From, my prison, December 20, 1734." Respecting his
being sent to America at the expense of the government,
he observes : " That I was brought over at the chari-
table expense of the crown is the only truth that groaping
fumbler found when he studied that clumsy performance.—
I acknowledge it ; thanks to Queen Anne, whose name I
mention with revererfce, her bounty to me and my dis-
tress'd country folks will be gratefully remembered," etc.
The writer in the Gazette had made some remarks on
Zenger's sword ; and stated that the sheriff had no private
orders relative to his confinement. To these remarks
Zenger replied — " My sword was never intended to protect
me against a sworn ofi3.cer in the discharge of his duty : But
since this scribbler must needs make himself merry with
it, I think it may not be amiss to tell my readers a serious
but true story. About eight weeks ago the Honorable
Francis Harrison [one of the council] came to my house,
and swore by the Grod that made him he would lay his
cane over me the first time he met me in the street, with
some other scurrilous expressions more fit to be uttered
by a drayman than a gentleman. Against such Assaults
my sword not only could but would have protected me,
and shall while I have it against any man that has impu-
dence enough to attempt any thing of that nature. — Vim
vi repellere licet. What private orders the sheriff had con-
cerning me are best known to himself. This I know that
from the time of my being appehended till the return of the
precept by virtue of which I was taken, I was deny'd the
use of pen, ink, and paper ; alterations were purposely
made on ray account, to put me into a place by myself,
298 History of Printing in America.
where I was so strictly confined above fifty hours that my
wife might not speak to me but in presence of the sub-
sheriff; to say this was done without orders is lybelling
the sheriff, and I hope he will resent it."
It appears that Zenger was a good workman, and a
scholar ; but not a correct printer of English. He had a
family, and two of his sons were his apprentices. He con-
tinued in business till about August, 1746, when he died,
and was succeeded by his widow.
One of his daughters was mistress of a tavern in New
York in 1758, and her house was frequently resorted to
by printers who respected her father.
James Parker was born in Woodbridge, New Jersey,
and served his apprenticeship with William Bradford in
New York. He began business about the year 1742, when
Bradford quitted it. Bradford's New York Gazette being
discontinued, Parker established another newspaper of the
same title, with the addition of Post Boy.
Parker was well acquainted with printing, a neat work-
man, and active in business.^ By the aid of partners, he
established a press at New Haven ; and, conducted one in
New York, and another in Woodbridge. In 1752, he
began the publication of a periodical work, entitled. The
Reflector.^ In January, 1753, Parker commenced a partner-
ship in New York with William Weyman, under the firm
of Parker & Weyman. Weyman managed the concerns
of the firm. They published- several books, and printed
for government. Their newspaper was in good repute ; it
had an extensive circulation, and they acquired property.^
? Gov. Clinton, by a written order under his hand, dated 20 Oct., 1747,
forbade James Parker, who usually printed the journals of the house of
assembly, to publish the assembly's remonstrance to his message and pro-
ceedings.— Smith, II, 150. — 3f.
^ See Newspapers, and other periodical works, under the head of New
York.
New York. 299
Parker purchased the press and types which had been
owned by Zenger; and, in 1755, he opened a printing
house in New Haven, in partnership with John Holt.
During his connection with Weyman, Parker resided for
the greater part of his time at Woodbridge, and managed
the press in that place on his own account. In January,
1759, Parker and Weyman dissolved their partnership.
Parker continued the business a few weeks, and then as-
signed it over to his nephew Samuel Parker. In July,
1760, James Parker resumed his printing house and news-
paper in New York. Holt, having closed his concerns at
New Haven, came to New York, and Parker and he
formed a partnership under the firm of James Parker &
Company. This partnership ended in April, 1762, when
Parker, who still resided in New Jersey, leased his news-
paper and printing house to Holt.
In 1766, Holt quitted the premises, and Parker again
resumed them, and carried on the business of the printing
house, in connection with his son, until a few months
before his death. He had long been an invalid. It was
his intention when he separated from Holt, to have resided
wholly in the city ; but his declining health obhged him
to be a great part of his time at Woodbridge, and finally
to retire from business. In 1770, he closed all his earthly
concerns.^ \_See History of Newspapers, Neiv JerseyJ]
Catharine Zenger. She was the widow of John Peter
Zenger. Her printing house was " in Stone-street, near
Fort George. Catharine Zenger continued the printing
business, and The Neio York Weekly Journal, after her
husband's death in 1746. In December 1748, she resigned
her printing house to her son John Zenger ; and, about
two years after, removed to " Golden-Hill, near Hermanns
Rutgers," where she sold pamphlets, etc.
' For a more extended sketch of Parker see New York Col. Doc, v iii, 221,
note by Dr. O'Callaghan ; also N. T.Doc. Hid., 4to, in, 323.— if.
300 History of Printing in America.
Henry De Foreest was born in li^ew York, ^ and served
his apprenticeship with either Bradford or Zenger, probably
with the latter. I can learn but little respecting him. In
1746, he published a newspaper, entitled, The New York
Evening Post. I cannot ascertain how long before or after
1746, this paper was published. But De Foreest was not
many years in business. He printed several pamphlets,
which I have seen advertised for sale by him in Zenger's
Journal ; also. The Whole Book of Forms, and the Liturgy of
the Dutch Reformed Church, etc., an octavo volume of 216
pages.
John Zenger was the eldest son of John Peter Zenger,
and was taught printing by his father, who died before he
became of age, and he completed his apprenticeship with
his mother. His mother resigned her printing house to
him in 1748. He published a few pamphlets, and printed
blanks for his own sales ; but it does not appear that his
press was employed in any thing of more consequence than
the newspaper, which was begun by his father, continued
by his mother, and now published by him. He printed
the JourjialtiW January 1751. How long after that time he
remained in business, I cannot determine. His printing
house was " in Stone-Street." He printed with the types
that were used by his father, which, in 1750, appeared to
be much worn. His work is not so well executed as that
done by his faXher.
Hugh Gaine was born in Ireland. He served his ap-
prenticeship with James Macgee, printer in Belfast, by
whom Andrew Steuart, who has been mentioned as a
a printer in Philadelphia, was also taught printing. After
1 1 fomierly heard that he was a foreigner, but a grandson of his name,
now living in Philadelphia, has since informed me, that his grandfather
was born in New York, although he can give no account of him as a printer
New York. 301
his arrival in New York he worked several years as a jour-
ney-man to James Parker.
Gaine set up a press in I^ew York, about the year 1750,
and in 1-752 published a newspaper, entitled. The New
York Mercury. He was industrious and economical, and he
experienced the advantages which usually result from such
habits. Having acquired a small property, he took a house
in Hanover square, opened a book and stationery store,
and increased his printing, etc., until his business soon be-
came extensive and lucrative. He kept the stand in Han-
over square above forty years, where he published several
duodecimo and octavo volumes for his own sales, and a
number of pamphlets for himself and others. In 1764
and 1765 he printed for government, the Journal of the Votes
and Proceedings of the House of Assembly^ from 1691 to 1765,
in two large folio volumes of one thousand pages each.
He continued to print and sell books until the close of a
long life.
Gaine's political creed, it seems, was to join the strongest
party. When the British troops were about to take pos-
session of New York in 1776, he left the city, and set up
his press at Newark; but soon after, in the belief that ap-
pearances were against the ultimate success of the United
States, he privately withdrew from Newark, and returned
to New York. At the conclusion of the war, he petitioned
the state legislature for leave to remain in the city, and
having obtained permission, his press was employed in
book printing, etc., but his newspaper was discontinued
when the British army left.
Gaine was punctual in his dealings, of correct moral
habits, and respectable as a citizen. He began the world
a poor man, but by close application to successful business
through a long period of time, he acquired a large property.
He died April 25, 1807, aged eighty-one years.^ [See Hist,
of Newspapers.~\
' See N. v., Due. Hutory, iv, 884-Hr.— J/.
302 History of Printing in America.
William "Weyman, born in Pennsylvania, was the son
of an episcopal clergyman, who was rector of the church
in Oxford, county of Philadelphia. He served his appren-
ticeship with William Bradford, in Philadelphia. He has
already been taken notice of as the partner of James Par-
ker. Parker was the proprietor of the newspaper published
by the company, and the owner of the printing materials.
They printed for the government six years ; and, in the
various branches of their profession, did more business
than any other printers in the city. Weyman was the
principal manager of their press from the commencement
of their connection, and of course was well known to the
public. These circumstances rendered it easy for him to
form an establishment of his own.
The partnership of Parker and Weyman ended in 1759,
and Weyman, having provided himself with new types
and other necessary materials, opened a printing house ;
and, in February of that year, introduced another news-
paper to the public, by the title of The New York Gazette.
It appears that Parker and Weyman were not on friendly
terms after they separated.
Weyman's business was principally confined to his news-
paper, and it yielded him only a maintenance. He died
July 18, 17ti8. His death was thus announced in the Mer-
cury. " Died at his house in this city, of a lingering ill-
ness, which had for some time rendered him incapable of
business, Mr. William Weyman, for many years past a
printer of note." ^ [See Parker — Hist, of Newspapers.']
'In 1763 Weyman began the printing of a new edition of the Indian
Common Prayer Book, under the patronage of Sir William Johnson, the
Rev. Dr. Barclay having undertaken to superintend it. It absorbed
certain sorts to such an extent, that after borrowing all he could get from
the other offices, he was enabled to set up but half a sheet, and the work
went on with the safest haste. The death of Dr. Barclay in 1764 brought
the work to a stand. In a letter to Sir William, dated March 25, 1764, he
wrote that the work " still lies dead, " and suggested that the Rev. Mr. Ogilvie
should be engaged to go on with its supervision. Mr. Weyman having
New York. 303
John Holt was born in Virginia. He received a good
education, and was instructed in the business of a mer-
chant. He commenced his active life with commercial
concerns, which he followed for several years, during which
time he was elected mayor of Williamsburg, in his native
province. In his pursuits as a merchant he was unsuc-
cessful, and in consequence he left Virginia, came to New
York, and formed a connection with James Parker, who
was then about setting up a press in New Haven. Holt
went to New Haven, and conducted their affairs in that
place under the firm of James Parker & Company, as has
been related. After the business at New Haven was dis-
continued, Holt, in the summer of 1760, returned to New
York, and there, as a partner, had the direction of Parker's
Gazette about two years. During the four succeeding
years he hired Parker's printing materials, and managed
The New York Gazette and Post-Boy, as his own concern.
In 1765, he kept a bookstore. In 1766, he left Park-
er's printing house, opened another, and began the publi-
cation of The New York Journal, in the October following,
and retained a large number of the subscribers to the
Gazette.
Holt was a man of ardent feelings, and a high church-
man, but a firm whig, a good writer, and a warm advo-
cate of the cause of his country. A short time before the
British army took possession of New York, he removed to
Esopus, and thence to Poughkeepsie, where he remained
and published his Journal during the war. He left at
died in July, 1768, Hugh Gaine was induced to investigate the condition
and progress made by Weyman, who reported that 74 pages had been print-
ed ; that by reprinting two sheets, 400 copies could be made up ; that Wey-
man was indebted to him £300, and was involved several hundred pounds
more than his estate could pay. {See W Y. Doc. Hist, iv, 327-84.) Weyman
also printed for the Rev. Theodorus Frielinghuysen, of the Dutch Reformed
church at Albany, a Catechism in Low Dutch, without date of publication,
but bearing the date to the preface of 1747. — M.
304 History of Printing in America.
N"ew York a considerable part of his effects, which he
totally lost. Another portion of his property, which had
been sent to Danbury, was pillaged or burnt in that place
by a detachment of the British army ; and a part of his
types, with his household furniture, etc., were destroyed
by the enemy at Esopus. In the autumn of 1783, he re-
turned to New York, and there continued the publication
of the Journal.
He was printer to the state during the war ; and his
widow, at his decease, was appointed to that office. Holt
was brother-in-law to "William Hunter, printer at "Williams-
burgh, who was deputy postmaster general with Franklin.
Soon after his death, his widow printed the following
memorial of him on cards, which she dispersed among her
friends and acquaintances, viz.
" A Due Tribute
To the Memory of
JOHN HOLT,
Printer to this State,
A Native of Virginia,
Who patiently obeyed Death's awful Summons
On the 30th of January, 1784,
In the 64th year of his Age.
To say that His Family lament Him,
Is Needless ;
That His Friends Bewail Him,
Useless ;
That all Regret Him,
Unnecessary ;
For, that He merited Every Esteem
Is certain.
The Tongue of Slander can't say less,
Tho' Justice might say more.
In Token of Sincere Affection
His Disconsolate Widow
Hath caused this Memorial
To be erected."
New York. 305
Samuel Parker was the nephew of James Parker, with
whom he served his apprenticeship. He was only seven-
teen months in business which he did not manage to the
best advantage. He was, however, an expert workman.
His uDcle assigned his printing house to him in February,
1759 ; but resumed it in July, 1760. Parker died at "Wil-
mington, North Carolina, previous to the revolution.
Samuel Farley came from Bristol, England. He was
the son of Felix Farley, formerly the proprietor and printer
of the Bristol Journal. He settled in New York in 1760,
and published a newspaper in 1761, when William God-
dard and Charles Crouch were his journeymen. In 1762,
his printing house was burnt, in which calamity most of
his printing materials were destroyed. Some time after
this event, he went to Georgia, and having passed through
the preparatory studies, he there commenced the practice
of law. He left Georgia about the year 1775. When he
died I cannot say.
James Robertson & Company had a printing house in
Broad street in 1768, and in 1769 removed to " the corner
of Beaver street, opposite to his Excellency Governor
Gage's." Robertson was the son of a printer in Scotland,
and, as has elsewhere been stated, went from thence to
Boston with John Fleming. When Robertson was in New
York, the firm of the company was altered to Alexander
t -James Robertson, who were brothers, and royalists.
They published a newspaper; but after a trial of some
moni hs it was, discontinued ; and they removed to Albany,
and f riated a newspaper in that city. They afterwards, in
conneedon with John Trumbull, opened a printing house
in Norwich. The Robertsons returned to New York when
it was in possession of the royal army, in the time of the
306 History of Printing in America.
war. On the establishment of peace, they removed to Shel-
burne, Nova Scotia. [See Norwich.']
Samuel F. Parker, the son of James Parker, had an
interest in the printing house and business of his father in
"New York several years before his father died. Not long
after the death of James Parker, Samuel leased his print-
ing house, with the apparatus and the Gazette, to Inslee &
Carr, and otherwise disposed of the press and types in
Woodbridge. Being infirm in health, he did but little busi-
ness at printing, after his father's death. In 1773, he, in
company with John Anderson, endeavored to reestablish
The Gazette and Post Boy, which had been discontinued by
Inslee & Carr, but did not succeed. He died some time
after.
Samuel Inslee & Anthony Carr were copartners,
and had for some time been in the printing house of James
Parker, with whom Carr served his apprenticeship. In
1770, soon after Parker died, they took his printing house
and materials on a lease from his son, and continued The
New York Gazette and Post Boy for more thantwo years,
but did little other printing. Inslee was afterwards employed
by Collins at Trenton, and died suddenly in his printing
house.
James Rivington, was from London. He was bred a
bookseller,^ and as such went extensively into business in
' The house of Rivington, still extant in London, was established in 1711
by Charles Rivington, who succeeded Richard Chiswell in Paternoster
row in that year, and it has ever since been familiar to the readers of
religious books in every part of the world wherever the English language
is spoken. He was succeeded in 1742 by his sons John and James, the
latter of whom is the subject of this sketch. John died in 1792, and the
business is still continued by his descendants. James was the original
publisher of Smollett's History of England, by which it is said that he made
£10,000, a larger sum than had ever before been made by one book.— i/.
New York. 307
that city. No man in the trade was better acquainted with
it than he. He possessed good talents, polite manners,
was well informed, and acquired so much property as to
be able to keep a carriage. He formed an acquaintance
with many of the nobility, which led him into a dissipated
and expensive course of life. Rivington became fond of
amusements, and regularly attended the horse races at
Newmarket ; at one of which he lost so much money as
to conceive himself to be ruined. He was, therefore, in-
duced to persuade one of his principal creditors to take
out a commission of bankruptcy against him. After due
examination into his affairs, his creditor assured him that
it was unneccessary, as he possessed property more than
sufficient to pay all demands against him. Rivington,
however, persisted in his request, and went through the
process required by the bankrupt act. He eventually paid
twenty shillings in the pound, and had something left.^
This event determined Rivington to remove to America,
where he arrived in 1760, and settled as a bookseller in
Philadelphia. The year following he left his business in
Philadelphia with a partner by the name of Brown, and
went to New York, opened a bookstore at the "Lower
end of Wall street," ^ and made that city his place of resi-
dence. In 1762, he commenced bookselling in Boston,
by an agent, William Miller, who the same year became
his partner, but died in 1765 ; and, in consequence, the
bookstore in Boston was discontinued.
After some years he failed ; but very speedily settling
his affairs, he recommenced business, which he confined
to New York. He eventually adopted printing ; and in
April, 1773, published a newspaper, which was soon de-
1 This information was received from one of his assignees by a genlle-
man, who communicated it to me.
* In September, 1760, Rivington advertised tliat he had just opened in
Hanover square, and is styled the only London bookseller in America.— 3/
308 History of Printing in America.
voted to the royal cause. Eivington printed several books
for his own sales, among which was Cooke's Voyage, in two
volumes 12mo., and dealt largely as a bookseller and sta-
tioner. He knew how to get money, and knew as well how
to spend it ; being facetious, companionable, and still fond
of high living; but, like a man acquainted with the world,
he distinguished the guests who were his best customers.
Rivington, in his Gazette, fought the Rebels, a term of
which he made very frequent use while he entertained the
opinion that the Americans would be subjected by the
British arms; but, when he despaired of this event, and
believed that Great Britain would, herself, acknowledge
the independence of the United States, he deemed it pru-
dent to conciliate the minds of some of the leading Ame-
ricans. To this end, it is said, he sent out of the city
such communications as he knew w^ould be interesting
to the commanders of the American army, and he ven-
tured to remain in New York when the British troops
evacuated it, at the conclusion of the war. Eivington, in
consequence of his peace offerings, was protected from the
chastisement he might otherwise have received on the
part of those whom he had personally abused in his paper ;
among whom were several officers of the American army.^
' fie used to relate a story of his interview with the noted Ethan Allen,
who paid him a visit for the purpose of administering chastisement.
He says, " I was sitting alone, after a good dinner, with a bottle of Ma-
deira before me, when I heard an unusual noise in the street and a huzza
from the boys. I was in the second story, and stepping to the window,
saw a tall figure in tarnished regimentals, with a large cocked hat and an
enormous long sword, followed by a crowd of boys, who occasionally
cheered him with huzzas of which he seemed insensible. He came up to
my door and stopped. I could see no more, my heart told me it was
Ethan Allen. I shut my window and retired behind my table and my
bottle. I was certain the hour of reckoning had come. There was no
retreat. Mr. Staples, my clerk, came in paler than ever, and clasping his
hands, said, ' Master, he has come I ' 'I know it.' ' He entered the store
and asked if James Rivington lived there, I answered yes, sir. Is he at
home ? I will go and see, sir, I said, and now master what is to be done !
There he is in the store and the boys peeping at him from the street.' I
New York. 309
Rivington, at this period, quitted printing; and discon-
tinued his Gazette, which failed for want of customers to
support it ; but he uninterruptedly, and to a large extent,
traded in books and stationery several years after the
establishment of peace. He finally failed again, and being
advanced in years, closed his business, and soon after his
life. He died at the age of seventy-eight years, in July,
1802.1
It is but justice to add, that Rivington, for some time,
conducted his Gazette with such moderation and im-
partiality as did him honor. To the other qualities of a
gentleman he added benevolence, vivacity, and with the
exceptions already mentioned, punctuality in his business.
Interest often produces a change of opinion, and the causes
which induced Rivington to support the measures of the
British cabinet were sufiiciently apparent. And the visit
made to him by a party of men from Connecticut, who
bad made up my mind. I looked at the Madeira — possibly took a glass.
Show bim up, said I, and if sucb Madeira cannot mollify him he must be
harder than adamant. There was a fearful moment of suspense. I heard
him on the stairs, his long sword clanking at every step. In he stalked.
' Is your name James Rivington ? ' It is, sir, and no man could be more
happy to see Colonel Ethan Allen. ' Sir, I have come ' Not another
word, my dear Colonel, until you have taken a seat and a glass of old
Madeira. ' But, sir, I don't think it proper ' Not another word,
Colonel ; taste this wine, I have had it in glass for ten years ; old wine
you know, unless it is originally sound, never improves by age. He
took the glass, swallowed the wine, smacked his lips and shook his head
approvingly. ' Sir, I come ' Not another word until you have taken
another glass, and then, my dear Colonel, we will talk of old affairs, and
I have some queer events to detail. In short, we finished two bottles of
Madeira, and parted as good friends as if we had never had cause to be
otherwise."— See Publishers' Circular, xv, 10 ; N. T. Col. History, viii,
568 ; Sabine's Loyalists. — M.
1 Rivington was twice married, first to Miss Minshull in England, and
second to Miss Elisabeth Van Home, of New York The latter died
in July, 1795, leaving descendants. Susan Rivington, daughter of James,
died June 16, 1848, aged 74. His portrait is preserved in the gallery of
the New York Historical Society, and one of the streets in that city still
bears his name. — M.
310 History of Printing in America.
destroyed liis press, etc., as will be hereafter related, doubt-
less tended to prejudice his mind against the American
cause; and prompted him, after he was appointed printer
to the king, and placed under the protection of the royal
army, boldly, and without disguise, to carry his resentment
beyond the bounds of truth and justice. [See Newspapers,
New York']
Robert Hodge was born in Scotland, served his appren-
ticeship with a printer in Edinburgh, and, when out of his
time, went to London, where he worked as a journeyman
two years. In 1770, he came to America, and was
employed in the printing house of John Dunlap, in Phila-
delphia. Hodge was industrious, prudent, and a good
workman. He became acquainted with a young printer
possessing similar qualifications. By their industry and
economy they soon acquired sufficient property to purchase
printing materials. With these, in 1772, they began busi-
ness in Baltimore, where they intended to have published
a newspaper ; but, not meeting with the encouragement
they expected, before the end of the year they left Balti-
more, and settled in New York. Here they opened a
printing house in Maiden lane, and commenced business
under the firm of Hodge & Shober. Their partnership
continued for more than two years. Early in 1775, Hodge
sold his part of the press and types to his partner, and they
separated.
During their partnership they printed the greater part
of an edition of Josephus's Works, in four volumes octavo,
for a bookseller in Philadelphia. But it appearing in the
event, that he was not able to support the expense of the
whole of the edition through the press, Hodge completed
the impression. On the approach of the British troops,
whoinl776 took the city, Hodge removed into the country,
but could not take with him all his books; he left in the
New York. 311
city one half of them in sheets, and those he lost. He re-
mained in the country in the state of New York for a year
or two, when he went to Boston, and there, in connection
with others, opened a printing house.
When peace was restored to the country, he returned to
New York, and began the business of a bookseller. Soon
after he entered into partnership with two other booksellers,
who were his countrymen, and they opened a printing
house of which he had the management. This company
continued in business for more than three years. During
this period, Hodge's dwelling house and bookstore were
consumed by fire, by which unfortunate event he lost a
considerable part of his property ; and, soon after, the part-
nership was dissolved.
Hodge continued the business of a bookseller for several
subsequent years; he then sold his stock in trade, pur-
chased an estate in Brooklyn, on Long Island, to which he
retired. He died in August, 1813, aged 67 years.
Frederick Shober was born in Germany, but served an
apprenticeship with AnthonyArmbruster, a German printer,
in Philadelphia. He worked as a journeyman for two or
three years, was attentive to business, and very prudent.
In 1772, he entered into partnership with Robert Hodge,
and they opened a printing house in Baltimore. They
remained in Baltimore a few months, and then removed
to New York. In 1775, they closed the concerns of the
company. Shober purchased the property of Hodge in the
printing house, and sold it to Samuel Loudon, who became
his partner. The name of the company was, Shober &
Loudon. The confusion into which business of every kind
was thrown by the commencement of hostilities alarmed
Shober ; and, before the close of the year 1775, he sold
his right in the printing materials to Loudon, retired to
the country, purchased a farm, engaged in the business of
312 History of Printing in America.
agriculture, and never resumed printing. He died about
1806, at, or near, Shrewsbury In ITew Jersey.
Samuel Loudon, was born in Ireland, and settled in
'New York some years before the revolution as a ship
chandler. In 1775, he purchased a part of the printing-
materials owned by Shober; In company with whom he
began printing. They were but a few months together
before Shober judged It prudent, from the existing situation
of public affairs, to leave ISTew York, and retire to a farm.
Loudon purchased the remainder of the printing materials,
and opened a printing house " In Water street, between
the Coffee house and the Old Slip."
Loudon was decidedly a whig, and In the first week In
January, 1776, published a newspaper devoted to the cause
of the country. A short time before the British army took
possession of the city. In 1776, he removed with his press
to Flshklll, and there published The Neio York Packet until
the establishment of peace;, when he returned to the city,
and remained In business long after.
Loudon printed a few books, and kept a book store ; he
was an elder In " the Scotch Seceder church." He died
at Mlddletown Point, New Jersey, February 24, 1813,
aged elghty-slx years.
John Anderson, was the partner of Samuel F. Parker
in 1773 ; and, having made an unsuccessful attempt to re-
vive Parker's iVe?^ York Gazette, the J seipar Sited; after which
Anderson opened a printing house " on Beekman's-Sllp ;"
and Issued some Inconsiderable articles from his press. In
1775, he published a small newspaper.
I have been Informed that he was from Scotland.
New York. 313
Albany.
Alexander and James Robertson. James Robertson
first set up his press in New York, in 1768. After remain-
ing there a short period, he entered into partnership with
his brother. They published in that city The New York
Chronicle, which, after a trial of about two years, was dis-
continued, and they removed to Albany. Until that time,
New York was the only place in the colony where printing
had been introduced.
The Robertsons were the first who opened a printing
house in Albany. They were patronized by Sir William
Johnson, then saperintendant of Indian affairs, who ad-
vanced them money to purchase a press and types. They
began business there about the year 1771, and soon after
published a newspaper.
They set up a press in Norwich, Conn., in 1775, in com-
pany with John Trumbull, but continued their printing
house in Albany until the commencement of the revolu-
tionary war; when, being detected in publishing and circu-
lating in a private manner, highly obnoxious handbills, etc.,
in support of the royal cause which they decidedly espoused,
they judged it expedient hastily to leave the city, and went
to Norwich. They left their press and types in the care
of a friend who resided in the vicinity of Albany. This
friend removed them privately to his farm, and there buried
them. They were afterwards taken up and sold to Solomon
Balantine, who began the establishment of a second news-
paper in that city in 1782.
The Robertsons remained in Norwich until the British
army, in 1776, took possession of New York, when they
went to that city, and there published The Royal American
Gazette. [See New York — Norwich.']
314 History of Printing in America.
NEW JERSEY.
- Several presses were occasionally set up in this province
by Keimer, and others, from Philadelphia and New York,
to print the bills of credit, or paper currency, and to do other
occasional printing for the government; and, when the
particular business was accomplished, the printers returned
to the place of their permanent residence with their presses.
"WOODBRIDGE.
The first press established in New Jersey, it appears,
was at Woodbridge, and for many years this was the only
one in the colony.
The printing which had been done for government by
presses set up occasionally, as mentioned above, was exe-
cuted at Burlington. It was there that Keimer, in 1727,
sent Franklin to print the bills of credit ; for which, Frank-
lin observes, he " engraved various ornaments, and per-
formed the business to general satisfaction."
James Parker, who has been mentioned among the
printers of New Haven and New York, was born in that
borough, and there began business about the year 1751.
He had for several years conducted a press and a news-
paper in New York, but having taken William Weyman
as a partner in his concerns in that city, he intrusted* the
management of the establishment to him, and returned
himself to the place of his nativity. There he printed a
folio edition of the Laws of the Province^ and, from time
to time, the votes and resolves of the legislature, and did
^ The copies of this edition of The Laws of New Jersey, were sold for five
dollars each. The editor was Judge Nevill, who had it printed on his
own account.
New Jersey. 315
other work for goverment. There also he published,
monthly, more than two years, a magazine, and otherwise
employed his press on his own account.
To accommodate the printing of Smith's History of New
Jersey^ in 1765, Parker removed his press to Burlington,
and there began and completed the work, consisting of
570 pages, demy octavo, and then returned with his press
to Woodbridge.
Parker was a correct and eminent printer. Besides his
professional concerns, he was much employed in the pub-
lic transactions ; he was a magistrate, a captain of a troop
of horse, in New Jersey, and comptroller and secretary
of the general postoffice for the northern district of the
British colonies. He possessed a sound judgment, and a
good heart; was industrious in business, and upright in
his dealings.
He died July 2, 1770, at Burlington, where he had re-
sided a short time for the benefit of his health. His
funeral was attended five miles from Burlington, by a
number of gentlemen of that city, and was met at Amboy
by others, who then joined the procession to his house in
Woodbridge, where a numerous concourse was collected,
and accompanied his remains to the cemetery where those
of his ancestors reposed.
\_See N. Haven — New York — Hist, Newspapers.']
Samuel F. Parker has been mentioned, as connected
with his father in the printing business, during several
years ; and, afterward, with John Anderson, in New York.
After the death of his father, he became possessed of a
large printing apparatus ; but from it he derived very little
benefit, as he leased the establishment at New York, not
much to his advantage, and sold that at Woodbridge, in
the course of a few years. He did not improve either his
time or his talents; his health decayed; and he slept with
316 History of Printing in America.
his fathers, before he had attained the number of years to
which they arrived.
Burlington.
Some suppose that "William Bradford introduced printing
into that city before the settlement of Philadelphia ; but that
opinion is so far from being certain it is not even probable.
Isaac Collins, was a native of Delaware. His parents
were from England, and died in early life. He served his
apprenticeship, until he was twenty years of age, with
James Adams, at Wilmington. He then went, by the con-
sent of Adams, who had but little business, and finished
his apprenticeship with William Rind at Williamsburg,
Virginia. When of age, he was employed by Goddard
and others in Philadelphia; and for his extraordinary
attention to business, received twenty-five per cent, more
wages than other journeymen in the same printing house.
For a short time he was the partner of Joseph Crukshank,
in that city.
By the death of James Parker, there was an opening for
the settlement of a printer in that colony. Collins em-
braced the opportunity ; and, being supplied with a press,
types, etc., by his late partner, he removed to, and began
business in Burlington in 1770, and resided there for
several years after the commencement of the war. In 1770
he was appointed printer to the government, or, " to the
Kiug's Most Excellent Majesty," as appears from the im-
print of proclamations, etc., which issued from his press.
In 1777 he began a newspaper.
He afterwards removed to Trenton, and there prosecuted
his business for a number of years. He continued to be
printer to the state, and at Trenton he printed a handsome
and very correct quarto edition of the Bible; also, an edi-
New Jersey. 317
tion in octavo of the New Testament ; and several other
books.
CoUins was of the society of Friends, and was a correct
and neat printer. He received much assistance from the
quakers in printing the Bible, particularly from those in
Philadelphia, New Jersey, and New York. He subse-
quently removed to New York, there set up his press, and
continued active in book printing for some years. His
parents dying when he was very young, he had nothing on
which he could depend for his advancement in life, but his
own exertions. After an attention to business for thirty-
five years, he was enabled to retire and enjoy, in the society
of his friends, the reward of his industry. He brought up,
and educated in a reputable manner, a large family, and
had a son a printer in New York. He died in March, 1817,
in Burlington aged 71 years.
\_See Newspapers.']
318 History of Printing in America.
DELAWARE.
Printing had a late introduction into Delaware ; it was,
Georgia excepted, the last of the thirteen colonies where a
press was established. The laws, etc., were printed in
Philadelphia previous to the year 1761.
Wilmington.
The first printing house introduced into that colony was
opened in that town only about fourteen years before the
commencement of the war, by
James Adams, who was born in Ireland, and learned
the art of printing in Londonderry. "When of age, he
came to Philadelphia, and was there employed seven years
by Franklin & Hall.
He began business for himself, in that city, about the
year 1760 ; but, in 1761, he removed his press to Wil-
mington, and established himself there. In 1762, he
published proposals for printing a newspaper; but not
meeting with encouragement, it was discontinued after
being published six months.
He printed for government, and although his business
was not extensive, he acquired considerable property.
Several works on religious subjects, came from his press;
and he published one or more almanacs annually, and
bound and sold books.
Adams was a good workman, an exemplary Christian,
and much esteemed. When the British army were ap-
proaching Philadelphia, in 1777, he removed his printing
materials, family, etc., to the vicinity of Doylestown, Bucks
county. Pa. There he printed an Almanac, but other-
wise his press was not employed. When the British
Delaware. 319
evacuated Philadelphia, in 1778, he returned with his
press, etc., to "Wilmington.
He died near the close of the year 1792, aged sixty
three years. He left a large family; four sons and six
daughters. The sons were all brought up to printing.
Two of them succeeded their father, but were not suc-
cessful in business.
The following anecdote finds a place here. Adams had
hired a man to pull a press, while an apprentice was em-
ployed to beat the form. The man had engaged at a
shilling a token. The boy was repeatedly, in the course
of a day, called by the mistress for culinary and house
purposes, whereby the man was much injured. Finding
his bill, each week, to fall short of his maintenance, he
fell upon a plan to augment his wages, and at the same
time fulfil his engagement. When the boy was called
away he would still pound and pull the sheets as usual,
leaving sufficient time between each for the form to be
inked. Adams on inspecting the heap, and perceiving so
many faintly impressed copies, asked the meaning. " I
suppose the boy has not beat them;" replied the man,
" and I am sure I leave him time enough and have also
performed my duty in pulling." Adams was diverted
with the humor of the man, and ordered the boy to be no
more called from the press.
Adams was the only printer who settled in Delaware
before 1775.
320 History of Printing in America.
MARYLAND.
A printing house was not established in Maryland for
more than ninety years after the province was granted by
King Charles I, to George Calvert, baron of Baltimore, iA
Ireland.
Annapolis.
The first press was set up in that city, in 1726.^ Before
that time the printing for the colony was done at Philadel-
phia, by Andrew Bradford.
William Parks. The earliest book I have met with,
printed in Maryland is, A complete Collection of the Laws of
Maryland. Collected by Authority. This work is dedicated
to Lord Baltimore. Imprint — "Annapolis, Printed by
William Parks. 1727."
Parks began a newspaper either in 1727 or in 1728, most
probably the year last mentioned. This paper, it appears
from the best information, was carried on about eight
years, when it was discontinued, and Parks established
himself in Virginia. He had, in 1729, printed at Williams-
burg, the Laws of Virginia, etc. During several years he
printed for both colonies, and had a press in each.
About the year 1733, he quitted Maryland; and, some
time after, the government of the colony procured another
printer. By Keimer's account, the government of each
1 Mr. J. Sabin sends the following title : The | Declaration | of the | Rea-
sons and Motives | For the Present | Appearing in Arms |- of | Their Ma-
jesties I Protestant Subjects | In the Province of | Maryland. | Licens'd,
November 28th, 1689. J. F. | [Colophon : ] Maryland, Printed by William
Nuthead at the City of St. \ Maries. \ Reprinted in London, and Sold by Ran-
dal lay- I hr, near Stationers Hall, 1689. | Folio, pp. 8. No clue has been
found to any press in Maryland so early as this. — M.
Maryland. 321
colony paid Parks a salary of two hundred pounds per
annum in countrj^ produce.^
Jonas Green was born in Boston ; he was the son of
Timothy Green, who, in 1714, removed from Boston to
New London. The government of Maryland having
offered a generous consideration to a printer who would
establish a press in Annapolis, he closed with the proposal
and in 1740 opened a printing house in that city. He was
appointed printer for the colony, and had granted to him
an annual salary of 500^. currency. For this sum he printed
the laws as they were made from session to session, pro-
clamations, etc., he being paid the cost of paper used in
the work. In 1745 he began a newspaper which was con-
tinued by his successors. He printed in 1755 a revised
edition of the Laws ; and in 1765, Bacon's Laws of Mary-
land, in a large folio volume. His printing was correct,
and few, if any, in the colonies exceeded him in the neat-
ness of his work. Green possessed handsome talents, was
respected for his conduct in private life, and, in the circle
of his acquaintance, was celebrated for his wit and urbanity.
A few years before he died he received "William Rind
as a partner. The firm of the company was. Green &
Rind. In 1765, Rind removed to, and settled in, Virginia.
Green died April 7th, 1767, aged fifty-six years.
Anne Catharine Green, was born in Holland, and
came when an infant, with her parents, to Maryland. She
married Jonas Green; and, in 1767, succeeded him in hid
business. She printed for the colony, and published the
Gazette. William Green, her son, became her partner in
' See Keimer's poetical address to his customers at Barbadoes, extracted
from tlie Barbadoes Gazette of May 4tk, 1734. Keimer had been a printer
in Philadelphia, and must have been acquainted with the public and pri-
vate concerns of the few printers then in the colonies.
322 History of Printing in America.
1768 ; the firm was, Anne Catharine Green & Son. Wil-
liam died in August 1770, and Anne Catharine continued
the business in her own name. She was the mother of
six sons and eight daughters. She died March 23, 1775,
aged forty-two years.
Frederick Green, the son of Jonas and Anne Catharine,
was born in Annapolis, and brought up to printing by his
father. He succeeded his mother as printer to the colony,
and in other business, in 1775 ; and about the year 1777
he entered into partnership with his brother Samuel,
under the firm of Frederick & Samuel Green. They
then printed, and kept the postoffice, " in Charles-Street."
They were the fifth generation of a regular descent of
printers in this country. Their great-great grandfather
began printing at Cambridge, Massachusetts, about 1649;
as has been mentioned in the account given of him and
his other descendants.
After the decease of Frederick and Samuel Green, the
business was continued by Green, son of the last men-
tioned Green, a great-great-great grandson of Samuel Green
printer in Cambridge.
Baltimore.
This city was but a small village in 1755. Printing was
not introduced there till several years after that time.
!N"iCHOLAS Hasselbaugh was born in Pennyslvania, of
parents who were of German extraction. He was taught
printing by Sower, in Germantown, and also acquired a
knowledge of papermaking. This last branch of manu-
facturing he followed some time near that place ; but,
eventually, removed and established a printing press in
Baltimore.
He was well supplied with types, manufactured in Ger-
Maryland. 323
mantown, for printing both in the German and English
languages ; and was the first who printed in that city. He
issued school and other small books, etc., from his press, in
both languages ; and contemplated publishing a German
translation of the Bible. The following anecdote, which
many years since was circulated in Maryland, gives strength
to the supposition that he was actually engaged in that
work.
A missionary for propagating the gospel among the
Indians, was engaged in that benevolent design in the
back settlements of Maryland; and, at a time when a
number of Indians were assembled to hear him unfold and
explain the doctrines of the Christian religion, he had a
Bible in his hand, which he held forth, and with much
zeal pronounced it to be " the gospel — the truth — the work
of God !" He was interrupted — " What !" said one of
them, " did the great all powerful spirit make this hook V
" Yes," replied the missionary, " it is his work." The
Indian, taking the expression according to the literal im-
port of the words, answered indignantly — "' I believe it to
be a great lie ! I go to Baltimore last month, where I see
Dutchmen make him. Great Spirit want no Dutchmen to
help him." With these words the savage took an abrupt
leave of his instructor.
This anecdote might have given rise to the opinion that
Hasselbaugh had printed a part of the Bible. It was related
when there was no other printer in Baltimore. The fact,
after all, might have been, that the Indian, when at Balti-
more, had seen some printing performed ; perhaps a spel-
ling book was at the time in the press, and probably he
did not know one book from another.
Hasselbaugh was an inhabitant of Baltimore for several
years. He possessed a spirit of enterprise, was fertile in
invention, and acquired a handsome property. To facili-
tate some plan of business which he had newly formed, he
324 History of Peinting in America.
went abroad and was lost at sea. His widow, in 1773, sold
his printing materials to William Goddard, who again
sold part of them to Bailey, printer in Lancaster, Pennsyl-
vania.
Enoch Story, the Younger, was born in Pennsylvania,
and served an apprenticeship with Hall & Sellers in Phila-
delphia, as has been related in treating of the printers of
that city. He began printing in Baltimore previous to the
year 1773. Story sold his types to Goddard, returned to
Philadelphia, and printed in Strawberry alley.
Hodge and Shober opened a printing house in Balti-
more, in 1772 ; and issued proposals for publishing a news-
paper ; but, before the end of the year, they removed to
New York. \_See New York.']
William Goddard has been mentioned as the first
printer in Providence, Rhode Island ; and, afterwards, as
the publisher of the Pennsylvania Chronicle in Philadelphia.
In 1773 he removed to Baltimore.
I have already observed that Goddard was a good printer,
and an able editor ; but he, in many instances, was unsuc-
cessful. The partnership with Galloway and Wharton in
Philadelphia proved very unfortunate, and terminated un-
profitably for Goddard, and the parties separated much
dissatisfied with each other. After two trials to establish
himself in business, he began " anew," as he relates, " on
the small capital of a single, solitary guinea.'^ He made in-
terest to purchase the materials in the printing house of
Hasselbaugh, and added to them the few owned by Enoch
Story. He again began a newspaper, the third attempted
in the province ; but at this time there was only one pub-
lished, the Maryland Gazette. After remaining at Balii-
Maryland. 325
more nearly two years, he found it necessary to devote
some time to the settlement of his former concerns.
Another object at this period attracted his attention. A
plan was formed to abolish, in effect, the general postoffice
under the direction of the British government, by estab-
lishing, in opposition, a line of postriders from Georgia to
New Hampshire. This system was to have been supported
from a, fund to be raised by the subscriptions of individuals.
Goddard left his printing house in the care of his sister,
and went through the colonies with a view to carry this
plan into operation. A large sum was subscribed, and the
scheme was in a rapid state of progression, when the revo-
lutionary war began.
When congress superseded the British government in
the management of the post office, Franklin was continued
as postmaster general, with the privilege of giving com-
missions to all other officers in the department. The ser-
vices rendered by Goddard to this establishment, led him
to believe, and his friends to expect, that he would receive
the appointment of secretary and comptroller of the post
office; but Franklin thought proper to give this office to
Richard Bache, his son-in-law, and tendered to Goddard
the choice of surveyorship of post roads, or the office of
deputy postmaster for Baltimore and ]Srorfolk. Goddard
was greatly disappointed, but the state of his affairs made
it expedient that he should accept either the one or the
other of these places, and he chose that of surveyor of
post roads. In 1776, Franklin was sent on an embassy to
Europe; and his son-in-law, Bache, succeeded him as post-
master general. Goddard again expected the office of
comptroller, but being again disappointed he resigned his
surveyorship ; and it was apprehended that there was, from
that time, some change in his political principles.
Goddard, after having resigned his commission, returned
to Baltimore, and there resided ; but the business of the
326 History of Printing in America.
printing house continued to be under the management,
and in the name of his sister. It was, however, well
known that he was interested in the Maryland Journal, and
had the control of it.
A number of zealous advocates for the American cause
had associated in Baltimore, and were called the Whig
club. Of this club Commodore Nicholson, then com-
mander of the frigate Virginia, belonging to the United
States, was president. In February, 1777, a report was
circulated that the British general Howe had offered the
most eligible terms of accommodation to congress, which
had been rejected and concealed from the people. To
ridicule this false and idle report, an ironical piece, signed
Tom Tell Truth, written by a member of congress,^ appeared
in Goddard's paper, published by his sister ; but for fear
this piece might be misconceived by some, and produce a
serious belief in them that these offers had actually been
made to congress, another piece was published in the
same paper to counteract any bad tendencies of the first.
Both pieces were written by the same person. The Whig
club was alarmed ; the members of it believed these pieces
would produce dangerous effects, and supposed that they
were written by some British emissary. They enquired of
Miss Goddard who was the author ; she referred them to her
brother. Goddard was applied to, and refused to give up
the author, who was not in town, and could not then be
consulted. Some warm words passed between Goddard
and the deputed members of the club. The deputation
was renewed, with a written mandate ordering him to
appear before them the next evening. Goddard treated
the mandate and the deputies who bore it rather cavalierly,
and did not obey. The club then deputed a committee of
six of its members to bring him before them, and if neces-
' Judge C***e, as I am informed.
Maryland. 327
Bary, to use force. Goddard refused to accompany the
committee ; some of them were armed, and they seized
him, and by violence carried him to the club room ; here
he wa's refractory, and would not discover the author.
The club, in consequence, passed the following resolution,
viz.
" In Whig Club, March 4, 1777.
" Resolved, that William Goddard do. leave this town by
twelve o'clock to-morrow morning, and the county in three
days. Should he refuse due obedience to this notice, he
will be subject to the resentment of a Legion."
Goddard went the next day to Annapolis, where the
general assembly was then in session, and presented a
memorial to the legislature, detailing his case, and pray-
ing for protection. The house referred the case to their
committee of aggrievances, which reported, that " the pro-
ceedings of the whig club were a manifest violation of the
constitution, and directly contrary to the declamtion of
rights assented to by the representatives of the freemen
of the state. The club published a vindication of their
proceedings. Goddard, in reply, published a pamphlet,
giving an account of the whole transaction, and satirizing
the members of the club with some severity. This pamph-
let increased the violence of the club, and Goddard thought
himself in danger from their resentment. He therefore
presented a second memorial to the house of delegates ;
in consequence of which, the house, on the 11th of April,
1777, passed the following resolutions.
" Resolved, That the proceedings of the persons in Balti-
more town, associated and stiled. The Whig Club, are a
most daring infringement and a manifest violation of the
constitution of this state, directly contrary to the Declara-
tion of Rights, and tend, in their consequences, unless
328 History of Printing in America.
timely checked, to the destruction of all regular govern-
ment.
^^ Resolved unanimously, That the governor be requested
to issue his proclamation, declaring all bodies of men asso-
ciated together, or meeting for the purpose, and usurping
any of the powers of government, and presuming to exercise
any power over the persons or property of any subjects of
this state, or to carry into execution any of the laws thereof,
unlawful assemblies, and requiring all such assemblies and
meetings instantly to disperse.
" Resolved, That the governor be requested to afford
"William Goddard the protection of the law of the land, and
to direct the justices of Baltimore county to give him every
protection in their power, against all violence or injury to
his person or property."
Governor Johnson, on the 17th of April, 1777, issued his
proclamation conformably to the above resolutions. The
interposition of government in favor of Goddard, did not
immediately secure to him a state of tranquility. He was
accused of toryism, but the accusation did not appear to be
supported. It was, however, sometime before his enemies
ceased to be troublesome.
In June, 1779, Goddard and Elea^ar Oswald advertised
that they had formed a- partnership as printers, booksellers
and stationers; but this connection was of very short
duration. Goddard's sister continued to publish the Jour-
nal. On the 6th of July, 1779, appeared in that paper
certain " Queries political and military," written by General
Charles Lee. These were sent to the press by Goddard,
and when published they occasioned great commotion in
Baltimore. An assembly of " the people" was holden,
and a committee consisting of about forty was chosen to
wait on Goddard and demand the author of the queries.
This occasioned a considerable ferment, and the disagree-
ment between Goddard and the Whig. Club rose to a very
Maryland. 329
high pitch. The violence of the clabists was excessive ;
but he resisted them with much energy. However, after a
long and arduous contest, in which Goddard was, agreeably
to the language of the day, " several times mobbed, and
grievously insulted," the " rage of the people " subsided;
and he finally quitted Baltimore on good terms with Legion
and the profanurn vulgus.
Goddard was variously employed until 1784, when he re-
sumed his printing house, and recommenced the publication
of the Journal. About this time a rival paper was pub-
lished by Hayes, which produced, occasionally, a little
typographical sparring from each of the editors. In 1787,
an almanac published by Goddard was ridiculed by Hayes.
This produced a fierce paper war, in which neither party
spared the other; but Goddard appeared to be fully a
match for his antagonist.
Goddard continued in active business until 1792;^ he
then sold his printing establishment to his brother-in-laAV,
who, although not a printer, had been in partnership with
him. He published, in the Journal, a valedictory address
to the citizens of Maryland, whom he left in friendship,
and retired himself in peace to a farm in Johnston, near
Providence, in the state of Rhode Island.
Mary Katharine Goddard was born in Connecticut, and
was the sister of "William Goddard. She was an expert and
correct compositor of types, and ably conducted the print-
ing house of her brother during the time he was engaged
in other concerns. For a period of about eight years,
the Journal and every work which issued from that press,
were printed and published in her name, and partly on her
account. She kept the postoffice, and continued the news-
paper, until her brother resumed its publication in 1784.
' Goddard loaned a press and types to George Richards, who first pub-,
lished a newspaper in Richmond, entitled The Virginia Gazette.
History of Printing in America.
VIRGINIA.
This colony was the first British settlement in America;
but it is not the oldest in printing. Printing was not
courted, and it would seem not desired, till many years
after the establishment of the province.
Sir William Berkeley, who was governor of the colony
thirty-eight years, in his twenty-third answer to the in-
quiries of the lords of the committee for the colonies in
1671, sixty-four years after the settlement of Virginia,,
says, " I thank God we have not free schools nor printing ;
and I hope we shall not have these hundred years. For
learning has brought disobedience and heresy, and sects
into the world ; and printing has divulged them and libels
against the government. God keep us from both." ^
I had heard many years since, that printing, at an early
period after the settlement of the colony, had been prohi-
bited. I made many inquiries respecting this fact, which
led to a strict search among the ancient records of the
colony, by several of the first law characters, but no trace
of any act of government for that purpose was discovered.
For this reason some of the most intelligent Virginians
were led into the opinion that no such despotic regulation
had been made. But the fact is now ascertained. The
discovery was made by William W. Hening, a very re-
spectable lawyer of Richmond, who, on the 21st of July,
1810, favored me with a letter on the subject, of which
the following is an extract.
" I am now, and have been for some time past, engaged
in publishing the statutes at large of Virginia, from the
first session of the legislature, under the colonial govern-
' Clialmer's Annals, vol. ii, p. 328. Gordon's Hist. Revolution, American
ed., vol. I, p. 53.
Virginia. 331
ment, in the year 1619 ; and I have in ray possession not
only all the manuscripts of Mr. Jefferson, late president of
the United States, but several of my own collection, which
contain the laws, and other public documents relating to
Virginia, till the period when the art of printing was gene-
rally diffused among us.
" These manuscripts are so void of method, that I am
compelled to read them page by page, in order to select
matter proper for my publication. In perusing one of
them yesterday, which contains minutes of the proceedings
of the governor and council, in their executive character, I
found the following entry, which is here transcribed ver-
batim, from the manuscript.
'"Feb. 21st, 1682. John Buckner called before the
Ld. Culpeper and his council for printing the laws of
1680. without his excellency's license, and he and the
printer ordered to enter into bond in 100£. not to print
any thiug hereafter, until his ynajesty's pleasure shall be
known.'
"I am induced to give you this information the earlier,
because, although it had been handed down by tradition,
that the use of the press had, at some period of our colo-
nial subjugation, been prohibited in Virginia, the evidence
of the fact had eluded all my researches till this time." ^
This information makes it sufficiently evident, that there
was a press in Virginia as early as 1681 ; but the name of
the printer does not appear ; and the record shows, that
the press was speedily prohibited. Lord Culpeper was
appointed governor of Virginia in ISTovember, 1682; ^ the
old style was then used, which placed February at the end
of the year. In 1683, Lord Effingham received a coramis-
' See in N. E. Hist, and Oen. Register for Jan. 7, 1872, an article on Early
Printing in Virginia, communicated by Col. A. H. Hoyt. It contains the
correspondence which grew out of Mr. Thomas's application for informa-
tion on the subject. — H.
^ Jefferson's JVbtes on Virginia, ]). 385, Boston edition, 1801.
332 History of Printing in America.
sion as governor of the colony ' and he was ordered ex-
pressly, " to allow no person to use a printing press on
any occasion whatsoever." ^ And it does not appear that
any printing was performed in Virginia from the year 1682
till about the year 1729. Until 1766, there was but one
printing house in the colony, and this was thought to be
too much under the control of the governor.
Williamsburg.
By the foregoing it is evident there was a printing press
in Virginia, in or near Williamsburg, as early as 1681, and
that it was discontinued in 1682. The printer's name is
not known, or if known, I have not been able to ascertain
it. The first permanent printing establishment in the
colony was made in Williamsburg by William Parks,
who at that time, had a press at Annapolis, as already
mentioned. He was, by the appointment of each govern-
ment, printer to both colonies, and received 200/. currency,
per annum, from Virginia, and the same sum from Mary-
land. Accommodations of this sort were not unusual in
provinces south of Connecticut, during the infancy of
printing.
Parks, it has been said, was born and bred to printing
in England. About the year 1733, he left Annapolis and
made Williamsburg the place of his permanent abode.
His appointment as printer to the government was con-
tinued, and his salary enlarged. Soon after he became a
resident of that city he published a newspaper f and, for
many years, his press was the only one in Virginia.
' Jefferson's JHotes on Virginia, p. 286, Boston edition, 1801.
^ Chalmers's Annals, vol. i, p. 345.
' It was claimed by the WilUamsM/rg Gazette in 1870, that it was the
oldest paper published in the United States, having been commenced in
1736. It was rejoined that the Gazette had been often suspended, at one
time for six years. — M
Virginia. 333
Parks was prosecuted by a member of the house of bur-
gesses, for publishing a libel, as appears by the following
anecdote, extracted from the newspapers printed more than
forty years ago. This was inserted in the journals of that
time, as a striking instance of the influence and effect which
the press has on public men and officers of government.
" Some few years ago, a man was convicted of stealing
sheep, at Williamsburg, in Virginia, for which crime he
was prosecuted; and, on answering the demands of public
justice, retired into what was called the backwoods of that
dominion, in order to avoid the reproaches of his neighbors.
Several years passed away ; during which time he acquired
considerable property, and that part of the country where
he took up his residence being made a new county he was
by his neighbors chosen to represent them in the house of
burgesses, which then met at Williamsburg. A mischiev-
ous ^26^/^er, who remembered the crime formerly committed
by the burgess, published an account of it in the Gazette^
and although he did not mention the name, he clearly
pointed out the transgressor, who, it seems, had defended
some measures in the government that were considered as
arbitrary, and who was highly offended with the freedom
of the printer. The house was also displeased that one of
their honorable body should be accused in a public paper
of being guilty of such a base transaction.
" Parks was prosecuted for printing and publishing a
libel against Mr. ****j an honorable and worthy burgess;
and many members of the honorable house would no doubt
have been highly gratified, if, on that occasion, they could
have introduced the Star chamber doctrine of libels, and
punished Parks for daring to publish an article which, as
they observed, scandalized the government by reflecting
on those who are intrusted with the administration of pub-
lic affairs. But Parks begged that the records of the court
might be produced, which would prove the truth of the
334 History of Printing in America.
libel. This was allowed, and the records were examined,
though contrary to the doctrine of some men, who would
impose on the community as law, that a libel is not less a
libel for being true, and that its being true is an aggrava-
tion of the offence; and, such men observe, no one must
speak ill of rulers, or those who are intrusted with power
or authority, be they ever so base and oppressive, and daily
abuse that power. Now, mark the sequel : the prosecutor
stood recorded for sheep stealing ; a circumstance which
he supposed time had fully obliterated, both from the re-
cords of the court, and from the minds of the people; and
he withdrew, overwhelmed with disgrace, from public
life, and never more ventured to obtrude himself into a
conspicuous situation, or to trouble printers with prose-
cutions for libels. Thus, it is obvious that a free press is,
of all things, the best check and restraint on wicked men
and arbitrary magistrates." ^
Parks was well acquainted with the art of printing, and
Lis work was both neat and correct. He acquired a hand-
some property, was a respectable member of the commu-
nity, extensively known in Virginia and Maryland, and
much esteemed by his acquaintances in both provinces.
On the 23d of March, 1750, he embarked in one of the
trading ships for England. Soon after the vessel sailed,
he was seized with pleurisy, which terminated his life on
the first of April of that year. His remains were carried
to England, and interred at Gosport.
William Hunter was born in Virginia, and probably
served his apprenticeship with Parks, whom he succeeded
in 1751. He printed for the house of burgesses, and pub-
lished a newspaper. He had a relation who was paymaster
to the king's troops in America, by whose influence he
* Republished not man}' years ago.
Virginia. 335
was appointed deputy postmaster general, with Franklin,
for the colonies; which office he held during life. He
died in August, 1761.
Joseph Royle succeeded Hunter in 1761. He was bred
to printing in England, and had for several years been a
foreman in Hunter's printing hous?. He printed for the
government, and continued the Gazette.
Hunter at his death left an infant son, and he bequeathed
Royle 1000^. currency, on condition that he would continue
the business for the joint interest of himself and this son,
whose name was William. Royle, who married a sister of
Hunter, died before his nephew became of age.
Young Hunter attained to his majority about the time
the revolutionary struggle commenced. He began business,
but being a royalist, he soon joined the British standard,
and eventually left the country.
Alexander Purdie was born in Scotland, and there
brought up to printing. He continued the business at
Williamsburg after the death of Royle, for the benefit of
the widow of Royle, young Hunter and himself. Purdie
died in 1779, of the dropsy. He possessed talents and in-
tegrity.
John Dixon, who married the widow of Royle, was not
a printer. After his marriage a partnership was formed
between him and Purdie. The firm was Purdie & Dixon.
They remained together until the commencement of the
war. Purdie was appointed postmaster, and continued to
print at Williamsburg until he died. Dixon removed to
Richmond, and died there in May, 1791. He was greatly
esteemed.
William Rind opened a second printing house in Wil-
336 History of Printing in America.
liamsburg in 1766. He served his apprenticeship with
Jonas Green of Annapolis, and it appears was a short time
his partner.
As there was but one newspaper published in Virginia
in 1765 ; and but one press in the province, which was
judged to have an undue bias from the officers of govern-
ment, a number of gentlemen who were desirous of having
a free and uninfluenced Gazette, gave an invitation to
Rind to settle in Williamsburg, with a promise of support ;
he accordingly opened a printing house in that city, and
received satisfactory encouragement.^ Rind published a
newspaper, and was, soon after his establishment, appointed
by the legislature printer to the government. This office
was at that time lucrative.
October 16, 1766, Rind, and Purdie & Dixon, the printers
of the two Virginia GazetlJes, were presented for publish-
ing libels, at the instance of John Wayles, and the Hon.
"William Bird, respecting the bailment of Col. Chiswell ;
but the grand jury found no bills. Chiswell was supposed
to have been under such anxiety of mind, on this account,
as occasioned his death. ^
Rind died August 19, 1773.
Clumintina Rind was born in Maryland. She was the
widow of William Rind, and succeeded to his business in
1773, and printed the Gazette, etc. She died within two
years after the death of her husband.
' This fact is corroborated by the following extract of a letter to the
author from Thomas JeflFerson, late president of the United States, dated
July, 1809.
" I do not know that the publication of newspapers was ever prohibited
in Virginia. Until the beginning of our revolutionary disputes, we had
but one press, and that having the whole business of the government, and
no competitor for public favor, nothing disagreeable to the governor
could be got into it. We procured Rind to come from Maryland to pub-
lish a free paper."
" Rind's Virginia Gazette, Oct. 17, 1766.
Virginia. 337
John Pinkney was the successor of Clementina Rind ;
and, probably, was previously her partner. He continued
the Gazette in 1775, and did other printing after the war
began, but died at Williamsburg, soon after that event.
John Clarkson & Augustine Davis were printers and
copartners, in Williamsburg, in 1778. They commenced
the publication of a newspaper in April of that year. They
were printers to the state in 1779, and, probably, before
that time.
Clarkson was nephew to Alexander Purdie. Davis was
born in Yorktown, and was taught printing by Purdie.
He published a newspaper several years in Williamsburg ;
then removed to Richmond ; and was a respectable printer
in that place.
138 History of Printing in America.
NORTH CAROLINA.
Printing was introduced into this colony about 1755 ;
before tbat time, tbe necessary printing for the public was
principally done at Williamsburg, Virginia, and at Charles-
ton, South Carolina. There were only two presses in North
Carolina before 1775.
Newbern.
The first press established in the colony was set up at
Newbern, about twenty years before the revolution com-
menced. Until that time, there was only one press in both
the Carolinas.
James Davis was the first printer in this colony. He
began his establishment in 1754, or 1755. He was, I be-
lieve, from Virginia.
In December of the year last mentioned, he published a
newspaper. He received some encouragement from go-
vernment, and was appointed post master by Franklin and
Hunter.
Davis printed for the colony, and, in 1773, completed an
edition of the Laws of North Carolina. The volume is in
folio, and contains five hundred and eighty pages.
His printing appears to have been well executed ; but
there was not much employment for his press before the
declaration of Independence.
He was a respectable man, and held a commission as a
magistrate, which I believe he received during the ad-
ministration of Governor Tryon.
North Carolina. 339
"Wilmington.
The second press established in this colony, was set up
at Wilmington, near the close of the year 1763, or the be-
ginning of 1764, by
Andrew Steuaet, who was from Ireland, as was men-
tioned when he was taken notice of as a printer in Phila-
delphia, where he had resided and printed several years.
He commenced the publication of a newspaper, but it was
soon discontinued. Although he had but few printing ma-
terials, his printing shows tokens of a good workman.
On settling at Wilmington he was encouraged with a
share of the printing for government, and was patronized
by gentlemen of the first respectability in the colony ; but
he soon lost their confidence, and fell into discredit. It
was said that he intercepted and opened some private
letters to a gentleman of distinction in the colony, and
made their contents known. Be this as it may, he no
longer received encouragement, and the work of the go-
vernment was taken from him, so that he was obliged to
discontinue his newspaper for the want of customers.
The end of Steuart was tragical. In 1769, he was drowned
in the river near his own residence, where he went to bathe.
[*Sfee Philadelphia.']
Adam Boyd was born in Great Britain. He was not
brought up to printing. In 1769 he purchased the press
and types which had been used by Steuart. Boyd was the
second person who printed in Wilmington ; he published a
newspaper. It has been said that he possessed some
classical knowledge, which is not improbable ; but his
printing was, certainly, that of an unskilful workman. In
1776, he exchanged the press for the pulpit.
340 History of Printing in America.
SOUTH CAROLINA.
Printing was introduced into South Carolina as earlj as
1730. The government is said to have offered a liberal
encouragement to any printer who would settle in Charles-
ton;^ and that, in consequence of this offer, three printers
arrived therein 1730, and 1731, one of whom was appointed
printer to the province; another in the year following,
published a newspaper.
Charleston.
The first press introduced into the Caraliuas was estab-
lished in this city.
Eleazar Phillips was born in Boston, and served his
apprenticeship with Thomas Fleet of that town. He was
the son of Eleazar Phillips, bookseller and binder, who lived
at Charlestown, near Boston.
Phillips opened a printing house in 1730, and executed
the printing for the colony. He was but a short time in
business, when he was seized by the sickness which pre-
vailed in that city in 1731, and became one of its numerous
victims. The following words are a part of the inscription
' I am informed that a record of this offer cannot now be found, but the
fact can, I believe, be fully authenticated. It was usual for the colonial
governments in the new settlements to make such offers. The Barbadoes
Mercury of October 16th, 1732, and the Weekly Rehearsal printed at
Boston, of December 25, 1732, contain the following paragraph. " We
hear from South Carolina, that there has been such a sickness, that near
twenty on a day have been buried there ; that of the three Printers that
arrived there, for the sake of the 1000?. Carolina Currency offered by
the government, there is but one left ; and he that received the premium
is one that is lately dead."
A similar paragraph appeared in other newspapers, printed on the
continent at that time.
South Carolina. 341
engraven on his tomb stone — " He was first printer to his
majesty."
Thomas Whitmarsh arrived with a press soon after
Phillips, and began the publication of a newspaper, the
first printed in either of the Carolinas. After Phillips died,
Whitmarsh was appointed printer to the government, but
was very soon arrested by death. He died in 1733. \_See
Hist Newspapers.']
Louis Timothee was the son of a French protestant re-
fugee, who left France in consequence of the revocation of
the edict of Nantz, and went to Holland. Timothee came
from Holland, where he had acquired the art of printing,
to Philadelphia. He was employed some time in the print-
ing house of Franklin ; and was the first who was ap-
pointed librarian of the Philadelphia library company.^
That ofiice he resigned in December 1733, and removed to
Charleston, where he arrived soon after the death of Whit-
marsh, succeeded to his business, and accommodated his
name to the English language by changing it to Lewis
Timothy. In February, 1734, he published a newspaper,
which, although not the earliest printed in the colony, was
the first which gained permanency.
Timothy did the work for government, which with his
newspaper formed his principal employment. His course
was short, as he died in December, 1738.
Elizabeth Timothy, the widow of Lewis Timothy, with
the aid of her son, conducted the press for a year or two,
and then the son, being of age, carried on the concern in
his own name. She died in April 1757.
' The Philadelphia library company was established in 1731 ; there
was no librarian till November 1732, when Timothee was chosen.
342 History of Printing in America.
Peter Timothy, the son of Lewis, went into business on
his own account in 1740 ; and, in January 1741, he was ar-
rested for publishing a letter written by Hugh Bryan, in
which it was asserted, that "the clergy of South Carolina
broke their canons daily." The celebrated George White-
field and Hugh Bryan were arrested at the same time, by a
warrant from Chief Justice "Whitaker: Timothy for pub-
lishing, Bryan for writing, and Whitefield for correcting
Bryan's letter for the press. They were all admitted to
bail. Whitefield was then bound to England ;^ he con-
fessed the charge, and entered into a recognizance to ap-
pear by his attorney, at the next general session.
Timothy succeeded his father as printer to the colony,
and was, after the revolution, printer to the state. He
remained in Charleston during the time that city was be-
sieged ; and in 1780, when it was surrendered, he was
taken prisoner by the British. In August, 1780, he was
sent as a prisoner to St. Augustine. In 1781, he was ex-
changed and delivered at Philadelphia, where he remained
until the autumn of the next year, and then embarked
with two daughters and a grandchild for St. Domingo.
His ultimate object was to reach Antigua, where his
' This celebrated itinerant preacher, when he visited America, like a
comet drew the attention of all classes of people. The blaze of his minis-
tration was extended through the continent, and he became the common
topic of conversation from Georgia to New Hampshire. All the news-
papers were filled with paragraphs of information respecting him, or with
pieces of animated disputation pro or con ; and the press groaned with
pamphlets written in favor of, or against, his person and ministry. In
short, his early visits to America excited a great and general agitation
throughout the country, which did not wholly subside when he returned
to Europe. Each succeeding visit occasioned a renewal of Zealand ardor
in his advocates and opponents ; and, it has been said, that from his
example American preachers became more animated in their manner.
Whitetield died very suddenly in Newburyport, Mass., Sept. 30, 1770, of
an asthmatic fit. His remains were deposited under the pulpit of the
Presbyterian church in that town. He was on his seventh visit to that
town.
South Carolina. 343
widowed daughter, Mrs. Marchant, had 8ome property;
but, soon after he left the capes of Delaware, the vessel
ia which he was a passenger foundered in a violent gale of
wind, and every soul on board perished.
Timothy was a decided and active friend of his country.
He was a very intelligent and good printer and editor, and
was for several years clerk of the general assembly. As a
citizen he was much respected.
Anne Timothy, the widow of the before mentioned
Peter Timothy, after the war ceased, revived the Gazette^
which had been established by the elder Timothy, but was
discontinued while the British troops were in possession
of Charleston. She was appointed printer to the state,
and held the appointment until September, 1792, when
she died. Her printing house was at the corner of Broad
and King streets.
Robert Wells was born in Scotland, and there educated
as a bookseller. He opened a bookstore and printing
house at Charleston in 1758, and published a newspaper.
His Gazette was the second established in the colony.
Wells had a partner in the printing establishment, by
the name of George Bruce, who managed the concerns of
the printing house. His name appeared after Wells's in
the imprint of their works. Wells was the owner of the
press and types, and the business was under his sole con-
trol. Bruce remained with Wells several years, and when
they separated Wells conducted his printing house by the
aid of journeymen.
Wells kept a large book and stationery store, well sup-
plied. For many years he was the principal bookseller for
both the Carolinas. His business was extensive, and he
acquired property. He was marshal of the court of admi-
ralty, and one of the principal auctioneers in the city.
344 History of Printing in America.
This last business was very lucrative, especially the sale of
cargoes of slaves. He owned a number of negroes ; two
or three of whom were taught to work at press. It was a
common custom in the Carolinas, and in the "West Indies,
to have blacks for pressmen. Wells's slaves were fre-
quently intoxicated, and unfit for work when they were
wanted at press ; at such times, he adopted a singular
method to render them sober. The water in the city is unfit
to drink ; and, as on many it operates medicinally, he would
take his drunken negroes to the pump, and pour water
down their throats until they began to sicken ; then shut
them up for an hour or two ; and, the operation being
there completed, they were taken out and put to press.
His printing house and bookstore were on the bay, near
Tradd street. He was a staunch royalist, but a good
editor, active in business, and just and punctual in his deal-
ings. About the time when the revolutionary war com-
menced, he resigned his establishment to his son, went to
Europe, and never returned.
George Bruce was born in Scotland, learned printing
there, whence he came to Robert Wells in Charleston.
He managed, several years, the concerns of Wells's print-
ing house, and his name, as has been mentioned, appeared
after Wells's in their imprints. When they parted, he
opened a printing house on his own account. He lived
in Church street, where he commenced a trade in English
goods, and paid but little attention to typographical con-
cerns. His printing house was furnished with new types;
but he had only those founts which were most in use. He
remained in the city, in 1775, after the war began.
Charles Crouch was born in Charleston ; he was brother-
in-law to Peter Timothy, with whom he served an appren-
ticeship. In 1765, he opened the fourth printing house in
South Carolina. 345
the colony. He was encouraged to set up a press, and to
print a newspaper in opposition to the stamp act, at the
time the act was to have taken effect. He was a sound whig.
Crouch printed but little excepting his paper, which was
lucrative. He was in business when the war commenced ;
Boon after which, he took passage in a vessel bound to New
York, and was drowned. He lived in Eliott street, and
his printing house was in Gadsden'^ alley.
Thomas Powell was an Englishman, and served l?is
apprenticeship in London. He came to Charleston in
1769, and was employed by Timothy as foreman in his
printing house. Powell was a correct printer, his education
had been good, and in his manners he was a gentleman.
In 1772, Timothy admitted Powell as a partner. The firm
was, Thomas Powell & Company. Their printing house
was near the Exchange. Timothy, as a silent partner,
edited the Gazette, and directed the general concerns of the
firm.
On the 3l8t of August, 1773, in consequence of a motion
made by the chief justice in the council, or upper house of
assembly, it was ordered, that Powell should immediately
attend that house. Powell accordingly attended, and ." ^^as
examined if he was the printer and publisher of the South
Carolina Gazette,'' then shown to him. He answered that
he was. He was then asked, " by what authority he pre-
sumed to print as an article of news in his paper, a matter
purporting to be a part of the proceedings of this house,
on the 26th of August instant ?" To which he replied,
" That the copy of the matter there printed was delivered
to him by the Hon. William Henry Drayton, one of the
members of that house, who desired him to print the same."
The house " Resolved" That as he acknowledged- himself
to be the printer of a part of their proceedings, without
346 History of Printing in America.
their order or leave, he was " thereby guilty of a high
breach of the privileges, and a contempt of the house."
Powell was told to ask pardon ; he declined. The house
then ordered him to be taken into the custody of the ser-
kgeant at arms, and brought to the bar. This was done ;
and, when at the bar, he was again informed of the charge
against him ; and that the house desired to hear what he
could say in exculpation of said charge. Powell declared
that " he did not know that he had committed any offence."
It was again demanded of him, if he would ask pardon ;
he answered, he would not.
The lion. Mr. Drayton, in his place, acknowledged that
he was the person who sent the copy of that part of the
journals printed by Powell, to the press ; but, without in-
tention to offend the house, etc. The house then
" Resolved, That Thomas Powell, who hath this day been
adjudged, by this house, to have been guilty of a high
breach of privilege, and a contempt of this house, be for
his said offence committed to the common gaol of Charles-
ton ; and that his honor, the president of this house, do
issue his warrant accordingly." Before putting the ques-
tion, Mr. Drayton claimed leave to enter his protest and
dissent ; which he did accordingly. The president, the
Hon. Egerton Leigh, agreeably to the resolution of the
house, issued his warrant. Powell was imprisoned, and
remained in confinement until the morning of the second
of September following.
On the second of September, the Hon. Rawlins Lowndes,
speaker of the lower house, or " commons house of assem-
'bly," and George Gabriel Powell, one of its members, jus-
tices of the peace, etc., had Powell brought before them by a
writ of habeas corpus, and discharged him.
On the same day, Powell published a Gazette extra-
ordinary, in which Drayton's dissent and protest were in-
serted. The council resolved, that the protest, as pub-
South Carolina. 347
lished that day, was materially different from that on their
journals, and was therefore " false, scandalous and mali-
cious, tending to reflect upon the honor and justice of the
house ; " and, " that William Henry Drayton was instru-
mental to the publication." Before putting the question,
Mr. Drayton claimed leave to enter his dissent and pro-
test ; which he accordingly did. In this protest Mr. Dray-
ton asserted, that the protest as published, excepting some
misspelling in copying by the clerk, and the misprinting
the word falfilled for 'published, was expressly the same
as the original.
The next day the council, styling themselves, "the upper
house of assembly," resolved, " That Mr. Drayton had
been guilty of a breach of privilege and contempt of that
house, in being instrumental to the publication of the pro-
test," etc. Before putting the question, Mr. Drayton entered
his dissent and protest. The resolve was passed, and Mr.
Drayton directed to withdraw. He withdrew accordingly.
The council then passed the following resolve.
" That when T. Powell was before this house, his whole
deportment and behavior manifested the most insolent
disrespect; and, so far was he from discovering any con-
trition for his offence, that he flatly declared that he did
not know that he had committed any, and therefore thought
it hard to ask pardon ; and, being informed by the presi-
dent, that the house was of a different opinion, he still ob-
stinately persisted that he could not ask pardon."
In the afternoon of the same day, Mr. Drayton, in con-
sideration that the house had not proceeded with him "to
the last extremity," informed that body, " that he neither
sent the protest to the press, nor ordered any person to
carry it, or even desired the printer, or any person to pub-
lish it; that Mr. Edward Rutledge sent the copy to the
printer." On this information, the house resolved, that
348 History of Printing in America.
Mr. Drayton " had purged himself of the contempt and
breach of privilege with which he stood charged."
On the fourth of September, the sheriff of Charleston
district, having attended the council agreeably to order,
was directed by the president to make out a copy of the
writ of habeas corpus, issued by the Justices Lowndes and
G. G. Powell, Esquires, by virtue of which he had two days
before removed T. Powell from prison and carried him
before said justices, with his return thereon. A committee
was appointed to " take under their consideration the
nature of the discharge of T. Powell, printer, to report
such resolutions as may be necessary for the house to enter
into ; and to prepare an humble address on the subject to
his majesty, and another to his honor the lieutenant gov-
ernor." The chief justice, and two other members were
of this committee, who reported the following resolutions,
which were agreed to by the house.
" Resolved, That the power of commitment is so neces-
sarily incident to each house of assembly, that without it
neither their authority nor dignity can, in any degree what-
soever, be maintained or supported.
" Resolved, That Rawlins Lowndes, Esquire, speaker of
the commons house of assembly, and George Gabriel
Powell, Esq., member of said house, being two justices of
the peace, unus quorum, lately assistant judges and justices
of his majesty's court of common pleas, have, by virtue of
habeas corpus by them issued, caused the body of T. Powell
to be brought before them, on the second of this instant
September, and the said justices, disregarding the com-
mitment of this house, did presumptuously discharge said
T. Powell out of the custody of the sheriff under the com-
mitment of this house.
" Resolved, That the said justices have been guilty of
the most atrocious contempt of this house, by their public
South Carolina. 349
avowal and declaration, made by them in pronouncing
judgment, that this house is no upper house of assembly ;
on which principle alone they did discharge the said T.
Powell ; they have, as far as in them lay, absolutely and
actually abolished one of the branches of the legislature ;
and, in so doing, have subverted the constitution of this
government, and have expressly sounded the most danger-
ous alarm to the good subjects of this province.
" Resolved, That a copy of these resolutions be sent to
the commons house of assembly, together with a message,
complaining of such conduct and breach of our privilege,
by their members ; and, setting forth, that, as this house
has always been careful to support its own just rights and
privileges, so it has always been cautious not to infringe
the rights and privileges of the commons house; and, that
this house, relying on the justice of the commons house,
does expect they will direct Rawlins Lowndes and George
Gabriel Powell, Esqrs,, two of their members, to waive their
privilege, in order that this house may proceed to the cog-
nizance of their said breach of privilege and contempt."
The committee reported, also, according to order, a
message to the commons house of assembly ; an address to
the king, and another to the lieutenant governor ; ^ with
all which the council agreed, and presented and forwarded
them according to their respective destinations.
The commons house of assembly did not comply with
the requisition of the upper house ; on the contrary, they
justified the conduct of their speaker and Judge Powell,
and directed the agent of the province in London, " to
^ The upper house of assembly, in their address to the lieutenant governor,
observe, that Powell was discharged by the justices, " by virtue of a
power given by a provincial act, passed December 12, 1712, to two justices,
one being of the quorum, to put in execution the habeas corpus act, to such
intents and purposes, as the said act can be put in execution in the kingdom
of England ; upon the sole and avowed principle that we are not an upper
house of legislature."
350 History of Printing in America.
make the most humble representations to his majesty of
the conduct of his council [upper house] and to implore
their removal ; or, such marks of his royal displeasure to
them, as may prevent, for the future, such an encroach-
ment on the liberties of his people." The commons house,
at the same time, addressed the lieutenant governor, in-
forming him of the conduct of the council, and that they
had directed the agent of the province to represent it to
the king, etc., and concluded with earnestly requesting his
honor, that, as a considerable time must elapse, before their
complaint to the king could be heard, etc., he vrould " be
pleased to suspend such members of the council as ordered
the said commitment, until his majesty's royal pleasure
should be known ; and to appoint in their stead men who
really have at heart the service of his majesty, and the
interest of the province." The governor, as was expected,
declined complying with the request of the commons, and
in this situation the affair rested, until the pleasure of his
majesty should be known.
The business remained before the king and council, I
presume in an unsettled state, at the commencement of the
war, which event, probably, stayed all proceedings upon it,
and it was never more agitated. As to what became of
Powell, or respecting the part he took in the war, or
whether he returned to England, I have not been able to
obtain any information. The Gazette was discontinued
some time after the war commenced, but was revived by
Timothy.
Mary Crouch was born in Providence, Rhode Island.
She was the wife of Charles Crouch, and continued the
business of printing in Charleston some time after his
death. In 1780, she removed with her press and types to
Salem, Massachusetts. \^See Salem.']
South Carolina. 351
John "Wells, the eldest son of Robert "Wells, was born
m Charleston, and served an apprenticeship at Donaldson's
printing house in Edinburgh. He succeeded his father as
a printer and bookseller at Charleston, in 1775. Although
the father was a zealous royalist, the son took a decided
part in favor of the country. He printed and fought in
its defence, until the city fell into the hands of the British
in 1780.
"Wells belonged to a military company in Charleston
which marched to assist in the siege of Savannah, by the
allied American and French armies, in 1779, and during
this unsuccessful campaign, he acquired the reputation of
a brave and vigilant soldier. When Charleston fell into
the possession of the British, he, with many others, to save
his property, signed an address to the. British commander,
and he printed a royal Gazette, which he continued until
December 1782. For these offences he was proscribed by
the state government, at the close of the war. Appre-
hending that he could not safely remain in Charleston
when the British surrendered the place to the American
government, he left the city, and went with his press to
Nassau, New Providence, published the Bahama Gazette,
and never more returned to the United States. [See New
Providence.']
Except in Charleston, there was no printer in South
Carolina before the revolution.
352 History of Printing in America.
GEORGIA.
The settlement of this province, named after George II,
king of Great Britain, did not begin until the year 1732.
The public printing, till 1762, was done in Charleston,
South Carolina. There was only one press established in
Georgia before the revolution.
Savannah.
Printing was introduced into this colony at this place,
and a printing house was opened early in 1762, by James
Johnston, who was born in Scotland, and there served a
regular apprenticeship. After his establishment in Savan-
nah, he printed for the government.
The government of the colony gave Johnston a hand-
some pecuniary consideration for settling in that place.
He printed an edition of the laws ; and, in 1763, began
the publication of a newspaper. This newspaper, and
printing for the colony, was the chief employment of his
press. He did some business as a bookseller ; was a very
honest, reputable man, acquainted with the art he pro-
fessed to practice ; and in his general conduct was a good
and useful member of society. He died in October, 1808,
aged seventy years, leaving a widow and six children.
NEW STATES,
Founded, and admitted into the Union ^ since the Revolution ; and
Territories of the United States.
As these states and territories were not settled, or were
not located as distinct governments, before 1775, I shall
only take notice of the period when the art was introduced
into them.
Vermont. 353
VERMONT.
This district became a state after the revolution ; no
press had previously been established in it.*
JuDAH Paddock Spooner and Timothy Green, who
have been mentioned as printers at Norwich, in Connecti-
cut, removed from that place to Han over in New Hampshire,
then claimed, with other towns on the east side of Con-
necticut river, by the people inhabiting Vermont, where,
for a short time, they published a newspaper. They then
carried their press to "Westminister, and were the first who
introdiiced printing into Vermont. In Westminster they
published The Vermont Gazette; oi\ Green Mountain Post
Boy. This paper made its first appearance in February,
1781.
Spooner had the whole management of their printing
house, as Green still prosecuted the printing business in
New London. The firm continued only a short time.
Green relinquished his interest in it; and the press and
types which were owned by him were sold, after the lapse
of four or five years. George Hough was the purchaser.
He removed them to Windsor in 1783, and there formed
a partnership with Alden Spooner. Alden was the brother
of Judah.
* The Vermonters had their printing done at Hartford, and before and
during the revolution, were dependent upon the columns of the Connecti-
cut Caurant to carry on their warfare with the citizens and authorities of
New York, respecting their title to the present territory of Vermont. — M.
354 History of Printing in America.
KENTUCKY.
John Bradford began printing at Lexington, Kentucky,
in 1786. After which presses were set up at Frankfort,
and in other towns.
TENNESSEE.
R. RouLSTONE, from Massachusetts, set up a press at
Knoxville, 1793.
OHIO.
S. Freeman & Son introduced printing into Cincinnati
in 1795.
MISSISSIPPI TERRITORY.
A press was established at Natchez in 1815.
MICHIGAN TERRITORY.
Printing is said to have been introduced into Detroit in
1815.
Louisiana. 355
LOUISIANA.
Several printing houses were opened at New Orleans, as
soon as that country came under the government of the
United States.
Most of these new states and settlements, at the time of
the war were but little known. The white inhabitants
were but few, and they were scattered in solitary settle-
ments, or in a few straggling towns and villages through
a vast tract of country, where the art of printing had not
extended.*
' It may be interesting to notice the gradual extension of printing be-
yond the region embraced above. A paper was published in Maine at
Falmouth m 1785 ; in Missouri in 1806 ; Mississippi, 1808 ; Indiana, 1808 ;
Michigan, 1809 ; Illinois, 1814; Wisconsin, 1831 ; Texas, 1834 ; Iowa, 1836 ;
Oregon, 1847 ; California, 1848 ; Minnesota, 1849. These will be found
more particularly noticed under the account of Newspapers, in the next
volume. — M.
BRITISH COLONIES.
NOVA SCOTIA.
Printing was introduced into Nova Scotia in 1751 ; but,
at that time, there was but little encouragement for the
press.
Halifax.
The first press was established at Halifax, and there was
not a second in the province until 1766.
Bartholomew Green Junior has already been men-
tioned. He was the grandson of Samuel Green, of Cam-
bridge, and was of the firm of Green, Bushell & Allen, of
Boston. He removed to Halifax with a press and types in
August, 1751. He died in about six weeks after his arrival,
aged fifty-two years.
John Bushell, who had been the partner of Green in
Boston, immediately succeeded him in Halifax. He printed
for government, and in the first week of January, 1752,
published the first newspaper printed in Nova Scotia. The
work for government was inconsiderable, but was the chief
support of Bushell. He was a good workman, but had not
the art of acquiring property; nor did he make the most
economical use of the little which fell into his hands.
Bushell died in February, 1761. He left one son and a
daughter. The son was sent to New England, and served
an apprenticeship with Daniel Fowle, printer in Ports-
358 History of Printing in America.
mouth, New Hampshire. "WTien of age, he worked as a
journeyman in Philadelphia, and at the same time kept a
tavern at the Cross Keys in Front street. He died Feb-
ruary 4, 1797.
The daughter, whose name was Elizabeth, had been ac-
customed to assist her father in the printing house. She
could work both at case and press ; and was, in the lan-
guage of printers, a swift and correct compositor.* Bush-
ell left little, if any, property to his family. His daughter
was handsome, but unfortunate.
Anthony Henry succeeded Bushellas a printer at Hali-
fax. He was a German, and had lived some time with a
printer, but had left his master, and became a fifer in one
of the British regiments. With this regiment he came to
America. In 1758, the time for which Henry had enlisted
being ended, he was discharged from the regiment, which
was then stationed in Perth Amboy, New Jersey. He
then went to Woodbridge, and was employed some months
in the printing house of James Parker ; after which he
went to Nova Scotia. There was then no printer in the
province, and his pretensions to skill in this art greatly
facilitated his introduction to business in Halifax. He
began with the press and types which had been used by
Bushell. He published the Gazette; and government,
' There have been many instances of women performing the work of
the printing house. The nieces of Dr^Franklin, in Newport, [See Newport]
were expert compositors ; and so were, it is said, the daughters of Mr. D. H.
of Philadelphia. Mr. William Mc Culloch,of Philadelphia, informs me that
he saw in a printing house near Philadelphia, two women at the press,
who could perform their week's work with as much fidelity as most of the
journeymen. As compositors, women and gu'ls have not unfrequently
been employed, not only in America, but in Europe. Some printers from
Scotland have assured us that the daughter of the celebrated typographer
of Glasgow, Foulis, was an adept at the business. Foulis & Son flour-
ished as printers about 1765.
These remarks apply to the year 1815.
Nova Scotia. 359
through necessity, gave him some work, which was badly
executed.
In 1766, a printer with a new and good apparatus, came
from London, and opened another printing house in Hali-
fax. He published a newspaper, and was employed to
print for government.
Henry, who had been indolent, and inattentive to his
affairs, did not despond at the establishment of a formidable
rival ; but, much to his credit, exerted himself and did better
than he had done before. After a few years trial, his rival,
not finding his business so profitable, nor the place so
agreeable as he expected, returned to England, and Henry
was again the only printer in the province. He procured
new types and a workman better skilled than himself.
Henry's printing from this period was executed in a more
workmanlike manner than formerly ; he having employed
a good workman in his printing house as a journeyman.
He remained without another rival until the British
army evacuated Boston in March, 1776, when the printers
in that town, who adhered to the royal cause, were obliged
to leave that place ; and they, with other refugees, went to
Halifax. Henry continued printing until his death. He
possessed a fund of good nature, and was of a very cheer-
ful disposition. Although not skillful as a printer, he was
otherwise ingenious. In 1787, Henry having procured
German types from the foundery of Justus Fox, in Ger-
mantown, Pa., published a newspaper in the German
language, of the same title with that which he continued
to publish in English. This German paper was conducted
by the journeyman^ before meutioned.
' This journeyman, named Henry Steiner, arrived at 9alifax, in 1783,
with the last detachment of Hessian troops that came as auxiliaries to the
British^Jn our revolutionary war. He was a corporal. He had been '
regularly bred to printing. As hostilities ceased soon after his arrival, he
obtained a furlough, to work with Henry. When the detachment to
360 History of Printing in America.
When Henry arrived in Halifax, he became acquainted
with a woman of African extraction, who was a pastry
cook, and possessed a small property, the fruit of her in-
dustry. To acquire this property, Henry consented to a
connection with this sable female. The property which he
acquired by this negotiation enabled him to purchase the
few printing materials which had belonged to Bushell,
and to build a house in which he afterward lived. His
companion died, in two or three years, without issue by
him. Desdemona, in another case of particolored nuptials,
wished :
" That Heaven had made her such man."
Henry's consort had probably a like desire, for it is said
the proffer of marriage came from her.
In 1773, Henry married a countrywoman of his, who
had been his housekeeper for ten years.^
He died December, 1800, aged sixty-six.
Robert Fletcher arrived at Halifax from London, in
1766, with new printing materials, and a valuable collec-
tion of books and stationery. He opened a printing house
and bookstore near the parade ; published a newspaper,
and printed for government. Until this time there had
which Steiner belonged was about to return to Europe, his officers, ac-
cording to his account, contracted to sell him to Henry for the term of
eighteen months, for thirty-six guineas. Steiner, supposing this sale to
be legal, continued with Henry the time stipulated ; after which, receiving
good wages, he remained with him till 1789. Steiner then went to
Philadelphia. When Steiner left Henry, his German paper was dis-
continued.
> On the occasion, the following paragraph appeared, February, 1774,
in the Boston Evening Post. " Married at Halifax, Nova Scotia, Mr.
Anthony Henry, aged about 30, to Mrs. Barbary Springhoff, aged about
96 ; it is said she has two husbands now living, seven children, ten grand
children, and fifty great grand children."
This statement is not correct. Henry was then forty years old, and
Barbary not more than fifty-five. She had several children and grand-
children ; but not near the number mentioned.
Nova Scotia. 361
been no bookstore in the province. Fletcher executed his
printing with neatness, and raised the reputation of the
art in Nova Scotia. He remained at Halifax until 1770,
then sent his printing materials to Boston for sale, and
returned himself to England.
John Howe began printing in Halifax, in 1776.'
After the peace, in 1784, printing found its v^ay into the
province of 'New Brunswick.
^ See ante, p. 176-7, also Sabine's Loyalists of (he American lievolution, i,
548-50.— i/.
362 History of Printing in America.
CANADA.
The art was introduced into Canada soon after its con-
quest by the British. There was, however, but one press
established there before 1775.
Quebec.
Soon after the organization of the government of the
province by the British, a printing house was established
in Quebec by William Brown and Thomas Gilmore, under
the firm of Brown & Gilmore. They were the first who
introduced the art into Canada. They printed in both
English and French ; and their work was executed in a
very handsome manner. Brown, I am informed, was a
Scotchman, and had been employed some years in the
printing house of "William Hunter, in Williamsburg, Va.
Gilmore was a native of Pennsylvania, and served an ap-
prenticeship with William Dunlap, in Philadelphia.^ Their
partnership continued till 1774. From that time, Brown,
the senior partner, carried on the business for himself.
' The intelligence sent to me from Canada respecting the country where
these printers were born, as published in the tirst edition, I find was
erroneous. I have since received more cofrect information respecting
them.
ADDENDA.
Christopher Sower Third. — The following article,
handed to the author from a gentleman in Philadelphia,
reflects much honor on the character of Christopher Sower,
the third.
Capt. Coleman, who took Sower prisoner in his excursion
to Germantown, was himself, sometime after Sower's re-
lease, taken prisoner by the British, and confined on board
a prison-ship in New York, with others from Germantown
who were acquainted with Sower. Some time after their
confinement. Sower, with some of his British friends, went
on board of the prison-ship, but did not know of the capture
and confinement of his Germantown acquaintance. Sower
soon recoe^nized Coleman and the others, who rather
shunned than courted an interview with him. However,
Sower went to them, familiarly accosted them, and ex-
pressed his surprise at finding them in their present situa-
tion.- He told them, particularly Coleman, that they had
nothing to fear from his resentment, but that, on the con-
trary, he was disposed to befriend them as much as lay in
his power ; ai d for that purpose inquired into their present
circumstances. Soon after Sower left the prison-ship he
supplied Coleman with linen and other necessaries, and in
the course of a few days effected his liberation, and that of
the two others, his companions, without an exchange.
APPENDIX.
APPENDIX A.
HISTORY OF PRINTING IN AMERICA.
Communicated by Hon. John R, Bartlbtt.
The precise date of the introductioa of printing into Mexico, was
for a long time in doubt. Mr. Thomas is correct in his statement
that the art was introduced into that country before the year 1569,
the date of the license for printing Molina's dictionary, and he is
not far from the mark, after reading what the Abbe Clarigero says,
in saying that " We may conclude that printing was introduced into
Mexico previous to the year 1540." When Mr. Thomas wrote his
History of Printing in America, early works on America were
rare, and it is probable that there was not one in the country printed
in either America or Europe in the XVIth century, except the
copy of Molina's dictionary ; now many of the period may be found
in our great private libraries. The dictionary of Molina, in Mexi-
can and Spanish, printed in Mexico, in 1571, in folio, was, by many,
asserted and believed to be the earliest book printed in America.
It was found in several collections, both public and private, and no
one here had seen an earlier book until the Doctrina Christiana
printed in the house of Juan Crorqberger, in the city of Mexico, in
the year 1544, was discovered. Copies of this rare work were found
in two well known private libraries in New York and Providence.
For a long time the honor was awarded to this as the earliest book
printed in America. But there is now strong evidence that printing
was really introduced in Mexico nine years before that time, and
positive evidence, by existing books, that a press was established in
1540.
366 History of Printing- in America.
Readers familiar with early books relating to Mexico have seen
mention of a book printed there as early as 1535. The particulars
are given by Padilla, in his work entitled Hisloria de la Fundacion
y Discurso de la Provincia de Santiago de Mexico, de la Orden de
Predicadores, etc., 1625, folio. At page 542, speaking of Fr. Juan
de Estrada, he says : " Estando en casa de novicios hizo una cosa, que
por la primera que se hizo en esta tierra bastaba para darle memoria,
cuando el autor no la tuviera como la tiene ganada por haber sido
quien fu6. El primer libro que en este nuevo mundo se escribid y
la primera cosa en que se ejercitd la imprenta en esta tierra, fue obra
suya. Dabaseles d los novicios un libro de S. Juan Climaco, y como
no los hubiese en romance mandaronle que lo tradujese de latin.
Hizolo asi con presteza y elegancia, por ser muy buen latino y roman-
cista, y fue su libro el primero que se imprimid por Juan Pablos,
primer impresor que a esta tierra vino. Bien se muestra la devocion
de Sto. Domingo de Mexico en que un hijo suyo haya sido el primero
que en este nuevo mundo imprimiese, y cosa tan devota como la Es-
cala espiritual de San Juan Climaco."
" Beidg in the house of the novices, he did a thing, which, being
first done by him in this country, was enough to give him fame, if
he had not otherwise gained it, as he has gained it, by being what
he was. The first book which in this new world was written, and
the first thing in which the art of printing was employed in this
land, was his work. There was usually given to the novices a book
of St. John Climacus, and as it did not exist in our language, [en
romance] he was ordered to translate it from the Latin. He did it
with quickness and elegance, for he was a good Latin and Spanish
scholar ; and his book was the first which was printed by John
Pablos, the first printer who came to this country. It shows well
the devotion of [the Province of ] San Domingo, of Mexico, that
one of her sons was the first who printed in this new world, and
that he printed so devout a work as the Spiritual Ladder of St.
John Climacus."
The next writer who refers to this early translation of Climacus
is Fr. Alonzo Fernandez, in his Historia Ecclesiastica de I^^uestros
Tiempos." Toledo, 1611, folio. Speaking of Fr. Juan de Estrada,
(page 122), he says : " Este padre imprimid la traduccion que hizc.
Appendix. 367
de Saa Juan Climaco, muy provechosa, etc. Este fu6 el primero
libro que se imprimid en Mexico, y fu6 ano de mil y quinientos y
trienta y cinco."
" This Father printed the translation which he made of St. John
Climacus, very profitable, etc. This was the first book printed in
Mexico, and it was in the year 1535."
The next authority is found in the Teatro Eclestastico de la
primitiva Iglesia de las Indias Occidentales by Gil Gonzales Davila,
Madrid, 1649, folio, page 23. He says. " En el ano de mil y quini-
entos y trienta y dos el Virey D. Antonio de Mendoza Uevd la im-
prenta ^ Mexico. El primer impresor fu6 Juan Pablos : y el primer
libro que se imprimid en el Nuevo Mundo, fu6 el que escribid S.
Juan Climaco con el titulo de Escala espiritual para llegar at cielo,
traducido del latin al castellano, por el V. P. Fr. Juan de la Magda-
lena, religioso dominico."
In the year 1532, the Viceroy D. Antonio de Mendoza carried
printing to Mexico. The first printer was Juan Pablos, and the
first bpok printed in the new world was that written by St. John
Climacus, entitled Spiritual Ladder to ascend to Heaven. Trans-
lated from the Latin into the Castilian by the Ven. P. Fr. Juan de
la Magdelena, Dominican Religious."
These three writers who refer to the " translation of the Spiritual
Ladder " of Climacus, agree except in the date. They all state that
it was the first book printed in Mexico ; and two of them add that
Juan Pablos was the printer. Davila, the last author mentioned,
says the translation was made by Juan de la Magdalena, while Pa-
dilla and Fernandez say that Juan de Estrada was the translator.
These names refer to the same person, " Magdalena being the cloister
name of Estrada. i The date of 1532 given by Gonzales Davila is
evidently wrong. He says Mendoza carried printing to Mexico in
1532; whereas it is a well known fact that Mendoza was appointed
viceroy in April 1535, and did not arrive in Mexico until the mid-
dle of October, of the same year. (See Die. Universal de Hist, y de
Geog., tom. v, p. 240, article Mendoza^. Brunet notices the same
discrepancy in the date of Mendoza's arrival. He does not however
' See Davila Padilla, p. 542, also Antonio Bihliotheca Nova, tom. i, p.
C85. Both in speaking of Estrada say, " Estrada alias Magdalena."
368 History of Printing in America.
refer to the work of Fernandez, and says the epoch of the introduc-
tion of printing in the new world remains to be fixed. The true
date of Mendoza's arrival in Mexico being 1535, the date corre-
sponds with that given by Alonzo Fernandez for the introduction of
printing, and with the time when Estrada made his profession after
one year's novitiate, during which time he is said to have made his
translation.
It seems that no copy of the Spirihial Ladder has ever been seen
in recent times, and the quoted testimonials are the only ones yet
found which refer to it. The disappearance of this book in more
than three hundred years after its publication is by no means sur-
prising, for a work of its kind, of which, as Mr. Icazbalceta remarks,
pjeing intended for the use of the novices,] but a small number was
probably printed. These, perhaps, were never circulated outside
the convent, but used up as school books generally are, sooner than
any other class.
D. Joaquin Garcia Icazbalceta, of the city of Mexico, has carefully
examined the subject of Mexican typography, and published the
results in an elaborate article in the Diccionario Universal de His-
toriayde Geografia. Tom. V. Mexico. 1854. Folio, page 961.
This learned writer gives a list of books printed in Mexico prior to
1600, and the places where copies still exist. We quote the titles of
those printed before the year 1544, the date of the Doctrina Christi-
ana hitherto supposed to be the first book printed in America.'
1. Manual de Adultos, of which only the last leaves have been
saved, bearing the following termination : " Imprimiose este Manual
de Adultos en la gran ciudad de Mexico par mandado de los Kev.
Senores Obispos de la Nueva EspaSa y d. sus expensas : en casa de
Juan Cromberger. Ano del nacimiento de nuestro Senor Jesu
Christo de mill y quinientos y quarenta. A xiij dias del mes de
Deziembre." 4to. Gothic Letter. [1540.]"^
The above description was furnished Senor Icazbalceta by D.
Francisco Gonzalez de Vera, of Madrid.
' For a note on this book and its claims to being the first book printed
in America, see Rich's Bibltotheca Americana.
' We regret that we cannot give the number of pages in these several
books named, as they are not stated in the work from which we quote.
Appendix. 369
Doctrina Christiana, etc. Mexico. No date.
This volume, uaknowa to bibliographers, was found by Mr. Har-
risse in the Provincial Library at Toledo. It is described by him
in his Additions to his Bibliotheca Americana Vetustissima, and for
reasons there given, placed under the date of 1540.
2. " Relacion del espantable terremoto, que agora nuevamenta ha
acbntecido en la cibdad de Guatemala : es cosa de grande admira-
cion y de grande ejemplo para que todos nos emendemosde nuestros
pecados y estemos aprescividos para quando Dios fuere servido de nos
Uamar." At the end " Fu6 impresa en la gran ciudad de Mexico en
casa de Juau Cromberger ano mill y quinientos y quarenta y uno."
4to. 4 leaves. Gothic letter. [1541.]
Description furnished by Don Francisco Gonzalez de Vera of
Madrid.
3. " Doctrina breve muy provechosa de las cosas que pertenecen
& la fe catholica y a nuestra cristiandad en estilo llano para comun
inteligencia. Compuesto por el Rev. P. don fray Juan Zumarraga,
primer obispo de Mexico, del consejo de su magestad. Impressa en
la misma ciudad de Mexico por su mandado y S, su costa. Ano de
Mdxliij. [1543] 4to. Gothic letter. Title 1543, colophon 1544.
In the possession of Senor Icazbalceta, of Mexico.
4. " Este es un compendio breve que tracta de la manera de como
se han de hazer las processiones : compuesto por Dionisio Richel car-
tuxano : que esta en latin en la primera parte de sus preciosos opus-
culos : romanzado para comun utilidad."
At the end : " Se imprimid en esta gran ciudad de Tenuchtitlan
Mexico de esta nueva Espana por mandado del muy reverendo senor
don Fray Juan Zumarraga : primer obispo de la misma ciudad
En casa de Juan Cromberger. Ano de M.D.xliiij." [1544] 4to.
Gothic letter.
In the possession of Senor Icazbalceta, of Mexico.
5. " Este es un compendio " etc., (the same as the previous work).
At the end, " Aqui se acaba este breve compendio de Dionysio car-
tuxano : con la adicion de los argumentos con sus respuestas, etc.,
que tracta de lo que es mandado y vedado en las processiones : en
especial en la de Corpus Christi, por cuya causa se romanzo. Im-
370 History of Printing in America.
presso en Mexico per mandado de s. obispo don fray Juan Zuraar-
raga : en casa de Juan Cromberger. 4to. Gothic letter.
In the library of the Convent de San Cosme. An edition, Mr.
Icazbalceta says, very different and fuller than the one previously
mentioned. Mr. I. does not give the date of this work, but from
his placing it with the publications of 1544, this very careful and
reliable author doubtless had authority in the book itself for so
doing.
6. " Tripartito del Christianissimo y consolatorio doctor Juan
Gerson de doctrina Christiana : a cualquiera muy provechosa. Tra-
duzido de latin en lengua Castellana para el bien de muchos neces-
sario. Impresso en Mexico : en casa de Juan Cromberger. Por
mandado y 4 costa del R. S. Obispo de la misma ciudad F. Juan
Zumarraga. Revisto y examinado por sa mandado. Ano de M.D.-
xliiij." [1544] 4to. Gothic letter.
In the possession of Senor Icazbalceta.
7. " Doctrina Christiana para instruccion e informacion de los
Indies, por manera de hystoria. Compuesta por el muy reverendo
padre fray Pedro de Cordova, de buena memoria primero fundador
de la orden de los Predicadores en las yslas del mar Oceano : y
por otros religiosos doctos de la misma orden. ... La qual fue em-
pressa en Mexico por mandada del muy R. S. don fray Juan Zu-
marraga primer Obispo desta ciudad : del consejo de su Majestad
&c. y a su costa. Afllo de M.dxliiij." [1544.]
At the end : " Impressa en la grande y mas leal ciudad de Mexico :
en casa de Juan Cromberger : que santa gloria aya a costa del dicho
senbr obispo," etc. Acabosedeimprimir Anode M.d.xliiij." [1544]
4to. Gothic letter.
Copies are in the possession of Senor Icazbalceta, of Mexico, and
of Mr. John Carter Brown, of Providence, R. I.
The same doubt which exists as to the first printed book, exists also
in regard to the first printer. In 1540, we find a book, the Manual
Adtiltos before referred to, issued from the press of Juan Cromberger,
in the city of Mexico. This Cromberger was a celebrated printer in
Seville. Other known works bear his imprint with the dates of 1541
and 1544 in Mexico. Before and during the same years, books bear-
ing Cromberger's imprint at Seville also appeared, several of them
Appendix. 371
(for example the Onzem de Amadis, 1546, and as early as 1541,
Sepukeda's Dialogo llamado Democrates) followed by a remark
indicating that he was deceased, viz. : " que santa gloria haya," and
" difunto que Dios haya." The printing may have been carried on
by his family after his death, as was often the case with eminent
printers. The Regla Christiana breve, printed in Mexico in 1547,
4to, Gothic letter, has no printer's name; while the Doctrina
Christiana en lengua Espartolay Mexicana," printed in 1550, bears
the name of Juan Pablos as printer, the same one who is said to
have printed the Escala Espiritaal, and who calls himself the first
printer in the new world, at the end of a book printed by him in
Mexico, in 1556, folio, Gothic letter, entitled Constitutiones del
arzohispado y provincia de la muy insigne y muy leal ciudad de
Tenuchtitlan, 3fexico, de la Nueva Espana.
Mr. Icazbalceta, in his article before referred to, from which we
have quoted these titles, makes a very happy conjecture by which
the apparent contradiction seems removed. He suggests that Juan
Pablos may have been at Seville in the employ of Cromberger, who
was charged by Mendoza with the establishment of a printing press
in the city of Mexico, and who sent Juan Pablos over to conduct the
business in the name and for the benefit of his master. That after
the death of Cromberger, Pablos became the owner of the establish-
ment, and was in this way, although not the first owner of a printing
press, nevertheless entitled to the honor of calling himself the first
printer in Mexico.
Although we know of no book with a date as early as that attri-
buted to the translation of Climacus, it remains for us to note two
other works of this period which we find mentioned. Gil Gonzales
Davila, already quoted, says on page 7 of his Theatro Ecclesiastico,
" El primer Catechismo que se imprimid en Lengua Mexicana, para
ensenanza de los Indios le escrivio el M. F, Juan Ramires, Religioso
Dominico, en el afio 1537, que dedpues fu6 dignissimo Obispo de
la Santa Iglesia de Guatemala."
Nicholas Antonio, vol. I, p. 765, Madrid ed., mentions only as
written by Juan Ramirez Advertencia sohre el servicio personal,
etc., and Campo Florido, ejemplos para exhortar a la virtud, etc.
Alonzo Fernandes, in his Ilistoria Ecclesiastica le Nuestros Tiempos.
372 History of Printing in America.
Toledo, IGll, folio, where he speaks of the Dominicans who had
written and printed religious books for the instruction of the Indians,
mentions F. Juan Ramirez having written " Un libro copiosissimo
de ejemplos para exhortar a toda virtud," etc. Fr : Augustin Da-
vila Padilla, before cited, mentions only the Exemplos para ex-
hortar, etc.
8. Cancionero Spiritual en que de contierien obvas muy prove-
chosas y edificantes, etc. Mexico. 1546. Juan Pahlos.'
[From Sr. Pascqual de Gayangos, Spanish translator of Tickncr's
Hist, of Spanish Literature.']
9. A de Mendoza, Orderanzas, etc. Mexico. 1548. Folio. Jiian
Pahlos. [Harrisse.]
Antonio de Leon does not mention our author, but Don Antonio
de Alcedo y Bexarano, in his Biblioteca Americana, 1807, Ms. 2
vols, folio (copy in the possession of Mr. John Carter Brown'), attri-
butes to him the following : Catecismo en lengua Mexicana para
instruir d los Indios en la Religion Christiana, Mexico, 1594, 4to.
The actual existence of this catechism of Ramirez we find no
where shown. Gonzales Davilla's assertion that it was the first
catechism printed in the Mexican language, and the date of 1537
given by the same on page 7, does not interfere with his statement
on page 23, as already quoted. We have seen that the date of
1532 has to be changed to 1535, when, according to his assertion,
printing was introduced into the new world. The year given by
Alcedo may be either a mistake, or it may refer to a later edition.
There is yet another statement about a pretended first print of the
Mexican press. C. Falkenstein, in his Geschichte der JBuch drucker-
Jvunst, Leipzig, 1840, 4to, p. 329, says that " Girolamo Paolo Lom-
bardo of Brescia, had been called by the Viceroy Mendoza to Mexico,
in order to print the ordinationes legumque collectiones pro con-
vento Juridico Mexicano, and that this work, a folio, published in
1549, may be considered as the first American print. He names
Gonzales for authority; and part of his quotation answers per-
fectly to the above extract from Gonzales Davila. But we have not
found the given title, year and size in the Teatro Uclesiastico, nor
any other reference to such a work. Antonio de Leon, in his
Appendix. 373
Epitome says, that the Licenciado Antonio Maldonado was the first
to undertake a Reportorio de las Cedulas, Provisiones, y Ordenan^as
Eeales, for which work he was authorized by a royal decree issued
in the year 1556. It is not known that he ever finished it. Anto-
nio de Leon further says, Dr. Vasco de Puga carried out the same
plan in his work entitled Provisiones Cedulas Instrucciones de su
Majestad, etc. Mexico ; .en casa de Pedro Ocharte, 1563. Folio.
Black letter. This book exists, but neither in the royal decree
ordering the viceroy to have such a collection made, nor in the
author's preface is found any indication that an earlier work of the
same character was known at the time. Nicholas Antonio does not
furnish any additional light as to the first law collections of New
Spain. He did not even know of the Cedulario of Puga.
A List of Books Printed in Mexico between tue Years
1540 and 1600 inclusive.
1540. Manual de Adultos, [of which only the last leaves are known,
bearing the following termination :] Imprimiose este Manual de
Adultos en la gran ciudad de Mexico por mandado do los Rev.
Senores Obispos de la Nueva Espana y a sus expensas : en casa de
Juan Cromberger. Ano del uacimiento de nuestro Senor Jesu
Christo de mil y quinientos y quarenta. A xiij dias del mes de
Deziembre. 4to. Gothic letter.
1540. DoRTRiNA Christiana. [No date] assigned to this year
by Harrisse.
1541. Relacion del espantable terremoto, que agora nuevamenta
ha acontecido en la cibdad de Guatemala, etc. Mexico. Juan Crom-
berger. 4to. Gothic letter.
*1543. Juan ZuMARRAOA. Doctrina breve uruy provechosa de-
las cosas que pertenecen d la fe catholica y a nuestra cristiandad en
estilo llano para comun inteligencia. Mexico. Juan Cromberger. 4to.
Gothic letter. (^Catalogue Andrade, No. 2369.)
1544. DiONisio RiCHEL. Este es un compendio breue que tracta
de la manera de como se han de hacer las procesiones, etc. Mexico :
^^htan Cromberger. 4to. Gothic letter. ( Catalogue Andrade, N o. 2667.)
374 History of Printing in America.
1544. DiONisio RiCHEL. Este es un compendio, etc. Another
edition of the same work. Mexico : Juan Cromberger [without
date] 4to. Gothic letter. {^Catalogue Andrade, No. 2666,) this edi-
tion is placed by Mr. Icazbalceta among the pubUcations of 1544,
*1544. Juan Gerson. Tripartito del christianissimo y consola-
torio doctor Juan Gerson de doctrina Christiana : a cualquiera muy
provechosa, etc. Mexico : Juan Cromberger. 4to. Gothic letter.
(^Catalogue Andrade, No. 2477.)
•|"1544. Pedro de Cordova. Doctrina Christiana por instruccion
6 informacion de los Indios : por manera de historia, etc. Mexico :
Juan Cromberger. 4to. Gothic letter.
1546. Juan ^umarraqa. Doctrina cristiilna : mas cierta y ver-
dadera pa gete sin erudicio y tetras. Mexico, [no printer's name.]
4to. Gothic letter. (^Catalogue Andrade, No. 2370.)
1546. Cancionero Spiritual en que de contierien obvras muy prove-
chosas y edificantes, etc. Mexico. 1546. Juan Pablos.
[From Sr. Pascqual de Gayangos, Spanish translator of Tickner's
Hist, of Spanish Literature.']
1547. Regla Christiana breue : p ordenar la vida y tpo d'l xpiano
q. se qere saluar y tener su alma dispuesta : pa q. Jesu xpo more
enella. Mexico : [no printer's name.] 4to. Gothicletter. {Catalogue
Andrade, No. 2658.)
1548. Ordenanzas de Antonio de Mendoza. Folio. Juan Pablos
(Haraisse).
*1548. Doctrina en Mexicano. Mexico : Juan Pablos. 4to.
Gothic letter.
This is said by Mr. Icazbalceta to be the earliest book known,
printed in an aboriginal language of America.
1549. F. Bravo deOrsuna. Opera Medicinalia. Mexico: 4to.
*1550. Doctrina Christiana en leugua EspaSola y Mexicana.
Mexico : Juan Pablos. 4to. Gothic letter.
*1553. Pedro de Gante. Doctrina crigtiana en lengua Mexi-
cana. Mexico : Juan Pablos. 8vo.
1554. Alph. a. Veracruce. Recognitio Summularum. Mexico.
Folio.
1554. Alph. A. Veracruce. Dialectica Resolutio. Mexico.
Folio.
Appendix. 375
1554. F. Cervantes Salazar. Dialogi. Mexico :8vo.
*1555. Alonzo de Molina. Vocabalario mexicano. Mexico :
Juan Pablos. 4to.
1556. Alph. A. Veracruce. Speculum conjugiorum. Mexico.
Juan Pablos. 4to.
1556. Alph. A. Veracruce. Constituciones del arzobispado de
Mexico. Mexico. Fol.
1556. Alph. A. Veracruce. Ordinarium sacri ordinis hoercmit-
arum. Mexico. 4to.
1556. Francisco Marroquin. Doctrina Christiana en lengua
Utlatleca. Mexico. 4to. (Remesal, Hist, de Chiapas, lib. iii, cap.
vii, Ternaux, No. 98.)
1556. Freyre. Sumario de las quentas de plata y oro en los rey-
nos debPird. Mexico. 8vo. (^Ternaux, No. 73).
1557. Alph. A. Veracruce. Physicaspeculatio. Mexico. Folio.
*1558. Maturino Gilberti. Arte en lengua de Mechoacan :
Mexico. Juan Pablos. 8vo. Italics.
*1559. Maturino Gilberti. Dialogo de doctrina Christiana en
lengua de Mechuacan. Mexico Juan Pablos Bressano. 4to.
Gothic letter.
*1559. Maturino Gilberti. Vocabulario en lengua de Mechu-
acan. Mexico. Jua7i Pablos Bressano.
1559. Maturino Gilberti. Grammatica latina. Mexico. 8vo.
1559. A. de la Vera Cruz. Carta [without date]. Mexico.
Folio.
1560. Andres de Olmos. Grammatica et Lexicon Linguae Mex-
icanae. Totonaquae et Huastecae. Mexico. 2 vols. 4to. (Squier's
Monograph of Authors on the Languages of Central America, p.
38).
1560. Manual para administrar los sacramentos. Mexico. 4to.
fl560. Francisco deCepeda. Arte de las lenguas Chiapa, Zoque,
celdales y cinacanteca. Mexico. 4to.
156 L Mjssale Romanum. Mexico. Folio.
't'1563. Vasco de PuGA. Provisiones, c^dulas, instrucciones de su
Majestad, para la buena expedicion de los negocios y administracion
dejusticia, y governaciondestaNueva Espana etc. Mexico. Pedro
Ocharte. Folio.
376 History of Printing in America.
1565. Catalogus Patrum Coocilii Trideatini. [without date].
Mexico. 4to.
flSGS Alonzo de Molina. Confessionario mayor en lengua
Mexicana y Castellana. Mexico. Antonio de Espinosa. 4to.
f 1565. Alonzo de Molina. Confessionario breue en lengua Mex-
icana y Castellana. Mexico. Antonio de Espinosa. 4to.
1565. Domingo de La Anunciacion. Doctrina Christiana en Cas-
tellano y Mexicano. Mexico. Pedro Ocharte. 4to. (^Ternaux, No.
93. Bihliotheca Americana^ Le Clerk^ No. 467).
1566. B. A. Ledesma. De Septem novae legis sacramentis. Mex-
CO : 4to. (Rich's Bib. Americana Vetus, No. 46).
1567. Reglas y constituciones de la Confradia de los juramentos.
Mexico. Folio [one leaf].
fl567. Pedro de Feria. Doctrina Christiana en lengua Cas-
tellana y Capoteca. Mexico : Pedro Ocharte. 4to.
1567. Instituta ordinis Beati Francisci. Mexico. 4to.
*1567. Benito Fernandez. Doctrina en lengua Mixteca. Mex-
ico. Pedro Ocharte 4to. Gothic letter.
*1568. Benito Fernandez. Another edition of the same work.
Mexico. Pedro Ocharte, 4to.
1568. Manual para administrar los sacramentos. Mexico. 4to.
fl571. Alonzo de Molina. Arte dela lengua Mexicana y Cas-
tellana. Mexico. Pedro Ocharte. 12mo. Gothic letter.
f 1571. Alonzo de Molina. Vocabulario en lengua Mexicana y
Castellana. Mexico. Antonio de Spinosa. Folio.
fl571. Alonzo de Molina. Vocabulario en Castellana y Mexi-
cana. Mexico. Antonio de Spinosa. Folio.
1573. P. DE Agurto. Tratado de que se deben administrar los
sacramentos 4 los indios. Mexico. 8vo.
*1574. J. B. DE Laguna. Arte y Dictionario en lengua Michoa-
cana. Mexico. Pedro Balli. Svo.
1574. Ordenanzas sobre alcabalas. Mexico. Folio.
*1575. Maturing Gilberti. Tesoro spiritual de pobres en len-
gua de Michuacan. Mexico. Antonio de Spinosa. Svo.
*1575. J. de la Anunciacion. Doctrina Christiana muy com-
plida (en Castillana y Mexicana). Mexico. Pedro Balli. 4to.
Appendix. 377
1575. S. J. E. Buenaventura. Misteca Theologia. Mexico.
8vo.
11576. Alonzo de Molina. Arte de la lengua Mexicana y Cas-
tellana. Mexico. Pedro Balli. 8vo.
*1576. M. DE Vargas. Doctrina Christiana en Castellano,
Mexicano, y Otomi. Mexico. Pedro Balli. 4to.
*1577. J. Medina. Doctrinalis fidei in Mechuacanensium indo-
rum lingua. Mexico. Ant. Ricardo.' Folio.
*1577. J. DE LA Anunciacion. Sermonario en lengua Mexicana.
Mexico. Antonio Ricardo. 4to.
1577. Commentario 4 la logica de Aristotles. Mexico. 8vo.
1577. Ovidii Nasonis tam de tristibus. Mexico. Bvo.
1577. Omnia Domini AndreafcAlciatiEmblemata. Mexico. Bvo.
*1578. Alonzo de Molina. Confessionario Mayor en la lengua
Mexicana y Castellana. Mexico. Pedro Balli. 4to.
*1578. Alonzo DE Molina. Doctrinachristianaen lengua Mexi-
cana. Mexico. Pedro Orcharte. 8vo.
*1578. J. DE Cordova. Arte en lengua Zapoteca. Mexico.
Pedro Balli. 8vo.
1579. Ceremonial y rubricas general con la orden de celebrar las
mismas. Mexico. 8vo.
1579. Instruccion y arte para regular el oficio divino. Mexico.
8vo.
*1580. Barth. Roldan. Cartilla y doctrina Christiana breve, en
la lengua Chuchona. Mexico. Pedro Ocharte. 4to.
*1582. J: de Gaona. Coloquio dela paz y tranquilidad, en len-
gua Mexicana. Mexico. Pedro Ocharte. 8vo. (T'emawx, No. 155.)
1583. Garcia del Palacio. Dialogos militares de la formacion
6 informacion de personas, instrumentos y cosas necessarias para el
uso de la guerra. Mexico. Pedro Ocharte. 4to.
1583. Forma breve administrar ap. Indios S. Baptismi Sacramen-
tum. Mexico. 8vo.
*1585. Bern, de Sahagun. Psalmodia Xpiana y Sermonario de
los Santos del ano, etc. Mexico. Pedro Ocharte. 4to.
1585. Estatutos general de Barcelona. Mexico. 4to.
378 History of Printing in America.
1587. GrARCiA DE Palacio. InstruccioD nautica para el buen uso
y regimiento'de las Naos su traza j gobierno, conforme 4 la altara
de M^jico. Mexico. 4to. (Ternaux,No. 167.)
1587. Constitutionesordin. fratr. cremit. S.Aug. Mexico. 8vo.
1589. Forma y modo de fundar las cofradias del cordon de S. Fr.
Mexico. 8vo.
1592. Ag. Farfan. Tratado breve de Medecioa. Mexico. 4to.
1593. GeronimodeOre. SymboloCatholicoIndiano. Mexico.
{Ternaux, No. 224.)
1593. J. GuiONA. Colloquios en lengna Mexicana. Mexico.
(Ternaux, No. 190.)
*1593. Ant. DE LOS Reyes. Arte en lengua Mixteca. Mexico.
Pedro Balli. 8vo. (Terna«a;, No. 189.)
*1593. Francisco de Alvarado. Vocabulario en lengua Mis-
teca. Mexico. Pedro Balli. 4to.
1594. J. E., DE Buenaventura. Misteca Theologia. Mexico.
8vo.
1595. Regla de los frailes menores. Mexico. 4to.
'^1595. Antonio del Rincon. Arte de la lengua Mexicana.
Mexico. Pedro Balli. 8vo. (Antonio. Bih. Hispan. Nova, torn.
I, p. 158.)
1595. Fundacion e Indulgencias de la orden de la merced. Mex-
ico. 8vo.
1598. Antonio DE Rincon. Arte de la lengua Mexicana. Mex-
ico. 12mo., second edition {Ternaux, No. 225.)
*1599. Juan Baptista. Confessionario en lengua Mexicana y
Castellana. Mexico : en el convento de Santiago Tlatilulco.
Melch. Orcharte. 2 vols, in 1.
1599. Juan Baptista. HvehvetlahtolK. Mexico. 12mo.
[Tbis is probably the work noticed by Ternaux, No. 253 as
" Platicas morales de los Indios para la doctrina de sas bijos, en
lengua Mexicana intitulade huebuetlatolli." The copy described,
which is the only one known, is without the title page, but on its
back bears the date of 1599. Beristain gives the date of 1601.]
1599. Juan Baptista. Platicas antiquas que en la excellentis-
sima lengua Nahuatl enmendo y crecento. Mexico Svo. {Ter-
naux, No. 234.)
Appendix. 379
1599. Juan Baptista. Compeadio ^n las Excelsias, de la Bulla
de la Sancta Cruzada, ea lengua Mexicaaa. Mexico. Enrico Mar-
tinez. 8vo. (Catalogue of Mexican books sold by Puttick and
Simson. London, 1869. No. 151.)
*1600. Juan Baptista. Advertencias para los confessores de
Ids naturales. Mexico. M. Ocharte. 8vo.
f 1600. Relacion Historiadadelas ExequiasFuneralesde Felipe II.
Mexico. Pedro Balli. 4to.
As there may be doubts of the existence of some of the books, the titles
of which are given above, it has been deemed best to state where they
are to be found, or upon whose authority they have been placed in this
list. Those marked thus * have been seen by Senor Icazbalceta, of
Mexico and Dr. C. H. Berendt. Those marked thus \ are in the collec-
tion of Mr. John Carter Brown, Providence. The authorities for many of
the others are Ternaux, Rich, and others as stated ; the remaining are
taken from Mr. Harrisse's Bibliotheea Americana Veiustissima.
Books Printed in Peru before the Year 1600.
1584. Doctrina Christiana (en Quichua y Aymara) En la ciudad
de los Reyes. (Lima). Antonio Ricardo. 4to. (Brunet, vol.
II, col. 780). Le Clerc, Bih. Americana, No. 462.
1585. Confessionario para los curas de Indios con la instruccion
contra sus ritos traducido en las lenguas Quichua y Aymara. Lima.
Ant. Ricardo. 4to.
fl585. Tercero Catechismoy exposicion de la Doctrina Christiana,
por Sermones. Para los coras y otros ministros prediquen y ensenea
a los Indios. En la ciudad de los Reyes. Ant. Ricardo. 4to.
1586. Vocabulario en la lengua general del Peru y en lengua Es-
pafiola. Lima. Small 8vo. {Ternaux, No. 164).
1594. Ordenanzas que mando hacer D. Garcia Hurtado de Men-
doza, para remedio de los excesos que los corregidores de los natu-
380 History of Printing in America.
rales hacero entratar y contractar con los Indies. Lima. Folo.
(Ternaux, No. 192).
1596. Pedro DE OnA. Primera parte de Arauco domado. Im-
preso en la ciudad de los Reyes por Ant. Ricardo de Turin. 4to.
(Ternaux, No. 201).
1599. Pedro de OnA. Tremblor de Lima del ano 1599. Poema.
Lima. (Ternaux, No. 230).
t In the library of Mr. John Carter Brown, Providence.
Appendix. 381
APPENDIX B.
[ Page 22. ]
Jacob JRittenhouse, now, in 1818, eighty-six years of age, a
grandson of Nicholas Rittenhouse the first papermaker in British
America, is living. He has been many years blind, but possesses aa
excellent memory, which seems to be unimpaired. He received from
his father and grandfather many interesting narratives of the settle-
ment of Philadelphia and Germaniown, and of the first printers and
papermakers in those places.
He says that William Bradford, the first printer in Philadelphia,
after he left this city, and settled in New York, often visited Phila-
delphia, and that he would sometimes ride from one of these places
to the other in a day. [The connected distance then was one hun-
dred miles.] That when his grandfather and a few others settled in
Germantown, there was no gristmill nearer than Chester, fifteen miles
southeast of Philadelphia. There was no horse in the settlement for
some time afterwards, when an old horse was procured from New
York, and this horse was continually employed in carrying sacks of
grain to the mill at Chester, to be ground, and bringing it back
when ground. This was, at the time, continued Mr. Rittenhouse,
the only horse for common use either in the Germantown settlement,
or in Philadelphia. The grain for those living in Philadelphia, etc.,
continued to be ground in Chester, until William Penn built a grist-
mill in Philadelphia, afterwards called the Globe mill, from a tavern
being erected near to it, the site of which is in Third street. This
mill was used as a gristmill until a short time before the revolution.
He mentions, among other things, the following, which shows the
estimation in which land was held in the early settlement of Phila-
delphia, and the diff'erence between its value then and at the present
day. Claus, the grandfather, was something of a carpenter, as well as
a papermaker. He constructed a kind of batteau on the papermill
stream, and occasionally descended with it to the Schuylkill, for the
purpose of fishing in its stream. A person from Philadelphia who
382 History of Printing in America.
owned a large tract of land on the borders of this river, was one time
viewing and examining his possessions, when he espied Claus in his
boat fishing. The owner of the ground was so much pleased with
the unexpected sight of a boat, the first belonging to a white man
which had been seen in that stream, that he became desirous of
possessing it, and ofibred Claus, in exchange, a piece of land border-
ing on the Schuylkill, of which he described the limits, and which,
it is said, contained about two thousand acres. Claus refused the
proffer.
Jacob Rittenhouse also mentions that his progenitors, when they
first arrived at Philadelphia, dwelt in caves dug in the banks of the
Delaware, during part of the winter 1687-8. Proud, in his History
of Pennsylvania, mentions these caves, and observes that they were
for many years reserved for the habitations of new comers, who had
not the means of obtaining other lodgings.
Appendix.
APPENDIX a
[ Page 42. ]
At a County Court liefd at Cambridge, April 1, 1656.
Jn°- Glover' Gent. Plant, against Mr. Henry Dunster Deff'- in
an acton of the case for an acct. of an estate of houses, lands, goods,
and chattels, debts, legacies, and gifts, or other estate, together with
the deeds, leases, and other manuscripts, and evidences thereof, w^^'*
by any manner of wayes or means, eyther have been (or at present
bee) in the possession of the said Henry, or under his rule, costody
or dispose. And of right due and belonging unto the said Jn°-
Glover, by the last will and testament of his father Mr. Josse Glover
deceased, or Elizabeth his wife, or their, or eyther of their gifts, or
by the last will of W'"- Harris deceased or otherwise to him the
said Jn°- Glover appteyning and of right due and belonging by any
manner of wayes or means whatsoever, and, also for debteyning and
with-holding the same, viz*- both the account and estate, with the
effects and profits thereof and damages to the said Jn"- Glover
thereby susteyned.
The Plaintiffe appeared by his attorneyes Edw. Goffe, and Thomas
Danforth, the deff'- appeared personally and pleaded to the case,
The Court having heard the Pl't's demands and the proffe thereof,
and Mr. Dunster's acknowledgm's and Answi^^ w^'' are upon file
with the Records of this Court, the Jury findes for the plaintiffe,
as appeareth by their verdict given into Court in writeing (w^'' is
also upon y*-' file) theis following p'tic^-
Imps- The Inventory as it is brought in 140 00 00
It. The Presse and the p'fitt of it 040 00 00
It. The prise of Mr. Dayes house 030 00 00
It. Debts received by Mr. Dunster 143 00 00
' He studied medicine, became a practitioner, married, and settled in
Boston.
384 History of Printing in America.
It. More debts received by Mr. Dunster 015 00 00
It. Reed- of Mr. Humpheries 080 00 00
It. The plate mentioned in the Inventory 448 00 00
It. more acknowledged in the Court by Mr. Dunster
one silver tankard, and one tipt Jug, and a silver
plate.
It. one watch.
It. acknowledged by Mr. Dunster 12 Rheam of refuse
paper.
It. The proffit of the houses and lands in Cam-
bridge. 177 10 00
It. Given by Mr. Harris 040 00 00
It. Household stuffe at Sudbury 005 00 00
It. The house in Boston sould to Theodore Atkinson 200 00 00
It. Rent received for the farme at Sudbury six years 060 00 00
It. the Rent of the stocke of 15 Kine 067 10 00
It. the prise of eight steers and bulls and fiften kine 118 16 00
It. for the rent received for the farme at Sudbury
seaven yeares 042 00 00
It. the rent of meadow 010 00 00
It. two swine 002 00 00
It. Lead pans 722 16 00
448 00 00
1170 16 00
It. the farme that Robert Wilson now occupieth to be Mr. Glover's.
It. all the Bookes of Mr. Glover's that came to Mr. Dunster,
whereof he promised to give in a Cattologue.
It. the farme that Goodman Rice now occupieth to be Mr, Glover'.s.
It. that Mr. Dunster shall give to the Court, an account according
to the attachm' when the Honoured Court shall require it.
Charles Chadwicke in the name of the rest.
Execution granted June 17, 1656.
The Court orders that Mr. Dunster shall bring in his full account
to the Court the 9th of May next.
IMi'dd. Records, vol. i, p. 77, &c.]
Appendix. 385
At a second Sessions of the County Court held at Cambridge, 9th
(3) mo. 1656.
In the ease between Jn"- Glover Plant, against Mr. Henry Pun-
ster Deff'- entered at the last sessions of this Court, Mr. Henry
Dunster presented his answ to the Juries verdict in writeing, con-
taining his account under his hand, also a Cattologue of the bookes.
with some other testimonies in reflFerence to the case, all w^'' are upon
file with the Reccords of the last Court, whereupon the Plaintiffe
not being sattisfied with the accounts presented, The Court advised
both parties to endeavour a peaceable composure of the whole buis-
sines, eyther between themselves or by able men Indifferently chosen
between them. \_Midd. Records, vol. I, p. 83.]
At a County Court held at Charles-Towne June 19, 1656.
Mr. Henry Dunster PI. against Mr. Jn°- Glover Defft. in an action
of Review of the suite upon attachm*- to the valine of two thousand
pounds comenced and prosecuted in the last County Court holden at
Cambridge, by the said Jn"- or his attorneyes for accounts and estate
pretended to be with-held by the said Henry from the said Jn°- As
also for the auditing the accounts, according to the advice of the
Honoured Magistrates, and for the ballancing, setling and'sattisfying
what upon the said Accounts is right and just to be done, according
to attachm' dated 12th 4th mo. 1656.
The Jury found a non liquet. \_Midd. Records, vol. I, p. 83.]
At a County Court held at Cambridge, by adjournment, June 24th,
1656.
Mr. Henry Dunster [sometimes husband to Elizabeth the relict
widow of Josse Glover deceased] Plant, ag'- Jn°- Glover Gent. Deff'"
In an action of the case for debt upon accounts, and for rights and
interests in any wise appertayneing to the said Henry from the estate
now claimed by the said Jn°- Glover by vertue of the last will of his
father Josse Glover deceased.
The Plaintive and Deff'- appearing in Court legally. They mutually
agreed to refcrre this case to the Hearing and determination of the
386 HistoRY OF Printing in America.
honoured Bench of Magistrates. The Courts determination and
judgm' in the said case is as followeth.
Whereas there hath been some actions and suites of debt, account,
and review, in this Court, between Jno- Glover Gent. And Henry
Dunster his father in Law and Guardian, concerning the estate, under
the managemi- belonging to the said John Glover by the will of
his father Josse Glover deceased, The premises considered, and the
parties consenting to issue the whole case, included in the former
actions, and judgm'^ to the determination of this Court. The Court
having taken paynes to examine all matters explicitly in refference
to the whole case, doe find the estate of Josse Glover is Creditor,
One thousand foure hundred forty and seaven pounds, nine shillings
and nine pence, and a silver tankard ia kinde, also Mr. Glover's
bookes according to Cattologue given in to the Court, to be delivered
in kinde, also the price of a house at Hingham that was received of
Payntree at fifteen pounds.
And the estate, is also justly debtor, one thousand thre hundred
and thirty pounds, one shilling and seven pence, the particulars
whereof are expressed in an account hereunto annexed.
The Court therefore do find for John Glover, one hundred and
seventcn pounds, eight shillings and two pence, due from Henry
Dunster, according to the account, leaving some debts explicitly
expressed in the account to the vallue of fifty seaven pounds eleven
shillings foure pence to be further cleared by the said Henry before
any credit be given for him it.
Also we find for Mr. Henry Dunster the lands in Sudbury bounds,
purchased by the said Henry called the farme now in the occupation
of Wilson.
1656. June 25. The Account in refference to the aforenamed
case, being drawn up and examined by the Honoured Court is as
followeth.
Mr. Henry Dunster is debitor £. s. d.
Imp^- To plate 030 12 03
To a tipt Jugg and a watch 006 06 06
To rents of land in Cambr?t whiles in Blower's hands 040 00 00
To rents rec** of John Stedman for ditto 070 00 00
To rent of ditto rec<l of Richard French 012 00 00
APPENDrS.
387
To rent rec<i for marsh land all the time
To rent of the slate house all the time
To the house and land at Boston sold Mr. Atkinson
To a Legacy given Jn°- Glover by his Uncle Harris
To utensils at Sudbury five pounds
To rent of fourten Cqwcs six yeares, at 15^ pr. cow
To rent of seaven oxen 6 yeares at 20^ pr. ox
To the stocke fourtea cowes and seven oxen
To rent for meadow
To two swine
To one lead pan sould for
To sale of Bookes
To so much rec^ of Mr. Tho' Fowle
To rents from Boston and Cambridge
To advance upon the Inventory
To advance upon plate
To so much disbursed in building and other things
upon Henry Dunster's land in Sudbury bounds
To the Inventory in Goodes
To printing presse and paper
To Mr. Dayes house sold for
To debts rec^ of severall persons £73 and of Peacock
and Sill £8.
To so much received of Mr. Humphery
To plate and other things that I had vies et modies,
gift of my wife, not vallued
To plate and bedding for Mr. Harris and Simon Smith
To paper — 16 Rbeams.
To 2 oxen and one cow killed for the family
To profits of stocke and crop the first yeare of his
marriage with Mrs. Glover, not yet accounted for,
abating for Servants wages and diet
To a silver tankard in kind.
To all Mr. Glover's bookes unsold, to be delivered ac-
cording to Cattologue.
£. fi. d.
015 15 00
019 U 04
214 00 00
040 00 00
005 00 00
063 00 00
042 00 00
118 16 00
010 00 00
002 00 00
001 02 06
026 10 00
099 11 04
049 06 08
020 00 00
002 17 06
050 00 00
140 00 00
050 00 00
030 00 00
081 00 00
071 04 09
073 16 11
025 00 00
002 00 11
020 00 00
015 00 00
1447 09 09
388 History of Printing in America.
To a house at Hingham of Panteryes, the value to be
made good
Mr, Henry Dunster creditor.
Imp"* By lands in Sudbury bounds purchased by the
said Dunster, called the farme now in the occupa-
tion of Wilson, found in kind to belong to the
Plantiffe
By the diet, apparell and education of Roger and Jn°-
Glover two yeares two m"- after their mother's mar- £. s. d.
iage with the said Dunster till her death at £20. 086 06 08
By disbursem's for the maintenance of Mrs. Glover for
diet and apparrell in sicknes and health two yeares
and two mouths, after her marriage with Mr. Dun-
ster, until her death, with a mayd to attend her at
£30 pr. annum 065 00 00
By a bill for physicke payd Mr. Ayres 015 00 00
By funerall charges expended for Mrs. Glover 010 00 OO
By disbursements for the diet and app" of Mrs. Eliz^'
Glover 7 mo- with her marriage feast', being mar-
ried to Mr. Adam Winthrop 030 00 00
By diet and apparrall for Mrs. Sarah and Mrs. Priscilla
Glover, during their mother's life, being two yeares
2 m°- a peece at £16 pr. annum 069 06 08
By diet and expences of Mr. Richard Harris two years
and two monthes, it being due from the estate to
him for the interest of £250. of his in the estate
at £20 pr. annum 043 03 04
By maintenance of the children after the death of their
mother, viz.
By Jno- Glover's liberall education for diet, apparell
and schooleing mostly at the Colledge for seven
years and two months at £20 pr. anm- 143 03 04
^ The three Miss Glovers (not Mrs.), viz. Elizabeth, and Sarah and
Priscilla Glover, mentioned in the next article of charge, were the three
daughters of Mr. Jesse, or Josse Glover deceased. Priscilla married John
AppletoD, who also commenced in 1655, an action against Dunster for
100^. left to his wife by her father, and detained by Dunster, which sum
Appleton recovered.
Appendix. 389
By diet, apparrell of Mrs. Sarah Glover five years at £. s. d.
sixteen pounds pf- annum 080 00 00
By so much recovered out of the estate by Mr. Apple-
ton, for his wife Mrs. Priscilla Glover, her mainte-
nance after her mother's death, and before
marriage with him 088 00 00
By so much paid for extraordinary expences by Mr. Jno-
Glover, as by note of particulars 006 15 00
By charges disbursed concerning nine arbitrations, and
p<^- for writeings to scriven^s &c., £2 in all 007 00 00
'By debts paid by Mr. Dunster which were due from
the estate, in Mr. Josse Glover's life time 334 12 00
By debts made by Mrs. Glover in the time of her wi-
dowhood, payd by Mr. Dunster clerely proved 183 15 09
By losses and damages befalling the estate at Sudbury,
payd for fencing on John Glover's farme at Sud-
bury 034 19 03
By expences, rates and suites concerning lands at
Cambrg-^- 045 19 04
By disbursemt"' for reparations of the house at Cam-
bridge in Mrs. Glover's life 016 04 00
By repaires of the said house after her death 016 01 04
By cattle added to the estate, viz', three cowes, one calf,
2 oxen at 031 16 11
By rates payd to the meeting house 002 00 06
1309 03 07
By so much payd to Mr. Haris for redeeming a tank-
ard, and a porringer of silver, payd him in part of
his debt 005 18 00
1315 01 07
> To Mr. Harris 0250 00 00
To Mr. Turner 0076 13 00
To Cotton Slacke 0008 00 00
0334 12 00
390 History of Printing in America.
By account of some debts contracted by Mrs. Glover in
her widowhood, w^^" Mr. Dunster alleadgeth he
hath payd ; not allowed at present for want of
cleare proof vizt. £.. s. d.
By Mr. King of Lex. 06 12 04
By so much to Mr. Morecroft 25 00 00
By so much to Skidmore Smith 08 00 00
By so much to Mr. Harris 12 19 00
By so much pd. Major Bourne 05 00 00
57 11 04
By so much p'^- to Capt. Kaine being a debt due before
marriage as appears by bill 0015 00 00
1330 01 07
Mr. Bellingham declared his dissent from this account and de-
parted out of Court before the Court's determination and judgmt.
was drawne up. [^Midd. Records, vol. I. p. 87, &c.]
Appendix. 391
APPENDIX D.
[ Page 49. ]
The author of Wonder Working Providence, page 205, gives the
following account of this edition of the laws. " This year [1646]
the General Court appointed a Committee of diverse persons to draw
up a body of Laws for the well ordering this little Commonwealth ;
and to the end that they might be most agreeable with the rule of
Scripture, in every County there were appointed two Magistrates,
two Ministers, and two able persons from among the people, who
having provided such a competent number as was meet, together
with the former that were enacted newly amended, they presented
them to the General Court, where they were again perused and
amended ; and then another Committee chosen to bring them into
form, and present them to the Court again, who the year following
passed an act of confirmation upun them, and so committed them to
the press, and in the year 1648, they were printed, and now are to
be seen of all men, to the end that none may plead ignorance, and
that all who intend to transport themselves hither may know that
this is no place of licentious liberty, nor will this people suffer any
to trample down this vineyard of the Lord, but with diligent exe-
cution will cut off from the city of the Lord, the wicked doers,
and if any man can show wherein any of them derogate from the
word of God, very willingly will they accept thereof, and amend
their imperfection (the Lord assisting), but let not any ill affected
person find fault with them, because they suit not with their own
humour, or because they meddle with matters of religion, for it is no
wrong to any man, that a people who have spent their estates, many
of them, and ventured their lives for to keep faith and a pure con-
science, to use all means that the word of God allows for mainte-
nance and continuance of the same, especially they have taken up
a desolate wilderness to be their habitation, and not deluded any by
keeping their profession in huggermug, but print and proclaim to all
the way and course they intend, God willing, to walk in. If any will
392 History of Printing in America.
yet notwithistanding seek to justle them out of their own right, let
them not wonder if they meet with all the opposition a people put to
their greatest straits can make, as in all their undertaking their
chiefest aim hath been to promote the ordinances of Christ, so also
in contriving their Laws, Liberties and Privileges, they have not
been wanting, which hath caused many to malign their civil govern-
ment, and more especially for punishing any by law, that walk con-
trary to the rule of the gospel which they profess, but to them it
seems unreasonable, and savours too much of hypocrisie, that any
people should pray unto the Lord for the speedy accomplishment of
his word in the overthrow of Antichrist, and in the mean time be-
come a patron to sinful opinions and damnable errors that oppose the
truths of Christ, admit it be but in the bare permission of them."
See in this connection " Remarks on the Early Laws of Massachu-
setts Bay; with the Code adopted in 1641, and called The Body
OF Liberties, now first printed. By F. C. Gray, LL.D."
Mass. Hist. Coll., 3d se., Viii, p. 192.
Appendix. 393
APPENDIX E.
[ Pages 6G, 67. ]
The New Testament was translated into the Indian language by
the Rev. John Eliot, then pastor of the church in Roxbury. Mr.
Eliot was called the Apostle of the Indians, and he truly was so.
He also translated the Old Testament into their language, and gave
them a version of the Psalms. They were all completed at the press
in 1663, and were bound together. The Rev. Cotton Mather, in his
Magnolia, mentions that Mr. Eliot wrote the whole of this great
work with one pen ; if so, we may presume that his pen was not made !
of a goose quill, but of metal.' After Mr. Eliot had acquired the
Indian language, he taught English to the Indians, and made an
Indian Grammar. He went among them and preached the gospel,
instituted schools, and formed churches. The colonies of Massachu- '
setts, Plymouth, Connecticut and New Haven, ^ in 1643, entered into
articles of confederation for their mutual safety and support. Each
colony was annually to choose two commissioners, who were to meet
yearly and alternately in the several colonies. These commissioners
had the power to manage all concerns, in which the colonies were
generally interested ; comprising those of war as well as peace, and
each colony retained the direction of its own internal policy. The
commissioners were chosen by the general court, or assembly of the
respective colonies, and were called the Commissioners of the United
Colonies; to this office, men of the most respectable talents were
elected, and, not unfrequently, the governors of the colonies.
By the agency of Massachusetts, a society had been formed in
London, for propagating the Grospel among the Indians in New Eng-
land. Some time after the confederation of the colonies took place,
' I have been informed that Edward Gibbon, the celebrated author of
the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, wrote the volumes of which
that work consists with one pen ; which, at her request, he presented to the
beautiful Duchess of Devonshire, and it was by her preserved in a golden
shrine.
^ New Haven was at that time, a distinct colony from Connecticut.
394 History of Printing in America.
the society in England for Propagating the Gospel was incorporated
by act of Parliament ; by which act, the commissioners of the United
Colonies were appointed the agents of the society, to manage its con-
cerns, and to dispose of the property which might be forwarded to
America, in such manner as might promote, in the most useful de-
gree, the design of the institution. In time, the funds of the Corpo-
ration ' enabled them to send missionaries among the Indians, to
instruct them in the Christian faith, and to build a number of small
meeting houses, in which the Christianized Indians might assemble
for public worship. An addition was made to the college at the ex-
pense of the corporation, to make room for the education of Indian
youth. Several small books were written, and others translated into
the Indian language ; and, eventually, the design was conceived of
translating the whole of the Holy Scriptures into Indian, and to print
the translation. For this great undertaking the corporation supplied
the means, and the" commissioners of the United Colonies attended
to its execution.
Before the New Testament was finished at the press, the corpora-
tion in England was, at the restoration of King Charles II, for some
reason, deprived of their charter ; but after some time it was restored
and confirmed by theking.^ Before the charter was restored, the
1 The society in England for Propagating the Gospel among the Indians
was so called. It was incorporated in 1649.
"^ After the charter was restored, the corporation sent over to the com-
missioners by their request, as a remittance toward printing the Bible,
and in other ways promoting the propagation of the gospel, a quantit}^ of
pieces of eight, to be recoined here ; which is taken notice of in the fol-
lowing manner in a letter from the corporation to the commissioners :
" We have thought good in pursuance of the trust committed to vs and
for the Improvement of that little wee hav^to send you ouer 433 peeces of
eight, which costs vs one hundred pounds heer, hauing obtained this pri-
viledge in our Charter that what wee shall send ouer shal be without any
charge or custom pay'd for the same, and that tlie coyning thereof into
youer coyne, and according to youer standard will make a considerable
aduance for your supply," &c.
The commissioners, September 18, 1663, in answer to the corporation
observe, " Youer honores accepting our bill of fine hundred pounds, and
sending ouer a supply of an liundred pounds in peeces of eight wee hum-
bly acknowledge, and haue Improucd the said peeces to the vttermostwee
could, whereof by minting or otherwise is 1171b. Os. 07d. by whicli youer
honores may see what aduance thei-e may be made to the stocke by send-
ing of such peeces." — Becords of (he United Colonies.
Appendix. 395
New Testament was completed, and the commissioners here, and the
late members of the corporation in England, judged it good policy
to present to the king one of the first copies of this work ; and to
make it acceptable to his majesty, a dedication was written, printed
and prefixed to the few copies of the Testament which were sent to
England. This measure had the effect desired, and the king became
interested in the restoration of the charter. The copy for the king
and nineteen copies more were forwarded in sheets to the members
of the late corporation in England, with a letter from the commis-
sioners of the United Colonies, an extract from which as recorded,
follows, viz:
" The New Testament is alreddy finished, and of all the old the
five bookes of Moses ; wee have heerwith sent you 20 peeces [copies]
of the New Testament which wee desire may bee thus disposed viz :
that two of the speciall being uery well bound vp the one may bee
presented to his Majestic in the first place; the other to the Lord
Chancellor; and that five more be presented to Doctor Reynolds Mr.
Carrill Mr. Baxter and the two vischancellors of the Vniuersities
whoe wee vnderstand have greatly Incurraged the worke; the rest
to bee disposed of as you shall see cause."
The dedication is recorded among the proceedings of the commis-
sioners of the United Colonies, and is there prefaced in the following
manner.
" Vpon the enformation of the Desolution of the Corporation, and
intimation of hopes that his Majestic would [renew and] confeirme
the same, &c. The Commissioners thought meet to present his
Majestic with the New Testament printed in the Indian language
with these presents following," &c
The dedication as printed in the few copies of the Testament sent
to England, is in the following words.
" To the High and Mighty Prince, Charles the Second, hy the Grace
of God, King of England, Scotland, France and Ireland, De-
fender of the Faith, &c.
"The Commissioners of the United Colonies in New England, wish
increase of all happiness, &c.
" Most Dread Soveraign,
" If our weak apprehensions have not misled us, this Work will bo
no unacceptable Present to Your Majesty, as having a greater In-
396 History of Printing in America.
terest therein, than we believe is generally understood : which (upon
this Occasion) we conceive it our Duty to declare.
" The People of these four Colonies (Confederated for Mutual
Defence, in the time of the late Distractions of our dear Native
Country) Your Majesties natural born Subjects, by the Favour and
Grant of Your Royal Father and Grandfather of Famous Memory,
put themselves upon this great and hazardous Undertaking, of Plant-
ing themselves at their own Charge in these remote ends of the
Earth, that without offence or provocation to our dear Brethren
and Countrymen, we might enjoy that liberty to Worship God,
which our own Consciences informed us, was not onely our Right,
but Duty : As also that we might (if it so pleased God) be instru-
mental to spread the light of the Gospel, the knowledg of the Son
of God our Saviour, to the poor barbarous Heathen, which by His
late Majesty, in some of our Patents, is declared to be His principal
aim.
" These honest and Pious Intentions, have, through the grace
and goodness of God and our Kings, been seconded with proportion-
able success : for, omitting the Immunities indulged us by Your High-
ness Royal Predecessors, we have been greatly encouraged by Your
Majesties gracious expressions of Favour and Approbation signified,
unto the Address made by the principal of our Colonies, to which
the rest do most cordially Subscribe, though wanting the like season-
able opportunity, they have been (till now) deprived of the means
to Congratulate Your Majesties happy Restitution, after Your long
suffering, which we implore may yet be graciously accepted, that
we may be equal partakers of Your Royal Favour and Moderation ;
which hath been so Illustrious that (to admiration) the animosities
and different Perswasions of men have been so soon Composed, and
80 much cause of hope, that (unless the signs of the nation prevent)
a blessed calm will succeed the late horrid Confusions of Church
and State. And shall not we {Dread Soveraign) your Subjects
of these Colonies, of the same Faith and Belief in all Points of
Doctrine with our Countrymen, and the other Reformed Churches,
(though perhaps not alike perswaded in some matters of Order,
which in outward respects hath been unhappy for us) promise and
Appendix. 397
aflsure ourselves of all just favour and indulgence from a Prince so
happily and graciously endowed ?
" The other part of our Errand hither, hath been attended with
Endevours and Blessing ; many of the wilde Indians being taught,
and understanding the Doctrine of the Christian Religion, and with
much affection attending such Preachers as are sent to teach them,
many of their Children are instructed to Write and Reade, and some
of them have proceeded further, to attain the knowledge of the
Latine and Greek Tongues, and are brought up with our English
youth in University-learning : There are divers of them that can and
do reade some parts of the Scripture, and some Catechisms, which
formerly have been Translated into their own Language, which hath
occasioned the undertaking of a greater Work, viz : The Printing
of the whole Bible, which (being Translated by a painful Labourer
amongst them, who was desirous to see the Work accomplished in
his dayes) hath already proceeded to the finishing of the New Testa-
ment, which we here humbly present to Your Majesty, as the first
fruits and accomplishment of the Pious Design of your Royal Ances-
tors. The Old Testament is now under the Press, wanting and
craving your Royal Favour and Assistance for the perfecting thereof,
" We may not conceal, that though this Work hath been begun
and prosecuted by such Instruments as God hath raised up here,
yet the chief Charge and Cost, which hath supported and carried it
thus far, hath been from the Charity and Piety of divers of our well-
affected CountrymeQ in England; who being sensible of our inability
in that respect, and studious to promote so good a Work, contributed
large Sums of Money, which were to be improved according to the
Direction and Order of the then-prevailing Powers, which hath been
faithfully and religiously attended both there and here, according to
the pious intentions of the Benefactors. And we do most humbly
beseech your Majesty, that a matter of so much Devotion and Piety,
tending so much to the Honour of God, may suffer no disappoint-
ment through any Legal defect (without the fault of the Donors, or
the poor Indians, who onely receive the benefit) but that your Majesty
be graciously pleased to Establish and Confirm the same, being con-
trived and done (as we conceive) in the first year of your Majesties
398 History of Printing in America.
Reign, as this Book was begun and now finished in the first year of
your Establishment; which doth not onely presage the happy success
of your Highness Government, but will be a perpetual monument,
that by your Majesties Favour the Gospel of our Lord and Saviour
Jesus Christ, was first made known to the Indians : An Honour
whereof (we are assured) your Majesty will not a little esteem.
" Sir, The shines of Your Royal Favour upon these Vndertakings,
will make these tender Plants to flourish, notwithstanding any malevo-
lent Aspect from, those that bear evil will to this Sion, and render
Your Majesty more Illustrious and Glorious to after Generations.
'■^ The God of Heaven long preserve and bless Your Majesty with
many happy Dayes, to his Glory, the good and comfort of his
Church and People. Amen."
In 1663, when the whole Bible, and a version of the New England
Psalms, translated into the language of the aborigines of New England,
•were completed from the press, a copy, elegantly bound, was pre-
sented to the king with another address, or dedication. . This address,
and that presented to his majesty with the New Testament, were
printed together and prefixed to those complete copies of the whole
work, which were sent to England as presents. Few of the copies
which were circulated in this country contained those addresses. I
recollect to have seen, many years since, a copy that contained them j
that which I possess is without them, as are all others which I have
lately examined. The Rev. Thaddeus M. Harris, some time since,
fortunately discovered in a barber's shop, a mutilated copy of the
Indian Bible, which the barber was using for waste paper. In this
copy the addresses to King Charles are entire. He transcribed the
addresses, and afterward published them in vol. vii of the Collections
of the Historical Society. I have extracted them from that volume,
finding them exactly to agree with the copies on the Records of the
Commissioners of the United Colonies, in every thing but the spell-
ing, which on the records is in a mode more obsolete and incorrect,
but doubtless conformable to the originals, which we may well suppose
were carefully corrected before they were printed and prefixed to the
Bible.
Appendix. 399
The Second Address, or Dedicatipn, is as follows :
" To the High and Might i/ Prince, Charles the Second, by the Grace
of God, King of England^ Scotland, France and Ireland, De-
fender of the Faith, &c.
" The Commissioners of the United Colonies in New-England, wish
all happiness, &c.
" 3fost Dread Soveraign,
" As our former Presentation of the New Testament was Graciously-
Accepted by Your Majesty; so with all Humble Thankfulness for
that Royal Favour, and with the like hope, We are bold now to
Present the WHOLE BIBLE, Translated into the Language of
the Natives of this Country, by A Painful Labourer in that Work,
and now Printed and Finished, by means of the Pious Beneficence
of Your Majesties Subjects in England: which also by Your
Special Favour hath been Continued and Confirmed to the intended
Use and Advancement of so Great and Good a Work, as is the
Propagation of the Gospel to these poor Barbarians in this (Ere-
while) Unknown World.
Translations of Holy Scripture, The Word of the King of Kings,
have ever been deemed not unworthy of the most Princely Dedica-
tions : Examples whereof are extant in divers Languages. But
Your Majesty is the First that hath Received one in this Language,
or from this American World, or from any Parts so Remote from
Europe as these are, for ought that ever we heard of
" Publications also of these Sacred Writings to the Sons of Men
(who here, and here onely, have the Mysteries of their Eternal Sal-
vation revealed to them by the God of Heaven) is a Work that the
Greatest Princes have Honoured themselves by. But to Publish
and Communicate the same to a Lost People, as remote from Know-
ledge and Civility, much more from Christianity, as they were from
all Knowing, Civil and Christian Nations; a People without Law,
without Letters, without Riches, or Means to procure any such
thing ; a people that sate as deep in Darkness, and in the shadow
of Death, as (we think) any since the Creation : This puts a Lustre
upon it that is Superlative ; and to have given Royal Patronage
and Countenance to such a Publication, or to the Means thereof.
400 History of Printing in A'merica.
will stand among the Marks of Lasting Honour in the eyes of all
that are Considerate, even unto After-Grenerations.
" And though there be in this Western World many Colonies of
other Europaean Nations, yet we humbly conceive, no Prince hath
had a Return of such a Work as this ; which may be some Token
of the Success of Your Majesties Plantation of New- England,
Undertaken and Setled under the Encouragement and Security of
Grants from Your Royal Father and G-randfather, of Famous Memory,
and Cherished with late GrracioU:S Aspects from Your Majesty.
Though indeed, the present Poverty of these Plantations could not
have Accomplished this Work, had not the forementioned Bounty
of England lent Relief; Nor could that have Continued to stand
us in stead, without the Influence of Your Royal Favour and Au-
thority, whereby the Oorporation there, for Propagating the Gospel
among these Natives, hath been Established and Encouraged (whose
Labour of Love, Care, and Faithfulness in that Trust, must ever be
remembred with Honour.) Yea, when private persons, for their
private Ends, have of late sought Advantages to deprive the said
Corporation of Half the Possessions that had been, by Liberal Con-
tributions, obtained for so Religious Ends ; We understand, That
by an Honourable and Righteous Decision in Your Majesties Court
of Chancery, their Hopes have been defeated, and the Thing Settled
where it was and is. For which great Favour, and Illustrious Fruit
of Your Majesties Government, we cannot but return our most
Humble Thanks in this Publick Manner : And, as the Result, of
the joynt Endeavours of Your Majesties Subjects there and here,
acting under Your Royal Influence, We Present Tou with this
Work, which upon sundry accounts is to be called Yours.
'' The Southern Colonies of the Spanish Nation have sent home
from this American Continent^ much Gold and Silver, as the Fruit
and End of their Discoveries and Transplantations: That (we confess
is a scarce Commodity in this Colder Climate. But (sutable to the
Ends of our Undertaking) we Present this, and other Concomitant
Fruits of our poor Endeavors to Plant and Propagate the Gospel
here ; which, upon a true account, is as much better than Gold, as
the Souls of men are more worth than the whole World. This is a
Appendix. 401
Nobler Fruit (and iudeed, ia tlie Counsels of All-Disposing Prov-
idence, was an higher intended End) of Oolumbus his adventure.
And though by his Brother's being hindred from a seasonable Ap-
plication, your Famous Predecessour and Ancestor, King Henry the
Seventh, missed of being sole owner of that first Discovery, and of
the Riches thereof; yet, if the Honour of first Discovering the True
and Saving Knowledge of the Grospel unto the poor Americans, and
of Erecting the Kingdome of JESUS CHRIST among them, be
Reserved for, and do Redound unto your Majesty, and the English
Nation, After-ages Will not reckon this Inferiour to the other. Re-
ligion is the End and Grlory of Mankinde; and as it was the Pro-
fessed End of this Plantation ; so we desire ever to keep it in our
Eye as our main design (both as to ourselves, and the Natives about
us) and that our Products may be answerable thereunto. Grive us
therefore leave {Dread Soveraigri) yet again humbly to Beg the
Continuance of your Royal Favour, and of the Influences thereof,
upon this poor Plantation, The United Colonies of NEW ENG-
LAND, for the Securing and Establishment of our Civil Priviledges,
and Religious Liberties hitherto Enjoyed; and, upon this Grood
Work of Propagating Religion to these Natives, that the Supports
and Encouragements thereof from England may be still counten-
anced and Confirmed. May this Nursling still suck the Breast of
Kings, and be fostered by your Majesty, as it hath been by your
Royal Predecessors, unto the Preservation of its main Concernments;
It shall thrive and prosper to the Grlory of Grod, and the Honour of
your Majesty : Neither will it be any loss or grief unto our Lord
the King, to have the Blessings of the Poor to come upon Him,
and that from these Ends of the Earth.
" The God hy whom Kings Reign, and Princes Decree Justice,
Bless Your Majesty, and Establish your Throne in Righteous-
ness, in Mercy, and in Truth, to the Glory of His Name, the
Good of his People, and to your own Comfort and Rejoycing,
not in this onely, but in another World."
Specimen of the Language of the Indians of New England, taken
from the first edition of the Rev. Mr. Eliot's translation of the Bible.
Printed at Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1661.
402 History of Printing in America.
The Lord's Prater. Mat. vi, 9, &c
Nooshun kesukqut, quttianata- Our Father which art in hea-
piuuach koowesuonk. Peyau- ven, hallowed be thy name. Thy
mooutch kukketassootamoonk, kingdom come. Thy will be done
kuttenantamoonk nennachohkeit in earth as it is in heaven. Give
neane kesukqut. Nummeetsuon- us this day our daily bread. And
gash asekesukokish assamaiinean forgive us our debts, as we forgive
yeuyeu kesukod. Kah ahquon- our debtors. And lead us not
tamaiinneannummatcheseongash, into temptation, but deliver us
neane matchenehukqeagig nutah- from evil : For thine is the king-
quontamounnonog. Ahque sag- dom, the power, and the glory
kompagunaiinnean en qutchhua- forever. Amen,
oongauit, webe pohquohwussin-
nean wutch matchitut. Newutche
kutahtaun ketassootamoonk, kah
menuhkesuonk, kah sohsumoonk
micheme. Amen.
Some writers have mentioned that the second edition of the Bible
in the Indian language was published after the death of the trans-
lator, and that it was revised and corrected by the Rev. John
Cotton, of Plymouth. Others observe, that to the second edition an
Indian Grammar was added by Mr. Cotton. They must have been
misinformed, as appears by the statement of Mr. Eliot. In a letter
dated Roxbury, Nov. 4, 1680, to the Hon. Robert Boyle, president
of the corporation for propagating the gospel in New England, Mr.
Eliot mentions, "We are now at the 19th chap, of the Acts; and
when we have impressed the New Testament, our commissioners
approve of my preparing and impressing -also the old." Nov. 27,
1683, Mr. Eliot in another letter to the same person, writes, " The
work [second edition of the BiWe, which had then been more than
three years in the press] goeth on now with more comfort, though
we have had many impediments, &c. They [the Indians] have still
fragments of their old Bibles [first edition] which they make constant
use of" Aug. 29, 1686, Mr. Eliot informs the Hon. Robert Boyle,
"the Bible is come forth; many hundreds bound up, and disposed to
the Indians, whose thankfulness I intimate and testify to your honor."
Appendix. 403
And ill another letter of July, 1688, he requests that 10^. may be
given to the Rev. John Cotton, " who has helped him much in the
second edition of the Bible." ^ It appears, as has been elsewhere
observed, that the second edition was six years in the press. Mr.
Eliot died two years after this edition was published ; according to
Mather,- in 1690, aged 86. The New England Version of the
Psalms was printed with the Bible but I cannot find that the Indian
Grammar was published with either of the editions. It accompanied
some copies of the Psalter ; i e. they were occasionally bound to-
gether in one volume small octavo. ^
' See the letters at large, Hist. Col., vol. iii, p. 177, et seq.
"^ Magnalia. — Life of Eliot.
' Since Dr. Thomas's time much more has become known of Eliot's
Bible, and the particularities of different copies. For an elaborate account
and collation, see O'Callaghan's List of American Bibles. — H.
404 History of Printing in America.
APPENDIX F.
[Page 69.]
The following is given as a specimen of the New England version
of the Psalms ; first, as they were originally printed ; and, secondly,
as they appeared after being revised and corrected by President Dun-
ster and Mr. Lyon. The first psalm of each edition is selected for
the purpose.
[No. I — By Eliot and others.]
THE PSALMES
In Metre.
PSALME I.
O Blessed man, that in th'advice
of wicked doeth not walk :
nor stand in sinner's" way, nor sit
in chayre of scomfuU folk.
2 But in the law of lehovah,
is his longing delight :
and in his law doth meditate,
by day and eke by night.
8 And he shall be like to a tree
planted by water-rivers :
that in his season yeilds his fruit,
and his leafe never withers.
4 And all he doth, shall prosper well,
the wicked are not so :
but they are like vnto the chaffe,
which winde drives to and fro.
5 Therefore shall not ungodly men,
rise to stand in the doome,
nor shall the sinners with the just,
in their assemblie come.
Appendix. 405
For of the righteous men, the Lord
acknowledgeth the way :
but the way of vngodly men,
shall vtterly decay.
[No. II — Corrected by Dunster and Lyon.]
THE
BOOK of PSALMS.
PSAL. I:
0 Blessed man that walks not in
th'advice of wicked men
Nor standeth in the sinners wjiy
nor scorners seat sits in.
3 But he upon Jehovah's law
doth set his whole delight :
And in his law doth meditate
Both in the day and night.
3 He shall be like a planted tree
by water brooks, which shall
In his due season yield his fruit.
whose leaf shall never fall :
4 And all he doth shall prosper well.
The wicked are not so :
But they are like unto the chaff,
which wind drived to and fro.
5 Therefore shall no ungodly men
in judgement stand upright.
Nor in th'assembly of the just
shall stand the sinf ull wight.
6 For of y« righteous men, y^ LORD
acknowledgeth the way :
Whereas the way of wicked men
shall utterly decay.
406 History of Printing in America.
APPENDIX G.
[ Page 113. ]
In the Life of Dr. Franklin, written by himself, little attention
seems to have been paid to dates, particularly in narrating events
which took place during his minority. He informs us that he was
born in Boston, but does not mention the month nor the year; he,
however, observes, 1 that his brother returned from England in 1717,
with a press and types ; and, that his father determined to make
him a printer, and was anxious that he should be fixed with his
brother. He also observes, that he himself held back for some time,
but suffered himself to be persuaded, and signed his indentures. By
the manner in which he mentions these circumstances, we may sup-
pose that they took place within a short period, and as soon as his
brother began business, which was within a few weeks after he re-
turned from London. The doctor mentions that when he signed his
indentures, he was only twelve years of age; this was in 1717. The
New-England Cotirant was not published till August, 1721 ; at this
time Benjamin Franklin must have been in his seventeenth year.
The first Coi^ran^ published by Benjamin Franklin, after his brother
was ordered to print it no longer, is No. 80, dated February 11, 1723 ;
of course Benjamin must then have been advanced in his eighteenth
year. I have seen a file of the Courant from the time it began to
be published in the name of Benjamin Franklin to the middle of
the year 1726,'^ the whole of which was published in the name of
Benjamin Franklin. The doctor does not mention how long the
paper was published in his name ; he only says that it was for " some
months." From the doctor's manner of relating this part of his
history, we may conclude that he did not leave hiS brother short of
one year after the Courant was printed in his, Benjamin's name ;
' In the London 12mo. edit, of 1793, p. 29.
^Tliis file is ill tht; Historical Library at Boston.
Appendix. 407
and, if so, he must have heen nearly nineteen years of age ; but, if
he remained with his brother till the year 1726, he would then have
been twenty-one years old. Yet he states, page 53, that after
he left his brother, "he found himself at New York, nearly
three hundred miles from his home, at the age only of seventeen
years." It is evident from the doctor's account of himself after he
left his brother, that he did not remain with him so long as the Cour-
ant was published in the name of Benjamin Franklin; for he gives
an account of his return to Boston, remaining there some time, his
going again to Philadelphia, working with Keimer, and afterward
making a voyage to London, where he was near two years a journey-
man, and returning back to America, and again arriving in Phila-
delphia in October, 1726. It is difficult to reconcile all these events
with the few dates which the doctor has mentioned. But I leave
them with those who are inclined to make further investigation.
408 History of Printing in America.
APPENDIX H.
[ Page 213. ]
The following is a copy of the denunciation of Oeorge Keith, and
his printed address ; proclaimed hy the common crier, in the Market
place, Philadelphia, August 25, 1692.
" At a Private Sessions held for the County of Philadelphia the
25th of the 6th month, 1692, before Arthur Cook, SamuelJennings,
Samuel Richardson, Humphrey Murray, Anthony Morris, Robert
Ewer, Justices of the County.
" Whereas the Government of this Province, being by the late
King of England's peculiar favor vested, and sithence continued in
Governor Penn, who thought fit to make his and our worthy friend
Thomas Lloyd his deputy governor, by and under whom the Magis-
trates do act in this Government — And whereas it hath been proved
before us, that George Keith being a resident here, did, contrary to
his duty, publickly revile the said Deputy Governor, calling him an
Impudent man, telling hina he was not fit to be Governor, and that
his name would stink, with many other slighting and abusive Ex-
pressions, both to him and the Magistrates ; and he that useth such
exorbitancy of speech towards the said Governor, may be supposed
will easily dare to call the Members of Council and Magistrates
Impudent Rascals, as he hath lately called one in an open Assembly,
that was constituted by the Proprietary to be a Magistrate — and he
also charges the Magistrates who are Ministers here, with engross-
ing the Magistratical Power into their hands, that they might usurp
Authority over him, saying also, he hoped in God he should shortly
see their Power taken from them ; and otherwise conducted in a
most undecent manner. And further the said G. K. with several of
his adherents, having some few days since, with an unusual insolency,
by a printed sheet, called An Appeal, &c. Traduced, and vilely mis-
represented the Industry, Care, Readiness and Vigilancy of some
Magistrates and others here, in their late Proceedings against some
Privateers, viz. Babit and his Crew, in order to bring them to con-
dign punishment, whereby to discourage such attempts for the future ;
and hath thereby also defamed and arraigned the Determinations of
Appendix. 409
Provincial Judicatory against Murderers ; and not only so, but by
a wrong insinuation, have laboured to possess the readers of their
Pamphlet, that it is inconsistent for those who are Ministers of the
Gospel to act as Magistrates. Now, forasmuch, as we, as well as
others, have borne, and still do patiently endure from the said George
Keith and his adherents many personal Reflections against us, and
their Gross Revilings of our Religious Society; yet we cainnot without
the violation of our trust to the King and Governor, as also to the
inhabitants of this Government, pass by or connive at such part of
the said Pamphlet aqd Speeches, that has a tendency to sedition
and disturbance of the peace, as also to the subversion of the present
Government, or to the aspersing the Magistracy thereof. — Therefore
for the undeceiving of all people we have thought fit by this Publick
Writing, not only to signify that our Procedure against the persons
now in the Sheriff's custody, as well as what we intend against others
concerned, in its proper place, respfects only that part of the said
printed sheet, which appears to have the tendency aforesaid, and not
any part relating to Differences in Religion. But also, these are to
Caution such who are well affected to the Security, Peace and Legal
Administration of Justice in this Place, that they give no countenance
to any Revilers and Contemners of Authority, Magistrates or Magis-
tracy ; as also, to warn all other persons, that they forbear the future
publishing and spreading of the said Pamphlet, as they will' answer
the contrary at their peril. Given under our Hands and County-Seal,
the Day, Year and Place aforesaid.
" Arthur Cook, Humphrey Murrey,
Samuel Jennings, Robert Ewer,
Samuel Richardson, Anthony Morris."
George Keith published an answer to the foregoing, in which he
denies that he blamed Governor Lloyd and the magistrates, for their
proceedings against the privateers [pirates ;] or, that he called in
question their power, as magistrates, respecting that business ; that
their conduct, as magistrates, relating to the pirates, was commend-
able, &C.5 that he only asserted, " that as quakers and ministers, the
magistrates in hiring and fitting out men to fight, had acted diamet-
rically opposite and contrary to the often declared and known prin-
ciple of the quakers, not to make any use of the carnal sword "
410 History of Printing in America.
APPENDIX m.
[ Page 266. ]
Towne's recantation first appeared in Loudon's New York Packet,
published at Fishkill, October 1, 1771 ', and, afterwards, in the works
of Dr. WitherspooD, of Philadelphia, by whom it was written.
Recantation of Benjamin Towne.
'^ The following facts are well known : 1st. That I Benjamin
Towne, used to print the Pennsylvania Evening Post, under the pro-
tection of Congress, and did frequently and earnestly solicit sundry
members of the said Congress for dissertations and articles of intelli-
gence, professing myself to be a very firm and zealous friend to
American Liberty. 2d. That on the English taking possession of
Philadelphia, I turned fairly round, and printed my Evening Post
under the protection of General Howe and his army, calling the Con-
gress and all their adherents. Rebels, Rascals, and Raggamuffins,
and several other unsavoury names, with which the humane and
Polite English are pleased to honor them — neither did I ever refuse
to insert any dissertation however scurrilous, or any article of intel-
ligence sent to me, altho' many of them I well knew to be, as a cer-
tain gentleman elegantly e?: presses it, facts that never happened.
3d. I am now willing and desirous to turn once more, to unsay all
that I have last said, and to print and publish for the United States
of America, which are likely to be uppermost, against the British
Tyrant ; nor will I be backward in calling him, after the example of
the great and eminent author i of Common Sense, The Royal Brute,
or giving him any other name more opprobrious, if such can be found.
The facts being thus stated, (I will presume to say altogether fully
and fairly) I proceed to observe, that I am not only proscribed by the
President and suDjr^Hae executive Council of Pennsylvania, but that
Tlumias Paine.
Appendix. 411
several other Persons are for reprobating my paper, and allege that in-
stead of being suffered to print, I ought to be hanged as a Traitor to
my Country. On this account I have thought proper to publish the
following humble confession, declaration, recantation, and apology,
hoping that it will assuage the wrath of my enemies, and in some
degree restore me to the favor and indulgence of the Public. In the
first place then, I desire it may be observed, that I never was, nor
ever pretended to be a man of character, repute or dignity. I was
originally an understrapper to the famous Galloway ' in his infamous
squabble with Groddard,"' and did in that service contract such a habit
of meanness in thinking, and scurrility in Writing, that nothing ex-
alted, as brother Bell,3 provedore to the sentimentalists, would say,
could ever be expected from me. Now, changing sides is not any
way surprising in a person answering the above description. I re-
member to have read in the Roman History, that when Cato of Utica
had put himself to death, being unable to survive the dissolution of
the Republic, and the extinction of Liberty, another senator of infe-
rior note, whose name I cannot recollect, did the same thing. But
what thanks did he receive for this ? The men of reflection only
laughed at his absurd imitation of so groat a personage, and said —
he might have lived tho' the Republic had come to its period. Had
a Hancock or an Adams changed sides, I grant you they would
have deserved no quarter, and I believe would have received none ;
but to pass the same judgment on the conduct of an obscure Printer
is miserable reasoning indeed. After all, why so much noise about
a trifle ? what occasion is there for the public to pour out all its
wrath upon poor Towne; are turncoats so rare? do they not walk on
every side ? have we not seen Dr. S , J A , T C ,"*
and many others who were first champions for Liberty; then friends
to government — and now discover a laudable incHnationto fall into
1 Joseph Galloway, Esq., formerly speaker of the house of assembly of
Pennsylvania, and partner of William Goddard, &c.
" William Goddard, a printer of The Pennsyloania Chronicle, to whom
Towue had been a journeyman.
' Robert Bell, a well known book auctioneer of Philadelphia.
* Supposed to mean Doctor S — h, John A — n and T— C — e, of Phila-
delphia.
412 History of Printing in America.
their ranks as quiet and orderly subjects of the commonwealth of
Pennsylvania.
The rational moralists of the last age used to tell us that there
■was an essential difference between virtue and vice, because there
was an essential difference to be observed in the nature and reason
of things. Now, with all due deference to these great men, I think
I am as much of a Philosopher as to know that there are no circum-
stances of action more important than those of time and place, there-
fore, if a man pay no regard to the changes that may happen in these
circumstances, there will be very little Virtue, and still less Prudence
in his behavior. Perhaps I have got rather too deep for common
readers, and therefore shall ask any plain Quaker in this city, what
he would say to a man who should wear the same coat in summer as
in winter in this climate? He would certainly say, " Friend thy
wisdom is not great." Now whether I have not had as good reason
to change my conduct as my coat, since last January, I leave to every
impartial person to determine. 2dly, I do hereby declare and confess,
that when I printed for Congress, and on the side of Liberty, it was
not by any means from principle, or a desire that the cause of Liberty
should prevail, but purely and simply from the love of gain. I
could have made nothing but tar and feathers by printing against
them as things then stood. I make this candid acknowledgment
not only as a penitent to obtain pardon, but to show that there was
more consistency in my conduct than my enemies are willing to
allow. They are pleased to charge me with hypocrisy in pretending
to be a Whig when I was none. This charge is false ; I was neither
whig nor tory but a Printer. I detest and abhor hypocrisy. I had
no more regard for General Howe or General Clinton,' or even for
Mrs. Lowring,'- or any other of the Chaste Nymphs, that attended
the fete Champetre,'^ alias Mischianza when I printed in their behalf,
than for the congress on the day of their retreat. It is pretended
that I certainly did in my heart incline to the English, because that
I printed' much bigger lies and in greater number for them, than
' Two British generals, sent over to subjugate the colonies.
^ A married lady, said to have been the mistress of the British General
H— e.
^ A public cxiiibition in honor of the British General IIovvc.
Appendix. 413
for the Congress. This is a most false and unjust insinuation. It
was entirely the fault of the Congress themselves, who thought fit
(being but a new potentate upon the earth,) to be much more modest,
and keep nearer the truth than their adversaries. Had any of them
bro't me in a lie as big as a mountain it should have issued from my
press. This gives me an opportunity of showing the folly as well as
malignity of those who are actuated by party spirit; many of them
have affirmed that I printed monstrous and inr.redihle lies for Gen-
eral Howe. Now pray what harm could incredible lies do ? the only
hurt, I conceive, that any lie can do, is by obtaining belief, as a truth;
but an incredible lie can obtain no belief, and therefore at least
must be perfectly harmless. What will those cavillers think, if I
should turn this argument against them, and say that the most effec-
tual way to disgrace any cause is to publish monstrous and incredible
lies in its favor. In this view, I have not only innocence, but some
degree of merit to plead. However, take it which way you will,
there never was a lie published in Philadelphia that could bear the
least comparison with those published by James Rivington,' in New
York. This in my opinion is to be imputed to the superiority not
of the Printer, but of the Prompter or Prompters. I reckon Mr.
T to have excelled in that branch; and he had probably many
coadjutors. — What do you think of 40,000 Russians and 20,000
Moors, which Moors too were said by Mr. Rivington to be dreadful
among the women ? as also the boats building at the forks of the
Monongahela to carry the Congress down the Ohio to New Orleans ?
these were swingers. — As to myself and friend H s.'^ we
contented ourselves with publishing affidavits to prove that the king
of France was determined to preserve the friendship that subsisted
between him and his good brother the King of England, of which
he has given a new proof by entering into and communicating his
treaty with the United States of America. Upon the whole I hope
the public will attribute my conduct, not to disaffection, but to at-
1 " Printer to the King's Most Excellent Majesty," in New York.
''Supposed to refer to a former governor of North Carolhia, and after-
wards governor of New York.
' James H s, printer in Philadelphia, whilst the British troops
were in possession of that city, and before that tiuiL".
414 History of Printing in America.
tacliment to my own interest and desire of ^ain in iny profession ; a
principle, if I mistake not, pretty general and pretty powerful in the pre-
sent day. 3dly I hope the public will consider that I have been a tim-
orous man, or, if you will, a coward, from my youth, so that I cannot
fight — my belly is so big that I cannot run — and I am so great a lover
of eating and drinking that I cannot starve. When those three things
are considered, I hope they will fully account for my past conduct,
and procure me the liberty of going on in the same uniform tenor
for the future. No just judgment can be formed of a man's cha-
racter and conduct unless every circumstance is taken in and fairly
attended to ; I therefore hope that this justice will be done in my
case. I am also verily pursuaded that if all those who are cowards
as well as myself, but who are better oflF in other respects, and there-
fore can and do 7-un whenever danger is near them, would befriend
me, I should have no inconsiderable body on my side. Peace be
with the Congress and the army ; I mean no reflections ; but the
world is a wide field, and I wish everybody would do as they would
be done by. Finally, I do hereby recant, draw back, eat in, and
swallow down, every word that I have ever spoken, written or printed
to the prejudice of the United States of America, hoping it will not
only satisfy the good people in general, but also all those scatter-
brained fellows, who call one another out to shoot pistols in the air,
while they tremble so much they cannot hit the mark. In the mean
time I will return to labor with assiduity in my lawful calling, and
essays and intelligence as before shall be gratefully accepted by the
Public's most obedient humble servant,
"BENJAMIN TOWNE."
Appendix. 415
APPENDIX I.
[ Page 291. ]
Green's Handbill, and the depositions consequent thereon, which
were all published at the time, will give the reader some idea of the
state of the press in New England in 1700. I have taken them
from a copy in ray possession ; they are as follow.
" The Printers Advertisement."
" Whereas there is Prefixed unto a late Pamphlet, Entituled, Gos-
pel Order Revived, Printed at New-York, An Advertisement, which
runs in these words, viz. The Reader is desired to take Notice, that
the Press in Boston is so much under the aw of the Reverend Author^
whom we answer, and his Friends, that we coxdd not obtain of the
Printer there to Print the following Sheets, which is the only true
Reason why we have sent the Copy so far for its Impression, and
where it is Printed with some Difficulty. I count my self bound in
Justice unto all Persons aspers'd by that Advertisement, to Declare
and Publish to the World the Truth of the matter, which briefly is
this : Certain Persons bringing to the Press, the Pamphlet above
mentioned, after some Discourse concerning the number of Copies
and Price, I Consented to its being Published : But when they in-
sisted upon doing it with Secresy, I considered that for aught I knew
Good men in the Country might be Offended at it : Therefore I only
proposed this Reasonable thing, That before I proceeded, I might
mention to His Honor the Lieutenant Governour, what was offered to
the Press ; This they denied me ; But when they angrily went away
some of my last words to them were, That I did not refuse to Print it.
And neither the Reverend Pr^esident of the Colledge, nor any of his
Friends, ever spoke one word unto me to Discourage my Printing of
it.
" Bartholomew Green.
" Boston December 21st, 1700.
416 History of Printing in America.
Kemarks.^
" The Printer having by this Advertisement Vindicated those
that were unworthily reflected on in the Advertisement, Prefixed
to the above mentioned Libellous Pamphlet, (which no man is
as yet so Hardy as to own himself to be the Author of) the world
may Judge of other things contained therein by this. It will in
due Time appear, that besides the Profane Scoffs and Scurrilities,
(not only on particular persons, who never deserved such Treat-
ments, but also on the Holy Churches of the Lord, and on the
most Sacred Actions performed in them, which is the Spirit of their
whole Pamphlet — as if they had designed to have that Scripture ful-
filled upon them. 2. Tim. 2.9. Thei/ shall proceed no further, /or
their folly shall he manifest to all men — besides all this, it will ap-
pear that there are other more Impudent Falsehoods than that in
their Advertisement, which the Printer in Boston, has (as became an
Honest and Just man) made a discovery of.
" Dated in Boston, December 24th, 1700."
" The depositions of Thomas Brattle, Gent, and Zechariah Tuthill,
Merchant.
" These Deponents say, That on Saturday, the I3th of July last,
they went to Bartholomew Green's to Treat with him about Printing
an answer to Old Mr. J!fa<^er's Book, called, The Order of the Gospel:
Who, after he had taken said Answer into his hands, and seen both
what it was, and how much there was of it, told them he reckoned
Three Sheets of Paper might contain it, and seven Ream of Paper
Print about a Thousand of them ; for which they agreed with him
for Twenty Shillings the sheet. He made not any Objection to them
against Printing said Answer ; only said he could not go about it,
till he had Printed ofi" the Laws, which would not be till the Tuesday
following. They further say. There was never any other person that
brought said Answer to the Press, but the deponents ; and they never
brought it, but at this time. But neither did the said Green pro-
pose to them the mentioning to his Honour the Lieutenant Gover-
' Tlicse remarks were written by Cotton Mather.
Appendix. 417
nour, what was offered to the Press, nor did they deny it him ; nor
did they go away in any Anger from him, nor did they hear him say
any such word : {That he did not refuse to print it), all which the
said Green in his late Advertisement of 2Uh Instant most unfairly
Declares, That certain persons b.ringing to the Press the Answer
above mentioned, did.
" Tho. Brattle.
" Boston, Dec. 27, 1700. " Zech Tuthill.
The Subscribers offering to make Oath to what is above written,
the same being several times distinctly read over in the hearing o/Bar-
tholomew Green, he owned the same to be what passed between him and
them.
" Coram, Isaac Addington, } Justices of
Nathaniel Byfield. j the Peace."
" The Depositions of John Mice & Zechariah Tuthill, Merchants.
" These Deponents say. That on or about the \Zth of July last, they
went to Bartholomew Green's to see if he were ready to Print the An-
swer to Old Mr. Mather's Gospel Order, but he was then unwilling to
Print it because (as he said) it would displease some of his Friends ;
and to. the best of their remembrance, he mentioned particularly the
Mathers. They told him it was strange he would Print any thing for
the said Mathers, and particularly the said Gospel Order, and noth-
ing in Answer to it or them, by which means the World might think
those Principles to be approved by all, which were abhorred by sun-
dry Worthy Ministers in the Land. The unfairness of which prac-
tice they laboured to convince him of, yet he still declined to Print
it ; but at length said, if they would admit the Lieutenant Grovernor
to be askt, to give his Approbation to it, he would Print it ; which
they were unwilling to for this reason : Because they conceived it a
new Method, not practised heretofore, and which the said Green
would not have required of them now, but to put off the Printing
of this Book which answered the Mathers, whom he seemed loth to
displease. These Deponents hereupon asked said Printer, whether
418 History of Printing in America.
he had his Honours leave to Print the Gospel Order ? he said, he
had not. They then asked him if he would Print this, if Young
Mr. Mather would be Imprimatur to it ? he readily said, he would.
Then they told him, it was a shame so Worthy a Minister as Mr.
Stoddard must send so far as England to have his book printed,
when young Mr. Mather had the Press at his pleasure ? To which
he replied, he hoped Mr. Mather was another guess man than Mr
Stoddard. At length they told him, if he would not Print it, they
would have it Printed elsewhere ; but did not hear him say those
words in his Advertisement of the 21s< Instant, namely. That he did
not refuse to print it.
" John Mico
" Boston, December 27, 1700. Zech. Tuthill."
" Sworn hy the two persons /SMfescnftiTj^, Bartholomew Green being
present, and excepting against those words in the Evidence ; particu-
larly the Mathers, and that he would Print it, if young Mr. Mather
would be Imprimatur to it : Also affirming he said those words, He
did not refuse to Print it, and nothing further.
" Coram, Isaac Addington, ] Justices of
Nathai^el Byfield. 3 the Peace."
" Mr. Green the Printer, being by these Depositions Convicted of
sundry Mistakes in his late Advertisement, so that his Folly and
theirs who set him on work is manifest unto all men ; there is just
reason to suspect the truth of what he saith in the Fag-end of his
Advertisement, that neither the Reverend Prsesident, nor any of his
Friends ever spoke a word to him to discourage his printing the
Answer to the Order of the Gospel. But whether that be true or false,
concerns not the Advertisement prefix'd to said Answer, which saith
nothing of any one speaking to the Printer, to discourage him ; but
only that his Press was so much under the aw of the Reverend Author
and his friends, that we could not obtain of him to Print it ; Than
which nothing can be more evident from these Depositions, which
say. The said Printer after he had positively agreed for the Printing
said Answer, fell off from his Bargain, and declin'd to Print it, be-
cause it would displease some of his Friends, and particularly the
Appendix. 419
Mathers, who are known by all to have been his particular Friends
and Imploi/ers. So that the Reverend Author of that Libellous
Scribble, at the tail of said Green's Advertisement (to which the Rev-
erend Author was not yet so Hardy as to set his Name) had no reason
to Reflect as he did on the Advertisement prefix'd to said Answer,
or to Boast of the Printer's Vindication, but might be asham'd of
both. As for the prophane Scoffs and Scurrilities not only on par-
ticular persons, but on the Holy Churches of the Lord, and the most
Sacred Actions therein performed (by which are meant 0 HORRI-
BLE ! his two dear and precious Creatures, RELATIONS and the
CHURCH COVENANT,) which that infamous Scribble saith, is
the Spirit of the whole Answer, and those other Falsehoods it is
threatened shall appear therein ; they are but Bruta Fulmina to
fright and scare the poor deluded, bigotted people withal, which is
the very Spirit and Quintessence of the Reverend Scribler. But all
these little Artifices and Cavils were plainly foreseen, and so fully
provided against by the Ingenious Authors of said Answer, that
there's no need of taking any further notice of them here.
" I shall therefore at present say no more, hut that the World may
Judg what base and injurious treatment that Answer must expect
from its Enraged Adversaries, by what is contained in that one little
Canting, Scandalous Libel, wherein there are far more profane
Scoffs, Scurrilities and Impudent Falsehoods, than are in all that
GREAT and NOBLE and EXCELLENT ANSWER.
Tho. Brattle."
" Boston, December 27, 1700. " Boston, printed by J. Allen."
The Deposition of Bartholomew Green Printer.
" Who Testifies and Says, That on Saturday, some time last
Summer, Mr. Thomas Brattle, and Mr. Zech. Tuthill came to my
Work House in Boston, and brought with them a Manuscript of
small Writing for me to Print ; and calling me aside to one end of
the Room, desired me to be private in it, and to keep it from the
Mathers ; informing me that it was an Answer to Old Mr. Mathers
Book, of the Order of 'the Gospel. And after I had taken it into
my hand, Mr. Brattle told me, it was not yet ready, he would Trans-
420 History of Printing in America.
cribe it. They asked me how much I thought it would make : I
answered, Three Sheets, or something more, in Octavo ; and told
them I could not do it before the Laws were Printed, which would
be next Monday or Tuesday. They asked me how much Paper
Three Sheets would take to Print a Thousand : I answered about
Seven Keam. They asked me how much I would have a Sheet ; I
answered. Two and Twenty Shillings. They said, I could do it
cheaper. I reply 'd, Mr. Brattle was very curious in Correcting.
They told me, That would be for my Credit, or to that purpose.
After some other words I consented to do it for Twenty Shilling
Per Sheet : Whereupon they told me, they would have the Paper
of Mr. George ; and so went away, taking the Copy with them.
After they were gone, it came into my mind what great disturbance
the illcinifieoto had made (which I Printed very privately at said
TuthilVs desire) which made me the more thoughtful, lest this might
give more OflFence. Yetfor all, I went not to the Reverend Prsesident;
neither did I receive any Discouragement from him, or any of his
Friends, as to my Printing of it.
" The Monday or Tuesday following, Mr, Zechariah Tuthill came
alone to my Printing House, where I was, and guessing at his Busi-
I ness, I desired him to walk out with me. Then I told him, I was
much concern'd about the Book, and prayed him to tell me who was
the Author of it. What ? said he. Now you have been with Mr.
Mather. To which I replied, I have not. Whereupon he said,
There are three or four that are the Authors of it. Then I desired
I only that I might mention it to the Lieutenant Govarnour, or ask his
' Approbation ; which said I, I ought to do in Books of Controversy.
Mr. Tuthill seem'd to be willing I should ; which greatly satisfied
me. And understanding His Honour was to be in Town that day,
I was to wait on him for that end. This is the substance of what
pass'd between Mr. Tuthill and me.
" A little while after, in the same day, Mr. John Mico, and the
said Mr. Zechariah Tuthill came to me to my Printing Room, and
charged me by no means to go to the Lieutenant Grovernour, for
they would not have him know of it. After this, there passed some
discourse concerning Mr. Increase Mather's Book, the Order of the
Gospel, and of Mr. Stoddard's Book, of Instituted Churches, as I
r
Appendix. 421
understood. Mr. Mico asked me if it were not pity, or a shame,
that such a man as Mr. Stoddard should send so far as England to
have his Book Printed. The Answer to which I do not justly
remember, nor for what reason he spake it to me : for Mr. Stoddard's
Book was never offered me to Print ; by himself or any other person.
Afterward Mr. Mico said to me, Well ! you do refuse to Print it,
meaning the Manuscript that was an Answer to Mr. Increase
Mather's Order of the Gospel. I answered No, I do not refuse to
Print it : but am not willing to do it without the Lieutenant Grov-
ernor's Leave, or to that purpose. Whereupon they said they
would have it printed elsewhere ; and went away in some Anger.
"Boston Jan. 4th, 1700, — 1. Bartholomew Green."
" Boston Jan. 4th, 1700, — 1. Sworn by Barthol. Green,
Printer ; Mr. Thomas Brattle, Mr. John Mico, and Mr. Zechariah
Tuthill, being Notified and Present.
C Samuel Sewall. ") Justices
" Coram Nobis, l Peter Sergeant, v of the
(Penn Townsend. ) Peace "
The Deposition of John Allen and Timothy Green, Printers.
*' These Deponents can and do Testify, That being at Bartholmew
Green's Printing house at or about the 13th of July 1700. Where
Mr. Thomas Brattle and Mr. Zechariah Tuthill came, and call'd
the said Green aside to another part of the Room, where they had
some Private Discourse ; which said Green afterwards informed us,
that it was to Print an Answer to Mr. Mather's Order of the Gospel.
Some few days after, the aforesaid Zechariah TuthUl came alone to
the aforesaid Printing-House, where we also then were. And the
said Green and Tuthill went out together, and had some discourse
together. After the said Tuthill was gone, the said Green told us
that he had proposed to the said Tuthill the acquainting the Lieu-
tenant Governour with it before he proceeded in doing it ; Vhich
the said Green said, that the said Tuthill was willing to : Whereat
the said Green seem'd mightily well pleased. But some time after
in the same day, came the aforesaid Tuthill with Mr. John Mico to
the aforesaid Printing house ; and we do Testify that we heard the
said Mico forbid the said Green acquainting the Lieutenant Gov-
ernour with it ; but that he should say nothing of it. Other dis-
422 History of Printing in America.
course happened, which we took not much notice of. But this we
can, and do Testify to. That we heard the said Mr. John Mico, or
Tuthill, one of them say, Well ! or What, then you Refuse to Print
it. Unto which the said Green Replyed, No, I do not Refuse to
Print it : but am unwilling without the Lieutenant Grovernour's
Leave, or Approbation. Hereupon they went away seemingly Angry,
saying. We will have it Printed elsewhere.
<' Boston January 4th. " John Allen.
"1700. Timothy Green."
" 1701. [N. S.]
" Boston Jan. 4, 1700, 1. Sworn hy the Subscribers, John Allen,
and Timothy Green ; Mr. Thomas Brattle, and Mr. John Mico,
and Mr. Zechariah Tuthill being Notified and Present.
( Samuel Sewall. ") Justices
" Coram Nobis \ Peter Sergeant. V of the
(_Penn Townsend. 3 Peace."
To the Candid READER.
" THE shortness of my Advertisement of the 21st of December,
1700, having rendred it less intelligible, & given Occasion for some
Exceptions that have been since taken against it : for this reason I
have explained it in the Foregoing Depositions. As also because
there being no mention made in the Deposition of Mr. Thomas
Brattle and Mr. Zechariah Tuthill of the 27<A of December, of
their speaking to me to Print their Copy privately ; some might
happily think, I Owned that they did not speak to me to do it pri-
vately : Whenas I declar'd to the contrary. And some might think
and boast, that I had Owned that I had most untruly, or at least
most unfairly declared in my said Advertisement : Which I never
did Own; neither doth the Attestation of the Honourable Justices
import I did.
" And because what pass'd between Mr. Zechariah Tuthill & me
singly, is wholly Omitted in both the Depositions said Tuthill was
concerned in.
" The Sum is, Whenas no Name appeared in the Title Page ; nor
so much as the Name of any Author was told me, when I re-
quested Tt ; & I had no opportunity to read it over my self; the Piece
Appendix. 423
being also Controversal : I concluded it would be altogether incon-
venient for me to Print it upon my own head without asking advice j
for which I referr'd myself to the Honourable WILLIAM STOUGH-
TON, Esq ; our Lieutenant Governour, who became Commander
in Chief of the Province before the Week was out. For His Excel-
lency the Lord BELL OMONT, our Governour, began his Voyage
to New York, upon Wednesday/ the 17/^ of Ju7i/, 1700. the very
next day after Mr. Mico and Mr. Tuthill were with me. Nor was
it a new thing to show Copies to the Lieutenant Governour in order
to their being Printed. Mr. SeioaWs Phsenomena Apocalyptica was
taken off the Press, and carried to the Lieutenant Governour for his
Allowance. By the same Token, one Half Sheet being wrought off
too soon : the Author was at the Charge to Print it over again, to
gratify His Honour in some Alterations that could not otherwise be
made. Besides other Instances that might be given. And consid-
ering the Lieut. Governours Eminent Qualification to judge of Books ;
the Station God has given him in the New English Church ; and
the good Offices he has done for Mr. Benjamin Colman and his
Church in particular : Every one that is not a Stranger in Boston
may wonder at it, that a Book Dedicated to the Churches of Christ
in N. England, a motion to have it first view'd by his Honour,
should be rejected with so much Disdain. For my own part, The
obstinate Refusal of so fair an Arbiter, made me fear some foul
Play : which is the principal Aw that I remember my self to have
been under.
"In fine, the Maintenance of my self & Family ^f small Children
depending under God, upon the good will of them that please to set
me on Work, I have no intent to provoke or affront any person or
Order of men ; but to oblige them so far as is consistent with clear-
ing of my Reputation ; which (as little and low as I am) ought to be
more eligible to me than much gainful business. And now having
truly and uprightly given an Account of my doing in this matter, I
humbly submit it to the Charitable Censure of every judicious &
Impartial Reader.
"Boston, Jauuary 10, 1700, — 1. B. Green."
UMASS/BOSTON LIBRARIES
1001147568
Z205 .T56 1967 2 GC
The history of printing in
1
LIBRARY
of
BOSTON
1
Live Music Archive
Librivox Free Audio
Metropolitan Museum
Cleveland Museum of Art
Internet Arcade
Console Living Room
Open Library
American Libraries
TV News
Understanding 9/11