A Short History of English Printing, 1476-1898Plomer, Henry R. (Henry Robert)
History
A Short History of English Printing, 1476-1898
Plomer, Henry R. (Henry Robert)
England -- Imprints; Printing -- England -- History
In 1675 a press was established at Boston by John Foster, a graduate of
Harvard College, under a licence from the College. Besides the official
work of the colony and theological literature, he printed several
pamphlets on the war between the English and the Indians. He died in
1681, when he was succeeded by Samuel Green, junior, who continued
printing there until 1690. In the following year three printers' names
are found in the imprints of books: R. Pierce, Benjamin Harris, and John
Allen. Benjamin Harris is afterwards called 'Printer to his Excellency,
the Governor and Council,' but in 1693 Harris removed from 'over against
the Old Meeting House,' to 'the Bible over against the Blew Anchor,' and
another printer, Bartholomew Green, seems to have shared with him the
official work.
Pennsylvania was the next of the colonies to establish a press; its
first printer, William Bradford, setting up there in 1685, in which year
he printed _Kalendarium Pennsilvaniense, or, America's Messinger, Being
an Almanack for the Year of Grace 1686_.
In 1688 Bradford issued proposals for printing a large Bible (Hildeburn,
_Issues of the Pennsylvania Press_, vol. i. p. 9), but they came to
nothing. In 1692 he printed several pamphlets for George Keith, the
leader of the schism among the Quakers, and for this he was imprisoned.
On his release he removed to New York. A press was also set up in
Virginia in 1682, but was suppressed, and no printing allowed there
until 1729. The name of the printer is not known, but is believed to
have been William Nuthead, who set up a press in Maryland in 1689 with a
similar result.
The first printer in New York was William Bradford, who began work there
on the 10th April 1693. Among his most famous publications before the
close of the seventeenth century was Keith's _Truth Advanced_, a quarto
of 224 pages, printed on paper manufactured at his own mill and issued
in 1694; in the same year he also printed _The Laws and Acts of the
General Assembly_.
[Footnote 13: _Dom. S. P., Chas. II._, vol. 243, p. 181.]
APPENDIX No. I
LIST OF ENGLISH PRINTERS 1649-50
NAME OF PRINTER ADDRESS
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account