Cramer’s ambition extended beyond the limits of his bookbindery. John C. Gilkison died on March 21, 1800, after having held the office of prothonotary less than two months. The little bookstore which he had established was for sale. Judge Hugh Henry Brackenridge seems to have advanced the money invested by Gilkison in the business, and it devolved on him to settle Gilkison’s affairs. This was Cramer’s opportunity, and he purchased Gilkison’s business, obtaining favorable terms from Brackenridge. In June he took possession. All his life he believed in the efficacy of advertising, and his entry upon this larger field was heralded by a long public notice.[272] It was addressed to the people of the “Western Country.” He declared that he did not mean to be limited to the confines of the borough, and intended to carry on his business extensively. He emphasized his ability to make blankbooks and do bookbinding “nearly if not quite as cheap” as could be done east of the Alleghany Mountains. He enlarged on the bookstore which he had just opened, and claimed to have a selection of nearly eight hundred volumes. His choice of location was fortunate. The business center was changing. Merchants whose establishments had been on Water Street, on Front Street, and on Second Street, were congregating on Market Street. Gilkison’s store was on the east side of this street. Here Cramer established himself, and after the _Tree of Liberty_ was founded, advertised as being located “between the two printing offices.”[273] To indicate his place of business he hung out the “Sign of the Franklin Head”; Benjamin Franklin was the patron saint of everyone who had any connection, however remote, with printing. Cramer designated himself, “Bookbinder and Publisher,” and the word “publisher” did not long remain a misnomer. It was the day of small publishers. Even in the larger cities in the East, books emanated from the printing presses of men whose establishments were of minor importance. Large publishing houses are creatures of the complex civilization of a much later period. Probably from the beginning Cramer contemplated undertaking the publication of books and pamphlets as soon as his means permitted, although it was some months before he actually began publishing. But he was already making preparations to that end, and on October 17, 1800, he announced that in a few weeks almanacs for the year 1801 might be had at Philadelphia prices.[274]