HALF MOON SERIES
EDITED BY
MAUD WILDER GOODWIN
ALICE CARRINGTON ROYCE
RUTH PUTNAM AND
EYA PALMER BROWNELL.

Vol, II., No, 4.

April, iH*>

Uhc Hew I01I1 press
anb its Rafters
In tbe iSlflbtccntb Centur?
Cbarlotte £ XflDartinanD
H
Benjamin Ellis flDartln

s
Copyright. 1S9S, by

G. P . PUTNAM'S SONS
New York
London
Zh€ Tknicfcerbocfcer press. New RocheiSe; N. Y.
Entered at the Post Office, New Rochelk, N. Y., asSecond-ojJs M:i*ta,:

Price Ten Cgnts

p

?r Vaar, Oaa Do'£ar

THE NEW YORK PRESS AND ITS MAKERS

119

121

Half Moon Series
Published in the Interest of the New York
City History Club.
VOLUME II.

NUMBER

IV.

THE NEW YORK PRESS AND ITS
MAKERS
IN THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY.
BY

CHARLOTTE M. MARTIN
AND

BENJAMIN ELLIS MARTIN.

The native Indians of the New Netherland, , fnMan
like the other red men of North America, «ew«sometimes sent their news to a distance, | tettew
scratched on the smooth surface of birch
bark: such were the only news-letters that
circulated in the colonies in those early days.
As to New Amsterdam, if the records did
not tell us that no newspapers existed there,
we should know it beyond doubt by the
words of Diedrich Knickerbocker, when in
one of the serious passages of his brilliant
burlesque, he describes the profound repose
and tranquility that dwelt in the embryo city:
" The very words of learning, education, taste,
and talents were unheard of; a bright genius

XEbe Hew H>orfc p r e s s an& I t s flDafters
Strict

Surveils
! lance over
tbe f>res0

was an animal unknown. No man, in fact,
seemed to know more than his neighbor, nor
any man to know more than an honest man
ought to know, who has nobody's business
to mind but his own; the parson and the
council clerk were the only men who could
read in the community, and the sage Van
Twiller always signed his name with a cross."
These words prove, by implication, and beyond possible doubt, that no newspaper, such
as is known to us misguided moderns, existed in the quiet town.
When New Amsterdam became New York,
the day of the newspaper was put off longer
than in the other provinces; for that broad
and enlightened Stuart, James II., sent to his
Governor, Dongan, in 1686, the following order: " Forasmuch as great inconvenience may
arise by the liberty of printing, within our
province of New York, you are to provide,
by all necessary orders, that no person keep
any press for printing; nor that any book,
pamphlet, or other matters, whatsoever, be
printed, without your especial leave and licence
be first obtained." Even when the press was
allowed to be set up in the province, it was
kept under strict surveillance and subject to
stringent restrictions; the authorities, in the
words of Isaiah Thomas, "by keeping the
people in ignorance, thought to render them
more obedient to the laws, prevent them from

XTbe IRew ]i?orft p r e s s anD fits /©afters

123

libelling the government, and impede the hrbe#tat
growth of heresy." Not until about 1755 did ^l™**1
our press feel any touch of freedom, and gain papers
any small measure of liberty of speech.
It was in January, 1639, that "printing was
first performed in that part of North America
which extends from the Gulph of Mexico to
the frozen ocean"; and it was not till 1690,
that a newspaper was issued on this continent. This was a small quarto of short and
irregular life, which appeared in Boston. In
April, 1704, there came to stay, in that town, j
the first real newspaper in any of the colo- j
nies—The Boston News-Letter. Philadelphia
came next in 1719, with its American Weekly
Mercury, and so in succession the other prov- !
inces, Maryland, Virginia, North and South
Carolina, came out with their papers.
New York saw its first paper on the sixteenth of October, 1725. The New-York
Gazette, printed and put forth by William j
Bradford. This worthy man had come to
Philadelphia from London by the advice of i
William Penn, Chief of the State, and armed j
with a letter from George Fox dated "London, 6th month, 1685," to the Quakers of I
the colonies, announcing to them that "a so- j
ber young man, whose name is William Brad- j
ford, is coming to set up the trade of printing
Friends' books." So he started his press in j
Philadelphia, but soon he and his fellow non-

124

Ube *Wew lorft press an& Its flDafeers
combatants fell to fighting over the liberty of
that same press, as to which they had opposing views. The weaker one went to prison
for a while, then gave up Quakering, and
came to New York. It was in 1693, that he
set up his press in this little town of four
thousand inhabitants, "At the Sign of the
Bible," in that wide gate-way between King
Street and Old Slip and the river, which has
been called Hanover Square since the accession of George I., while King Street has become our present William Street.
To Bradford belongs the glory of introducing the art of printing to this town and this
province. In April, 1693, he was appointed
by the Council, Printer of the Acts of the
Assembly and Public Papers, with a salary of
^ 4 0 a year, and the privilege and the profit of
his own private printing. In 1694, appeared
the Laws and Acts of the General Assembly
"at New York, printed and sold by William
Bradford, Printer to their Majesties, King
William and Queen Mary." In 1710—his
appointment having been renewed in 1709—
appeared a later edition, "Printed by William
Bradford, Printer of the Queen's most excellent Majesty for the Colony of New York."
He put forth, during these years, and for
many after years, almanacs, controversial
pamphlets, and public documents; while, as a
publisher, he adventured many books now

Ube Bew l^orft press an& Its flDafters
eagerly sought for by collectors and amateurs.
In 1723, Benjamin Franklin, coming from Boston to New York in search of work, found
Bradford still the only printer here, but with
no work for him. The young stranger, and
future rival, found kindly entertainment, and
was sent on to the younger Bradford—the
son—in Philadelphia. Why Franklin called
William Bradford "the cunning old fox" in
later years, is not apparent.
Bradford was sixty-one years old when the
first copy of The New-York Gazette was
issued from his press in 1725. This weekly,
which came out on each Monday, was, until
1733, the only newspaper in the town. At
first a single leaf, it was increased to two,
three, four, and six pages as its contents
warranted. These contents were made up of
small doings at home and abroad, in small
paragraphs, selections of stale literature, poor
poetry, no news of moment, and scanty advertisements. It was a dwarf folio, poorly
printed on dirty, grayish paper; on the left of
the title, in large Roman type, were the
arms of the city—barrels and beavers, and the
wings of a wind-mill, supported by an Indian
and a soldier—the royal crown over all. On
the right of the title was a pine tree, and a
post rider on an animal meant for a horse.
The foreign news was of such weighty matters as the exploits of an English highwayman

125

fUwcttorfe I
$a3ette

i26

Ube IRew H>orft press an& I t s Rafters

foreign at Bath, or the young French king's indispo«cwa I sition, which forced him to put off the ceremony of "touching the diseased," promised
for November 23, 1726, until the following
day, the twenty-fourth. Of greater import
was this from London, March 18, 1727:
"Yesterday morning died, aged eighty-five,
Sir Isaac Newton, Master of His Majesty's
Mint at the Tower, to which place is annexed
a salary of ^500 per annum, and President of
the Royal Society." It is curious, and characteristic, this giving foremost place to the petty
office and its salary, his great office being mentioned, quite casually, at the last!
The issue of June 15, 1730, contains matters
of more international interest, for it is full of
excitement over the election of the Pope, and
the probable effect upon European politics;
while a later copy gives a detailed account of
the coronation of the successful Orsini as Clement XII.
William Bradford was greater as a man than
as an editor—a rare, and a strong character,
marked by ability, industry, and probity; decent in his own life, kindly to his fellow-men.
"No man is born unto himself alone " seems
to have been his essential rule of conduct.
"So that herein I may but be serviceable to
the Truth and to the Friends thereof," he
wrote on the first day of the first month of
1687-8. The "old fox" was good to his

Uhc IRew lorft press anb fits /IDafters

127

needy, deserving fellow-creatures, and his
quiet influence was felt both in the church
and in the little printing world of his day.
With few exceptions, the then rising generation of printers was trained under his watchful eye.
He ended his life of uneventful usefulness in
1752: his age being given by differing authorities as ninety and ninety-four. His chipped
and stained tombstone, now carefully preserved in the entrance hall of the Historical
Society of New York, gives it as ninety-two,
and the date of his birth as 1660—an error of
the mason, doubtless. This stone was replaced by a new one on the occasion of the
memorial service in Trinity Church—of which
Bradford was a vestryman — on May 20,
1863, when the Historical Society celebrated
the two-hundredth anniversary of the printer's
birth. The new stone, standing above his
grave in Trinity burial ground, is an exact
copy of the original stone, save that it is a trifle
larger. The Historical Society has also placed
a tablet in the wall of the Cotton Exchange,
on the corner of Hanover Square and William
Street, marking the site of the building from
which Bradford issued his New-York Gazette,
and commemorating the two-huidredth anniversary of the introduction of printing into
New York, on April 10, 1693.
When Bradford retired from business in

S)eatb of
TOUlKam
JBt^fort*

i28

Ube IRew l o rftp r e s s an& IFts flDafters

xcbcmew* 1742, his newspaper was taken in charge by
s^nin
Henry De Foreest, an apprentice of Bradford
Dost
and the first New York printer known to have
been born in the town. He had been a partner of Bradford during the last years of the
Gazette, and it bore the joint imprint of their
names. De Foreest succeeded to the entire
control of the paper in 1744, and in November
of tl\e same year he published it in the afternoon instead of the morning, calling it the NewYork Evening Post, the first evening issue in
the town. It was a weekly like the Gazette,
but was a great improvement on its predecessor, being well printed, with clean type, not
too large for its page, the type page being
about five and a half by nine and three quarters inches. It gave special prominence to
shipping and foreign news, and there was the
customary dose of flimsy literature and feeble
verse. Advertisements were still few in number, and their old-time queerness makes some
of them worthy of reproduction here. . . .
A bookseller publishes A Short and Easie
Method with the Deists, . . . " To be sold,
a Negro Wench, that can do all manner of
House Work, fit for Town or Country. She
has had the small pox." "John George Cook,
Stocking Weaver, can supply all sorts of stockings." . . . "Very good Pot-ash made
and sold by Cornelius Brower, living next
door to the Widow Killmaster's, near Gold-

Ubc 1Rew lorft press an& fits /iDafeers

129

ing Hill/' . . . " This is to give notice that John
all persons who are indebted to Rebecca Sip- *****
kins are desired to come and pay the same to
prevent further trouble, and all who have demands on her to come and receive satisfaction." . . . This Evening Post went out
of existence in 1752, the causes that brought
about its end being unknown.
Among the seven thousand Germans who
found their way, from their devastated Palatinate, and from the cruelties of Louis XIV.,
to England—and there camped out at Blackheath and Camberwell—was a woman named
Zenger, with her three children. When Queen
Anne's shrewd bounty sent some three thousand of these exiles to help colonize this country in 1708, this family came to New York,
and the eldest child, aged thirteen—John Peter
—was apprenticed to William Bradford. These
indentures are now in the office of the Secretary of State at Albany. Under his master's good guidance the boy's character was
formed, and he learned his trade well enough
to set up his own printing-press—the second
in the town—about 1726. On November 5,
1733, he brought out the first number of his
New-York Weekly Journal, the second paper
in New York, and so the first rival to Bradford's Gazette, then over eight years old.
However excellent Zenger's training may have
been, a proper respect for age and authority

13°

journal

Ube IRew U>orfe press ant> Hts Rafters
seems not to have taken root in him, for when
Bradford—who was naturally, by virtue of his
official position, and by reason of his social
standing in the commonalty, on the side of the
" powers that be"—accused him in print of
" publishing pieces tending to set the province
in a flame, and to raise sedition and tumults,"
Zenger referred to his former master as " this
Scribbler," and "that groaping Fumbler," and
continued to publish lampoons against the
authorities, and especially against the impotent Governor himself.
The State officials were of the same mind
as Bradford in this matter, and in November,
1734, Governor Cosby and the council arrested
Zenger for "printing and publishing several
seditious libels," and had copies of the offending papers burned. Zenger spoke for the
popular party in the politics of the province,
and the people were with him, the Crown
officials and the conservative classes of the
town ranged against him. The Grand Jury
would find no true bill against the printer, and
the trial was conducted by the Attorney-General, and before biassed judges, carefully selected. Zenger's counsel was the then head
of the Philadelphia bar, Andrew Hamilton,
whose plea for Zenger and the liberty of the
American Press won a verdict of " not guilty "
from the sympathetic jury, in defiance of the
instruction of the judges. The verdict was

Ube IRew Uorft press an& 1Fts /iDafters

131

hailed with shouts by the great crowd within waiof
and without the court; to Andrew Hamilton | Zcn&ct
was given the freedom of the city in a gold box,
and Zenger was made a popular hero. Either
he or his verdict—it is difficult to determine
which is meant by the mixed metaphor—has
been acclaimed as "the morning star of that
liberty which subsequently revolutionized
America." It is queer and pitiful, too, that
Bradford, who in his youth suffered imprisonment for the cause of liberty of the press,
should, in his old age, have been on the side
of the prosecutors in this most momentous
trial; and that the victim of this arbitrary persecution should be an apprentice of his own,
the outgrowth of his training in all things,
and doubtless in free speech.
Zenger went back from his prison, after long
months of idleness and growing debts, to his
shop in " Broad Street, near the upper end of
Long Brij./' where he had established himself
and his journal in 1733, and at once issued in
pamphlet form A Brief Narrative of the Case
and Tryal of John Peter Zenger, printer of the
New-York "Weekly Journal;" a pamphlet that
had an immense sale at the time and is still
famed. He had published many pamphlets,
almanacs, and sermons in his day, and in 1735
he issued, in a small folio, The Charter of the
City of New York, "printed by order of the
Mayor, Recorder, and Commonalty of the City

132

Ube Hew U>orft press an& flts jflDafters

avenger's
lpublicas
tione

aforesaid." Any one who wishes to be personally acquainted with Zenger's work as a
publisher and maker of books may consult, in
the Lenox Library, The Adorable Ways of
God—three sermons printed in 1726. It is
a square old volume, roughly bound, with uneven edges. The paper is pale brown, and
has that peculiar brittle quality dear to the
lovers of old books. The type is clear, but
the imprint of each page is slightly confused
by the impressions from its other side. The
wide margins and curious, decorated initial
letters add to the beauty of this valuable
specimen of old-time printing.
These books and pamphlets did not interfere with the regular publication of the Weekly
Journal, which Zenger resumed after his trial.
It was a small sheet, with a type page measuring a little over five inches by nine inches
and a half, with uncomfortably narrow margins, and not laudable in its printing, its makeup, or its editing. Indeed, its editor was no
scholar, and his German boyhood had left him
without an exact command of English. But
his paper was entirely alive, and his lampoons
on the government were novel in their audacity and startling in their strength.
The Journal sold' at three shillings each
quarter, its advertisements paying three shillings a week for the first week, and a shilling
each for every succeeding week. It was ad-

Ghe IRew U>orft press an& flts jflDafters

133

vertised as " Containing the Freshest Advices,
Foreign and Domestick," and although the
freshness seems stale indeed in the light of
modern enterprise, the news "both foreign
and domestick" covered an astonishing
amount of ground. Letters from abroad show
the constancy with which the people of New
York clung to their mother country and her
interests. First place was almost always
given to these foreign despatches, inter-colonial news being considered of much less importance.
Sometimes contributed letters,
such as those on " The Liberty of The Press,"
signed by "Cato," usurped the first page of
two or three numbers in succession. On
December 24, 1733, one John Gardner, a
mariner of Boston, swears to the authenticity
of his map of the fortifications of Louisburg,
which is published in that issue, and tells the
exciting story of his acquaintance with the
town, judging that it may be of use to his
countrymen in case of a war with France.
When Zenger died, in 1746, the paper was
carried on by his widow and his eldest son,
in "Stone Street, near Fort George": carried
on with great improvement in printing and
contents, until 1751, when Mrs. Zenger's
death seems to have taken away its controlling
force, and it came to an end.
Another apprentice of William Bradford
was James Parker, a New Jersey boy, who,

litems of

t\c\v3 in
tbe mew*
l&otfe
UOieefelE
journal

i34

XTbe IRew 13orfc press an& 1fts Rafters

5ames
Parker

tired of work and confinement, tried for his
independence by running away from his master. Bradford advertised a small reward for
his return ; the boy found his way back, and
served out his term faithfully, learning his
trade so well that he succeeded to his master's
post as Printer of the Province when that
good man retired. In that same year, 1742-3,
Parker began the issue of the third newspaper
in the province—The New-York Weekly PostBoy, In 1746, after Bradford's original Gazette
had been merged in The New-York Evening
Post, under De Foreest's management, Parker
enlarged his paper, calling it The New-York
Gazette Revived in The Weekly Post-Boy. At
this time, also, he succeeded to a goodly share
of William Bradford's subscription list. The
paper, in its new shape, a small folio, with a
type-page measuring six and a half by ten
and a half inches, was pleasant to the eye,
well printed and well edited. For these reasons it deserved the good repute and good
sales which were its portion, and for more,
because it contained real news, having items
from St. Petersburg, Vienna, Berlin, Stockholm, Paris, and London ; this newest news
being not over two months old ! The interest in the details of foreign affairs remains
undiminished, and these details are somewhat
better arranged and edited than in Zenger's
Journal.

ZTbe Bew lorft press ant) fits /iDafters
The Post-Boy of June 10, 1745, contains a
careful map and plan of the siege of Louisburg, published in the hope that it will be of
value to the subscribers, inasmuch as many
of the besieging force had friends and relations in the province. The issue of February
26, 1750, gives notice of the coming of a company of comedians from Philadelphia, who
"will give performances in a room of the
building belonging to the estate of Rip Van
Dam, Esquire, deceased." This building, the
first theatre in the town, stood on the site of
the present numbers 64 and 66, Nassau Street,
that plot of land remaining whole and uncut.
This more recent structure, covering its entire
site, has yet an air of sedate antiquity to
modern eyes, and something in its square
stolidity still suggests the " Estate of Rip Van
Dam, Esquire." As far as is known, this is
the first notice of the first play-acting in the
town. The advertisement runs as follows :
" By his Excellency's Permission, At the
Theatre in Nassau Street, On Monday the 5th
of March, next, Will be presented the Historical Tragedy
of

King Richard 3rd!
Wrote originally by Shakespeare, and altered
by Colley Cibber, Esquire. In this play are
contained the Death of King Henry 6th; the

135

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tKHeefel$
$08t4£0£

136

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first
est 0 *
pias*
ac n
"0

artful acquisition of the crown by King Rich*' * e m u r c * e r °f *he Princes in the Tower;
the landing of the Earl of Richmond, and the
Battle of Bosworth Field.
"Tickets will be ready to be delivered by
Thursday next, and to be had of the printer
hereof.
" Pitt, five shillings; Gallery, three shillings.
To begin precisely at half an hour after six
o'clock, and no person to be admitted behind
the scenes."

arc

J
J
I
I

I

The Gazette and Post-Boy of September 24,
1750, prints the following:

J "On Thursday evening the tragedy of
I ' Cato ' was played at the theatre in this city,
before a very numerous audience, the greater
I part of whom were of the opinion that it
was pretty well performed. As it was the
fullest assembly that has ever appeared in that
house, it may serve to prove that the taste of
J this place is not so much vitiated or lost to a
I sense of liberty, but that they can prefer a
I representation of Virtue to one of loose charI acter. ' The Recruiting Officer' will be presented this evening."
From such decorous and unboastful beginI nings has the New York School of Dramatic
Criticism "grown so great." The item continues: "The House being new floored, is
made warm and comfortable, besides which

XEbe Wew lorft press ant> 1 ts
1

flDafters

137

Gentlemen and Ladies may cause their stoves tnuiifam
to be brought." These small foot-stoves— TOwwn
iron cages, with embers in the pan—were in
every-day use at this time ; now they are
gathered into collections and museums.
In 1770, James Parker "closed all his earthly
concerns/' and his journal quietly expired
three years later.
William Weyman, another apprentice of
Bradford, acted as James Parker's assistant
for a few years, and then, in 1759, started his
own New-York Gazette. This was a poor
affair, having no vitality. The proof-reading
was so wretched that its owner and editor
was constantly in trouble; being haled to the
bar of the Assembly of New York, and forced
to beg for mercy for some of his errors, which
had seemed to cast a slight on that honorable
body. So early were seen symptoms of
sensitiveness on the part of the provincial
authorities, signs of the strain that was beginning to be felt. Although poor enough as a
newspaper, Weyman's Gazette is absorbing
reading to the lover of history, for it is full of
reports—or rather rumors—from the front, of
the way the " French and Indian " War
was going. It prints a manifesto from General
Wolfe in full, and on August 6, 1759, it joyfully records the taking of Ticonderoga by
Amherst, ten days after that almost bloodless
victory, which helped to wipe out the cruel

138

Zbc Bew H>orft press an&fltsflDafters

meweijorfc repulse of the preceding year. This feeble
<Ba3ctte journal languished until 1767, and then expired
of inanition.
A more vigorous personality than Weyman's
is that of John Holt, a Virginian, who came to
New York in 1759, and soon appears as a
partner of James Parker. He was assistant
editor of The New- York Gazette and Weekly
Post-Boy, for a year or two, and had entire
control of the paper from 1762 to 1766. Then
he quarrelled with Parker, and set up his own
paper,—The New-York Journal,—"Containing the freshest advices, Foreign and
Domestick." It contained, too, the freshest
thoughts and deepest convictions of this
ardent patriot and devoted Whig, as well as
frequent contributions from his fellow-Whigs;
J and it had a sudden success, and large sales.
This was the first paper to be wholly and
frankly given over to the cause of the patriots.
On June 23, 1774, Holt removed the royal arms
from his title, and substituted Franklin's device, the serpent cut in pieces, with the
warning motto, " Unite or Die." This simple
design held the place of the royal arms until
December 15, 1774, when this same serpent
appears, united and coiled, with his tail in his
mouth, making a double ring, enclosing a
pillar crowned by a liberty cap, and held upright by many hands on the firm foundation
of "Magna Charta." The following inscrip-

Ube iRew lorft press an& Hts Rafters

139

tion, printed on the body of the snake, follows its double coil.

I Ube iftews I
Korft

" United now, alive and free, firm on this basis, liberty shall
stand;
And thus supported, ever bless our land ;
Till time becomes eternity."

These two symbols, both strong and suggestive, caught the popular eye, and this object-lesson sank into the popular mind.
In 1776, his fearlessly expressed principles
forced Holt to fly from New York. He took
with him only his press, leaving behind, and
losing, all else he possessed. For seven years,
he and his press wandered from one town to
another along the Hudson, now at Fishkill,
then farther north at Esopus, now farther inland, as he was forced by the advances and
retreats of the British lines ; sending out his
militant journal, with undaunted courage and
admirable regularity, throughout the war.
This was the first instance of a printing press
being set up outside of any of the large towns,
and it was not a financial success, so that, at
the close of the war, Holt gladly came back
to New York, continuing his paper under the
title of The Independent Gazette or the NewYork Journal.
At his death in the year following the peace,
1784, a notable figure, and a genuine force was
lost to the American Press. He was an able

journal

140

Ubc 1Rew l£>orft press an& Its Rafters

I Ubc fnfce*
percent

editor and an admirable writer as well as a
pugnacious patriot. He was a good churchman too, and his slab, in the burial ground
hard by the southwest corner of the old Tory
chapel of St. Paul's, is in place there, willing as
he was to worship in that structure whence
every royal sign and symbol had been torn by
a revolutionary mob, leaving only—not noticing in the patriotic burst of destruction—the
three feathers of Wales, on the sounding board
above the pulpit. This princely emblem remains in position to this day, while the words
Whig and Tory have been dropped from the
vocabulary of American politics.
The Independent Gazette remained in the
Widow Holt's hands until 1787, when it was
sold, together with Holt's printing-office, to
Thomas Greenleaf, who changed the one paper
into two, renamed them, and made them the
earliest Democratic organs in the country. The
later life of these papers cannot be recorded
here, for they passed into other hands, and
outlived the century.
In marked contrast with Holt's firm character
stands, or rather wobbles, the Irishman, Hugh
Gaine. His political creed, "it seems "—in
the words of a competent witness—"was to
join the strongest party," Not certain whether
Whig or Tory were to prove the stronger, he
actually, after a vain attempt to remain neutral,
belonged to both ! He had begun his New-

ZEbe IRew UJorft p r e s s anfc fits /IDafters
York Mercury in 1752, and had enlarged it, in
1770, under the title, also enlarged, of The
New-York Gazette, and The Weekly Mercury"
This paper he had kept fairly neutral, when the
war first broke out: but he took the precaution to set up another paper of the same name
in Newark, New Jersey, where he considered
it safe and politic to be a staunch Whig in all
his utterances. This Newark edition was
begun on September 21, 1776, its first issue
being a folio, uniform, so far as externals went,
with the New York issue of September ninth,
which was its immediate predecessor. The
second number came out as a quarto, why no
one seems to have taken the trouble to explain,
and in this shape the paper was continued
until November second, when it ceased abruptly, with no editorial warning. In fact, there
is nothing to show that this Newark paper
was a new or separate venture in any way,
the impression, which was carefully conveyed
to the subscriber, being, that Mr. Gaine, like
many another ardent patriot, had been forced
to seek refuge for his press outside New York.
His transplanted patriotism grew smaller as
the British successes grew greater. In his
New York paper, meanwhile, he published
many proclamations of Lord Howe and his
brother, and addresses of fulsome loyalty
from the citizens who had chosen to stay in
the town. In the Newark issue of November

141

fDugb

Gaine

142

Zbc Bew ISorft press anb Uts flDafters

1bu0b
Game's
| 5ournaIigs |

second he printed a long selection from the
Connecticut Gazette with this explanatory note:
"The following articles are taken from the
New-York Mercury, printed in New York at
the house lately kept by Mr. Gaine—which we
received via Long Island." The article in
question—a detailed account of the various
engagements which gave the British possession of New York, spiced with mockery and
abuse of the American forces,—was taken
from Gaine's own paper, his New York issue
of October 7, 1776 ; while, in his Newark
paper of October fifth, there is an anxious
letter from a large investor in the English
funds, who is so sure that the Americans will
win within a few months that he bewails the
inevitable fall in British securities and his own
loss of income!
Even Hugh Gaine would be put to the blush
could he see the two records of his great feat
in journalistic hedging, bound in one volume
as they now are at the Lenox Library. The
Newark Mercury once abandoned, the New
York paper became so frankly and wholly
loyal, that the evacuation of the city left Mr.
Gaine in a decidedly difficult position, from
which he could extricate himself only by
petitioning the Assembly to allow him to remain in the city and to continue his paper.
The petition was granted, but there was no
room for Gaine's peculiar editorial principles

tic 1bc^gs

ing

Zbe Bew 2t>orft press an& flts flDafcers 143
amid a people so much in earnest, and his eaine'0
paper ceased its existence in November, 1783. ^J!^ 8 "
Gaine hung out his sign at the " Bible and
Crown " in Hanover Square for full forty years,
pouring forth from his press a ceaseless stream
of pamphlets, almanacs, and books:—among
these last, the first American edition of Robinson Crusoe, and another famous volume entitled Military Collections and Remarks, by
one Major Donkin, published in 1777. It is a
well printed octavo, and its frontispiece, representing Lord Percy receiving friendly attentions from Fame, is a fine engraving by J.
Smithers. The real and abiding interest of
the book is found in the fact that, with the exception of one copy, every existing specimen
of the Military Collections has been carefully
expurgated. The little paragraph which has
been "scissored out" does not deserve quotation, for it is only a dastardly suggestion
that poisoned arrows should be used against
the American forces to inoculate "these stubborn, ignorant, enthusiastic savages" with
their dread enemy, the small-pox. Yet the
fact remains that Donkin wrote it, Gaine
printed it, and some person left just this one
paragraph uncut, for the amusement of those
who go to-day in search of literary curiosities. Gaine amassed great wealth by his
strict devotion to business, and to no principle beyond that of money-getting. As may

144

Ube Bew H>orfc press an& fits /IDafters

Samuel
fcou&on

be supposed, there was much cleverness and
even brilliancy in this ingenious time-server,
and his paper shows taste and ability; but he
lived at the wrong time, either too early or too
late for the exercise of his shifty talents.
Among the publishers who were forced to
flee from New York in 1776 was Samuel Loudon, an Irishman, who had established, early
in that year, his New- York Packet and American Advertiser, the last newspaper started in
New York before the Declaration of Independence. This paper, which was printed at
Fishkill during the years of the war, is interesting to the student of history more for the
pleasing variations in its elaborate title, with
its fine cut of a full-rigged clipper ship and its
old English lettering and delicate scroll-work,
than for the dry details in its three-columned
page of fine print.
After the declaration of peace, Loudon returned to New York and established himself
at 5 Water Street, between Old Slip and the
famous Coffee House, on the corner of Wall
and Water Streets. Later he turned his paper
from a weekly to a daily, and, later still,
changed its name to The Diary, or Loudon's
Register. In its later numbers, his journal,
which ran on until 1792, fell below its own
early standard, and far below that of its contemporaries, losing even its especial feature
of a picturesque title, and becoming content

TCbe H e w H>orft p r e s s an& 1fts ZlDafters

145

with plain lettering. Loudon's Magazine,
made up of "elegant extracts," etc., was the
first publication of the kind issued in New York.
There was but one newspaper printed in
New York during the British occupation that
continued to live after the departure of that
army. This was the New- York Morning Post,
established in 1782, by William Morton, with
whom was associated Samuel Horner. This
paper was changed to a daily in 1786, and
had its day until 1788.
James Rivington, a notable figure in these
ranks under review, appeared first in New
York in September, 1760, when he announced
himself, from Hanover Square, as "the only
London bookseller in America." He had
grown rich as a publisher in Paternoster Row,
London, but Newmarket enticed him, and its
bookmakers carried off the bookseller's fortune. With his native vigor, and little else,
he started out to retrieve his losses in the new
world. From New York, he went to Philadelphia for three years, but finally established
himself permanently in this town in 1765, and
in 1772, added a printing office to his shop.
On April 22, 1773, he bought out The NewYork Gazetteer, adorned with a fine cut of a
ship, labelled The London Packet; promising,
with much flourish, in a long prospectus, that
it should be a better weekly than any yet seen
in the town.

Zoufeon'0

146

XTbe B e w HJorft p r e s s an& 1fts flDafeers

I Ube views |
Both

The promise was kept : only Zenger's paper
could compare with the Gazetteer. Petty and
inadequate as it is to modern eyes, it was an
improvement on all preceding papers, in the
quality of its writing and the freshness of its
news. Sales were large and advertisements—
the test of modern success—came in rapidly.
Two specimens, among the many, will serve
to show the then form of advertisement:
"To be lett, and entered upon the first
day of May next"—the moving day of
modern New York can trace its origin back
through more than a century—" the two
houses at present occupied by Abraham Lott,
Esquire, nearly opposite the Fly-Market. For
particulars apply to Mrs. Provoost, on Golden
Hill." The "Fly Market "—which took its
name from a corruption of the Dutch Vly
or Vlaie, a marsh or salt-meadow—occupies various sites on the old maps of New
York, from old Queen Street to the corner
now occupied by its lineal descendent Fulton
Market. The weight of authority seems to
place it at the head of what is now Burling
Slip. "Golden Hill" gave its pleasant name
to that part of our present John Street which
lies between William and Pearl Streets.
The second extract shows that gentlemen
were given to letting their mansions, from
time to time, even as they do to-day : "To
be lett, from the 25th of March next, or sooner

Ube mew UJorft press ant> flts /iDafcers

147

if wanted, the pleasant situated, and conve- wuiKam
nient house and grounds of William Bayard, »aw&'«
Esquire, at Greenwich. Any person inclining
to hire the same may apply to the owner
living on the premises, or to Mr. James Rivington." It is curious to note that the English
rental quarter-days had survived the voyage
to this country. This house of William Bayard stood on the bank of the North River,
just above the present Christopher Street;
thither they carried Alexander Hamilton after
his fatal duel on Weehawken Heights, rowing
him carefully across the broad river, and there
he died after a day of hopeless suffering. A
portion of the house was standing until within
a few years.
The title of Rivington's paper grew with
its growth, reaching its extreme limit in 1775,
when it became Rivington's New-York Gazetteer, or, The Connecticut, Hudson*s River,
New-Jersey, and Quebec Weekly Advertiser,
" printed at his open and uninfluenced press
fronting Hanover Square." "Open and uninfluenced " for a few months only, for, neutral
at the start—or at least impartial and fair—
Rivington's press had become a violent Tory
in 1774. At about this time, when other
printers were removing the royal arms from
their titles, Rivington adopted them, giving
them the place formerly held by his " London
Packet." It is a coincidence, at least, that in

148

Ube mew HJorft press an& Its flDahers

tRWnge
ton's

July, 1774, Lord North had sent out a handbill, offering ^500 to the printer who would
steadily advocate and promote all ministerial
measures.
The new tone of the Gazetteer aroused
intense wrath throughout the province ; its
libels and fabrications in the interest of the
Administration vexed even the Tories; it was
more loyal than the king himself ! Perhaps it
unconsciously aided "the good cause"—to
use the expression of Harvey Birch—by its
wholesome stimulation of the "patriots."
That stimulus went so far, in 1775, as to
move the mob, mainly from Connecticut, to
wreck Rivington's shop twice, the second
time destroying his presses and melting his
type for bullets. He was forced to cease publication while he went to London to buy new
presses. In 1777, having brought back from
England his appointment as printer to the
king, as well as the necessary presses and
type, he began again the issue of his paper,
calling it at first Rivington's New-York Loyal
Gazette, and later, The Royal Gazette, "published at New York, by James Rivington,
Printer to the King's Most Excellent Majesty."
Its popular title was short and pithy—"The
Lying Gazette." This came out twice a week.
In its columns, August 1, 1781, appeared the
first canto of John Andre's " Cow Chace;" the
poem running through three numbers, its last

Zbc IRew U>orft p r e s s an& flts flDafters 149
canto being published on the very day of the fiut at*
t€ $
capture of the jaunty author by the comrades^^
in-arms of the " Warrio-drover Wayne."
paper
The first attempt at a daily paper in New
York was made by Rivington, in connection
with the editors of four other Royalist papers,
who arranged their weekly issues in such
order that, with the assistance of Rivington's
bi-weekly Gazette, each day had its special
paper.
When "the rebels" became the government, Rivington, in his anxiety to retain his
subscription list, and to continue his paper,
printed the following explanation and apology
in its columns :
"To the public:—The publisher of this
paper, sensible that his zeal for the success of
his Majesty's arms, his sanguine wishes for
the good of his country, and his friendship for
individuals, have, at times, led him to credit
and circulate paragraphs without investigating
the facts so closely as his duty to the public
demanded—trusting to their feelings, and depending on their generosity—he begs them to
look over past errors and depend on future
correctness. From henceforth he will neither
expect nor solicit their favors longer than his
endeavors shall stamp the same degree of
authenticity and credit on the Royal Gazette
(of New York) as all Europe allows to the
Royal Gazette of'London." This did not suffice,

i5o

XEbe flew J£orft p r e s s an& fits flDafters

•Riving
Iton'aBttfc
tube

and his truthful Gazette failed to inherit the
success of its lying predecessor, and so died a
natural death on December 31, 1783.
Rivington died in 1802, in his house in
Pearl Street, No 156, on the northeast corner of Wall Street. Rivington Street, which
those who remember it as "the prettiest street
in all New York " would gladly connect with
this picturesque old Tory, took its name from
an entirely different family.
Despite the possible indirect influence of
Lord North's ^500, it may not be said that
James Rivington's attitude was not conscientious ; conviction was as common with the
Tories as with the Whigs ; there was only
one Hugh Gaine, and only here and there, on
either side, one who, like a modern Irish
" Patriot" was " grateful to God that he had
a country—to sell." Indeed, it was the honesty
and earnestness on both sides that gave birth
to such bitterness, and aroused a more ferocious animosity in the rebel heart against the
native "Royalist" than was felt toward the
British oppressors. For twenty years before
the outbreak of the Revolution there had been
agitation, constantly growing stronger; tumult, and ultimately terror, impassioned men's
minds. It was not a period of repose, civic,
domestic, or personal; no man breathed tranquilly, no voice spoke gently, no pen was enlisted for decorous and urbane combat. And

Ube Mew lorft press anO flts /IDafeers
many pens—regulars and volunteers—were
in motion during these years ; at first only in
defence of political rights, urging that they
should be preserved within due bounds, with
no suggestion of breaking loose from the
mother country ; then in defiance, advocating
independence, and expressing the conviction
of the larger portion of the people that separation was the sole salvation of their constitutional rights.
Throughout this perturbed period, and
during the war that followed, there was a
plentiful out-put of newspaper-letters from
private and official pens, state papers, political
essays, addresses and sermons, and especially
of pamphlets—then with us the most stirring
appeal to the populace, as with France a little
later, as with England a little earlier. They
spoke on both sides, and were strikingly earnest and authentic documents voicing the sentiments and judgments of the entire country.
And these poor, ill-printed, dull-faced little
sheets had their share in the work : not by
virtue of their editorial pages, which were
hardly known as we know them, but through
the communications sent to them by the best
thinkers and the hardest workers on either
side, as has been noticed in the case of Holt's
Journal, and as was the case with most of
the other papers. Each of them had its own
corps of contributors, men of ability, character,

151

Ipolitical
Ipampblete |

152

Ube TRew l^orfc press an& irts flDafeers

Ubomaa
Dafne

and standing, who were glad to work, without hire, for the good cause as each one judged
it. This form of quasi-editorial writing gave
telling impulse to the movement towards
revolution, and when war had once begun,
contributed immensely to its success.
It is beyond the province of this paper, on a
local press only, to do more than refer, with
respect and gratitude, to the work done and
the help given by the greatest journalist, the
most powerful writer of pamphlets during this
period, "Tom" Paine. But it is of local interest to note that the latest homes of the man
who was a phenomenal force in our early history, who, with his Common Sense, wrought
an effect " rarely produced by types and paper
in any age or country," were in our city, and
that one of them is still standing, almost unchanged, at No. 309 Bleecker Street. This
street was then named Herring Street, and the
little two-story and attic house, which stands
so dingily on the street, had its garden once,
and was trim and orderly after the fashion of
its day, a fashion dimly suggested to us by its
delicate dormer windows, and huge chimney.
To this house Paine came in July, 1808—
Madame Bonneville, and her two sons, who
had followed him from France, living quite
near—and here, under the care of his landlady, Mrs. Ryder, he spent quiet and serene
months. Here, as we stand in the busy street,

Xtbe Bew Ifforft press an& fits ZlDakers
we can fancy the worn warrior sitting, reading
at his favorite front window, or perhaps in the
sunlit little garden.- In April, 1809, when his
increasing infirmities demanded more constant
care, Madame Bonneville moved with him to
a house standing well back from Herring
Street, approached by a path through the
great gardens of that day : there he died on
the eighth of June, 1809. Grove Street has
been cut through these old gardens, and the
site of the room in which Paine died is now
occupied by Number 59 in that street. His
martial mission to his adopted country had
ended with the successful close of the war he
had done so much to sustain and speed. "The
times that tried men's souls are over," he
wrote in the last number of his Crisis, after
the news of the negotiation of the treaty at
Paris had reached him.
But John Jay, three years later, when the
first flush of victory had passed and the future
was dark with unanswered questions, wrote to
Washington; "I am uneasy and apprehensive,
more so than during the war." And with reason, for although the question of independence
had been answered, other issues almost as
vital, were to be discussed, other appeals
almost as impassioned, were to be made. And
now a new mission began for the New York
Press. The writers, who had brought success to the Revolution almost as much as had

153

£>eatb of
Ubomas
ffmine

154

XTbe Mew !£>orfc press an5 fits flDafters

political
problems

the men in the field, now turned their pens,
with equal energy, to settling the political
problems that came with the peace. For this
new warfare, with new weapons, men did not
stop to put on gloves, any more than did
those eager partisans who had thrown the tea
into the harbors.
Of the many pre-Revolutionary papers, but
one or two survived the seven years of strife,
and even this remnant changed hands, and
sometimes names. New journals came to fill
the vacant places, and the press improved
greatly in ability and in influence, dividing its
forces between the two great political parties,
now first formed on vital national issues : the
Federalists, devoted to the new constitution,
and to Washington's administration; and the
Anti-Federalists—dubbed " Democrats " in
derision—reinforced by the Democratic-Republicans, generalled by Jefferson, and guided
by the essential principles of the French Revolution. The attempt to create a strong central
government and a closer union between the
States, met with violent opposition from many
men with many motives, some of whom
feared to lose their personal advantage and
limited glory if their States were merged in a
nation.
One New York paper deserves mention
here simply for the sake of its issue of October 27, 1787. The first number of the

Ube IRew H>orfc p r e s s anfc 1Fts /iDafters

155

Federalist appeared, on that day, in the columns of The Independent Journal, printed by
J. and A. McLean, in Hanover Square. The
after numbers of this, "the greatest treatise
of government that has ever been written,"
were published, in the Packet and other
papers, through the summer of 1788. Each
of the numbers was signed "Publius," a penname used in common by Hamilton, Jay, and
Madison. Three of these brilliant political
papers were written by Hamilton and Madison
in collaboration : of the remainder, Jay wrote
five; Madison, thirteen ; and Hamilton, sixtythree.
Then, as now, the city of New York was
the key to the political situation, and the
leaders of the two parties—Hamilton and Jay
on the one side, Burr and the Livingstons on
the other—turned all their energies toward
securing the vote of the town. In this conflict, the newspapers played an important
part, carrying the " liberty of the Press " to its
farthest limit, in their bitter attacks on their
opponents. In addition to the great national
points at issue, there were many minor matters that caused what seems to us at this distance ludicrous virulence of feeling and of
language : such as the intrigues to remove
the seat of government from town to town,
with intent to secure a sufficiently central
spot, where living should be cheap ; the res-

Ube

156

Zbc Bew H>orft press an& Uts flDafters

wruience toration of the Tories to their former rights
°anf Sam? o f citizenship ; the Alien and Sedition laws of
fluaae 1798 ; the demand for the suppression of that
blameless body, the Society of the Cincinnati,
on the ground that it was fated to lead to a
" military nobility and an hereditary arisI tocracy" ; the furious electoral struggle between Burr and Jefferson in 1801 ; Burr's trial
at Richmond in 1807, for attempted treason
I "at a certain place called and known by the
name of Blennerhassett's Island " ; the outcry
for the strengthening of the navy, too feeble
to protect our fast-growing sea trade ; the
rights of search enforced by the British, in all
waters, even within sight of our shores ; the
pitiable affair of the Chesapeake in June,
1807 ! the famous proclamation of President
Madison, the embargo, and the embittered
negotiations that preceded the war of 1812.
In these discussions, the journals and frequent pamphlets lashed themselves into a
fury, hounded on by the powers behind—
politicians, place-hunters, patriots — whose
I patriotism, in too many cases, was covered
I completely by Dr. Johnson's definition, "the
I last refuge of a scoundrel."
That the observant foreigner was not lacking to chronicle this unhappy state of affairs
is shown by a fat and foolish volume, issued
from the press of Cundee, in Ivy Lane, and
written by an Englishman, Charles William

XTbe B e w J£>orfc p r e s s an& 1fts flDafeers

iS7

Janson, Esquire, under the imposing title of
Observations on the Genius, Manners, and
Customs of the United States, Made During
a Long Residence in that Country, "The
Stranger in America," as he styled himself,
found nothing in this land, during the latter
part of the eighteenth and the beginning of
the nineteenth century, to please him. His
fine feelings were constantly affronted, his
dignity rumpled, by all with whom he came
in contact, from the " pert virgin " demanding
admiration, to the "sullen Yankee" harboring resentment. " Among the lower orders,"
he querulously complains, "in spite of his
endeavors to adapt his behaviour to their
satisfaction, he was regarded as proud and
haughty ; while a distant kind of envious obsequiousness, tinctured by an affectation of
superiority, was but too evident in the majority of his equals." He becomes lachrymose over "their persistent rancour against
the mother country ; so pointed also in their
press."
With the power and excesses of that press,
he is impressed, with real reason, for nothing
is more striking than its cruelty and coarseness, its venomous vigor of invective, its contempt of all that should be sacred in political
warfare and in private life. Too many of its
editors and writers were, in the words of
gentle old Isaiah Thomas, " destitute at once

©bsetvas
tionsofa
fovclgncv

158

Xlbe IRew lorft press an& fits /IDakers

ctueit« of the urbanity of gentlemen, the information
an
^
of scholars, and the principles of virtue."
nessof They raged madly at one another as "vermin
tbepress anc j f0XeSy» a s "minions of sedition," as "notorious Jacobins." Bache, of Philadelphia,
was styled "the greatest fool, and most stubborn sans-culotte " in the land. His Aurora
spoke of Washington as "the man who is the
source of all misfortunes to the country," and
coarsely quoted, when the first President retired to Mount Vernon after the inauguration
of Adams, "Now lettest Thou Thy servant
depart in peace, for mine eyes have seen Thy
salvation "; exultant that "the name of Washington from this day ceases to give currency
to political iniquity and to legalized corruption." Major Benjamin Russell, in his Sentinel, is equally hysterical over the election of
Jefferson. Callender spoke of President Adams
as " a hoary-headed incendiary,—the scourge,
the scorn, the outcast of society."
These amenities were not confined to editors, and it is a high government official,
Pickering, the Postmaster-General, who expresses his opinion in the following gentle
statement: "The critic is a liar, who lies because it is natural to him and because he cannot help it." Among themselves the editors
exchanged even more pointed personalities, so
that suits for slander,—wherein the defendant
had sometimes only to read aloud in court the

XCbe View Jgotft p r e s s an& Uts /©afters

159

plaintiff's own words to be acquitted,—street ttbe Sbip= j
ping an&
brawls with fists and pistols, duels, and even Commer*
murders, were not at all infrequent. This cial ftfst
an&
astoundingly shabby spectacle ceased to exist gorkYlewa I|
price
only toward the end of the second war with Current
England, when the various American victories,
ashore and at sea, were hailed with equal exultation by both factions of the press and the
people. Parties were drawn closer together,
partisan poison became attenuated in the body j
politic, and with the election of Monroe, Federalism, as a force, faded away, "the era of
good feeling coming in," as Major Russell expressed it.
In the midst of the most rancorous period,
a paper was started which took no note of
party strife. This was The Shipping and Commercial List and New-York Price Current,
which was first published on December 19,
1795, by one James Oram, a New York printer,
at }3 Liberty Street—the then recently renamed Crown Street. This paper concerned
itself with business only, and printed no general news—which, perhaps, accounts for the
fact that it was not drawn into the quarrels of
the time—and devoted its weekly issue to
commercial, financial, and shipping interests,
with their allied industries and trades. In
1795, John Jay negotiated his much criticised
commercial treaty with England, insuring the
American merchant marine from Great Britain's

i6o
ube-wcw
eommer.
cfai

Ubc *Kew HJorfc p r e s s anD Uts flDafeers
privateers ; so laying the foundation for what
°^ * e g r e a t e s t industries of the
United States—its carrying trade to other
countries. This new life found no voice in
the daily press of that day, and John Oram's
paper, a folio of letter-sheet size, which came
out every Monday, was of immense value to
merchants with its full accounts of all shipping
matters, the sailings 01 every vessel, and the
current prices of all staple commodities.
The Shipping and Commercial List and NewYork Price Current is still in existence, that
old name serving as the sub-title of The New
York Commercial—a title which it has been
allowed to adopt after some legal difficulties
with its contemporary of a hundred years
standing, The Commercial Advertiser—and
claims to be the oldest paper of its sort in the
country. The little weekly folio is grown to
be an important daily of sixteen pages, still
devoted entirely to shipping and trade news,
finding a large demand for its special information, in spite of the fact that modern
journals devote so much space to the same
subject.
In 1895, was celebrated the centenary of
trade journalism and of American commercial
freedom, a fitting commemoration of John Jay's
diplomacy and of John Oram's journal, whose
file for the last hundred years gives a complete
detailed account of one of our greatest interests.

was once one

Zbc Wew lorft press an& Uts jf»afters

161

If it were possible to get complete files of
the many literary and political papers in our
land and in this town that were contemporary
with the Shipping and Commercial List, one
would have at hand all the doings of "History
in her workshop." The statistics that cover
only so short a period as that between January and July, 1810, are full of interest and surprise, for the proportion of political journals to
the population was greater than the world had
ever witnessed ; more surprising still when
we bear in mind that the great body of the
reading and criticising public was employed
in daily labor. At no time and in no land had
the masses hitherto had access so easily and
so cheaply to the news and the knowledge
and the discussions of the public press ; and
they were bent on improving their opportunities at any cost, even at the cost of the publishers. When unable to pay in current coin,
they paid in all sorts of odd merchandise, and
distant subscribers were supplied on credit:
"which accounts," says a naive chronicler
of the period, "for the large circulation of
some journals."

ptopore
Hon of
political
journals
to popue
latfon

162

XEbe Hew UJorft press an& Its flDafters

REFERENCES.
[Specific references to newspapers are given in the text.]
The History of Printing in America, with a Biography
of Printers, and an Account of Newspapers. ISAIAH
THOMAS, printer, Worcester, 1810.
Journalism in the United States, from 1690 to 1872.
FREDERICK HUDSON, New York, 1873.

Printers and Printing in New York. C. R. HILDEBURN,
New York, 1895.
Address delivered at the Celebration by the New York Historical Society, May 20, 1863, of the Two Hundredth
Anniversary of the Birthday of Mr. William Bradford, who Introduced the Art of Printing into the
Middle Colonies of British America. JOHN WILLIAM
WALLACE, of Philadelphia. Albany, 1863.
Military Collections and Remarks. MAJOR DONKIN. Hugh
Gaine, New York, 1777.
Old Streets, Roads, Lanes, Piers, and Wharves of New
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The Life of Thomas Paine, with a History of his Literary,
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1892.

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GENEALOGICAL RESEARCH.
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u
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B Y M O S E S COIT T Y L E R

A HISTORY O F AMERICAN
LITERATURE DURING T H E COLONIA
TIME
New Edition, revised, in two volumes.
Volume I.—1607-1676. Volume II.—1676-1765. Each $2.5
Agawam edition, 2 vols, in one. 8°, half leather, $3.00.
' ' I n the execution of his work thus far, Professor Tyler has evinced a skill
the arrangement of his materials, and a masterly power of combinatio
which will at once place it in a very eminent rank among American historic
compositions. I t is not so much the history of a special development of lit*
ature, as a series of profound and brilliant studies on the character and geni
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acute philosophical insight, a rare power of historical research, and a cultivat*
literary habit, which was perhaps no less essential than the two former co
ditions, to its successful accomplishment. T h e style of the author is mark<
by vigor, originality, comprehensiveness, and a curious instinct in the selectic
of words. I n this latter respect, though not in the moulding of sentence
the reader may perhaps be reminded of the choice and fragrant vocabulary ;
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T H E LITERARY HISTORY OF T H E
AMERICAN REVOLUTION :
1763-1783
Two volumes, large octavo. Sold separately.
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T h e outward history of that period has been mail
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time in tl e writings of the two parties of Americans who either promoted J
resisted that great movement.

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Though more lengthy than most of the sketches in Professor Tyler's well
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3
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