A bookbindery. In this view, several important binding operations can be seen. (a) Beating folded sections of a book so that they will lie flat. (b) Stitching folded sections to the heavy cords that hold the book together. (c) Trimming the edges of a freshly sewn book on a ploughing press. (d) Pressing freshly bound books in a large standing press. BELOW. (1-3) The blocks and hammer used by the binder. (4) The sewing frame. (5-6) Twine. (7-12) Parts of the sewing frame. (13-14) Wood or bone folders.DIDEROT.
A bookbindery. In this view, several important binding operations can be seen. (a) Beating folded sections of a book so that they will lie flat. (b) Stitching folded sections to the heavy cords that hold the book together. (c) Trimming the edges of a freshly sewn book on a ploughing press. (d) Pressing freshly bound books in a large standing press. BELOW. (1-3) The blocks and hammer used by the binder. (4) The sewing frame. (5-6) Twine. (7-12) Parts of the sewing frame. (13-14) Wood or bone folders.DIDEROT.
On the same floor is the printer’s “counting room” or what would nowadays be called his “accounting department.” Here he kept the numerous business records called for by the cumbersome bookkeeping systems of that day, penned business letters, and perhaps wrote out in longhand the material he intended for publication in theVirginia Gazette. Eighteenth-century printers often engaged in several other businesses at the same time—importing goods of almost any kind, selling farm products on commission, and trying anything that might turn a penny.
Excavation of the Printing Office site and careful study of the surviving eighteenth-century foundations and brick flooring gave evidence—in the form of reinforced footings—as to where at least one press may have stood. This was in the lower floor of the building, where again today the shop’s printing operation is concentrated. There the three presses mentioned earlier occupy the center of the room, all of them in working order. Large racks for the storage of type line the wall, surmounted by open, slanting cases of type in current use. The cases contain a complete set of Caslon letters, from the diminutive Nonpareil (6-point) to Six Line Pica (72-point), which is one inch tall. Usually the printer employs the Pica (12-point) and English (14-point) sizes, which were customarily used in colonial times. He and his colleagues identified type sizes by name only; since the present point system was not in use then.
Printer’s ink and its ingredients—varnish, lampblack or vermilion, and linseed oil—are kept in saltglaze jugs. Other vessels contain drinking water, and the wetting trough is filled, ready for dampening paper before printing. On the floor, weighted boards atop stacks of wetted paper keep the sheets from curling as the dampness permeates evenly throughout the pile.
Title page of AN INQUIRY ..., printed by Alexander Purdie. Written in the midst of the Stamp Act controversy, this influential pamphlet presented a reasoned view of the colonists’ position. It appeared before Purdie formed a partnership with John Dixon.
Title page of AN INQUIRY ..., printed by Alexander Purdie. Written in the midst of the Stamp Act controversy, this influential pamphlet presented a reasoned view of the colonists’ position. It appeared before Purdie formed a partnership with John Dixon.
ANINQUIRYINTO THERightsof the BRITISH Colonies,Intended as an Anſwer toThe Regulations lately made concerning the Colonies, and the Taxes impoſed upon them conſidered.In a Letter addreſſed to the Author of that Pamphlet.ByRICHARD BLAND, ofVirginia.Dedit omnibus Deus pro virili portione ſapientiam, ut et inaudita inveſtigare poſſent et audita perpendere.Lactantius.WILLIAMSBURG:Printed byAlexander Purdie, & Co.MDCCLXVI.
Intended as an Anſwer to
The Regulations lately made concerning the Colonies, and the Taxes impoſed upon them conſidered.
In a Letter addreſſed to the Author of that Pamphlet.
ByRICHARD BLAND, ofVirginia.
Dedit omnibus Deus pro virili portione ſapientiam, ut et inaudita inveſtigare poſſent et audita perpendere.Lactantius.
Dedit omnibus Deus pro virili portione ſapientiam, ut et inaudita inveſtigare poſſent et audita perpendere.Lactantius.
WILLIAMSBURG:Printed byAlexander Purdie, & Co.MDCCLXVI.
Here the printer and his helpers set type, pull proofs and correct their galleys, make up pages on the marble imposing stone, prepare paper and ink, run off the job on one or more of the presses, and finally, redistribute the type to the cases. The printed sheets, in the meantime, may have to be hung on ceiling racks to allow both ink and paper to dry out.
In the small back shop, a separate building, the similarly cluttered bookbinding shop may be found. In it the bookbinder of today, working with the tools and methods of his eighteenth-century predecessors, sews together the printed and folded signatures that make a book, binds them in boards, and covers the boards—perhaps in elegantly decorated leather bindings. He may use marbled paper of his own making for end-papers or on the outer covers of smaller books. For tooling and lettering the cover he has a collection of brass dies, some of which are designed from lettering stamps excavated in the vicinity of his—and William Parks’s workshop.
From the crude presses of Williamsburg came an ingredient essential to the movement toward American self-government and independence—the political pamphlet. In the world of the eighteenth century, devoid of radio, television, or the bulky daily paper, the substance of political debate came from such pamphlets. It was also an era which took its political philosophy seriously, and the author of a pamphlet could count on wide readership among the planter-aristocrats who controlled the machinery of government. Williamsburg, as the colony’s capital and its political and intellectual center, was the obvious city to lend its imprint to the speculations of Virginia’s pamphleteers.
One of the most significant early tracts was Richard Bland’sAn Inquiry into the Rights of the British Colonies, printed by Alexander Purdie in March 1766. Writing in the aftermath of the previous year’s fiery Stamp Tax debates, Bland vigorously proclaimed his belief in Locke’s doctrines of natural rights and natural law. Reprinted in London, Bland’s tract was evidence of the mounting sentiment for self-rule in the colonies. Bland’sInquirywas also a memorial to its author, a man who devoted much of his life to public service. An aged delegate to Virginia’s first state legislature in October 1776, Bland collapsed in the Williamsburg streets on his way to a session, and died hours later in the home of his friend, John Tazewell.
Jefferson’s SUMMARY VIEW, from the press of Williamsburg’s only woman printer. Of all of Jefferson’s writing this has been described as the document second only to the DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE in influencing the colonies to break from England. Printed by Clementina Rind, this is an example of the type of document not readily accepted by some Williamsburg printers and for which the Rinds were encouraged to establish themselves in the eighteenth-century Virginia capital.
Jefferson’s SUMMARY VIEW, from the press of Williamsburg’s only woman printer. Of all of Jefferson’s writing this has been described as the document second only to the DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE in influencing the colonies to break from England. Printed by Clementina Rind, this is an example of the type of document not readily accepted by some Williamsburg printers and for which the Rinds were encouraged to establish themselves in the eighteenth-century Virginia capital.
ASUMMARY VIEWOF THERIGHTSOFBRITISH AMERICA.SET FORTH IN SOMERESOLUTIONSINTENDED FOR THEINSPECTIONOF THE PRESENTDELEGATESOF THEPEOPLE OF VIRGINIA.NOW INCONVENTION.By a NATIVE, and MEMBER of theHOUSE of BURGESSES.by Thomas Jefferson.WILLIAMSBURG:Printed BY CLEMENTINA RIND.
ASUMMARY VIEWOF THERIGHTSOFBRITISH AMERICA.SET FORTH IN SOMERESOLUTIONSINTENDED FOR THEINSPECTIONOF THE PRESENTDELEGATESOF THEPEOPLE OF VIRGINIA.NOW INCONVENTION.
By a NATIVE, and MEMBER of theHOUSE of BURGESSES.by Thomas Jefferson.
WILLIAMSBURG:Printed BY CLEMENTINA RIND.
The most important pamphlet printed in Williamsburg wasA Summary View of the Rights of British America, from the pen of Thomas Jefferson. Lying ill up-country in August of 1774, when Virginia’s legislators were convened in Williamsburg to send off delegates for the First Continental Congress, Jefferson wrote his tract to suggest instructions that might guide these delegates at Philadelphia.
TheSummary Viewwas read aloud by Peyton Randolph in his home on Market Square to a room filled with Virginia patriots. It was too radical for some, but moving to all. It was at once set in type by Clementina Rind, Williamsburg’s only woman printer. Among the first to purchase a copy was George Washington, who noted in his diary that it cost him three shillings ninepence. The pamphlet was reprinted in Philadelphia and London and has been described as second only to the Declaration of Independence in charting the American course toward independence. John Adams of Massachusetts testified that theSummary Viewgave Jefferson “the reputation of a masterly pen” among Congress delegates in 1776 and won for the Virginian his assignment to draft the Declaration.
To the Williamsburg printer we owe a word of thanks for the important part that he has played in the affairs of this early Virginia capital—affairs that had notable influence on the course of American history. Since civilization began, the communication of ideas has largely depended upon the written word. The eighteenth-century printers of Williamsburg—and all America—served that need at a time of great moment, when the destiny of the emerging ideals of political democracy, free speech, a free press, and freedom of consciencewas uncertain. They had the privilege of enlisting their craftsmanship in the service of freedom, peace, and plenty, goals that continue to beckon mankind.
To the printer’s art, then, we wholeheartedly render the tribute which J. Markland pronounced inTypographia, in 1730, as he saluted Governor Gooch and Printer Parks for giving Virginia its first press:
“Happy the Art, by which we learnGloss of Errors to detect,The Vice of Habits to correct,And sacred Truths, from Falsehood to discern!By which we take a far-stretch’d View,And learn our Fathers Vertues to pursue,Their Follies to eschew.”1730-1780
“Happy the Art, by which we learn
Gloss of Errors to detect,
The Vice of Habits to correct,
And sacred Truths, from Falsehood to discern!
By which we take a far-stretch’d View,
And learn our Fathers Vertues to pursue,
Their Follies to eschew.”
1730-1780
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1730-1750William Parks.Printer and publisher in three English towns and in Annapolis before he opened the first printing office in Williamsburg in 1730; founded theVirginia Gazettein 1736; died in 1750.
1751-1761William Hunter.Probably learned printing as an apprentice to Parks, whose foreman he became; bought the printing office from Parks’s estate in 1751; was jointly with Franklin deputy postmaster-general for the colonies from 1753 until his death in 1761.
1761-1766Joseph Royle.Born in England; became Hunter’s foreman about 1758 and married Hunter’s sister; co-legatee, with Hunter’s minor son, of the printing business; died in 1766.
1766-1773William Rind.Came from Maryland to Williamsburg in 1766 on the invitation of Jefferson and other “hot Burgesses” who thought Royle too submissive to the governor; established a rivalVirginia Gazetteand continued it until he died in 1773.
1766-1779Alexander Purdie.Born and trained in Scotland; was foreman to Royle, whose will bequeathed him an interest in the business along with Royle’s minor son and William Hunter, Jr.; took JohnDixon as partner, and himself stepped out when young Hunter came of age in 1774; established a new printing office and issued a thirdVirginia Gazetteuntil his death in 1779.
1766-1780John Dixon.Had been Royle’s business manager before the latter’s death, and thereafter married his widow; partner in turn of Purdie, William Hunter, Jr., and Thomas Nicolson; moved to Richmond in 1780.
1773-1774Clementina Rind.Widow of William Rind; continued his printing business for one year—from his death in 1773 until her own in 1774.
1774-1777John Pinkney.Continued the Rind printing business andGazetteon behalf of the Rind children from Clementina’s death until some time in 1777.
1775-1777William Hunter Jr.Natural son of William Sr., who bequeathed him the printing shop, lot, and half-interest in the business; on coming of age became active partner of Dixon; partnership dissolved in 1777; Hunter, a loyalist, followed Cornwallis to Yorktown in 1781 and thence to exile.
1779-1780Thomas Nicolson.Succeeded William Hunter, Jr., as Dixon’s partner in 1779; the firm moved to Richmond the following year.
1779-1780John Clarkson.Nephew of Alexander Purdie; continued Purdie’sGazetteand printing business for about a year in partnership with Augustine Davis.
1779-1780Augustine Davis.Had been one of Purdie’s printers; with Clarkson continued as successor to Purdie until 1780.
Henry Bowcock,William Stark, andRobert Millerwere connected with printing in Williamsburg during the years 1730-1780, but it is not known in what capacity.
Henry Bowcock,William Stark, andRobert Millerwere connected with printing in Williamsburg during the years 1730-1780, but it is not known in what capacity.
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Bernard Bailyn, ed.,Pamphlets of the American Revolution, 1750-1776. Vol. I:1750-1765. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1965.
Susan Stromei Berg, comp.,Eighteenth-Century Williamsburg Imprints. New York: Clearwater Publishing Co., 1986.
Charles E. Clark and Charles Wetherell, “The Measure of Maturity: ThePennsylvania Gazette, 1728-1765.”William and Mary Quarterly, 3rd Ser., XLVI (April 1989), pp. 279-303.
Richard Beale Davis,A Colonial Southern Bookshelf: Reading in the Eighteenth Century. Athens: University of Georgia Press, 1979.
Hannah Dustin French, “Early American Bookbinding by Hand,” in Helmut Lehman-Haupt, ed.,Bookbinding in America: Three Essays. Portland, Me.: Southworth-Anthoensen Press, 1941.
Rutherfoord Goodwin, “The Williamsburg Paper Mill of William Parks, the Printer.”Papers of the Bibliographical Society of America, XXXI (1931), pt. 1.
Dard Hunter,Papermaking in Pioneer America. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1952.
John Edgar Molnar,Publication and Retail Book Advertisements in the “Virginia Gazette,” 1736-1780. Ann Arbor: University Microfilms International, 1978.
C. Clement Samford and John M. Hemphill II,Bookbinding in Colonial Virginia. Williamsburg: Colonial Williamsburg, 1966.
Cynthia Z. Stiverson and Gregory A. Stiverson, “The Colonial Retail Book Trade: Availability and Affordability of Reading Material in Mid-Eighteenth-Century Virginia,” in William L. Joyce, David D. Hall, Richard D. Brown, and John B. Hench, eds.,Printing and Society in Early America. Worcester: American Antiquarian Society, 1983.
Isaiah Thomas,The History of Printing in America, with a Biography of Printers, and an Account of Newspapers. 2nd ed. Albany: American Antiquarian Society, 1874.
Lawrence C. Wroth,The Colonial Printer. Portland, Me.: Southworth-Anthoensen Press, 1938.
——,William Parks: Printer and Journalist of England and Colonial America. Richmond: William Parks Club, 1926.
The Printer in Eighteenth-Century Williamsburgwas first published in 1955, inaugurating this series of craft pamphlets. Written originally by Parke Rouse, Jr., then director of publications at Colonial Williamsburg, it was revised in 1958 by the late Thomas K. Ford, editor, and has been reprinted in 1964, 1970, 1974, 1978, 1985, 1987, 1990, 1993, 1995, 1997, and 1999.