What was advertised in a colonial American newspaper 250 years ago today?

“Orders for Books, Stationary Wares, Book-binding & Printing Work.”

Like many other printers, Robert Wells, printer of the South-Carolina and American General Gazette used the colophon of his newspaper as an advertisement for that newspaper and a variety of goods and services available at his printing office.  His colophon, however, appeared in a different place than most others that ran either at the bottom of the final page or, less often, within the masthead at the top of the first page.  Wells placed his colophon at the bottom of the first page, extending across all four columns.  He sometimes devoted each of those columns to news, as was the case for the July 22, 1774, edition, yet other times included paid notices on the first page.  No matter what other content appeared, readers encountered an advertisement on the front page in the form of the colophon.  They did so repeatedly if they perused all four columns before examining the rest of the newspaper.

In that colophon, Wells gave a grand name to the site where he conducted business, calling it the “OLD PRINTING-HOUSE, GREAT STATIONARY and BOOK STORE.”  That name testified to his experience as a printer (“OLD”) and the quality and array of merchandise he stocked (“GREAT”).  He advised that he received “SUBSCRIPTIONS andADVERTISEMENTS for this Paper, which is circulated through all the SOUTHERN COLONIES, &c.”  That included Georgia and North Carolina in addition to South Carolina with “&c.” (et cetera) suggesting Virginia and Maryland as well.  The South-Carolina and American Gazette directly competed with the South-Carolina Gazette, printed by Peter Timothy, and the South-Carolina Gazette and Country Journal, printed by Charles Crouch, both published in Charleston.  In emphasizing the vast reach of his newspaper’s circulation, Wells sought to encourage advertisers who wished to disseminate information as widely as possible, whether they aimed to sell consumer goods, enslaved people, or real estate, or called on colonizers to settle accounts with businesses or the executors of estates or described enslaved people who had liberated themselves by running away from their enslavers.  The printer also accepted “Orders for Books, Stationary Wares, Book-binding & Printing Work,” a variety of goods and services enmeshed within the book trades.  “Printing Work” included broadsides, handbills, trade cards, catalogs, and other advertising ephemera for customers to distribute on their own, contributing to the culture of marketing in the colonies and disseminating information in print via means other than newspapers.  Wells wished to generate greater demand for printed materials, including advertisements, that would benefit both his customers and his business.  In doing so, he devised a colophon that did more than identify the location and printer of the South-Carolina and American General Gazette.