Judah P. Spooner

October 11

Carl Robert Keyes Daily Advert Update , , , , , ,

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

Connecticut Gazette (October 11, 1776).

“Persons intrusted with PROPOSALS for Re-printing the Penitential Cries, are desired to return them in to Judah P. Spooner.”

Among the various advertisements in the October 11, 1776, edition of the Connecticut Gazette, one notice instructed “Those Persons intrusted with PROPOSALS for Re-printing the Penitential Cries … to turn them in to Judah P. Spooner, of Norwich at or before the first Day of November next.”  This followed a common practice for publishing books in the eighteenth century.  Before taking a book to press, printers distributed subscription proposals that promoted the work and gave details about publication (such as price and the quality of the paper and type).  They asked consumers to reserve copies by subscribing for them.  Printers or local agents acting on their behalf, compiled lists of subscribers.  Subscription proposals simultaneously drummed up demand for books and let printers know how many copies to print so they did not end up with surplus copies that resulted in taking a loss on the project.  Sometimes subscription proposals did not yield enough subscribers to make a project viable; in those cases, they were an important tool for conducting market research.

According to this advertisement, however, Spooner’s effort to publish Penitential Cries did attract “a sufficient number of Subscribers to incourage the Printing said Book.”  Now he needed to add any subscribers not yet brought to his attention to his list so he could print copies for all of them and perhaps a small number of unclaimed copies in hopes of making additional sales.  Spooner likely proposed publishing John Mason’s Spiritual Songs: Or, Songs of Praise with Penitential Cries to Almighty God, upon Several Occasions.  At least five editions had been printed in the colonies, including a “fifteenth edition corrected” printed by Thomas Fleet for bookseller Daniel Henchman in Boston in 1742 and, most recently, a “sixteenth edition corrected” printed by Thomas Fleet and John Fleet in Boston in 1774.  (References to the edition did not always align.  For instance, Hugh Gaine printed a “seventeenth edition, corrected,” in New York in 1765, nearly a decade before the Fleets published their “sixteenth edition corrected.”  Zachariah Fowle also published a “seventeenth edition, corrected,” in Boston in 1765.)

Seeking to publish a book was a bold venture in the fall of 1776.  The war caused all sorts of disruptions; in particular, printers scrambled for paper to continue publishing their newspapers.  They frequently ran advertisements calling for readers to provide rags to recycle into paper, sometimes warning that the fate of the newspaper itself depended on compliance with those requests.  Spooner apparently thought that he had access to the paper he needed in addition to “a sufficient number of Subscribers.”  If he did print the book, however, no copy survives.  The next known American edition was indeed printed in Norwich, but not until 1783 when John Trumbull, the printer of the Norwich Packet, published his “fifteenth edition.”  Spooner’s advertisement suggested that he was on the brink of successfully printing the book, but gathering attracting subscribers may not have been enough.  Other circumstances likely prevented him from finishing the project.

March 1

Carl Robert Keyes Daily Advert Update , , , , , ,

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

Connecticut Gazette (March 1, 1776).

“Such has been the Demand for this Pamphlet, that eight Editions of it have been printed.”

Timothy Green, the printer of the Connecticut Gazette in New London, updated his advertisement for a local edition of Thomas Paine’s Common Sense that he jointly published with Judah P. Spooner, his brother-in-law and former apprentice who ran a printing office in Norwich.  A week earlier, Green announced the imminent publication of the pamphlet in short advertisement: “To-morrow will be published, and sold by the Printer hereof, and by J.P. Spooner in Norwich; COMMON SENSE; ADDRESSED TO THE INHABITANTS OF AMERICA.”  Green hoped to incite a sense of anticipation among prospective customers.

Once he had copies available for sale at his printing office in New London, Green ran a more extensive advertisement, one that resembled advertisements in other newspapers placed by publishers and booksellers who sold editions published in Philadelphia, New York, and Providence.  In addition to the title of the pamphlet, the advertisement listed the “following interesting SUBJECTS” that Paine covered, replicating section headings that included “Of Monarchy and Hereditary Succession” and “Thoughts on the present State of AMERICAN Affairs.”  Since Paine remained anonymous at that time, the advertisement stated that the pamphlet was “WRITTEN BY AN ENGLISHMAN.”  Green also included the epigraph, two lines of “Liberty,” a poem by James Thomson, that appeared on the title page of the first edition and in advertisements for that and other editions.

In general, Green did not generate new copy for his advertisement for this edition of Common Sense, but he did add an original note at the end: “Such has been the Demand for this Pamphlet, that eight Editions of it have been printed in different Colonies, in the Course of a few Weeks only.”  For those who had not heard about the incendiary pamphlet and the bold ideas that Paine presented, Green hoped that its popularity in other places would convince them not to miss reading it for themselves by purchasing a local edition.  His tabulation of “eight Editions” suggested that he closely examined the advertisements in newspapers printed in other cities and towns delivered to his printing office as part of a network for sharing information and reprinting content from newspaper to newspaper to newspaper.  Green did not peruse just the news accounts and editorials.  He apparently took note of the competing editions published in Philadelphia and local editions advertised in other places.  Bringing attention to such demand, he reasoned, would spur sales of a local edition of Common Sense in New London.

February 23

Carl Robert Keyes Daily Advert Update , , , , , ,

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

Connecticut Gazette (February 23, 1776).

“Sold by the Printer hereof … COMMON SENSE.”

On February 23, 1776, Timothy Green, the printer of the Connecticut Gazette, announced the publication of yet another local edition of Thomas Paine’s Common Sense.  He joined other printers in publishing, advertising, and disseminating the incendiary political pamphlet far beyond Philadelphia, where Robert Bell published and advertised the first edition on January 9.  Since then, Bell produced an unauthorized second edition and Paine worked with William Bradford and Thomas Bradford, the printers of the Pennsylvania Journal, on an expanded new edition (and they engaged in a public argument about the competing editions in the Pennsylvania Evening Post and other newspapers published in Philadelphia).  The Bradfords also informed readers that a German edition was in the works.  In addition, they indicated that they would fill an order from Virginia for one thousand copies.  It did not take long for William Green, a bookseller and bookbinder in New York, to advertise copies of Bell’s first and second editions.  John Anderson, the printer of the Constitutional Gazette in New York, soon marketed the first local edition published beyond Philadelphia.  By the middle of February, John Carter, the printer of the Providence Gazette, advised readers that his local edition would hit the market within a week.

That edition went on sale at the same time that Green released a local edition in New London.  According to the advertisement, Judah P. Spooner, his brother-in-law and former apprentice who operated a printing office in Norwich, sold the pamphlet there as well.  The imprint on the title page suggested that Green and Spooner collaborated as publishers, but Spooner did the printing: “Philadelphia: Printed.  Norwich: Re-printed and sold by Judah P. Spooner, and by T. Green, in New-London.”  Green gave their advertisement a privileged place in the Connecticut Gazette, placing it immediately after updates from Hartford.  That made it difficult for readers to miss.  He did not, however, include elements that often appeared in advertisements for other editions in other newspapers, such as the list of section headers that outlined the contents or the epigraph from “Liberty,” a poem by James Thomson.  Lack of space may have prevented Green from publishing a more elaborate advertisement, though he may have considered the buzz around Common Sense sufficient to sell it once prospective customers knew where to purchase a local edition.