
Revolutionary Ink
New York Printers and the Promise of Democracy, 1693-1804
Mark J. Noonan(Author)
Cambridge University Press
Will be published approx. on 31. July 2026
Book
Hardback
334 pages
978-1-009-70015-3 (ISBN)
Description
In Revolutionary Ink, Mark J. Noonan explores the careers of New York printers whose presses disseminated Enlightenment ideals that fueled the American Revolution and framed the political debates of the early republic. Long overshadowed by the celebrated authors whose works they produced, printers William Bradford, John Peter Zenger, James Parker, Thomas Greenleaf and others helmed presses that provoked civic engagement, cultivated an appreciation for the arts and sciences, and defended press liberty. The book also examines the equally revolutionary work of their wives, who assisted with and sometimes ran their husband's presses. Throughout the narrative, Noonan addresses the discrepancy between revolutionary rhetoric and practice, and argues that to grasp New York's early print history is to confront the paradox of the Anglo-American Enlightenment: its profound advancements alongside the denial of universal human rights.
More details
Language
English
Place of publication
New York
United States
ISBN-13
978-1-009-70015-3 (9781009700153)
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions

Book
approx. 07/2026
Cambridge University Press
€28.00
Not yet published
Person
Mark J. Noonan teaches at New York City College of Technology, CUNY. He is the author of Reading the Century Illustrated Monthly Magazine: American Literature and Culture, 1870-1893; Director of the 'City of Print' Institute; and former President of The Research Society of American Periodicals (RSAP).
Content
List of figures; Acknowledgements; Prologue: 'newspapers are the springs of knowledge'; 1. William Bradford, 'the crafty old sophister'; 2. The trials and triumphs of John Pieter and Catharine Maul Zenger; 3. James Parker, reluctant revolutionary; 4. Movable types: 'friend John Holt, the liberty printer' and 'Jemmy' Rivington, the purported spy; 5. 'Examine cooly every article, clause, and word': Thomas Greenleaf, 'Publius,' and the battle for ratification; 6. Seaport stirrings: politics, print, and power in the early republic; Epilogue: a final peep beneath the veil of founders chic; Appendix: the printing legacy of William Bradford; Index.