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Index
Introduction
William Parks
Printing in Colonial Maryland
John Peter Zenger
The Green Family of Printers
Printing in Baltimore
Baltimore Publishing
Western Maryland
Credits and Maintenance
Marylandia and Rare Books Home Page
UMCP Libraries Home Page
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Introduction
Maryland has a distinguished position in the annals of American typography. After Massachusetts, it was the second colony to establish and sustain a printing press. After an aborted attempt to start a press in Jamestown, William Nuthead brought his shop to the capital of Maryland, St. Mary's, in 1685. The first known Maryland imprint is a printed form dated 31 August 1685 from St. Mary's City, attributed to Nuthead by Lawrence Wroth, which predates William Bradford's printing operation in Philadelphia.
Nuthead's press moved with the capital to Annapolis. After his death in 1695, the operation was continued by his widow, Dinah Nuthead, the first women printer in the colonies.
Displayed is a facsimile of the first form printed by the Nutheads. The original is located at the Maryland State Archives
Shown here is a facsimile of the first published book in Maryland. This work was published in Annapolis in 1700 by William Bladen, clerk of the Lower House. Only two copies of this edition exist; the Library of Congress holds a copy missing the title page, while a complete copy may be found at the Universitatsbibliothek Gottingen in Germany.
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