In the meantime William Bradford, printer in Philadelphia, having given offence to the magistrates by printing one of George Keith's controversial pieces, was arrested and brought before the Court of Quarter Sessions in September, 1692, a quantity of his types and other printing utensils being seized and impounded at the same time. Pleading not guilty, he was held under nominal confinement for trial in December. The trial resulted in the jury's disagreement, and as Bradford failed to obtain release or return of his property on this occasion or at the next Court session in March, 1693, he appealed directly to Governor Fletcher, who had been commissioned also governor of Pennsylvania. Under these circumstances there was no delay on his part in accepting the invitation for a printer, and among the bills signed by the governor on the adjournment of the Assembly, Monday, April 10th, was Bradford's appointment as Royal Printer at New York. Ten days later, in the Civil List compiled on April 20th, the entry appears, "Allowed to a printer," per annum, £40. On the 26th of April, Governor Fletcher went to Philadelphia, where he remained for six weeks. One of the first matters receiving his attention there, on April 27, was Bradford's petition. The printer was present at the examination and gave his testimony, after which his types and tools were ordered to be returned to him, and his freedom from the former arrest was assured. Bradford was then near thirty years of age, having been born on May 20, 1663, according to the statement in the Almanac of 1739. He had learned his trade in the London shop of Andrew Sowle, whose daughter Elizabeth he married before setting up his own press at Philadelphia, towards the end of the year 1685, and when he removed to New York, in 1693, his son Andrew was about seven years old. It was probably early in May before he got settled in his new home, at the Sign of the Bible, in New York, the location of which in Dock street has been commemorated by the placing of a tablet at No. 81 Pearl street. As the governor was busy with affairs in Pennsylvania during the whole month, it is likely that the legislative printing was not started until after his return to New York, early in June. There is no way to determine with certainty the exact order in which the different publications left the press, and the arrangement of titles which follows is more or less arbitrary. The earliest form of the imprint reads: Printed and Sold by William Bradford, Printer to King William and Queen Mary, at the City of New-York, 1693. In July or August, the words, At the Sign of the Bible, were first added. SUMMARY MAY, 1693 1. New England's Spirit of Persecution, 1693. 2. A Paraphrastical Exposition, 1693. JUNE, 1693 3. Act for One Penny per Pound, Nov. 12, 1692. 6. Act for raising £6000, April 10, 1693, 1st issue. 7. Act for raising £6000, April 10, 1693, 2d issue. 8. Pennsylvania Act for One Penny per Pound, June 2, 1693. 9. Proclamation on the Lord's Day, April 29, 1693. 10. First license to Warner Wessels, etc., June 8, 1693. 11. The same in Dutch, June 8, 1693. 12. Second license to Warner Wessels, etc., June 8, 1693. 13. The Philadelphia Address, June 2, 1693. 14. Narrative of an Attempt by the French, March 22, 1693. JULY, 1693 15. City Ordinance on dimensions of cask, July 10, 1693. 16. Journal of a Treaty with the Five Nations, July, 1693. 17. City Address to Gov. Fletcher, July 20, 1693. JULY-AUGUST, 1693 18. Proclamation dissolving the Assembly, July 27, 1693. 19. Acts of Assembly, April, 1691, to April, 1692, pp. 1–52. AUGUST, 1693 20. Proclamation against exporting provisions, Aug. 19, 1693. 21. Proclamation on erecting fire beacons, Aug. 25, 1693. SEPTEMBER-OCTOBER, 1693 22. Catalogue of Fees, Sept. 20, 1693. 23. Exhortation concerning Negroes, Oct. 13, 1693. 24. Proclamation to Connecticut, Oct. 28, 1693. NOVEMBER-DECEMBER, 1693 25. Proclamation to Connecticut, Nov. 8, 1693. 28. Proclamation dissolving the Assembly, Nov. 16, 1693. JANUARY-FEBRUARY, 1694 31. The Laws and Acts, 1694, Nos. 19 and 29 completed. 33. Some Seasonable Considerations for Connecticut, 1694. MARCH-APRIL, 1694 34. Proclamation for a Fast, March 3, 1694. DATE UNCERTAIN 37. Lancaster's Queries to the Quakers, fragment. [No. 1.] New-England's Spirit of Persecution || Transmitted To || Pennsilvania, || And the Pretended Quaker found Persecuting the True || Christian-Quaker, || in the || Tryal || of || Peter Boss, George Keith, Thomas Budd, || and William Bradford, || At the Sessions held at Philadelphia the Nineth, Tenth and || Twelfth Days of December, 1692. Giving an Account of the most Arbitrary Procedure of that Court. || Printed in the Year 1693. || Quarto, pp. title reverse blank, and 1-38. Sheetmarks A, B, C, E, and F in fours, counting the title as F4. No sheetmark D. This seems to be the joint production of George Keith and Thomas Budd, including Bradford's own account of the trial. As it mentions the next Court Session of March, 1693, it could hardly have been printed before May. The book was reprinted in London the same year, with license dated October 19, 1693, and the title, "The Tryals of Peter Boss, George Keith, Thomas Budd, and William Bradford," etc. Mr. Hildeburn has called attention to the obliteration by pen and ink in some copies of a sentence on page 7 and two on page 8, and that in the London edition those places were left blank. Both editions are in The New York Public Library, the former being without the obliterations. A copy in the library of the American Antiquarian Society, which lacks the title, has a manuscript note at the foot of page 1: "Printed by William Bradford and perhaps the first book printed at New York." [No. 2.] A Paraphrastical Exposition || on a || Letter || From a Gentleman in || Philadelphia || To his Friend in || Boston || Concerning a certain Person who com- || pared himself to Mordecai. || Printed in the Year 1693. || Quarto, pp. 8. No sheetmark. By John Philly or Phillips, the former spelling appearing in "New-England's Spirit of Persecution," page 23, and the latter in the Minutes of the Philadelphia Monthly Meeting, held 7th Mo. 1693, according to Hildeburn. It consists of twenty four-line stanzas, giving "A Paraphrastical Parrallel betwixt Haman & Mr. ,"preceded by an acrostical "Proemium" spelling out the name of SAMUEL JENNINGS, who presided at the Bradford trial, and depicting him as an unjust judge. Description and information from the original owned by Dr. A. S. W. Rosenbach, formerly in the possession of James G. Barnwell, of Philadelphia. A complete photostat of it is in The New York Public Library. No other copy is known. [No. 3.] An Act for Granting to their Majesties the Rate of || One Penny per Pound upon all the Real and Per- || sonal Estates within this Province of New-York, || &c. To be allowed unto his Excellency the Go- || vernour, for the Care of the Province, November || the 12th, 1692. || [No imprint.] Folio, pp. 1-4. Sheetmark A. This act differs from the other separate acts and those in the law book in having the title printed in roman type instead of italic. For that reason it is placed before the others, with the presumption that it may have been the first one printed, early in June. Described from the Lenox copy in The New York Public Library. [No. 4.] Province of New-York, ss. || Anno Regni Gulielmi & Mariæ, || Regis & Reginæ, || Angliæ, Scotia, Franciæ & Hiberniæ, || Quinto. || An ACT for Restraining and Punishing Privateers || and Pyrates. || [No imprint.] Folio, pp. 1-3. Sheetmark A. First issue of the act, passed September 10, 1692. The form of the heading not being satisfactory, it was changed to read as in No. 5. It is placed here in the list because the corrected form of the heading agrees with the heading of No. 6, which has the sheetmark B, and therefore must come later. Probably printed in June. Described from the Lenox copy in The New York Public Library. [No. 5.] Anno Regni Gulielmi & Mariæ, || Regis & Reginæ, || Angliæ, Scotia, Franciæ & Hiberniæ, || Quinto. || On the Tenth Day of September, 1692. in the || Fifth Year of their Majesties Reign this Act passed || at the City of New-York. || An ACT for Restraining and Punishing Privateers || and Pyrates. || [No imprint.] Folio, pp. 1-3. Sheetmark A. Second issue, with a change in the heading, leaving out the first line of No. 4, and adding three lines giving the date of enactment. No other alteration was made, the rest of the act being from the same setting of type in both issues. Described from the Van Schaack-Vanderpoel copy in the Huntington Library. A photostat reproduction is in The New York Public Library. [No. 6.] Anno Regni Gulielmi & Mariæ, || Regis & Reginæ, || Angliæ, Scotia, Franciæ & Hiberniæ, || Quinto. || The 10th of April, Anno Domini 1694. || An Act for raising six Thousand Pound for the payment || of three Hundred Volunteers, and their Officers, to || be imployed in the Re-inforcement of the Frontiers of || this Province at Albany, from the first of May || next, to the first of May then next following, in || the Year of our Lord. 1694. || [Colophon:] Printed and Sold by William Bradford, Printer to |