A History of Printing in Colonial Maryland

THE END OF THE FIRST PERIOD OF MARYLAND PRINTING HISTORY

The publication in 1725 of the "proceedings of the Lower House" under
Bordley's editorship brings to a close the first period of Maryland printing
history. Except for unrelated and unsustained researches by various per-
sons, these four decades hitherto have been neglected by American typo-
graphical annalists. Even in this day when the evidence of the provincial
documents is accessible to every investigator, it is frequently affirmed that
printing was not carried on in Maryland during the years in which William
Nuthead, Thomas Reading and John Peter Zenger were active there in the
prosecution of their trade. It is believed that the foregoing statement of
the operations of these men removes the reality of their printing activity
from the field of debate. In the next chapter, almost the central point of
the narrative, will be assumed the pleasant task of recording the work of
William Parks, a notable printer with whose coming to Annapolis in 1726,
Isaiah Thomas commenced his sketch of Maryland printing.

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