Bradford, William

William Bradford, (born May 20, 1663, Leicestershire, England—died May 23, 1752, New York, New York [U.S.]), printer who issued one of the first American almanacs, Kalendarium Pennsilvaniense or America’s Messenger (1685), the first American Book of Common Prayer (1710), and many political writings and pamphlets.

Bradford learned the printer’s trade in London and then immigrated to Pennsylvania in 1682. Settling in Philadelphia, he opened a printing shop in 1685 and a bookstore in 1688. In 1690, with William Rittenhouse and others, he established the first paper mill in America, at Roxborough, Pennsylvania (now in Philadelphia). Bradford went to New York in 1693, was appointed royal printer for the colony, and, in the next half-century, issued about 400 titles. In November 1725 he published the first New York newspaper, the New York Gazette. Many of his descendants were also printers.