Benjamin Harris (
fl. 1673-1716) was an English publisher, a figure of the
Popish Plot
The Popish Plot was a fictitious conspiracy invented by Titus Oates that between 1678 and 1681 gripped the Kingdoms of England and Scotland in anti-Catholic hysteria. Oates alleged that there was an extensive Catholic conspiracy to assassinate C ...
in England who then moved to New England as an early journalist. He published the ''
New England Primer
''The New England Primer'' was the first reading primer designed for the American colonies. It became the most successful educational textbook published in 17th-century colonial United States and it became the foundation of most schooling befo ...
'', the first textbook in British America, and edited the first multi-page
newspaper
A newspaper is a periodical publication containing written information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background.
Newspapers can cover a wide variety of fields such as politics, business, sports a ...
there, ''
Publick Occurrences Both Forreign and Domestick'', from 25 September 1690.
Life
His career in London a publisher of
Whig books, pamphlets, and a newspaper is known from 1673. Many of his publications were anti-Catholic. He published the pamphlet ''Appeal from the Country to the City'' in 1679 by
Charles Blount, opposing the succession of
James, Duke of York
James VII and II (14 October 1633 16 September 1701) was King of England and King of Ireland as James II, and King of Scotland as James VII from the death of his elder brother, Charles II, on 6 February 1685. He was deposed in the Glorious Re ...
, and was consequently convicted of sedition and ordered to pay a fine he could not afford. Released from prison, Harris resumed his anti-Catholic campaigning. From 1679 to 1681, Harris published a paper that displayed an early use of local news, ''Domestick Intelligence: Or News both from City and Country''.
He moved to
Boston
Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...
in 1686 to start the London Coffee House, which provided both men and women (unusually at the time) access to foreign newspapers and books. After publishing ''The New-England Primer'' (c.1690) and ''Tulley’s Almanach'', he set out to publish a newspaper (Mindich). ''
Publick Occurrences Both Forreign and Domestick'' had three pages of text, with the fourth page left blank for others to write in pieces of news to hand around. It focused on local news, and included gossip; one item concerned
King William's War
King William's War (also known as the Second Indian War, Father Baudoin's War, Castin's War, or the First Intercolonial War in French) was the North American theater of the Nine Years' War (1688–1697), also known as the War of the Grand All ...
and atrocities attributed to Native American forces allied to the British, current in September 1690. Without a license, it was closed down after a single issue, Harris was jailed, and the next newspaper did not appear until 1704, when John Campbell's ''Boston News-Letter'' was the first American newspaper to last beyond the first issue.
[Stephen L. Vaughn, ''Encyclopedia of American Journalism'' (2007), p. 83.]
From 1690 to 1695, Harris continued to run his coffeehouse and publish books. He joined another partner, John Allen in partnership. In 1692, he received the official assignment to print The Acts and Laws of Massachusetts in 1692 (Mindich). Harris was also active in community service, supporting homeless shelters and orphanages.
He returned to London 1695. He started a series of short-lived newspapers before publishing the ''London Post'' from 1699 to 1706. He sold his paper, books, and almanacs from his printing shop and store. The location and date of Harris's death are unknown. He was married with two sons.
See also
*
List of early American publishers and printers
List of early American publishers and printers is a ''stand alone list'' of Wikipedia articles about publishers and printers in colonial and early America, intended as a quick reference, with basic descriptions taken from the ledes of the resp ...
Sources
*
Biography Resource Center Farmington Hills, Mich.: Thomas Gale. 2006.
“Harris, Benjamin” Encyclopædia Britannica. 2006. Encyclopædia Britannica Online. 27 Nov. 2006
* Mindich, David T.Z
American National Biography Online, Feb. 2000
* Mark Knights, ‘Harris, Benjamin (c.1647–1720)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004; online edn, Jan 2008
Notes
External links
* Mark Knights
‘Harris, Benjamin (c.1647–1720)’ ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', Oxford University Press, 2004, accessed 4 June 2007
{{DEFAULTSORT:Harris, Benjamin
American male journalists
17th-century American newspaper publishers (people)
18th-century American newspaper publishers (people)
Year of birth missing
Year of death missing
People from colonial Boston
17th-century journalists
18th-century American journalists