Zechariah Fowle, was an
early American printer and merchant of ballads and small books who worked in
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 ...
. He was born in
Charlestown, near Boston, of respected parents, and served his apprenticeship with his brother
Daniel Fowle, who was at that period in partnership with Gamaliel Rogers, a carpenter.
Having no children, Fowle took on
Isaiah Thomas, with the consent of his mother, as an apprentice, when Isaiah was a child, and provided him with room and board.
In 1742, Fowle entered into a partnership with Gamaliel Rogers and established the firm of Rogers & Fowle. They opened a printing shop in Prison lane, which was renamed Court street. They produced books in large numbers and varieties, which exceeded the usual works of the country.
In July, 1770, Isaiah Thomas, in connection with Zechariah Fowle, issued The ''
Massachusetts Spy
''The Massachusetts Spy'', later subtitled the '' Worcester Gazette'', (est.1770) was a newspaper published by Isaiah Thomas in Boston and in Worcester, Massachusetts, in the 18th century.
It was a heavily political weekly paper that was constan ...
'', named after several of the earlier papers in England, which bore the title of Spye.
Fowle printed little else other than ballads until 1757, when he began an edition of the ''Psalter'', a religious work containing the ''
Book of Psalms
The Book of Psalms ( or ; he, תְּהִלִּים, , lit. "praises"), also known as the Psalms, or the Psalter, is the first book of the ("Writings"), the third section of the Tanakh, and a book of the Old Testament. The title is derived f ...
'', for the local booksellers.
In its printing he was assisted by two young printers who had just completed their indentures. Fowle gave them proportionate part of the profits for their efforts. One of printers was Samuel Draper, a very worthy young man, with whom Fowle formed a partnership after the Psalter was printed. Their firm was Fowle & Draper. They set up shop on Marlborough Street, opposite the Founder's Arms.
Among some of the noted works Fowle printed was an Almanac ''The new book of knowledge'', published in 1767, authored by Isaiah Thomas.
World.cat
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See also
* History of printing
The history of printing starts as early as 3000 BCE, when the proto-Elamite and Sumerian civilizations used cylinder seals to certify documents written in clay tablets . Other early forms include block seals, hammered coinage, pottery imprints, a ...
* Colonial history of the United States
The colonial history of the United States covers the history of European colonization of North America from the early 17th century until the incorporation of the Thirteen Colonies into the United States after the Revolutionary War. In the ...
Citations
Bibliography
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Year of birth missing
Year of death missing
Colonial American printers
18th-century printers
People from Charlestown, Boston
Zechariah
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