Isaiah Thomas achieved a national reputation as a printer, author, magazine publisher, and bibliophile. As a printer of newspapers, magazines, pamphlets, and books his career encompassed both the traditional manual printing methods and the new technology of power presses and mass-produced publications. He printed the Massachusetts Spy, an important publication supporting colonial rights during the Revolutionary War. His History of Printing in America in 1810 was the first comprehensive chronicle of the press in America and is still of recognized value. His founding of the American Antiquarian Society in 1812 preserved one of the finest collections of early American imprints.

The youngest of five children, Thomas was born to Moses Thomas and Fidelity Grant Thomas on 30 January 1750 in Boston, Massachusetts. His grandfather Peter Thomas was a merchant, while his father worked as a schoolteacher, farmer, trader, and storekeeper-all without success. Moses Thomas died in North Carolina in 1752, leaving his widow...