Cambridge Press
Cambridge Press
The first printing press arrived in the British colonies in the winter of 1638/39. With the arrival of the press, colonists could now print and disseminate information related both to their experiences in the New World and their desire to spread the word of God throughout New England.
The story of the establishment of the press in Cambridge is a complex one. The first to hold the job as printer for the colonies was Stephen Day and his son Matthew after him. The third printer was Samuel Green, who took charge of the press in 1649. Green, who spent forty years at the press, is responsible for printing the majority of Algonquian-language translations before 1700. When it came time to print the Algonquian Bible, the press itself was set up in the Indian College in Harvard Yard.
Though other printing operations were started in Cambridge and in Boston after 1665, the Cambridge Press was the center of printing in British North America throughout the seventeenth century.