The Origins of a Free Press in Prerevolutionary ... - Web Publishing

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as enabling discourse by non-elites, but he specifically excluded involvement by
women. 21 Colonial Virginia provides a contrasting situation, as women were
involved as readers, writers, and even the editors of printed materials. This chapter
demonstrates that women were a part of civic discourse in the decades leading up to
the American Revolution.
21 Warner, Letters of the Republic, 48.
Books
Women were active participants in
the local world of print soon after the
printing press was permanently established in
Virginia, as reflected in the choice of what
was printed. Printer William Parks rarely
printed full books, but rather sold imprints
imported from England and often bound
locally. 22 In 1742, Parks’ Virginia press
printed the first cookbook in America: a
book written by a woman, aimed at female
readers. The Compleat Housewife; or,
Accomplish’d Gentlewoman’s Companion …
was written by Eliza or Elizabeth Smith in
England and was first published there in
1727. The author suggested, for example,
22 On early Virginia printing, see Wroth, The Colonial Printer, McMurtrie, Beginnings of
Printing in Virginia, and Thomas, History of Printing in America. On titles printed, see Berg,
Eighteenth-Century Williamsburg Imprints, 26-40.