What was the first book printed in Worcester?
The title is "A Narrative of the Excursion and Ravages of the King’s Troops Under the Command of General Gage, On the Nineteenth of April, 1775, together with the Depositions taken by Order of Congress, to Support the Truth of It." The date is 1775 and the event of course, the opening skirmish of the American Revolution of Lexington. The book is made up of the evidence gathered by the Provincial Congress at Watertown in an effort to prove that the British troops were the aggressors. Copies were sent to King George III and his ministers. The American Antiquarian Society has a copy of the book. On this title page, in the handwriting of Isaiah Thomas, who founded the library in 1812, is written:
"This was the first printing done in Worcester, Mass."
He should have known, for he printed the book.