Elizabeth Glover
Elizabeth Glover was an English woman and first American publisher. She established the first printing press in the Thirteen Colonies, located next to the nascent Harvard College in Cambridge, Massachusetts, where she printed Oath of a Freeman, An Almenack, and the Bay Psalm Book with the help of printer Stephen Daye. She married Henry Dunster, first president of Harvard University. After Glover's death, the printing press was gifted to Harvard.
Family and Early life
Harris was born in 1601 to Nathaniel and Mary Harris. She was born into a family of notable ecclesiastical and academic prestige, and presumably this context shaped her role as the wife of Harvard's first president.Her paternal grandfather, Richard Harris, was a fellow of New College, Oxford and Rector of Hardwicke.. Elizabeth's father, Nathaniel Harris, received the degree of B.L.L. from New College in 1593, and for most of Elizabeth's childhood was Rector of Bletchingley in Surrey. Nathaniel Harris was considered "prominent in university and ecclesiastical circles".
Marriage to Joseph Glover
Elizabeth Harris married Reverend Joseph Glover in 1630 while he served as Rector of St Nicholas, Sutton in the Hundred of Wallington in Surrey, England, a post he had held since May 1624. Their marriage took place about two years after the death of Joseph's first wife, Sarah Owfield.During the first six years of their marriage, Joseph continued to serve in his rectory in Surrey. Elizabeth cared for her three step-children and also had two children with Joseph. Though respected as Rector, Joseph eventually grew out of the role. One historian explains: "Mr. Glover became interested in the non-conformists and preached acceptably to them in London." The "non-conformist" thinking eventually pushed the Glovers to leave Surrey in 1636. One historian writes of Glover:
His heart was wrapt in its progress and advancement; and during the interim of his retirement from the Rectory of Sutton, he had been untiring in his efforts to promote its growth under the influence of an educational system. He contributed unsparingly himself of his wealth and influence, and induced others of his friends both in England and Holland, to become interested in so noble a cause.
Buying the press
Joseph had contacts in Cambridge, Massachusetts, who helped him prepare to establish a printing business there. As Isaiah Thomas remarks in A History of Printing:Among the first settlers of New England were not only pious but educated men. They emigrated from a country where the press had more license than in other parts of Europe, and they were acquainted with the usefulness of it. As soon as they had made those provisions that were necessary for their existence in this land, which was then a rude wilderness, their next objects were, the establishment of schools, and a printing press.The Glovers saw an opportunity in New England, and they both had the means to move to Cambridge. Joseph purchased lands and built a house in Boston in preparation for the permanent move.
In order to gain funds for the printing business, the Glovers began looking for donors. With financial support from friends and at his own expense, Joseph purchased a press, font, and other supplies needed to establish a printing business. Several friends supported Joseph in his new endeavor, giving him money. Those friends were Thomas Clarke, James Oliver, Captain Allen, Captain Lake, Mr. Stoddard, Mr. Freake, and Mr. Hues.
Although the press would be the first in the English Colonies, it was not the first one on the continent of North America — the Glovers' press would be the second. A century earlier in 1536, a printing press was brought to Vera Cruz, Mexico. Now, the Glovers would bring a press to the New England Colonies.
On June 7, 1638, Joseph contracted with a man named Samuel Daye. Daye worked as a locksmith in London before being hired by the Glovers, and historians believe he may have been hired to run their press in Cambridge, though there is no evidence that this is the work he was hired to do. Some historians theorize that a separately contracted printer may have been on the ship and perished before arriving. The contract with Samuel Day, an indenture, included payment for his and his family's journey to New England.
Journey to the colonies
In June 1638, the Glovers, Daye and his family, and their assistants left London on a ship, the John of London. However, Joseph died of an illness during the voyage. The accounts of his death state that Joseph "fell sick and died". They do not say what the illness was, but the cause is most likely smallpox. He was buried at sea in the Atlantic Ocean. Elizabeth was now the sole owner of the printing press and Daye's indenture. The ship arrived a few weeks later on the coast of New England in the fall.Arrival in Cambridge
Elizabeth and her children arrived in Cambridge, Massachusetts, in the fall of 1638. Elizabeth decided to live near the college in Cambridge to be closer to her printing business, even though Joseph had purchased land and built a house for them in Boston.Elizabeth bought a house built by Governor Haynes from Sir Henry Vane. The two-and-a-half-story house was the "most elegant abode in town". As one historian states: "It is cheering to know that the widow and children, so suddenly bereft, found so soon a pleasant and substantial dwelling in which to make a new home in the new country."
Elizabeth's household included five manservants and four maids. The Testimony of Sarah Bugknam and Joan Hassall reports:
Her furniture and plate were the talk of Cambridge for years. Former domestics remembered eleven feather beds, one with 'philop and Cheny curtaines in graine with a deep silke fring on the vallance, and a smaller on the Curtaines, and a Coverlett sutable to it, made of Red Kersie, and laced with green lace, round the sides, and 2 downe the middle'; a blue bed-rug and an 'outlandish quilt'; a chest full of fine linen and damask; tapestry and green dornick hangings on the walls; a great store of brass, pewter, and latten ware; and as 'faire and full cubbard of plate there was as might ordinarily be seene in most Gentlemens houses in England.Out of all of Elizabeth's possessions, the only surviving artifact today is a piece of silver known as "The Great Salt". The silver dish belonged to the Glovers and has their initials engraved in it. It was passed on to Elizabeth's brother, Richard, upon her death. He, in turn, gave it to Harvard University; it is in the holdings of the Harvard Art Museums.
With her living accommodations taken care of, Elizabeth established the printing business. This process involved getting approval from the local magistrates and elders and finding a location to set it up. Since Elizabeth owned Daye's indenture, she decided to find housing for him and his family. She purchased a house on Holyoke Street and is believed to have set up the printing press in one of the lower rooms.
The exact date the printing business began is unclear, but it appears to be almost immediately after Elizabeth arrived in Cambridge. In October 1638, a man named Hugh Peter wrote a letter to a friend stating:
The press's first documents were printed and distributed by the beginning of 1639.
Wee have a printer here and thinke to goe to worke with some special things, and if you have anything you may send it safely by these.
Contract with Daye
On June 7, 1638, Joseph had signed a contract of indenture with Daye. The contract specified that Joseph would pay Daye one-hundred pounds for two years of work, with an advance to pay for Daye and his family's passage to Cambridge. The contract states:The condition of this obligation is such that whereas the above named Josse Glover hath undertaken and promised to bear the charges of and for the transportation of the above bounded Stephen Day and Rebecca his wife, and of Matthew and Stephen Day, their children, and of William Bordman, and three menservants, which are to be transported with him the said Stephen to New England in America, in the ship called the John of London;The contract lists specific items and tasks that Joseph purchased and performed to help Daye transition into his new life, as well as consequences and responsibilities for carrying out the charges of the contract. It does not mention Daye's specific work with the printing press. He was hired to perform labor, but not as a printer. However, he was hired while Joseph arranged his printing business. He accompanied the Glovers on the same ship as the printing press. The press was set up in a room in the house Elizabeth purchased for him and his family. As historian Leona M. Hudak states: "From what few facts are available, we may conclude that Mrs. Glover, as the owner, might be termed proprietress or publisher of the press, while Stephen Daye was the overseer or manager." Some historians theorize that most of the labor fell to Daye's son, Matthew, who had some knowledge of printing and performed most of the labor with the press.
While in London, Daye was employed as a locksmith. As Robert F. Roden describes his printing work in the Bay Psalm Book:
Daye is not supposed to have been a learned typographer, his workmen were untrained, his types were poor; the operations of the press, therefore were slow. The result of his labors was a rudely printed quarto of 148 leaves or 37 sheets In addition, a few words in Hebrew letters are employed in the preface and may have been specially cut on wood or metal for this book. Typographical errors and curiosities of spacing exist throughout the book. Oddly enough, the heading at the top of each left-hand page is printed "Psalm", while on the opposite page the word is spelled and spaced "Ps-alme".Of Daye, Isaiah Thomas wrote: "In 1642, he owned several lots of land 'in the bounds of Cambridge'. He mortgaged one of those lots as security for the payment of a cow, calf, and a heifer; whence, we may conclude, he was not in very affluent circumstances." Daye also had a criminal record and several lawsuits that were filed by Daye after he left the printing press still exist.
Daye worked at the press until 1648, several years after Elizabeth's death. Henry Dunster took over the management of the press. It is unknown whether Daye left voluntarily or because Dunster was dissatisfied at his work. Subsequent operation of the press was handed over to Samuel Green.