The Pilgrim Press

The Pilgrims lived in the city of Leiden between 1609 and 1620. They worked in crafts and trades to support their families. Towards the end of the Pilgrims’ stay in Leiden, William Brewster operated a printing press, known informally today as the "Pilgrim press." Edward Winslow, as a trained printer, was involved in the "Pilgrim press" as were John Reynolds, a printer by trade, and Thomas Brewer, an educated and wealthy Separatist from Kent who provided financial backing.

EDWARD WINSLOW
1595-1655

Edward Winslow was born in Droitwich in 1595. A printer by training, he joined Brewster's "Pilgrim Press" in Leiden and journeyed to America on the Mayflower. His marriage, as a widower, to Susanna White, a widow, in the spring of 1621 was the first wedding in Plymouth.

Winslow was elected to several terms as Governor.

Author and diplomat (negotiating with the Natives and with England), he traveled regularly between Plymouth and England.

Winslow moved to London in 1646 to represent New England's interests in the government of Oliver Cromwell. Chosen to accompany an expedition to the Caribbean, he died at sea in 1655.

Some of the "Pilgrim press" books are identified by the woodcut of the "Brewster bear."

Between 1617 and 1619, the press printed and distributed controversial religious books. These books were banned by English law and had to be smuggled into the country. England was not, however, the only market : many of the books were intended for the international market & sold at the great bookfair in Frankfurt.

Some of the books published were Puritan "classics" that the press reprinted, others were being printed for the first time. Brewster printed two new books by David Calderwood that were directly critical of King James I of England. The English ambassador to Holland instigated a search for William Brewster and his press. Brewster went into hiding but his house in Leiden was searched and his printing type seized.

The "Pilgrim press" had its own type but may not have owned its own printing press (they may have worked up composing sticks and had a Dutch printer run them off). The only evidence - a great iron screw brought out of Holland was on the Mayflower when it sailed from England the next year. Was it from a printing press? The text doesn't say. The Pilgrims never operated a press in Plymouth and, in fact, the first press was not established in Plymouth until the late 18th century.