Benjamin Franklin may have been Philadelphia's most influential printer during the colonial period, but he was not without competition. Andrew Bradford, Philadelphia born in 1686, had been printing in the city for more than a decade when Franklin arrived in 1723, a young run-away apprentice from Boston. Bradford printed Philadelphia's first newspaper, The American Weekly Mercury in 1719. It was Philadelphia's lone newspaper until 1728 and remained influential until its demise in 1746. Colonial newspapers carried news from Europe that had been gleaned from personal letters and continental newspapers (often weeks or months old). News from other colonies was also a regular feature. Local occurrences were of less interest, unless spectacular events such as fires, hangings, or freak storms; the exception to this rule was the record of outgoing and incoming sailing vessels which was faithfully printed. For today's readers, advertisements make some of the most interesting reading. Up to a third of the paper was filled with advertisements for merchants of all sorts -- apothecaries, booksellers, iron mongers,

scriveners, bookbinders, ribbon makers, and more. Lotteries were announced; strayed horses were described; rewards were advertised for runaway servants, apprentices, and slaves. The students of Introduction to Literary Research, Fall 2002 and Spring 2003, at The Richard Stockton College of New Jersey (a short one-hour drive from Philadelphia) have carefully transcribed several issues of The American Weekly Mercury. They have attempted to reproduce the look of the originals. Typographical irregularities, capitalization patterns (unfamiliar to the modern reader), and alternate spellings have been retained. Some features could not be duplicated, such as the tall "s" used throughout the eighteenth century. Students have completed research on selected words and issues. You can read their annotations by running the cursor over red links. Each student was assigned approximately one printed page. Words to be annotated and the annotations themselves were chosen by the students. Alongside the left-hand margin you will find links to the newspapers and to secondary essays. To see previous projects, select the "Additional Projects" link. Enjoy.