In the late 1950s archeological investigation into the Williamsburg sites known to have been occupied by printers yielded precious few objects that could be linked with certainty to the trade. Most of the recovered artifacts could have easily been produced by any 18th c. tenant. The main exceptions were found in a single two-foot-square hole next to the foundation of the present-day press room which yielded about 80 ounces of printing type, much of it in usable condition. Also found in the backyard were portions of a plate used to print money. Unfortunately, these two groups of items divulged nothing particularly revealing about Williamsburg's printers.
Archival research has provided us with some biographical material on Williamsburg's twelve 18th c. printers, but daybooks or other contemporary shop documents exist for only two of them: William Hunter and Joseph Royle.¹ Hunter's daybook consists of a detailed series of accounts for the years 1751 and 1752 and it is specific in terms of staff wages and quantities of material used. If such documentation survived for all of Williamsburg's printers, we would be in a excellent position to determine much of what went on in these businesses. Royle's records are tantalizingly (and disappointingly) brief and unkempt. They also cover a two year period, 1761 to 1762, but are not nearly as specific or helpful to the book historian. All-in-all, for the possible combined 72 business years of printing in Williamsburg we have records for only four years which is a very small slice of the century's pie in terms of account information.
In 1952 the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation's research department reported on the extent of the information known at the time on the Printing Office site itself and on the printers who operated there.² This extensive report included archeological data and many comments on the mechanical aspects of the trade. In addition, it included biographical accounts of six of the twelve printers known to have occupied the site.
As aggressive as these research efforts were, their conclusions are so sketchy that one could comment as easily on what was missing as what was present. Nevertheless, the available data proved sufficient to recrate the Printing Office to open it to the public in 1958.
Today, letterpress printing continues to flourish at Colonial Williamsburg on wooden presses in the 18th c. manner, with daily demonstrations attracting more than 200,000 visitors annually. The Colonial Williamsburg printing office produces reissues of period Williamsburg imprints ranging from newspapers to small books, using only the materials and techniques of the period. The operation of the trade in such a public forum has proven to be a true acid test for the past research, which is now thirty years old. The visitor and printer alike are confronted with more questions than can be confidently answered with the information presently in hand. Typical questions on an average day include: Where did they get their paper? How many typefaces were used in Williamsburg? Where did these types come from? How many presses were in each shop?
These types of questions show that there is still a lot to be learned about Williamsburg printing than has already been committed to paper. The WIP is attempting to find answers through the analytical consideration of the surviving imprints. The Prining Office has has the potential to be the best-documented craft operating in the restored area at Colonial Williamsburg.
