Matthew Carey was
an Irish bookseller and publisher. His first publication came when he was just
17. In a pamphlet, Carey criticized the merits of dueling. Another pamphlet came after that which
criticized the severity of Ireland’s penal code.
When Carey was
threatened with prosecution, he avoided arrest by going to Paris in 1779 where
he met Dr. Benjamin Franklin. After working for Franklin for a year, Carey went
back to Ireland to edit The Volunteer’s Journal and The Freeman’s Journal.
He moved to the
US permanently in 1784. He met General Lafayette in Philadelphia who lent him
money to begin his own publishing company. With his borrowings, Carey created
the Columbian Magazine, the Pennsylvania Herald and American Museum. Carey was
the first to print an American version of the Douay Bible.
He wrote about social issues, and discussed politics.
When Carey
retired in 1825, he left his business with his son Henry. Carey’s publishing
house was one of the most popular in the US for several years and has produced
significant works like the Encyclopedia
Americana and Carey and Leah, a German lexicon.
No comments:
Post a Comment