Influential Revolutionary-era printer.
Robert Aitken published the Journals of Congress and the Pennsylvania Magazine, for which he recruited the newly arrived immigrant Thomas Paine as editor, thus introducing the soon to be famous agitator for independence to America. Aitken is perhaps most famous for printing the first English Bible in America in 1782. Previously, Bibles could only be obtained from Britain, and the war created a Bible shortage. Aitken, with the approval and recommendation of the Continental Congress, printed 10,000 copies for distribution.
Discover Philadelphia’s hidden history and how faith has guided liberty toward justice with our curated ecosystem of trails that explore the city’s must-see sites!
