The Cambridge History of English and American Literature in 18 Volumes (1907–21).
VOLUME XVIII. Later National Literature, Part III.
§ 3. Dutch Books at New York
But while Philadelphia was thus climbing to pre-eminence and weathering the Revolution, with its marked emphasis on publications of a purely utilitarian and controversial nature, other printing centres were springing up over the country. New York had received the disgruntled Bradford, who in 1694 issued Keith’s Truth Advanced, according to Hildeburn the first book to appear in that city. Both New York and Philadelphia were, in one respect, at a disadvantage as compared to Boston in the circulation of their publications, in that the population they supplied was much less homogeneous. As early as 1708, at least, a Dutch book, Falckner’s Grondlycke Onderricht, had appeared in New York. Yet while thirty Dutch publications were issued between 1730 and 1764, the influence of that language as a publishing medium was practically dead by 1800, although it was revived much later at Grand Rapids, Michigan.