Bradford, Andrew

Bradford, Andrew, 1686–1742, colonial printer of Pennsylvania, b. Philadelphia; son of William Bradford (1663–1752). Andrew learned the trade in his father's shop in New York City and in 1712 went to Philadelphia, where he established his own press and became a bookseller. In 1719 he began publication of the American Weekly Mercury, the first newspaper in Pennsylvania and the third in the colonies. He was imprisoned for publishing political criticism but defended his own case for freedom of the press, establishing a precedent for the defense of John Peter Zenger. In 1741 he began publication of the short-lived (three issues) American Magazine, the first colonial magazine.