Andrew Bradford

Andrew Bradford (1686 – November 24, 1742) was an early American printer in colonial Philadelphia. He published the first newspaper in Philadelphia, The American Weekly Mercury, beginning in 1719, as well as the first magazine in America in 1741.

Life and career He was the son of a printer, and grandson of two others. He was born to William and Elizabeth Sowle Bradford in Philadelphia. In 1692, the family moved to New York, and there he learned the printing trade from his father. In 1709, Andrew Bradford was listed as a printer in New York; that year, he declined an offer from Rhode Island to become that colony's printer. Franklin would go on to establish a rival printing press and newspaper, the Pennsylvania Gazette, in Philadelphia. On February 13, 1741, Bradford published the first issue of the American Magazine, the first magazine to be published in America — beating out Franklin for the honor by three days.