Jane Aitken

Jane Aitken
Born	July 11, 1764 Paisley, Scotland
Died	August 29, 1832(1832-08-29) (aged 68)[1] Germantown, Pennsylvania[1]
Occupation	Printer, bookbinder
Parent(s)	Robert Aitken, Janet Skeoch

Jane Aitken (July 11, 1764 – August 29, 1832) was an early American printer, publisher, bookbinder, and bookseller. She was born in Scotland and her family immigrated to American with several Scottish families in 1771. She ran a print shop and bookstore in downtown Philadelphia in the early 1800s. Her bookbinding was a major portion of her income. She received her training in the printing and book merchandising business from her father. She printed several books for the Athenaeum of Philadelphia and the American Philosophical Society. She was a friend of wine merchant John Vaughan, a long-time treasurer and librarian of the American Philosophical Society. She was the first woman in the United States to print an English translation version of the Christian Bible.

Early life[]

Aitken was born in Paisley, Scotland, on July 11, 1764.^[1] She was the first of four children (two girls and two boys) that grew to adulthood in the family. Her father was Robert Aitken (1734–1802), a Scottish stationery and book merchant who later became a Philadelphia printer and bookbinder.^[2] Her mother's maiden name was Janet Skeoch. Aitken and her family were among several Scottish families that emigrated to Colonial America in 1771.^[3] The Aitken family settled in Philadelphia, their port of arrival.^[3]

Mid life and business career[]

Aitken was involved with her father's Philadelphia publishing business located at his two-story brick house, which consisted of a print shop and bindery sideline at 22 Market Street.^[1][3][4] Her handwritten bookkeeping shows the print shop printed a newspaper, journals, books, and stationery.^[3] She inherited the printing business from her father's estate after his death in 1802 when she was thirty-eight years old.^[1][2] The publications were thereafter in her own name as Printed by Jane Aitken from her print shop and bindery, which she ran at North Third Street in Philadelphia.^[5] Her first location on the street shows in a 1803 newspaper Notice as being at number 20, which is 500 feet away from her father's house. At that time, with her sister Mary Ann Cambell, she was an administratrix to settle her brother-in-law's estate.^[6] Another 1803 newspaper Report five months later shows her at being at number 20 North Third Street.^[7] Miss Jane Aitken's Bookstore shows her address at number 62 in an 1807 advertisement selling tickets to a lecture.^[8] Then in 1808 her print shop was advertising a book on agriculture and A statistical account of the Schuylkill Permanent Bridge, with her bookstore being located at number 71 North Third Street.^[9]

Aitken's father's estate came with a heavy debt that was incurred from notes he had signed for.^[10] The debt was $3,000.^[11] Her brother, Robert Aitken Jr., who was a year younger than she and had been disowned by their father, was financially incapable to assist in this debt.^[10] Aitken, being the oldest child, assumed the responsibility of caring for her two younger sisters, as her mother had previously died.^[11] She never married and was always known as Miss Jane Aitken.^[1]

Aitken's bookbinding business sometimes gave more support to the family than the actual printing part of the business.^[11] She bound dozens of the books she printed up for the Athenaeum of Philadelphia and about 400 books for the American Philosophical Society.^[3] The binding work of the 1780s to 1802 from her father's shop shows similarity to her binding work from 1802 to 1812 and shows that perhaps she did most if not all the binding work from his shop when she was younger.^[3]

Later life and death[]

John Vaughan, a friend of hers and a librarian from the American Philosophical Society, gave her much work and even some financial assistance, but her business failed in 1813 and her equipment was sold off.^[2] Vaughan bought the equipment at a sheriff's sale and rented it back to her at under the going market rate, however after she failed again in 1814, she was put into debtors' prison at the Norristown Jail, 20 miles outside Philadelphia.^[12] There are few historical records from then other than the "late printer" when her death record of 1832 appears in an obituary in Germantown, Pennsylvania. The obituary shows she had a long and agonizing illness before dying.^[13] Her burial place is assumed to be in the destroyed cemetery of the Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church in Philadelphia, of which she was a member.^[12]

Legacy[]

Aitken was the first woman in the United States to print an English translation version of the Christian Bible.^[1][14][15] This bible is known as Thomson's Bible, being translated by the patriot revolutionary leader Charles Thomson.^[2][10][11]

Works[]

Aitken published at least sixty works from 1802 to 1812. One of her extensive printings was The Census Directory for 1811 of the third United States census for the city of Philadelphia.^[16] Some of her other works were -

• 

  An epistle to a friend, on the means of preserving health ...(1803)

• 

  The constitution of the Female Association of Philadelphia ...(1803)

• 

  Commonwealth vs. Tench Coxe, Esq. (1803)

• 

  Sermon preached before the General Assembly of Presbyterian Church (1806)

• 

  Thomson Holy Bible (1808)^[11]

• 

  An epitome of
  electricity and galvanism (1809)

• 

  American Philosophical Society, vol VI, pt I (1809)

• 

  Plan of General Assembly Presbyterian Church (1810)

• 

  Spiraea trifoliata Linnaeus or Indian physic (1810)

• 

  An inaugural dissertation on lithotomy (1811)

See also[]

• Alexander Purdie (publisher)
• William Hunter (publisher)
• William Parks (publisher)
• Joseph Royle (publisher)
• Isaac Collins (printer)
• David Hall (publisher)
• John Holt (publisher)

Footnotes[]

Bibliography[]

• Appleby, Joyce Oldham (2002). Encyclopedia of Women in American History. Sharpe Reference. ISBN 978-0-7656-8038-9.

• Benowitz, June Melby (1998). Encyclopedia of American Women and Religion. ABC-CLIO. ISBN 978-0-87436-887-1.

• Harley, Lewis R. (1900). The Life of Charles Thompson. G.W. Jacobs & Company. OCLC 27362028. He died in 1802 and his daughter Jane Aitken continued the business.

• James, Edward T. (1971). Notable American Women, 1607–1950: A Biographical Dictionary. Harvard University Press. ISBN 978-0-674-62734-5.

• Kane, Joseph Nathan (1997). Famous First Facts: a record of first happenings, discoveries and inventions in the United States. New York: H. W. Wilson Company. ISBN 0-8242-0930-3.

• Krismann, Carol (2005). Encyclopedia of American Women in Business: A–L. Greenwood Publishing Group. p. 20. ISBN 978-0-313-33383-5.

• Read, Phyllis J.; Witlieb, Bernard L. (1992). The Book of Women's Firsts. Random House Information Group. ISBN 978-0-679-40975-5.

• Sherrow, Victoria (2002). American Women Business Entrepreneurs. Facts On File, Incorporated. ISBN 978-0-8160-4556-3.

External links[]

• Jane Aitken documentation at the American Philosophical Society