Jeremy Norman’sHistoryofInformation.com Exploring the History of Information and Media through Timelines
Jeremy Norman’s
From the standpoint of book production this small volume was the first book produced in North America using the new printing technologies introduced in the Industrial Revolution. Above the imprint it modestly states in very tiny 4.5 pt. type, "The first book ever stereotyped in America."
A: Manhattan, New York, New York, United States
In June, 1813 J. Watts & Co. of New York printed from American stereotype plates The Larger Catechism Agreed Upon by the Assembly of Divines at Westminster. They printed this work for Whiting & Watson, Theological and Classical Booksellers. Notably this was the first book printed in America from stereotype plates produced in America. The previous year the Philadelphia Bible Society had produced a stereotype Bible printed from plates made in England.
We may consider Watts' edition of The Larger Catechism the first book printed in America using an element of the new printing technology introduced during the Industrial Revolution and produced in America--namely printing from stereotype plates in made in America. At this point in time there were no printing machines or mechanized printing presses in North America, and the first publications on machine-made paper made in America were not issued until 1818.