Mathew Carey

Mathew Carey
Mathew Carey by John Neagle, 1825
Born	January 28, 1760(1760-01-28)
Died	September 16, 1839(1839-09-16) (aged 79)
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Mathew Carey (January 28, 1760 – September 16, 1839) was an Irish-born American publisher and economist.

Early days

Carey came from a middle-class family and was born in Dublin in 1760. He entered the bookselling and printing business in 1775, and when still only seventeen published a pamphlet criticizing dueling. This publication was quickly followed by another work criticizing the severity of the Irish penal code and as a result the authorities threatened him with prosecution. As a result of these threats he moved to Paris in 1781. There he met Benjamin Franklin, working at the time as American revolutionary ambassador to France, who took him on to work in his printing office.

Carey worked for Franklin for a year before returning to Ireland where he edited two Irish nationalist newspapers, The Freeman's Journal and The Volunteer's Journal.^[1] To avoid imprisonment and prosecution by the British, Carey immigrated to America in September 1784.^[2]

Business in America

Upon Carey's arrival in Philadelphia, the Marquis de Lafayette gave him $400 to establish himself. Carey used this money to establish a new publishing business and a book shop. He established:

• The Pennsylvania Herald,
• Columbian Magazine, and
• The American Museum.

None of these ventures proved to be profitable. Carey printed the first American version of the Douay-Rheims Bible, popularly known as the Carey Bible, which was the first Roman Catholic version of the Bible printed in the United States. He also printed numerous editions of the King James version. He also frequently wrote on various social topics, discussed politics, and reported on debates in the state legislature and was an original member of the American Sunday-School Society.

In 1825, Carey retired, leaving his business to his son, Henry C. Carey. His son's brother-in-law, Isaac Lea, joined him in the business and, under their direction, the publishing business became for a while one of the most prominent in the country. The business published such works as:

• The Encyclopedia Americana, and
• A dictionary of German lexicon.

After the death of Carey and his son the business changed its name from "Carey and Lea" to "Lea and Blanchard"; this was later changed again to "Lea Brothers and Company."

Politics

Upon arriving in America, Carey’s expertise and publishing allowed him to quickly develop political connections in the developing country. One of his most important supporters was John Adams, still a leading figure of the Federalist Party at the time. Carey’s passionate support of the establishment of an American Navy was one significant reason he found himself aligned with the Federalists upon his arrival.

Consistently throughout his political career in America, Carey maintained his adamant support of American naval strength, even after leaving Adams and Hamilton’s pro-Navy Federalists to join Jefferson’s Democratic-Republicans in 1796. Carey’s political realignment occurred shortly before the American ratification of the Jay Treaty, primarily intended to ensure peace with Britain, while distancing America from France.

Carey’s strong support of American naval power and his “early political activities in Ireland were affected, in part, by the American navy’s decision to carry the war [the American Revolution] into the home waters of Great Britain. John Paul Jones’ victory over HMS Drake off Belfast in June 1778, unleashed a torrent of pro-American sentiment.” Carey’s publications in America successfully channeled his energy towards productive political objectives. His published works are attributed to swaying public opinion towards the establishment of a powerful American navy.

Carey’s publication Naval History of the United States was one such effort meant to influence the public consciousness. The work’s conspicuous omission of naval activity during the American Quasi-War with France makes the political intentions of the publication especially apparent. This exclusion would have focused political energy against the British, with whom America was at war at the time of the book’s publication on May 6, 1813.

Focus on the British, known around the world for their naval dominance, made an influential case for extending the reach of the American navy. Along with his publication of Naval History, another of Carey’s works, Olive Branch, was published 1814. This work was primarily an effort to eliminate competition between the two American parties, creating unity against the British for the War of 1812. These efforts, and his early relationship with Franklin, made him the logical choice as Franklin's political successor in many people's eyes. His efforts and publications are thought to have significantly influenced the to the establishment of the United States Whig Party.

Family

His daughter, Frances Anne Carey (1799–1873), married Isaac Lea, who joined his publishing firm. ^[3]

Legacy

In 1943, Publishers Weekly created the Carey-Thomas Award for creative publishing, naming it honor of Mathew Carey and Isaiah Thomas.^[4]

External links

• Mathew Carey's A short account of the malignant fever, lately prevalent in Philadelphia (1793)
• Mathew Carey's Appeal to the Wealthy of the Land, Ladies as Well as Gentlemen, on the Character, Conduct, Situation, and Prospects of Those Whose Sole Dependence for Subsistence Is on the Labour of Their Hands (1833)
• Indiana Historical Society, biographical sketch of Mathew Carey associated with a September 1804 letter in its Manuscript and Visual Collections Department
• The American museum, or Universal magazine, vols. 2-10 (1787-1791) at Internet Archive
• The Autobiography of Mathew Carey in 26 Letters to The New-England Magazine
• Mathew Carey at Find a Grave

Sources

• Carter, Edward C. "Mathew Carey, Advocate of American Naval Power." The American Neptune, XXVI (1966).
• Clark, Thomas. Naval History of the United States. Philadelphia:Mathew Carey, 1814.
• Carter, Michael S. "Under the Benign Sun of Toleration: Mathew Carey, the Douai Bible, and Catholic Print Culture, 1789-1791," Journal of the Early Republic, Fall 2007.

References

1. ^ Davidson, Cathy N., Ed. Reading in America: Literature and Social History. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins UP, 1989, p. 159.
2. ^ Davidson, Cathy N., p. 159.
3. ^ Baltzell, E. Digby (1958). Philadelphia Gentlemen. Glencoe, Illinois: The Free Press. p. 149. 
4. ^ "Publishers' Oscar"; Time, February 15, 1943

Persondata
Name	Carey, Mathew
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	January 28, 1760
Place of birth
Date of death	September 16, 1839
Place of death

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