Indelible Ink: The Trials of John Peter Zenger and the Birth of America's Free Press

by Richard Kluger

Overview

"Vivid storytelling built on exacting research." —Bill Keller, New York Times Book Review

In 1735, struggling printer John Peter Zenger scandalized colonial New York by launching a small newspaper, the New-York Weekly Journal. The newspaper was assailed by the new British governor as corrupt and arrogant, and as being a direct challenge against the prevailing law that criminalized any criticism of the royal government. Zenger was thrown in jail for nine months before his landmark one-day trial on August 4, 1735, in which he was brilliantly defended by Andrew Hamilton. In Indelible Ink, Pulitzer Prize–winning social historian Richard Kluger has fashioned the first book-length narrative of the Zenger case, rendering with colorful detail its setting in old New York and the vibrant personalities of its leading participants, whose virtues and shortcomings are assessed with fresh scrutiny often at variance with earlier accounts.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780393354850
Publisher:	Norton, W. W. & Company, Inc.
Publication date:	10/24/2017
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	384
Sales rank:	526,478
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.20(h) x 1.10(d)

About the Author

Richard Kluger won the Pulitzer Prize for Ashes to Ashes, a searing history of the cigarette industry, and was a two-time National Book Award finalist (for Simple Justice and The Paper). He lives in Berkeley, California.

Table of Contents

Preamble: The Essential Liberty xi

Author's Note on Style xxi

1 A Perilous Trade 3

2 Stormy Petrel 36

3 Power Plays 62

4 Bending the Rule of Law 98

5 Battle Lines 126

6 A Superlative Monster Arises 156

7 An End to Generous Pity 185

8 Whiffs of Torquemada 213

9 Philadelphia Lawyer 241

10 Indelible Ink 271

Epilogue: From Zenger to Snowden 303

Acknowledgments 313

A Note on Sources 315

Notes 319

Selected Bibliography 329

Image Credits 333

Index 335

Editorial Reviews

"An outstanding book."

American Journalism

"Thoroughly engaging…packed with drama…[I]t stands as a cautionary tale of what might happen if we let history repeat itself."

Los Angeles Review of Books - Amy Brady

"Comprehensive."

ProPublica - Richard Tofel

"Indelible Ink is a triumph…a new and very compelling take on the Zenger case. I found myself glued to Kluger’s book and much in agreement with his findings, and he has written it all wonderfully well."

Stanley N. Katz

"Timely…well-written and thoroughly researched."

Washington Times - James Srodes

"Lively, detailed…the most thoughtful, comprehensive and well-researched study of the 1735 criminal trial in New York City of newspaper publisher John Peter Zenger on charges of seditious libel."

The Philadelphia Lawyer - M. Kelly Tillery

Kluger's last venture into the history of American journalism was The Paper, his monumental 1986 autopsy of The New York Herald Tribune, and he brings the same gifts to this more modest book: vivid storytelling built on exacting research, a knack for animating the context and an exquisite sense of balance that honors this country's essential press freedom without romanticizing its champions.

The New York Times Book Review - Bill Keller

★ 07/11/2016
Kluger, the Pulitzer Prize–winning author of Ashes to Ashes, celebrates the power of free expression in his book on John Peter Zenger’s pioneering colonial newspaper, the New York Weekly Journal. Contextualizing the pre-revolutionary situation in which Zenger launched his paper, Kluger accurately describes the relentless royal prosecution of anyone printing anything without a license, which opened violators to charges of “seditious libel” in disturbing the peace and subversion. In 1710, Zenger became an apprentice to printer William Bradford, but Bradford was soon tried for libel, surviving when his suit was dismissed on a technicality. Zenger returned to Bradford’s employ in 1725 before going on to produce his own four-page paper. In 1733, amid a messy, politicized environment of accusations, scandal, and power shifts, Zenger himself was charged with libel for revealing the aggressive, dominating policies of the British officials. He was jailed for nine months before his historic one-day trial. Framing his work with F.D.R.’s monumental 1941 “Four Freedoms” speech, Kluger produces a comprehensive tribute to Zenger’s legal battle against censorship and reprisal, which sparked progressive thought later appearing in the basic political documents of the young American republic. (Sept.)

Publishers Weekly

"Vivid and brisk....Kluger's summaries of the Journal’s most satirical passages are great fun to read....Fascinating, too, is Kluger’s analysis of the rhetorical strategies employed by Morris and Alexander in the Journal."

The Los Angeles Review of Books

"Beneath WikiLeaks and Edward Snowden, beneath the whole modern concept of a free press, lies the trial of a German-American printer in colonial New York. Richard Kluger’s account of the Zenger trial is thoughtful, scrupulously detailed, and utterly relevant."

Russell Shorto

"We’ve heard of the Salem witch trials. This is the trial from the 1700s you have not heard about. Mega-trial. Think Hamilton meets John Grisham. We have a 1st amendment and we got into the American Revolution because of the explosive things that happened in this book."

The Today Show - Brad Thor

★ 06/15/2016
We wouldn't remember John Peter Zenger (1697–1746) for his momentous contribution to freedom of the American press if not for Lewis Morris (1671–1746). A brilliant, self-serving, power-hungry landowner, Morris was driven to avenge his firing as New York chief justice by William Cosby, royal governor of New York. Pulitzer Prize-winning author Kluger (Ashes to Ashes) deftly details the years of repressive political and legal conditions leading to Zenger's 1735 trial for printing Morris's and James Alexander's anonymous, cutting accusations of the governor in a newspaper designed solely to ruin Cosby's reputation. Kluger thoroughly outlines the history of Cosby's peremptory abuse of royal prerogative, and the conniving of Morris, Alexander, and other antiroyalists. Andrew Hamilton, Zenger's skilled attorney, boldly and successfully challenged prevailing law that defined any criticism of the royal government as criminal seditious libel. Kluger raises important questions still resonating today: Should the government limit free expression to maintain order and shield itself from criticism (warranted or not)? How far should judgment extend if it spurs unrest or threatens national security? VERDICT This thought-provoking account deserves to be read by everyone; it will especially appeal to readers interested in law and colonial history.—Margaret Kappanadze, Elmira Coll. Lib., NY

Library Journal

2016-05-31
A Pulitzer Prize-winning historian looks back at the 1730s, when a single court case established the first step toward freedom of the press.Kluger (The Bitter Waters of Medicine Creek: A Tragic Clash Between White and Native America, 2011, etc.) presents the story of John Peter Zenger (1697-1746). After apprenticing to William Bradford, the appointed royal printer, and serving as his journeyman, Zenger set up his own printing company. It was not as easy as it sounds, and he had considerable backing. This is also the story of the wealthy Lewis Morris. It was the legal engagement required to secure his inheritance that set him on his quest for lifelong learning and power. Eventually becoming one of the strongest politicians in the New York area, he was the senior member of the New Jersey Provincial Council. Kluger also tells the tale of the royally appointed governor serving New York and, after Morris' successful petition, New Jersey. Historically, governors sent to the Colonies were strong on connections but short on capital. As such, there were many instances of self-serving governors, and Morris' role in the recall of two of those illustrates how strong his powers were—that is, until William Cosby took over. He immediately took sides against Morris' faction, siding with the trade barons against him. Here, Zenger met the needs of Morris and his brilliant cohorts. They hired Zenger to publish the New-York Weekly Journal to be an irritant to the governor. Wise to the draconian libel laws, they carefully avoided any illegal steps. Kluger takes some time to get to the meat of the story, but the attempts to indict Zenger and the eventual trial are enlightening and frightening—frightening to see how easily the press could be quashed and enlightening to see how that freedom was secured. A book of American history for all, but lawyers and journalists will especially appreciate it.

Kirkus Reviews