William Bradford (printer)

E456446

colonial American printer person printer publisher

William Bradford was a pioneering colonial American printer and publisher who helped establish the early printing industry in British North America.

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All labels observed (3)

Label	Occurrences
William Bradford (printer) canonical	2
William Bradford (colonial printer of Philadelphia)	1
William Bradford (printer, colonial American)	1

How this entity was disambiguated

This entity first appeared as the object of triple T4608020 — resolving that mention is where its identity was fixed. The disambiguator weighed these candidate entities and picked the highlighted one (or “None”, minting a new entity). This is how homonymy is resolved: the same surface form can point to different entities.

NED1 Entity disambiguation (via context triple) gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07

Target entity: William Bradford (printer)
Context triple: [John Peter Zenger, apprenticedTo, William Bradford (printer)]

A. Richard Grafton
Richard Grafton was a 16th-century English printer and publisher best known for producing early English Bibles and serving as the king’s printer under Edward VI.
B. Richard Field (printer)
Richard Field was an English printer and publisher of the late 16th and early 17th centuries, best known for printing several of William Shakespeare’s early works.
C. William Caxton
William Caxton was a 15th-century English merchant, diplomat, and printer best known for introducing the printing press to England and producing some of the first books printed in English.
D. Thomas Frye
Thomas Frye was an 18th-century Irish-born artist and entrepreneur best known for co-founding the Bow porcelain factory and for his influential mezzotint portraits.
E. Ephraim Bull
Ephraim Bull was a 19th-century American horticulturist best known for developing the Concord grape, one of the first widely successful American table and wine grapes.
F. None of above. chosen
G. Unsure - the case is ambiguous/there is not enough information to decide.

NED2 Entity disambiguation (via description) gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07

Target entity: William Bradford (printer)
Target entity description: William Bradford was a pioneering colonial American printer and publisher who helped establish the early printing industry in British North America.

A. Richard Grafton
Richard Grafton was a 16th-century English printer and publisher best known for producing early English Bibles and serving as the king’s printer under Edward VI.
B. Richard Field (printer)
Richard Field was an English printer and publisher of the late 16th and early 17th centuries, best known for printing several of William Shakespeare’s early works.
C. William Caxton
William Caxton was a 15th-century English merchant, diplomat, and printer best known for introducing the printing press to England and producing some of the first books printed in English.
D. Thomas Frye
Thomas Frye was an 18th-century Irish-born artist and entrepreneur best known for co-founding the Bow porcelain factory and for his influential mezzotint portraits.
E. Ephraim Bull
Ephraim Bull was a 19th-century American horticulturist best known for developing the Concord grape, one of the first widely successful American table and wine grapes.
F. None of above. chosen

Statements (48)

Predicate	Object
instanceOf	colonial American printer ⓘ person ⓘ printer ⓘ publisher ⓘ
activeYearsEnd	1740s ⓘ
activeYearsStart	1680s ⓘ
birthDate	1663-05-20 ⓘ
birthPlace	England ⓘ Leicestershire ⓘ
burialPlace	New York City ⓘ Trinity Churchyard ⓘ linked to: Trinity Church Cemetery
child	Andrew Bradford ⓘ
citizenship	British subject ⓘ
countryOfCitizenship	Colonial America ⓘ England ⓘ
deathDate	1752-05-23 ⓘ
employer	Province of New York ⓘ Province of Pennsylvania ⓘ
era	Colonial America ⓘ
founded	first printing press in Pennsylvania ⓘ one of the earliest printing presses in New York ⓘ
genre	almanacs ⓘ legal texts ⓘ newspapers ⓘ religious tracts ⓘ
knownFor	being one of the first printers in British North America ⓘ pioneering printing in colonial America ⓘ printing almanacs and legal documents ⓘ printing early American newspapers ⓘ
languageOfWork	English ⓘ
movedTo	New York City ⓘ Pennsylvania Colony ⓘ linked to: Colony of Pennsylvania Philadelphia ⓘ
name	William Bradford ⓘ
notableWork	Kalendarium Pennsilvaniense ⓘ New-York Gazette ⓘ The American Mercury ⓘ The Laws of the Province of Pennsylvania ⓘ
occupation	bookseller ⓘ printer ⓘ publisher ⓘ
positionHeld	public printer of New York ⓘ public printer of Pennsylvania ⓘ
relative	William Bradford (colonial printer of Philadelphia) ⓘ linked to: William Bradford (printer)
religion	Quaker ⓘ
spouse	Elizabeth Sowle ⓘ
workLocation	New York City ⓘ Philadelphia ⓘ

How these facts were elicited

Referenced by (4)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

John Peter Zenger → apprenticedTo → William Bradford (printer) ⓘ

Trinity Church Cemetery, Manhattan, New York, United States → notableBurial → William Bradford (printer) ⓘ

William Bradford (printer) → relative → William Bradford (colonial printer of Philadelphia) ⓘ

linked to: William Bradford (printer)

Saint Mary’s Episcopal Churchyard, Burlington, New Jersey → hasNotableBurial → William Bradford (printer, colonial American) ⓘ