c. 1790 PAUL REVERE JR. Engraved Copper-Plate Metal-Cut Bookplate and Printed for “Isaiah Thomas” (1749-1831), Gold Gilt Framed, Choice Extremely Fine.
A choice superior quality fully authentic Metal-Cut Bookplate by Paul Revere, engraved for the historic American Patriot and Printer, Isaiah Thomas, that was engraved by Revere at Boston. Isaiah Thomas (1749-1831) performed the First Public Reading of the Declaration of Independence in Worcester, Massachusetts, and also reported the First Account of the Battles of Lexington and Concord which took place on April 19, 1775, beginning the American Revolutionary War. This impressive Bookplate measures about 3.5” x 2.75” and is sharply printed in black on extremely clean pleasing laid period paper that displays excellent detail. The outer margins are wide and have all details fully displayed. It is beautifully matted and gold modern wood framed, the bookplate is shown floated against a white background, measuring fully about 9.5” x 8” ready to hang on display. A similar illustration of this “Isaiah Thomas” Bookplate, together with a full description, is found on pages 163 to 165 in Clarence Brigham's 1954 major reference, “The Engravings of Paul Revere”. That book was issued by the American Antiquarian Society, the very organization which Isaiah Thomas himself founded. Overall, a top knotch example of Paul Revere’s original Copper-Plate Bookplate Engraving made for the famous American Patriot, Isaiah Thomas.
Isaiah Thomas (1749-1831) was an American Patriot, Newspaper, Alamanac, and Book Publisher and Author. He performed the First Public Reading of the Declaration of Independence in Worcester, Massachusetts and reported the very first account of the Battles of Lexington and Concord. He was the Founder of the American Antiquarian Society.

In Boston, in 1774, Isaiah Thomas published the Royal American Magazine, which was continued for a short time by Joseph Greenleaf, and which contained many historic engravings by Paul Revere. He issued in Boston the Massachusetts Spy three times each week, then (under his sole ownership) as a semi-weekly, and beginning in 1771, as a weekly which soon espoused the Whig cause and which the government tried to suppress.

On the April 16, 1775 (three days before the Battle of Concord, in which he took part), Thomas took his presses from Boston and set them up in Worcester, where he was also postmaster for a time. There he published and sold books, built a paper-mill and bindery, and continued the paper until 1802 save for gaps in 1776-1778 and in 1786-1788. The Spy supported George Washington and the Federalist Party.