City of New-York ... [Blank] Esq; Mayor of the City of New-York. To the Sheriff, Constables, and other Her Majestys Officers within the said City, Greeting. Know Ye, That I have Licensed… [Blank] of the City Aforesaid, [Blank] to Sell Wine, Beer, Brandy Rum, Syder, or any other sorts of strong Liquors By Retail…

The First New York Liquor Licenses

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A printed blank form for a retail alcohol sales license in New York City, created for the Mayor’s office during the first two decades of New York printing. The form’s final lines date it to the reign of Queen Anne (1702-14; sovereign from 1707 onward), when William Bradford was New York’s only working printer.

Granted under the British colonial government, which at the time controlled New York, this license marked the beginning of the regulated sale of alcohol in the city. No earlier printed alcohol license form has been found in New York, making this document the earliest known example.

The concept of a liquor license was established to control the sale and distribution of alcoholic beverages​, and to generate revenue for the colonial administration. “This was not solely a matter of taxation. Its broader purpose, as stated, was one of social control—the suppression of disorder, gambling, politically disruptive ‘meetings,’ etc.” (Robert H. Rubin Books)

William Bradford (1663-1752), the first printer in Pennsylvania and New York, is cited as the “pioneering printer of the English middle colonies””(DAB). He began printing in Pennsylvania in 1685 and opened a bookstore in 1688. Legal troubles, including the seizure of his printing equipment in 1692, led him to relocate to New York in 1693, where he printed the acts of assembly and other official documents for the colonial council.

Price: $1,250.00