Masthead Design for The Royal American Magazine, Nov. 1774

The Royal American Magazine was published first by Isaiah Thomas of Boston from January 1774 through June 1774 and then by Joseph Greenleaf from July 1774 to March 1775. Engraver Paul Revere contributed the masthead design as well as other illustrations to the publication during its run. The masthead represents a lounging “Indian Princess” offering a pipe to a standing goddess of knowledge. The woodcut image uses the common eighteenth-century trope of an Indigenous woman representing America. Paul Revere was a prosperous silversmith and engraver who became a Revolutionary icon. He is most famous for his “midnight ride” alerting the colonial militia to the approach of British military forces before the battles of Lexington and Concord, the first major military conflicts of the American Revolution.