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Secondary sourceBook1776

The American Crisis, Editor's Preface

1776

A later editor's preface explaining the title of Paine's Crisis pamphlets and correcting a publisher's error about one essay.

This editor's preface explains the title and publishing history of Paine's Crisis pamphlets, which are central to his wartime writing.

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Source: Wikisource

About this source

What it is

This is an editor's preface to The American Crisis, a series of pamphlets by Thomas Paine. It explains that Paine referred to the work by this title in his will, and that the name 'The Crisis' had also been used for a set of London pamphlets published between 1775 and 1776. The preface discusses a mistake by an early English publisher, D. I. Eaton, who wrongly included an essay signed 'Casca' in Paine's series.

Why it matters

The preface shows how publication history can confuse which texts belong to an author. It helps students see that Paine's pamphlets were printed and reprinted by different publishers, sometimes with errors. Understanding who wrote what is an important step in using any historical source.

Look closer

  • Why did the editor think readers might wrongly believe Paine wrote the letter to General Gage?
  • What clues in the text show that the editor is correcting an earlier publication?
  • How could a publisher's signature or title change what readers believe about an author?

This book is part of the curated material that grounds the AI version of Thomas Paine on Humy.ai — when students ask about related events, the AI can quote it and cite it.

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