Although academic interest in the Caribbean region's history and culture has increased in recent years, past studies of West Indian printing history have failed to focus on Saint Vincent, resulting in sketchy and inaccurate information regarding printing on the island. Correcting that oversight, this book reveals that printing began in Kingstown as early as 1767, and it traces the island's printing history through 1834, the year slavery was abolished in the British West Indies. Several early printers are identified, including William Smith, Joseph Berrow, James Adams, J. T. Calliard, John Drape, and Thomas LeGall, and details about them and some of their publications are provided. Newspapers and official documents such as acts and proclamations are shown to have been the main products of the island's presses. The book discusses the use of slaves by printers, touches on other race-related matters, and provides insight into an 1830s battle for the right to serve as the island's government printer.

Few early Saint Vincent imprints are known to have survived, but Early Printing in Saint Vincent includes an annotated list of more than 250 items printed in Saint Vincent prior to 1835, thus helping to close a large gap that has existed in West Indian bibliography. The book concludes with examples of Saint Vincent advertisements and an index. Illustrated in black and white.

Gregory Frohnsdorff is a catalogue librarian at the Charleston County Public Library in Charleston, South Carolina. He previously served on the faculty of The Citadel. His prior writings have focused on cataloguing issues and early West Indian libraries.