Whereas the metaphor would have been strictly just to have left the sun wholly out of the figure, and have ascribed her not acknowledging it to the influence of the moon.

In honor of the Artemis II launch, here's Paine in "To the Earl of Shelburne" from the 30 October 1782 Pennsylvania Gazette: "But your Lordship says, 'the sun of Great-Britain will be set whenever she acknowledges the independence of America'

The magazine would be, as he says in this poetic follow up, a "garden" which would produce a "pleasing scene" as long as critics-- erstwhile enemies of all literary endeavors-- could have "good grace" and let the garden of the magazine grow.

The magazine was a literary genre that would promote the best of America, and reflect the passion, energy, and innovation of the American people.

Paine's "first" American poem. In the Magazine's first issue the previous month, Paine had written its introduction, touting the magazine as a species of American novelty.

"Critic and Snow-drop" from the Pennsylvania Magazine, February 1775. The summer time of wit, you’ll understand: And that this garden of our magazine Will soon exhibit such a pleasing scene, That even critics shall admire the show If their good grace will give us time to grow.

To celebrate National Poetry Month we occasionally will be sharing some of Paine's poetry from Volume 2 of our forthcoming edition. So sit back, relax, and be ready to read some wonderful, surprising, and thoughtful verse from the man whose words grace most of the placards at No Kings rallies

Thanks to both Geoffrey Chaucer (Whan that Aprille with his shoures soote,/ The droghte of March hath perced to the roote,) and T.S. Eliot (April is the cruellest month, breeding/ Lilacs out of the dead land, mixing) April is National Poetry Month!

Recently, one of our senior editors, Scott Cleary, presented "Two Volumes, Octavo, with Notes: Editing Thomas Paine in Thomas Paine: Collected Writings" at the 31st Annual Association for Core Texts and Courses Conference, held in sunny (and hot!) Tempe, Arizona.

To celebrate the arrival of Spring (in the Northern Hemisphere at least) here's Paine in an 1803 letter to John Breckinridge, then a U.S. Senator from Kentucky: "I have half a disposition to visit the Western World next Spring and go on to New Orleans." @wwno.org @senatepress.bsky.social

Gary Berton talks about how Thomas Paine “outlined” the Declaration of Independence in ‘Common Sense.’ Watch #AmericasTownHall now: https://ow.ly/Iv7j50YbXb9#AmericasTownHall

"As soon as you have formed any plan for settling the Lands I shall be glad to know it. My motive for this is because there are thousands and tens of thousands in England and Ireland... who are friends of mine in principle and who would gladly change their present Country and Condition"

Paine writing to Thomas Jefferson in 1803 on the possible purchase of Louisiana.

On 9 October 1798, the Times and District of Columbia Daily breathlessly reported: "It is said Paine is to be one of the directors of Ireland, Thomas Muir, of Scotland, and Kosciusko is to be director in another republic"

Happy St. Patrick's Day! ☘️In 1793, Paine writes "Projet d'expédition en Irlande." Part of that project? "My plan is to publish a work in which I will propose the independence and sovereignty of Ireland, as I did with regard to America in Common Sense"

Paine continues: "In this case, the Radius will always be the Hypothenuse, the portion diameter be the Base, and the Ordinate the perpendicular or the Ordinate may be found by Trigonometry in which the Base, Hypothenuse & right angle will always be given" #bridgebuilding #piday2026

It's Pi Day! #piday2026. Here's Paine in one of his first letters to Thomas Jefferson, describing how to build an arch for use in bridges: "An Arch of a Circle may be sett off to any extent by calculating the Ordinates, at equal distances on the diameter.

Friday the 13th! A time to remember that in the nineteenth century, there was a minor trend in spiritualism that purported to contact and speak with Paine's ghost. @princetonupress.bsky.social

OTD in 1776, in a letter from Philadelphia: Common Sense... is read to all ranks; and as many as read, so many became converted, though perhaps the hour before [they] were most violent against the least idea of Independence" archive.org/details/lite...

OTD in 1781, Paine describes his journey to France with John Laurens @hamiltonmusical.bsky.social . He mentions that his ship was hit by ice at Lat. 45°, Long. 55°. Coincidentally, not too far from where RMS Titanic was sunk. @rmstitanicinc.bsky.social @princetonupress.bsky.social

Building on a collaboration with the @thomaspaineha.bsky.social, the #EighteenthCenturyPoetryArchive will add Thomas Paine’s complete poems, together with selected works by contemporaries such as Wheatley, Freneau, Barlow, Trumbull, and Terry. www.eighteenthcenturypoetry.org #TPHA #C18th #poetry

Even editors play video games, so to celebrate Mario Day (MAR10), we thought we'd offer some insight into what motivates Mario (and his brother Luigi) to fight for the rights of the Mushroom Kingdom against the tyranny of Bowser. And yes, we'll consider Princess Peach an enlightened monarch.

One of our senior editors, Scott Cleary, recently spoke with Mark Canada and the Mind Inclined podcast (mindinclined.org) about Thomas Paine, Common Sense, and the Collected Writings. @princetonupress.bsky.social @thomaspaineha.bsky.social www.youtube.com/watch?v=xHX6...

Paine scholarship was once called "atomized" by Ed Larkin and Betsy Erkkila. That atomization reflected the three nations tied to Paine: America, France, and England. With editors from all three of those nations, this edition will end the atomization of Paine scholarship once and for all.

Last night on PBS Newshour (@pbsnews.org), historian Joseph Ellis suggested that all Americans should read the Declaration of Independence and Thomas Paine's Common Sense. We wholeheartedly agree!

"The European method of Bridge architecture, by piers and arches, is not adapted to the condition of many of the Rivers in America on account of the Ice in the winter." Letter to Benjamin Franklin, 6 June 1786.

Blizzard '26 deserves a Paine quote, no? "The present winter is worth an age if rightly employed, but if lost or neglected, the whole continent will partake of the misfortune."

Paine died in 1809, never having published his own works, despite thinking and writing about his intentions to do so for 30 years.

Paine's last words on his own edition, from 1807: "I intend publishing all my works, and those I have yet in manuscript, by subscription. They will make 4 or 5 Vol. [quarto] or 5 Vol. [octavo], about 400 pages each"

Again, from the same 1805 letter to Jefferson: "I shall also make a miscellaneous Volume of Correspondence, Essays, and some pieces of Poetry which I believe will have some claim to originality."

From the same letter: "The three first volumes will be political and each piece will be accompanied with an account of the state of affairs at the time it was written. The two last Volumes will be theological and those who do not chuse to take them may let them alone."

Paine, in 1805, again to Thomas Jefferson: "I judge the Collection I speak of will make five volumes Octavo of four hundred pages each at two dollars a Volume to be paid for on delivery; and as they will be delivered separately... the subscribers may stop when they please.

Paine, writing to NYC mayor Dewitt Clinton (1769-1828) in 1804: I intend to make a collection of all my works and publish them by subscription together with what I have by me in manuscript, and unite them with a history of the times in which they were written."

Paine returns to the topic of his works in a letter to Thomas Jefferson on 23 September 1803: "I had intended... to make a collection, as authors say, of my works, which with what I have in manuscript will make four, or five octavo Volumes, and publish them by subscription."

While in France, in 1797, Paine writes to fellow deist John Fellows, who had asked Paine about an edited collection of his works: "You ask me... for a list of my several works, in order to publish a collection of them. This is an undertaking I have always reserved for myself."

Paine doesn't mention collecting his own works for nearly twenty years. He turns his attention to strengthening the institutions of a new America, bridge building, supporting revolution in France, and planning revolution in England and Ireland.

In a letter to the Supreme Executive Council of Pennsylvania later in October 1779, Paine repeats his stated wish to "intend collecting my several pieces, beginning with Common Sense, into two volumes and publishing them by Subscription with notes."

Paine first mentions a "collected works" in a 14 September 1779 letter to Henry Laurens (1724-1792): "I intend this winter to collect all my Publications, beginning with Common Sense and ending with the Fisheries, and publishing them in two Volumes, Octavo, with notes."

A brief history of Thomas Paine writing about editions of his own works is about to begin...

Thank you to the TPHA (@[email protected]) for sponsoring our edition! A wonderful way to continue the legacy of the TPHA greats such as William van der Weyde and Thomas Edison!

The three nations where Paine lived and had his greatest impact are represented by the editorial board: America, France, and England.

The Thomas Paine: Collected Writings editing team includes editor-in-chief Gregory Claeys, senior editors Marc Belissa, Gary Berton, and Scott Cleary, and editors Yannick Bosc and Carine Lounissi. All notable, published Paine scholars.

Later this year, Princeton University Press (@princetonupress.bsky.social) will publish the six-volume Thomas Paine: Collected Works. A new, scholarly edition of Thomas Paine's works and correspondence. The most exciting event in Paine scholarship in the last century!