An additional note on early government printing seems in order here. The one obvious point is that government printing was done in cities other than first Philadelphia and later Washington. For example, in 1798, the majority of the 147 assigned government imprints belonged to Philadelphia firms-William Ross, John Fenno, Joseph Gates, and Way and Groff. But in New York (Louis Jones), Baltimore (William Pechin), Boston (John Russell), and Providence (Carter and Wilkinson), government contract printing was done.
Cist's government printing was more than likely in the same vain as his earlier work with Steiner for the Pennsylvania assembly-paper, forms, and other miscellaneous printing. Since his imprint appeared on two editions of postal regulations, it may be safe to assume the same would be true for any of his other federal publications, although he may have done job printing for the Post Office Department. Another reason to suspect the level of Cist's government printing is the number of competitors who began to flood the new capital, including the aforementioned Way and Groff, Samuel Harrison Smith, and William Duane. If imprints appeared on government publications, it was usually the imprint of Duane after 1800. McMurtrie concludes that as of 1802, "there was no one government printer."19 Finally, the DAB entry for Jacob Cist mentions only that Jacob managed his father's Washington office, which "was forced to close by reason of the change in federal administration,"20 when Adams left office in 1801. Thus, we can conclude that, lacking concrete evidence, the DAB entry on Cist is incorrect.
There are other sources which help to fill in gaps on the printing career of Charles Cist. The 1790 census sheds some significant light on the extent of his business.21 His household consisted of two males over age sixteen (one was Cist), six males under age sixteen (one was his older son), and eight females (one of whom was his wife). Simple mathematics leaves at least fifteen unidentified individuals living in the Cist household-six of whom were males. From McCulloch's Additions we find that Conrad Zentler was an apprentice to Cist. Certainly, some of the six males living under Cist's roof were also apprentices; thus, we have an idea that Cist ran a sizable printing operation. The 1800 census shows the Cist household consisted of two males in the fifteen to twenty-six age range and seven females, not counting his wife. Since Jacob was probably in Washington City and young Charles was only eight, this too probably represents apprentice printers.22 We can also find some idea of what the printer charged for his work. His proposal to print Congressional journals (1785) was for 1000 copies at 610 shillings and 5 shillings for binding per volume.23 a 1784 bill shows Cist charged 53 shillings 8 pence for printing blank bills (1,728 large bills or 3,456 smaller bills). These few examples also help to illustrate that Cist's margin of profit did not depend on book printing-instead , like most others of his trade, Cist made money on printing paper, blank forms, stationery, and assorted printing assignments. In contrast, the Congressional Commissioners of Accounts had earlier cited Steiner and Cist as being extravagant in their charges. In question was a L200 charge in 1779 for printing a broadside (Evans 15966) in German for the call of a constitutional convention. Five thousand copies of the circular were printed in 1778. Congress also registered its dissatisfaction with the charges of another Philadelphia printer, David Claypoole. This perhaps was one of the factors considered in 1785 when the Continental Congress did not select Cist to print its journals. We also know that Cist did not operate a book store at his printing shop as many other early printers did. No single Evans entry indicates Cist sold what he printed.24
We do know Cist moved some aspect of his business to Washington by 1800, although , according to McCulloch, Cist printed for the post office before the government moved to the new capital city. McCulloch says Cist moved the English part of his printing to Washington. Cist must have had considerable work: McCulloch reports that the printer built two or three houses there. Cist sold his presses and much of the rest of his office in Washington. This is borne out by the scattered Cist imprints after 1800-only two other than the almanac. All of his printing after 1800 carried a Philadelphia imprint.25
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