Founded by William Moseley Swain, Arunah S. Abell, and Azariah H. Simmons, and edited by Swain, the "Public Ledger" was the first penny paper in Philadelphia. At that time most papers sold for five cents (equal to $ today) or more, a relatively high price which limited their appeal to only the reasonably well-off. Swain and Abell drew on the success of the "New York Herald", one of the first penny papers and decided to use a one cent cover price to appeal to a broad audience. They mimicked the "Herald's" use of bold headlines to draw sales. The formula was a success and the "Ledger" posted a circulation of 15,000 in 1840, growing to 40,000 a decade later. To put this into perspective, the entire circulation of all newspapers in Philadelphia was estimated at only 8,000 when the "Ledger" was founded.