Frank Nelson Doubleday.
The founder of the flourishing publishing house of Doubleday, Page & Co., of New York, is Frank Nelson Doubleday, who was born in Brooklyn in 1862, being the son of W. E. Doubleday. He was educated at the Polytechnic institute of the City of Churches, and during his school days gave indications of his future career, for before he had finished his studies he had established quite a flourishing job printing business among his schoolmates and friends. When fifteen years of age he got a position with the Scribners as errand boy, remaining with the firm for many years in a number of capacities. He founded the publication entitled “The Book Buyer,” and when Scribner’s Magazine was started he was made its manager and publisher. The average young man would have been contented with this position, which was honorable, professionally, and lucrative, financially. But young Doubleday was ambitious, and so in 1897 he joined the S. S. McClure Company. After a brief stay with them, he formed the Doubleday & McClure Co., book publishers. The firm flourished and published many works of well-known authors, including Rudyard Kipling’s “Day’s Work.” It was at this time that a close friendship was formed between Mr. Doubleday and the famous author. In 1900 Doubleday, Page & Co. came into existence, associated with the senior partner being W. H. Page, former editor of the Atlantic, and H. W. Lanier, who is a son of the poet, Sydney Lanier, and others. The firm established World’s Work, a magazine that achieved an immediate success. Another venture of the company was “Country Life in America,” which is typographically and artistically very beautiful. This magazine, too, was an emphatic success. He married Neltje de Graff, a descendant of a historic Dutch family. Mrs. Doubleday is the author of a number of works, many of which have to do with natural history subjects, including “Bird Neighbors” and “Nature’s Garden,” both of which are well known to students of nature.