CHRISTOPHER SOWER COMPANY.
—Christopher Sower (Saür), the founder of this house, issued in 1733 as his first venture in publishing, a schoolbook entitled Ein A B C und Buchstabier Buch. In 1747 he published a German and English Grammar; in 1750, The Golden A B C, or the School of Knowledge in Rhymes (English translation of German title); in 1771, The New England Primer, Enlarged. Although he began publishing in German, he was soon printing in both German and English, and he issued from six to twelve books a year until his death. His most important educational publication was Die Schul-Ordnung, written by Christopher Dock, a remarkable schoolmaster in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania. This is known as the first American treatise on school teaching.
In 1758 Christopher Sower was succeeded by his son, Christopher Sower, 2nd, and he by his son, Samuel. In 1799 another son, David, Sr., took charge of the business. In 1842 Charles G., son of David, Jr., succeeded his father. In 1888, 150 years after the founding, the firm was incorporated as the Christopher Sower Company, with Charles D. Sower as President. In 1910 the officers were: Albert M. Sower, President; James L. Pennypacker, Vice President; Daniel B. Hassan, Secretary and Treasurer.
LITTLE, BROWN & COMPANY, INC.
—This business began as a retail store started by Ebenezer Battelle in Boston in 1784. Four years later the concern issued its first book and became a publisher in the strict sense of the word. From 1784 to 1913 there was a succession of partners entering and leaving the organization, and in the early days the name of the house was changed frequently, according to the changes in partnership. The name of Little & Brown was adopted in 1830, when James Brown and Charles C. Little owned the business. James Brown may more truly be called the founder of the present house than any other one man. In 1898 Little, Brown & Company absorbed the successful publishing firm of Roberts Brothers of Boston, thereby securing a large miscellaneous line, including the works of Louisa Alcott. In 1913 the house was incorporated as Little, Brown & Company, Inc., without change in the personnel of the organization.
The present educational enterprise of this company was started in May, 1904, and the first two schoolbooks of the present list were a school edition of The Man Without a Country, and the series known as the Wide Awake Readers. Little, Brown & Company are known as the publishers of Bancroft’s History of the United States, also of Daniel Webster’s works.