J. B. LIPPINCOTT COMPANY.
—This firm originally was Lippincott, Grambo & Company, founded in 1850, and later became J. B. Lippincott Company. The present Lippincott who is the head of the concern is the son of the original founder, J. B. Lippincott.
Some of the old-time schoolbooks published by J. B. Lippincott Company were Comly’s Speller, Sanford’s Arithmetic, Cutter’s Anatomy, Wilson’s Readers, and Webster’s Speller. In 1876, the firm purchased from Brewer & Tileston of Boston the entire rights in Worcester’s Dictionary. The House has published in this country Gibbon’s Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, Hume’s and Macaulay’s Histories of England. It also projected Lippincott’s Magazine in 1867, issuing the first number in January, 1868. Its first editor was Lloyd Smith, the librarian of the Philadelphia library.
LOTHROP, LEE & SHEPARD COMPANY.
—In 1850, Daniel Lothrop and his brothers, John and Henry, formed a partnership known as D. Lothrop & Company for the publishing of books in Dover, N. H. Their early publications were mostly juvenile, and largely for use in Sunday School libraries. A little more than ten years later, the business was removed to Boston, and later incorporated as D. Lothrop Company. After the death of Daniel Lothrop, the business was reorganized in 1891 as the Lothrop Publishing Company, and so continued until 1904, when all its assets were purchased by Lee & Shepard.
The Lothrop house published a great many books of educational value, like Gilman’s Historical Readers, in three volumes, and Miss Cyr’s Interstate Primer and First Reader. Their most important educational book was Finger Plays, by Emilie Poulsson, of which 110,000 copies have been sold.
The firm of Lee & Shepard was founded in Boston in 1861 by William Lee, who had previously been a partner of Phillips Sampson & Company, a Boston publishing house which went out of existence in the 50’s, and Charles A. B. Shepard. Mr. Shepard died in 1889, and Mr. Lee continued as sole partner until June, 1898, when he transferred his entire business to E. Fleming & Company, book binders, who continued the business by placing it in charge of Warren F. Gregory.
Lee & Shepard were general publishers and, like D. Lothrop & Company, had strong lines of juveniles which were much used in school libraries. Of their distinctively educational books, the most successful were King’s Picturesque Geographical Readers, in six volumes.
In 1904, the owners of Lee & Shepard purchased the entire assets of the Lothrop Publishing Company, and incorporated the combined houses under the style Lothrop, Lee & Shepard Company. Mr. Gregory, the Manager of Lee & Shepard, was elected General Manager and has held that position since. Among its most important works used educationally, in addition to those mentioned above, are the True Story Series, the U. S. Service Series, the translation of Froebel’s Mother Play, with Music, and books for younger readers.
SHELDON & COMPANY.
—Mr. Smith Sheldon of Albany, N. Y., organized a firm which began business in New York City in 1853 at 115 Nassau Street. He was soon joined by Mr. Birdseye Blakeman, who afterward became a member of the firm of Ivison, Blakeman, Taylor & Company. In 1857 Isaac E. Sheldon, eldest son of Smith Sheldon, became a partner, and subsequently Isaac Shailor entered the firm. Mr. Shailor was killed a few years later in his barn by a stroke of lightning. This must have been in the early 70’s, and about that time Mr. Sheldon’s younger sons, Alexander E. Sheldon and William D. Sheldon, were made members of the firm.
Some time in the 60’s Mason and Hamlin, the organ people, sold to the Sheldons their schoolbooks, such as the Stoddard Mathematics, Haven’s and Wayland’s Philosophies, and other standard books. Sheldon & Company had branched out into almost all classes of publication, including novels, autobiographies, religious books, hymn books, schoolbooks, etc., and in addition published what was known as the Galaxy Magazine. In 1877, the house decided to make a specialty of schoolbooks, and gave up its other lines of publication. Among the school and college textbooks which they brought out were Olney’s Mathematics, Avery’s Science Series, Hill’s Rhetorics, Logic and Psychology, Shaw’s Literature, Sheldon’s Word Studies, Sheldon’s Modern School Readers, and Patterson’s Grammars.
In 1891, the firm was incorporated under the name of Sheldon & Company, with Isaac E. Sheldon as President and Joseph K. Butler as Secretary and Treasurer. The following year they purchased the business of Taintor Brothers. Later the house of E. H. Butler & Company was merged with Sheldon & Company, there being included in E. H. Butler & Company the firm of Cowperthwait & Company of Philadelphia, and a Pittsburgh firm, the name of which I think was H. I. Gurley & Company. Isaac E. Sheldon died about the first of July, 1898, and E. H. Butler was made President, the firm becoming Butler, Sheldon & Company. On January 1, 1903, the business of Butler, Sheldon & Company was purchased by the American Book Company and its books added to the list of that concern.
RAND McNALLY & COMPANY.
—In 1859 Mr. William H. Rand was operating a job printing business at 148 Lake Street, Chicago. About that time his plant was consolidated with the job department of the Chicago Tribune. In 1862, Mr. Andrew McNally, who had been in partnership with Mr. John Collins in the printing and stationery business on North Clark Street, sold his interest and purchased a partnership in the Tribune job office. He became superintendent of the business. In 1864, Rand and McNally bought out the Tribune interest in the job printing, and founded the copartnership of Rand McNally & Company. The Company was incorporated in 1873. The present President of the concern is Mr. H. B. Clow.
Rand McNally & Company has been known as map makers, book publishers, atlas makers, bank publishers, ticket manufacturers, creators of map systems, and other specialties. It has published the Dodge Geographies, the Mace Histories, and a number of other large selling educational books.
HENRY HOLT & COMPANY.
—In 1866, the copartnership of Frederick Leypoldt and Henry Holt was formed under the style of Leypoldt & Holt. From the start they were merely publisher and not retailers or printers. In 1871, H. O. Williams was admitted to the firm; Mr. Leypoldt soon withdrew, and the firm name was changed to Holt & Williams. Two years later Mr. Williams retired and the business was continued as Henry Holt & Company. Charles Holt, a brother of Henry Holt, was an active partner from 1878 to 1903, when the house became a stock company with Henry Holt as President, Roland Holt, Vice President, Edward N. Bristol, Secretary, Joseph F. Vogelius, Treasurer. In 1919, Mr. Vogelius resigned after more than fifty years’ connection with the house.
The firm’s first educational venture occurred in 1867, when the foreign language publications of S. R. Urbino and DeVries, Ibarra & Company of Boston were taken over. These two lists included the Otto French and German Grammars and some sixty French and German texts. Most of these same texts still appear in Henry Holt & Company’s list, though not in the form first issued. In 1869, the firm began what was practically its first original enterprise in the educational field when it issued Whitney’s German textbooks, starting with his German Reader, and following shortly with his Compendious German Grammar. In 1879, the American Science Series was begun with Packard’s Zoology. The announcements included James’ Psychology, Walker’s Political Economy, and Martin’s The Human Body. In the same year the first of Johnston’s books, American Politics, appeared. These books represent the earlier development of Henry Holt & Company’s educational business.
GINN & COMPANY.
—This house was founded in 1867 by Edwin Ginn. He began business at No. 3 Beacon Street, Boston, and soon admitted as a partner Mr. Aaron Lovell, afterward the head of the house known as A. Lovell & Company of New York. Mr. Ginn’s next partner was Mr. R. F. Leighton, the author of Leighton’s Latin Lessons, then Mr. Frederick Ginn, Edwin Ginn’s brother. Later Mr. Daniel C. Heath and Mr. George A. Plimpton were admitted to the firm, Mr. Heath in 1876 and Mr. Plimpton in 1880. The firm was then known as Ginn & Heath. In 1885 the partnership was dissolved, Mr. Heath retiring. The business was continued by Edwin Ginn, George A. Plimpton, and Frederick Ginn under the firm name of Ginn & Company. Since then there have been admitted at different times as members of the firm, Thomas Ballard, Justin H. Smith, Lewis Parkhurst, O. P. Conant, Ralph L. Hayes, Selim S. White, Thomas W. Gilson, Fred. M. Ambrose, Austin H. Kenerson, Henry R. Hilton, Richard S. Thomas, C. H. Thurber, T. B. Lawler, Dana W. Hall, Selden C. Smith, O. J. Laylander, F. C. Hodgdon, E. A. DeWitt, L. B. Robeson, Mark R. Jouett, Jr., J. W. Swartz, LeRoy J. Weed, Edward H. Kenerson, Norman C. Miller, and H. B. Conway. Of this number there are now eighteen surviving partners.
Mr. Edwin Ginn died in 1914. Of the other partners who have been admitted, Mr. Conant, Mr. Gilson, Mr. White, and Mr. Kenerson, Sr., have crossed the Great Divide. Mr. Justin H. Smith retired from the firm to enter the faculty of Dartmouth College. Mr. Ballard, Mr. Hayes and Mr. Ambrose also retired.
The first educational book that Mr. Ginn published was Craik’s The English of Shakespeare. This was followed by Goodwin’s Greek Grammar, the Allen & Greenough Latin Series, White’s Greek Lessons, and a course of Grade School Music Readers by Luther Whiting Mason. This series was early introduced into the Boston schools and for some time was the standard series of school music in America.
The Boston offices of Ginn & Company have been at Tremont Place, Beacon Street, in the old John Hancock house, and are now at 15 Ashburton Place.
The prototype of the Athenæum Press was started by Ginn & Company in the early 80’s. The building which now houses this establishment is located in Cambridge, and was erected in 1896.
ALLYN & BACON.
—Mr. John Allyn began business in 1868. He imported and published a line of books, chiefly Greek, but in 1886 he issued Pennell’s Histories of Greece and Rome, Comstock’s First Latin Book, and Kelsey’s Caesar. In 1888 Dr. George A. Bacon joined Mr. Allyn in equal partnership. Dr. Bacon had been, before he entered business, the principal of the Syracuse High School. Shortly after the partnership was formed, the house purchased Walker’s Physiology from A. Lovell & Company, but the book had already been in existence for some time. Both Mr. Allyn and Dr. Bacon are still living and carrying on their business.