A Brief Account of the Educational Publishing Business in the United States

by William Edmond Pulsifer

THE CENTURY COMPANY.

—This company was organized July 21, 1870, by Roswell Smith and Josiah G. Holland. It is a corporation. Mr. Smith was the first president; he was succeeded by Frank Scott, he by W. W. Ellsworth, and he by Dr. W. Morgan Shuster, who is at the present time in office.

Strictly educational publications were first brought out in 1904, Fetter’s Principles of Economics being the first volume to appear. Failor’s Plane and Solid Geometry, Forman’s Advanced Civics, Smith’s Introduction to Inorganic Chemistry, and Thorndike’s Elements of Composition and Rhetoric were published shortly afterward.

FUNK & WAGNALLS COMPANY.

—The founder of Funk & Wagnalls Company was Dr. Isaac Kauffman Funk, who established the business in 1876 with The Metropolitan Pulpit, now The Homiletic Review. Some months later he was joined by Adam W. Wagnalls, and the two entered into partnership, forming the business of I. K. Funk & Company. These two men were joined in 1879 by Mr. Robert J. Cuddihy.

In 1891, Funk & Wagnalls Company was organized with Dr. Funk as President, Adam W. Wagnalls, Vice President, Robert J. Cuddihy, Treasurer and General Manager. William Neisel joined the staff of the publishing house in 1883, and was appointed head of the Manufacturing Department. In 1884, Dr. Funk founded The Voice and in 1890, The Literary Digest. Edward J. Wheeler joined the staff as editor of The Voice in 1884, and in 1895 became editor of The Literary Digest, which position he held until 1905, when William Seaver Woods became editor.

The idea and plans of the Dictionary originated with Dr. Funk, whose first managing editor was Dr. Daniel Seeley Gregory. The Standard Dictionary was projected in 1890 and completed in 1893. Dr. Funk was editor-in-chief of all the publications of Funk & Wagnalls Company, and in his work on the Standard Dictionary was assisted by Dr. Rossiter Johnson, John Denison Champlin, Dr. Francis A. March, Sr., and Dr. Arthur E. Bostwick. The New Standard Dictionary was projected in 1909, and was issued under the editor-in-chiefship of Dr. Funk, with Calvin Thomas as consulting editor, and Frank H. Vizetelly as managing editor, 1903–1913, editor of the same since 1914. The abridgments of the Standard Dictionary were produced under the general editorship of Dr. Funk, by Dr. James Champlin Fernald, Frank H. Vizetelly, and others.

The office of Secretary has been held, sometimes in addition to other offices, by the following persons: Robert J. Cuddihy, 1891–1898; Henry L. Raymond, 1898–1904; Robert Scott, 1904–1913; Wilfred J. Funk, 1913–1915; and William Neisel, 1915 to the present time.

Following the death of Dr. Isaac K. Funk in 1912, Dr. Adam W. Wagnalls was elected President of the Company; Benjamin Franklin Funk, Vice President. On the death of Benjamin Franklin Funk in 1914, Wilfred J. Funk became Vice President and William Neisel, Secretary.

The editorial policy of Funk & Wagnalls Company is directed by the Executive Committee, under the guidance of the General Manager, Robert J. Cuddihy. The Manager of the Educational Department is Mr. Wilfred J. Funk.

Inclusive of the Dictionary and its abridgments, the first educational books published by the Company were Fernald’s English Synonyms, Antonyms, and Prepositions and his Connectives of English Speech.

Of the firm’s publications circulated most widely in the schools, The Literary Digest takes first rank. It maintains an educational service among 15,000 teachers and circulates in more than 10,000 schools.

In 1904, Francis Whiting Halsey became literary adviser of the Company and editor of the book department of The Literary Digest. Under his supervision were produced: Great Epochs in American History, Seeing Europe with Famous Authors, and with the assistance of William Jennings Bryan, World’s Famous Orations, and in conjunction with Henry Cabot Lodge, Best of the World’s Classics. Mr. Halsey died, November 24, 1919.

The officers and the principal editors of the Company are: President, Dr. Adam W. Wagnalls; Vice President, Wilfred J. Funk; Treasurer and General Manager, Robert J. Cuddihy; Secretary, William Neisel; Homiletic Review, Editors: George Gilmore, Robert Scott; Literary Digest, Editor: William Seaver Woods; Standard Dictionary, Managing Editor, Frank H. Vizetelly.

LYONS & CARNAHAN.

—This firm was organized and began publishing schoolbooks about 1878. In 1888, Mr. J. A. Lyons became associated with Mr. O. M. Powers in the publication of commercial texts. The firm name was Powers & Lyons. They continued to publish commercial books until 1909, when J. A. Lyons purchased the interest of O. M. Powers and continued to do business under the firm name of J. A. Lyons & Co. In 1912, J. W. Carnahan purchased an interest in the business, and the firm name was changed to Lyons & Carnahan. Mr. Lyons died in November, 1920, and Mr. Carnahan was elected President of the new corporation which was organized under the same name of Lyons & Carnahan.

Since 1912 the house has been engaged in the publication of both common and high school books.