—In January, 1896, an American branch of the Oxford University Press opened offices at 91–93 Fifth Avenue, New York, under the management of John Armstrong, with whom were associated W. W. McIntosh, W. F. Olver, and C. C. Schepmoes. In 1897, the Branch took over from The Macmillan Company the publications of The Clarendon Press. In 1915, Mr. Armstrong died. He was succeeded by W. W. McIntosh, the present Vice President and General Manager. Mr. W. F. Olver, the first Treasurer of the Company, died in 1919 and was succeeded by Isaac Brown. Mr. C. C. Schepmoes became Secretary at that time.
The first schoolbook manufactured and published by the Oxford University Press in this country was Schiller’s Wilhelm Tell, edited by Sphoenfeld, which was issued in 1902. The concern publishes the Oxford English, French, and German Series. In 1918, the Branch added a Medical Department, which handles all the medical publications of Henry Frowde and Hodder & Stoughton of London.
THE MACMILLAN COMPANY.
—Mr. George P. Brett, the present President, with the proprietors of Macmillan & Company, Ltd., London, the people who had been interested in the agency of Macmillan & Company previously operating in the United States, undertook the organization of the corporation, The Macmillan Company, in this country in 1896. Mr. Brett has been the President of the American corporation since that date.
There have been several heads of the Educational Department. It was organized first under the direction of Dr. F. L. Sevenoak, who gave a part of his time to this work, the balance being devoted to teaching. He was succeeded by James R. McDonald, who filled the position until the fall of 1902, when he was succeeded by William H. Ives. In 1906 Mr. Ives was succeeded by F. C. Tenney, who filled the position until July, 1912. At that time A. H. Nelson became the head of the Educational Department and held the position until July, 1920, when Charles H. Seaver, who now occupies it, succeeded Mr. Nelson.
School textbooks were published in America by Macmillan & Company before the time when The Macmillan Company was formed as an American corporation, the records showing the publication of Hall and Knight’s Elementary Algebra and Algebra for Beginners in 1895, Tarr’s Elements of Physical Geography in 1895, and Channing’s Student’s History of the United States in April, 1896. Immediately following the establishment of the American corporation, there was published Miller’s Trigonometry in 1896, and in 1897 the following books appeared: Tarr’s High School Geology, Nichols’ High School Physics, Lewis’s Writing English, Tarr’s First Book in Physical Geography, McLellan and Ames’ Arithmetic, Hall and Knight’s Algebra for Colleges and Schools, Davenport’s Elementary Economics, Murche’s Science Readers. The McLellan and Ames Arithmetic and the Murche Science Readers were the first textbooks published for elementary grades. The Macmillan Company first undertook the work of publishing books for that field in the fall of 1897.
W. H. WHEELER & COMPANY.
—This Chicago concern was organized in 1897 by Mr. W. H. Wheeler. In 1898 W. C. Fidler purchased an interest in the Company. Some years later, E. E. Wheeler, son of W. H. Wheeler, was admitted to the firm, as was also John H. Pugh. These four men are still active in the business.
The first books published by this house were Wheeler’s Graded Studies in English, First Lessons in Grammar and Composition. These were followed a little later by Wheeler’s Graded Primer.