After opening a bookstore in San Francisco, Hubert Howe Bancroft established the largest publishing firm west of the Mississippi. He issued school books, regional histories, and law books.

Bancroft was so eccentric it is difficult to categorize or even describe his business. For example, when he published sheet music, he considered it a good idea to build pianos, too, and when he purchased a giant steam engine to drive his printing machinery, he thought it a good idea to make the machine work overtime to help drill an oil well. H.H. Bancroft may be the first book publishing firm with an oil division. So what started as a San Francisco retail bookstore soon expanded into anything even remotely associated with books. He was successful, and had a market that literally extended around the world, with branches in Japan and Europe.

From 1875 to 1890 he issued his masterwork, a 39 volume series on the history of the entire Western America. As he did with everything else, Bancroft pursued this project in grandiose fashion, hiring copyists to search libraries and archives from Mexico to Canada, dispatching reporters to record oral histories of tribes and families, and so forth. In the end, he had an archive of over 60,000 boxes of documents from which to build his series. The work was issued as written by him, but in fact he had a staff of as many as twenty authors laboring full time to get the work out.

Bancroft's extravagant empire collapsed in the 1890's. He filed bankruptcy in 1895 and sold his business, but he continued to work on his history under the name of THE HISTORY COMPANY until his death in 1918.

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1838---A.S. BARNES & CO.

Founder, Alfred Smith Barnes, known as "the General", was a deeply religious man with ten children.

Like so many other early American publishers, he began as a book-seller. Seeing a need for more modern textbooks, he encouraged Professor Charles Davies to write a textbook on mathematics and Emma Willard to write a book on history. The trio then formed a partnership to publish the two works.

From that enterprise grew one of the world's major textbook publishers.

In 1848, Davies sold his interest and Barnes went through a variety of partners and company names until 1865 when he settled permanently on the name "A.S. Barnes".

He published textbooks under a series called "Library for Teachers". His largest early seller was Clark's English Grammar. Joel Dorman Steele wrote two important sets for Barnes:

1867 initiated "Fourteen Weeks Series" science books.

1871 Barnes Brief History of the United States. (Steele requested his name not appear on the title page.)

In 1869 came "Watson's Readers", followed by Davies' Arithematic, Monteith's Geography. With the "National Series of Standard School Books", Barnes hoped to form a near monopoly on the public school system because not only was Barnes publishing textbooks, the company also manufactured schoolroom furniture and school supplies.

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Barnes published numerous trade magazines, such as Education Bulletin, National Teacher's Monthly, and International Review.

In 1875, Barnes purchased and operated as a subsidiary, Potter, Ainsworth & Co.

His son, Alfred Cutler Barnes, took over the business when the General died in 1888.

With Appleton, A.C. Barnes took the lead in forming the giant conglomerate, American Book Co. (see).

Barnes occasionally published non-fiction. An earlier successful example is Joseph Lincoln's first novel, Cap'n Erie.

Ripley Hitchcock of Appleton became editor-in-cheif at Barnes. He brought into the house such important authors as Gilbert Parker, Stephen Crane, Steward Edward White.

In 1906, Barnes purchased educational books of E.L. Kellogg & Co.

A major publishing events included the 17 volume Trail Makers, educational books edited by Margaret Sanger, who also did for Barnes the six volume Woman's Home Library.

In 1908, issued books on Folk dancing and games that led to textbooks on music education.

Incorporated in 1909, necessitated by the earlier purchase of E.L. Kellog & Co., whose long line of educational magazines required fresh capital. John Barnes Pratt, nephew of the founder, was named to head the new corporation.

In 1911, New Barnes Writing Books became a sensation.

The Great War hit educational book publishers especially hard and in 1917 a merger was attempted with the Prang Co. and investors John and Wayne Laidlaw, but after only a few months the merger proved unworkable so the new company split with the Laidlaws taking books on folk dancing, hymnals, games, and incorporating as Laidlaw Brothers. John Barnes Pratt acquired everything else including rights to the company name.

****FIRST EDITIONS are identified by having matching dates on title page and copyright page. First American Editions of books previously printed in other countries will have "First American Edition" followed by year with no additional printings.

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1894---ALFRED BARTLETT

Bartlett, described as an eccentric, lived in his shop and practiced a monastic austerity.

He published Volume One, Number One of the Cornhill Booklet which contained Eugene Field's Tribune Primer. It It sold over 1,000 copies at news stands. For later editions, Bartlett inserted bits of literature and homespun wisdom that were suitable for framing and proved very popular. Collections of these were later issued as Cornhill Dodgers, a book of aphorisms, and Cornhill Broadsides, in postcard size. For these efforts, Bartlett is considered the father of the "motto cards and literary calendars".

Bartlett also published The Page, a magazine of hand-colored woodcuts. The magazine is quite a collector's item today.

He also published unusual editions of Oscar Wilde's Ballad of Reading Gaol, Robert Louis Stevenson's Father Damien, Henry Thoreau's famous essay Friendship, and similar titles.

****FIRST EDITIONS of Bartlett books are identified by matching dates on title and copyright pages.

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1843---THE BLAKISTON COMPANY

Founded by Presley Blakiston and his cousin, Robert Lindsay.

Later, Presley's son, Kenneth, joined in the partnership. When Lindsay retired, the firm's name was changed P. Blakiston Son & Co.; when Presley died in 1898 the name was changed to P. Blakiston's Son & Co.; in 1929 it reverted back without the apostrophe "s".

The company specialized in medical textbooks and other works on medicine with an occasional science book from another field.

Firm was purchased in 1944 by Doubleday, which used it as an imprint for reprints.

In 1947, Doubleday sold it to McGraw-Hill which dissolved its name.

*****FIRST EDITIONS from Blakiston were seldom marked, but Blakiston primarily published reprints.

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1859---BEADLE AND ADAMS

Founders: Robert Adams and brothers Erastus and Irwin Beadle.

Issued cheap books and railroad literature. Early series included the world famous "Dime Novels" and "American Library". Irwin started "Irwin P. Beadle's American Novels", but less popular, it folded in 1868.

At its peak, 1881, Beadle & Adams was less a publisher than an assembly line: on the ground floor countless "hacks" typed out manuscripts; on the second floor countless editors searched for anything that might trouble censors; on the third floor the printing presses worked around the clock.

Robert Adams died in 1866. His share of the firm went to his younger brothers, William and David. The following year, 1867, an additional partner was added: Edward Spooner, lawyer for the American News Co. That same year they purchased "American Tales" from American News Co.

The impact of the Dime Novels can not be under-estimated, not as an publishing enterprise, not for its role in anticipating the pulp-fiction market, not its role in the development of American ideals and morality. Its success was so phenomenal imitators sprung up overnight and soon the field in cheap literature was overcrowded with imitators. A short listing would include:

Elliott, Thames & Talbot...."Ten Cent Novelettes".

James Redpath..."Redpath's Books for the Camp Fires".

T.R. Dawley & Co...."Camp Fireside Library".

and "Dawley's Ten Penny Novels".

"Hilton's Dime Books".

"Chapman's Sunnyside Series".

(Robert) "Dewitt's Ten Cent Romances"

(A.K.) "Loring's Tales of the Day"

George Munro..."Backwood Series".

Beadle's responded to the competition by establishing several subsidiaries:

1868, founded Frank Starr & Co.

1872, Adams, Victor & Co. (Operated by David & William Adams and Orville J. Victor). Issued clothbound books priced \\$1.25 to $1.50. Folded in 1898.1873, "New and Old Friends" series, 1 1/2" by 8". No covers, illustrated first page, reprints of earlier Dime Novels.

1874, "New Dime Novels", issued with illuminated covers.

1874, Frank Starr & Co. also began reprinting earlier Dime Novels.

1875, "Twenty Cent Novels" and "Cheap Editions of Popular Authors", love stories written by women.

Half-Dime Library", written for boys, started as uplifting pioneer tales, deteriorated into Westerns and Detective stories with good guys versus bad guys themes.

"Fireside Library", love stories.

"Frank Starr's New York Library", became "Beadle's New York Library".

"Sunnyside Library", a series from Adams, Victor & Co., was reprints of long love poems. Lasted only six issues.

Waverly Library", love stories.

1881, "Boy's Library", discontinued in 1884.

In 1886, David Adams died and in 1889, Erastus Beadle retired. When William Adams died in 1898 there were only two series still being issued: "The Dime Library" and "The Half-Dime Library". His executors sold the business to M.J. Ivers & Co., which continued the "Beadle Dime Novel" as an imprint under the Ivers logo.

In 1901, Congress made the "libraries" third class---one cent for two ounces instead of second class' one cent for one pound. This sky-rocketed expenses and helped drive Ivers out of business in 1905. Plates and titles were purchased by Arthur Westbrook Co. of Cincinnati which re-issued Beadle Dime Novels in thick twelve mo editions.

Westbrook went out of business in 1937, and with it the so-called Dime Novel came to an end.

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1875---BELFORD, CLARKE & CO.

Canadian Alexander Belford, an amazingly precocious child, was orphaned at ten and a book publisher at thirteen years of age.

The title of his first book, issued in 1867, is disputed. It was either a reprint of Joaquin Miller's Poems or Hans Breitmann's Ballads. A year later he issued a reprint of Edward Fitzgerald's Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam. These, it appears, were pirated, as were most of the early books from Belford.

In 1873 he started "Belford's Magazine", which his brother Robert eventually managed.

In 1875, he formed a partnership with James Clarke and the following year relocated Belford, Clarke Publishing from Toronto to Chicago.

Together, Belford and Clarke changed the nature of book selling---to the outrage and protests of traditionalists. For example, when a bookdealer refused to carry Belford, Clarke titles, Belford would place the books in the store next door on strict consignment---regardless of the type of store. He opened books stalls in department stores, hardware stores, shoe shops...an idea many decades ahead of its time. In towns too small to support a regular bookstore, he opened temporary stores to clear out backlogs of unsold items at cut-rate prices. This practice became known as "hippodroming".

The company had several major publishing achievements:

Belford published Peck's Bad Boy, purchased for \\$1,000 after it ran as a serial in a local newspaper.

Aware that underfunded schools and libraries could not afford the Encyclopedia Britannica, he issued an Americanized version at a fraction of the price. It was such a huge success---the first major encyclopedia to become a fixture in households---Encyclopedia Britannica contracted with Belford to publish future editions of the inexpensive work in England. Belford marketed it aggressively---shocking the sensibilities of the British---with payment plans, subscriptions services, and glaring newspaper ads. This enterprise led to the founding of the WESTERN BOOK AND STATIONERY COMPANY to handle the accounts and distribution of the encyclopedia one volume at a time. This spawned off the TIMES BOOK CLUB.

New partners joined, if only to help count the huge profits that were rolling in. Clarke's brother George came on board. Then Horace "Hell Every Hour" Hooper joined. The 11th edition of the encyclopedia was directed by Hooper who was also a super salesman; for example, he sold the encyclopedia to Cambridge University by promising to place the university's coat of arms on the title page of every volume, thereby giving generations of readers the false impression Cambridge had something to do with the publishing of the work. Another partner was Walter Jackson, a book dealer from Boston. Jackson and Hooper attempted to pirate the 11th edition back to America, but the new copyright laws prevented that, so they re-issued it with new plates in a special American Edition.

Jackson then purchased the rights to Harmsworth Children's Cyclopaedia , which he re-issued in America as The Child's Book of Knowledge, the most successful subscription book in history.

Clarke next purchased the rights to the Century Dictionary (see 1870---Century) which he re-issued as the Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia, added a two volume atlas, and sold it all as a 12-volume set. Clarke used the technique of advertising that at a certain date the price would be increased, then promoting it ruthlessly: THREE DAYS BEFORE PRICE INCREASED!!! TWO DAYS BEFORE PRICE INCREASES!!!, etc. And he always raised the price, at which time he would announce the second price increase and start the campaign all over again.

Everyone connected with Belford, Clarke was getting rich and richer, but the end was in sight. First, a major fire wiped out inventory and forced Belford to default on deliveries of books. This plus the panic of 1893 forced subscribers to default on payments. Despite heavy cash flow, the bad debts began to increase until banks stepped in to protect their investments.

Belford could have fought, perhaps, but he was getting old and tired. He and his partners decided to call it quits and to divide the assets. Clarke established a firm to handle the Century dictionary, Jackson took ownership of the Book of Knowledge, and so forth. Belford merged his share (worth over three and a half million dollars) with R.S. Peale and Company to form WERNER COMPANY, which he managed. Werner company would eventually become SAALFIELD (see 1891.) In 1900 Belford retired to California where he died in 1906.

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1838---BOBBS-MERRILL

Founded by Samuel Merrill. Original partnership was BOWEN-MERRILL. When William Conrad Bobbs replaced Bowen, the company assumed its current name.

Bobbs-Merrill was an Indianapolis publisher reflecting Midwestern values as seen by its stable of award winning authors: Booth Tarkington, Mary Roberts Rhinehart, Richard Halliburton, David Laurence Chambers.

Despite such prestigious writers and a well-made, well-bound product, most of the company's income came from an exclusive contract with State of Indiana to publish all state documents and records.

There were two editors in succession who occasionally challenged the so-called conservative values depicted by Bobbs-Merrill. The famous Hiram Hayden published William Styron's Lie Down in Darkness, which censors' attacked as "sexual obsession" and John Erskine's The Private Life of Helen Troy, which has through several additions remained controversial. President J.J. Curtis was an innovative salesman. Some sources credit him as the first to place color dust jackets on books. He said a book was just a piece of merchandise like any other merchandise---to the scorn of the literati---and he disliked lists, preferring to promote one book at a time. Hayden and Curtis proved quite formidable in the publishing world.

In 1899, the firm took over the Houghton-Mifflin law-book division to become a major publisher of legal texts.

1905, Bobbs-Merrill introduced the term "Pocket Books"---with a 75 cent soft cloth book advertised "as tall as the ordinary book, narrow enough for the pocket."

1906 purchased "The Reader" from the famous Mitchell Kinnerly.

Published Child Classic Readers, edited by George and Grace Alexander.

1910, sold retail bookstore to W.K. Stewart Bookseller.

In1926, William Bobbs died and his widow Ruth Pratt Bobbs, a noted artist, and son of Julian Bobbs, sold the family interest in the company to stockholders.

1959, company was sold to text book publisher Howard W. Sams & Co. for \\$864,540. Sams retained the name as a subsidiary.

Other acquitions included Public School Printing Co.; C.A. Gregory Co.; Education magazine; and Waldeman Press. In 1966, Bobbs-Merrill was purchased by ITT for 33.8 million dollars.

*****FIRST EDITIONS have been identified by several different methods. Prior to the 1920's, Bobbs-Merrill showed only a month on the copyright page of their first editions. In the 1920's the company occasionally stated "First Edition" on copyright page. In the early 30's the company printed a bow and arrow symbol on the copyright page of its firsts. After 1936 it used the words "First Edition" or "First Published" on copyright page.

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1900---BOOKLOVER'S LIBRARY

Founded by Seymour Eaton, an original thinker and entrepreneur, who incorporated and sold stock around the country. By 1903 he had raised over 2 1/2 million dollars. His firm was an amazing conglomeration of book businesses:

Tabard Inn Library. Libraries subscribed at a fixed fee for a certain number of new books each month. Serviced for 1,5000 libraries around the world.

Philadelphia Bookstore.

Tabard Inn Press.

Tabard Inn Studios.

Booklover's Magazine---which failed.

By 1905 his mega-corporation was valued at over 12 million dollars. But he could not publish books fast eonugh to meet the demands of 1,500 libraries. Complaints mounted and in March 1905 he gave up and filed bankruptcy to keep from having to refund money to the libraries. Lit Brothers of Philadelphia purchased his inventory and sold it all at "slaughter prices".

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