Year of Publication
1902
Place of publication
This edition was printed in New York.
Publisher
George Palmer Putnam (picture on the left) went into the publishing business in 1833 when he was 22. By 1837 George had become a partner in the firm of John Wiley and George Long, and the business was renamed Wiley and Putnam in 1840 when Mr. Long left the firm. In 1842 Putnam became one of the first to create an English arm of the American company thus allowing for cross publication. He was also the first to create royalties, giving Wiley and Putnam’s British authors a cut of their American sales. This in turn led to the creation of international copyright law of which Putnam had a hand.
In 1848 the company split with Wiley taking the science portion of the firm’s backlist, and Putnam retaining rights to the literary titles. Putnam started his own firm George Palmer Putnam with these authors who included Washington Irving, Edgar Allen Poe and James Fenimore Cooper. Putnam’s Monthly Magazine of American Literature, Science and Art was founded in 1853 as a mean to publish American only material and “serve as an organ of American thought.” Famous poets like Longfellow, Thoreau and Whittier were constant contributors. Over the course of half a century, the magazine was abandoned and revived three times. In 1862, on the verge of bankruptcy Putnam left his backlist with Hurd and Houghton and got a government job. Four years later, having been ousted from just position as federal revenue collector, Putnam joined his son George Haven (picture to the right) under the new firm G. P. Putnam and Son. In 1870 John Bishop Putnam joined the firm, and Irving Putnam joined in 1872. When George Palmer died in 1872, George Haven took over the business with the new name G. P. Putnam’s Sons. George Haven ran the business for the next 58 years until 1930. Upon his death, Irving Putnam ran the business until his death in 1931. The company passed onto Minton, Balch and Company, whom G. P. Putnam’s Sons had merged with in 1930.
In the years since the 30’s G. P. Putnam’s Sons has been responsible for the publication authors like Winston Churchill and Norman Mailer. In 1955 they published The Deer Park and in 1959 The Lord of the Flies. They are also responsible for such classics as The Once and Future King (1958), Lolita (1958), Starship Troopers (1959) and The Godfather (1969). In 1975 MCA, Incorporated acquired Putnam and by 1980 the now titled Putnam Publishing Group encompassed Coward, McCann, and Geoghegan; Richard Marek Publishers; the Berkley Publishing corporation and Paragon Books. In 1996 Putnam is acquired by Penguin marking the launch of Penguin Putnam Inc. Their offices are located on Madison Avenue in New York City.
(Dzwonkoski, 1989).
Printer
Knickerbocker Press was established in 1874 and built by G. P. Putnam and Sons in New Rochelle, NY. It was run by John Bishop Putnam until 1932 when it was sold to the American Red Cross. Until that time, the press was used both by Putnam and other publishers. Although there is no record of this title being printed at this location it seems the most obvious choice. The building, though registered as a National Historic Site is now home to loft style living.
