The International Book and Publishing Company was the publishing imprint of H.B. Claflin & Company of New York. [1] They published limited editions of copyright novels by arrangement with various publishers, selling these books in paper bindings and at low cost. [2] [3] The company seems to have published only during the years 1899 and 1900.
At the close of the nineteenth century, major changes were taking place in the American book trade. [4] Perhaps up to ninety percent of books then sold in the United States were being sold through department stores. [5] At that time, H. B. Claflin Company was by far the largest wholesale dry goods business in New York City, selling a wide variety of goods to department stores and others. [6] George E. Brightson was then the head of the Notions Department at the H. B. Claflin Company. [7] Around 1897, Brightson proposed adding a book section to his notions department, and Claflin agreed. [8]
About 35 additional employees were hired to work in the book section of Brightson's department, bringing the total staff in the Claflin notions department to about 200 employees. In addition to selling books from other publishers, Claflin launched its own publishing company in 1899. The publishing company was named "The International Book and Publishing Company" and was incorporated on July 19, 1899. Department Head George Brightson was one of the original incorporators of this company. [9] It published under the imprint "The International Book and Publishing Company". Few people who bought these books were aware they were actually purchasing books from a Claflin company. [10]
From the start, book sales by the H. B. Claflin Company were brisk. It soon became one of the major purveyors of books in the United States, with its total book sales reportedly doubling each year between 1897 and 1900. [11] Claflin encouraged department stores around the country to add book departments. [12] The Claflin company was what was known as a "jobber", buying large quantities of popular books from publishers and selling to the trade. At the same time, through their International Book and Publishing Company imprint, Claflin was actively publishing reprints of popular titles with permission from the copyright holders. Claflin soon became a major player in the American book market. [13] [14] H. B. Claflin sold "Special Edition" books under their International Book and Publishing Company imprint at prices more affordable to the general public. Reprints such as these made quality literature of the day accessible to larger readerships. For example, in 1899 The International Book and Publishing Company published several authorized printings of McTeague, which sold at retail for fifty cents each, using the International Book and Publishing Company imprint. [15] [16]
Claflin's decision to publish and market books was reflective of a larger industry trend at the time. Dry goods stores or department stores were becoming the universal providers of books to the reading public. Dry goods and department stores were adding or enlarging book departments. Often they competed by cutting prices. In this way, department stores were bringing in a new class of readers, as books became common merchandise for the first time. Profit margins were low and publishers could easily lose money due to poor publishing decisions. Book departments helped draw customers into the stores, so many department stores were willing to sell books at low profit margins, or perhaps even to sell books at a loss in order to bring shoppers into their stores. The competition was in fact so fierce that many booksellers of the day were going out of business, unable to compete with the department store book departments. In response, combinations of booksellers were exploring strategies such as price fixing to become more competitive versus the department stores. [17] [18] [19] [20] [21] A popular novel of the day even commented on the situation. [22]
It was into this environment that the Claflin company published its first "International Book and Publishing Company" titles in 1899. These were low-cost editions of popular titles, which were popular gift items during the holiday season. [23] [24] However, problems soon arose for Claflin's book operation. In 1900, Mr. Claflin expressed concern with the way the book section of the notions department was being managed. This ultimately led him to dismiss Brightson from his employ. Brightson then sued H. B. Claflin Company for breach of contract, seeking $50,000 in damages from his former employer. Brightson's lawsuit against the company eventually went to the New York Supreme Court. Each side made many arguments which are documented in the court records. [25]
The Claflin Company alleged that Brightson had accumulated an excess inventory of books. Moreover, Claflin alleged that an accounting error in the 1899 book inventory, either intentionally or due to his neglect, had resulted in Brightson being overpaid in that year. Brightson's attorneys, in his defense, stated that neither the excessive inventory nor the accounting error were matters within Brightson's control. Moreover, Brightson argued that to attempt to reduce the book inventory too quickly would be disastrous to the business. There were also disagreements as to the terms of Brightson's employment contract, which had not been kept up to date in writing. At the conclusion of the trial, the jury found for Mr. Brightson. The jury awarded him $5,000 plus an additional $50,000 for damages for loss of salary, commissions, and injury to his reputation. However, the New York Court of Appeals subsequently vacated the $50,000 damages award. [26] [27] [28] [29]
Clearance sales were held in 1900, ahead of the holiday season, to reduce the Claflin book inventory. [30] After the tumultuous year of 1900, the International Book and Publishing Company was apparently defunct. The company seems never to have published another book after 1900. In 1907, its New Jersey corporation was renamed. [3] Its former department head, George Brightson, went on to lead larger businesses later in life. Although over 50 when he left the H. B. Claflin Company, he later founded the Sonora Phonograph Company, which had sales of $5.7 million in 1919, and Brightson Laboratories. [31] [32] In 1914, The H.B. Claflin Company, although still one of the largest mercantile businesses in the world, was unable to secure financing and went into receivership on June 25, 1914. [33] [34] In 1928, George Brightson, now retired from business, died from injuries sustained in a collision with a horse-drawn vehicle. [35]
Barnes & Noble Booksellers is an American bookseller with the largest number of retail outlets in the United States. The company operates approximately 600 retail stores across all 50 U.S. states.
Montgomery Ward is the name of two successive U.S. retail corporations. The original Montgomery Ward & Co. was a mail-order business and later a department store chain that operated between 1872 and 2001. The current Montgomery Ward Inc. is an online shopping and mail-order catalog retailer that started several years after the original Montgomery Ward shut down.
Copywriting is the act or occupation of writing text for the purpose of advertising or other forms of marketing. Copywriting is aimed at selling products or services. The product, called copy or sales copy, is written content that aims to increase brand awareness and ultimately persuade a person or group to take a particular action.
Mail order is the buying of goods or services by mail delivery. The buyer places an order for the desired products with the merchant through some remote methods such as:
Johnson Publishing Company, Inc. (JPC) was an American publishing company founded in November 1942 by African-American businessman John H. Johnson. It was headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. JPC was privately held and run by Johnson until his death in 2005. His publications "forever changed the popular representation of African Americans." The writing portrayed African Americans as they saw themselves and its photojournalism made history. Led by its flagship publication, Ebony, Johnson Publishing was at one time the largest African-American-owned publishing firm in the United States. JPC also published Jet, a weekly news magazine, from November 1951 until June 2014, when it became digital only. In the 1980s, the company branched into film and television.
Dodd, Mead and Company was one of the pioneer publishing houses of the United States, based in New York City. Under several names, the firm operated from 1839 until 1990.
Spalding is an American sports equipment manufacturing company. It was founded by Albert Spalding in Chicago in 1876 as a baseball manufacturer, and is today headquartered in Bowling Green, Kentucky. It sells softballs through its subsidiary Dudley Sports. In the past, Spalding has manufactured balls for other sports, including American football, soccer, volleyball, tennis, and golf.
Associated Dry Goods Corporation (ADG) was a chain of department stores that merged with May Department Stores in 1986. It was founded in 1916 as an association of independent stores called American Dry Goods, based in New York City.
Daniel Appleton was an American publisher who founded D. Appleton & Co.
Chronicle Books is a San Francisco–based American publisher of books for adults and children.
Frederick Theodore Haneman was an American author best known for being a contributor to the Jewish Encyclopedia.
H.B. Claflin & Company was a Manhattan-based dry goods business which was incorporated in 1890. The company acted as wholesalers who were middlemen between manufacturers and retailers of dry goods. The corporation became insolvent in June 1914, with a debt of $34,000,000. Judge Learned Hand of the United States District Court in New York appointed receivers for the firm on June 25, 1914. The trade of the wholesaler was negatively affected by the migration of the dry goods industry to uptown Manhattan and a failure to adapt to the changing business landscape.
Solicitors Journal is a legal periodical published in the United Kingdom.
Woodhull & Claflin's Weekly was an American weekly newspaper first published on May 14, 1870, by sisters Victoria Woodhull and Tennessee Claflin. It was among the first publications to be published by women. It lasted until June 10, 1876.
Phebe Westcott Humphreys was a journalist, horticulturist, photographer and children's book author, known for documenting and influencing landscape design with publications including The Practical Book of Garden Architecture. Her work was favored by experts including the botanist Charles Howard Shinn, who lauded Humphreys' "amazing wealth of knowledge," and the tastemaker Ruby Ross Wood. Humphreys contributed about 400 feature articles and regular columns to periodicals including House and Garden and Harper's Bazar. Among her topics are farms and factories run by immigrants; architectural preservation work; environmental sustainability; philanthropies donating plants to the poor; and newly patented household appliances. Her pioneering guidebook for car travelers, The Automobile Tourist, was praised by The Philadelphia Inquirer for "most thorough information" provided by "an enthusiastic automobilist." In 2020, the Cultural Landscape Foundation designated her a pioneer.
Why I Am a Vegetarian is an 1895 pamphlet based on an address delivered by J. Howard Moore before the Chicago Vegetarian Society. It was reprinted several times by the society and other publishers.
Cornelia Townsend was an American song composer who published most of her music under the name Kate Vanderpoel.
the book trade was going to the dogs