S.C. Griggs was a New York bookseller who moved to Chicago to start his own publishing house.

He issued medical, theological and popular titles, but his bread and butter wa his school textbooks which, with the help of New York publisher Ivison & Phinney, by 1855 were in virtually every public school.

First book: History of Meical Education and Institutions in the United States by Nathan Davis. First best-seller: History of Illinois, by Thomas Ford (1854).

Issued the first Chicago business directory.

Griggs continued his bookstore business as well, importig books first from his native New York for distribution throughout the Midwest, and later from Europe. By 1860, Griggs was the nation's second largest bookstore, known as "The Palace of Books" and "The Emporium of the Prairie".

Unfortunately, the bookstore was one of the casualties in the Great Chicago Fire of 1871. According to legend, the next morning Griggs could find nothing unburned except a single sheet from a Bible. But everyone had been destroyed by the fire, so in a sense he reopened on a level playing field with numerous opportunities: school libraries, school textbooks, public libraries, and private collections had to be replaced. And hsi reputation was such that he was able to get credit from New York publishers to hepl fill the demand. By late 1872 he was again showing a profit, even though his personal lfiestyle, once very lavish, was and would remain very austere and spartan.

At that time he decided to get out of bookselling and concentrate on publishing and selling his own books. He sold the store to E.L. Jansen and A.C. McClurg, who would one day become important publishers themselves.

He eagerly re-entered the school textbook market with new type-set and book design that would become the standard for school texts. Griggs also issued books for academia written by professors and scientist.

But his block-buster came in 1874 when he published Rober'ts Rules of Order, a manuscript sent to him by Army Major Henry M. Roberts who had written the book merely to bring order to the committee meetings at his church.

His best selling textbook was probably Cross's Eclectic Short-Hand, later simply Grigg's Shorthand.

In February, 1895, Griggs suffered a stroke. Realizing he would not recover, he sold hsi entire business to the new enterprise of Scott, Foresman & Co. for $45,000.

Founded by Michael R. Gateley.

He sold books by subscription at age of sixteen.

Business expanded throughout the U.S.

Founded by Edwin Ginn of Boston. At Tufts College he nearly lost his eye-sight; classmates had to read aloud his books to him.

Working on consignment, he sold textbooks for Clark & Maynard and Crosby & Aisnworth to work his way through college. The latter company gave him rights to publish Craik's English of Shakespeare, which he did in 1868.

Within the year, the book became required reading at Harvard.

His next textbook was W.F. Allen's Latin Grammar. Then Daniel Gregory Mason's series of Music Books.

He initially published under the name of EDWIN GINN, but when his brother Fred joined him the firm's name was changed to GINN BROTHERS.

It was changed again in 1870 to GINN BROTHERS & CO. when Robert F. Leighton and Aaron Lovell joined as partners.

In 1872, the two brother bought out Leighton and Lovell and again operated briefly as Ginn Brothers, but in 1873 Daniel C. Heath, an employee, became a partner and the firm was renamed GINN, HEATH & CO.

Heath left in 1885 to start his own firm, and Ginn reverted to GINN & CO.

Published "Classics for Children" series for elementary schools. Published 23 volume "School Shakespeare".

Developed line of Scholarly Magazines: Political Science Quarterly, Philosophical Review, American Naturalist, Princeton Review, Dante Society, Classic Review, Yale Review, and many others.

1881, George A. Plimpton, a Ginn salesman, became a partner. He opened a London branch.

1889, Justin H. Smith became a partner and opened a New York office.

By 1890 was the 6th largest publisher of textbooks. The other five were subsidiaries of American Book Company, which Ginn refused to join.

In 1900 Dr. Charles H. Thurber joined firm. Under him, the company reached its height and influence.

Issued the famous "Beacon Readers".

Ginn died in 1914. In his will, he established Wolrd Peach Foundation with $1,000,000.

Founded in 1867 by George Gebbie, a bookseller in Philadelphia, and Frederick Keppel, publisher of fine art books in New York.

In 1873, Kepple was replaced by George Barrie who came from Lippincott & Co.

First best-selling book published by Gebbie & Barrie was Illustrated Catalogue of Masterpieces of the International Exhibition, 1876.

Gebbie dissolved the partnership in 1880.

The following year he established GEBBIE & CO. in partnership with his daughter Mary Elizabeth. They issued Art Books.

"Choice Literature" series.

"Wit and Humor" series.

Complete works of Robert Burns (1886)

Tennyson's Lives of Roman Emperors in 13 volumes.

Dictionary of Biographical References.

Gebbie died in 1892.

John R. Gregg of Boston.

First book: Gregg Shorthand Systems.

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Founded by George T. Dunlap and Alexander Grosset.

Perhaps no publisher had a more colorful and jinxed beginnning than George Dunlap. A restless wanderer drifting from job to job, his arrival seemed to spell doom for the business. He tried to operate a stationery and wallpaper store in his home town of Orrville, Ohio, only to fail. He went to work for C. McKnight & Brothers as a book salesman, eight months later it was in bankruptcy. He went to work as a salesman for the United States Book Co., which went bankrupt a few months later. He worked for American Publishers Corporation, and it, too, went bankrupt.

At this last job he struck up a friendship with Alexander Grosset, a company manager, and for a while lived in the Grosset home. When American Publishers Corporation's assets were actuioned off to satisfy creditors, Dunlap and Grosset used their combined savings to buy as many books as possible. Dunlap then went on the road to sell the books to local stores whil Grosset handled the books and incorporated as Grosset & Dunlap.

Dunlap became intrigued with the idea of buying in bulk paperbound books, placing a cloth cover on them, and re-selling them at a higher price, but Grosset could not figure out a way to do it profitably. Frustrated, Dunlap quite, went to work fro Rand, McNally, and Grosset re-incorporated as Alexander Grosset & Co.

However, Dunlap would not abandon his idea of rebinding cheap books in cloth, and returned a year later to Grosset with a new twist: If we can't make a profit buying paperbound books in mass, why not print our own? To which Grosset asked, What could we print real cheap? Dunlap suggested they pirate books already in print and not pay any royalties.

Thus Grosset & Dunlap re-incoporated as "pirates", printing cheap copies of books already in print without having to pay royalties or agent fees.

Their first successes were cheap editions of Kipling's Barrack Room Ballads, The Light that Failed, and Child Stories.

With income from these pirated titles, Grosset & Dunlap were able to purchase paper books in sufficeint bulk to make a small profit rebinding them, as Dunlap had originally dreamed. H.B. Claflin Co., which had an entire warehouse of unsold paper books, offered everything to Grosset for a flat $30,000. Unable to raise the money, and knowing other could steal their idea, Grosset suggested renting the warehouse where the books were stored, thereby giving Claflin a steady income, and purchasing for cash books in lots as Grosset was able to buy them. Claflin agreed, and Grosset and Dunlap INc. was on its way.

Publisher Frederick A. Stokes Co. had some unsold unbound sheets of the works of Robert W. Chambers. Would Grosset and Dunlap be interested in them? Alexander Grosset wasted no time in buying them, and soon other publishers were selling theiroverprints to Grosset and Dunlap.

Again Grosset, looking for a way to reduce cost, suggested buying rights to a book before publication, so the publsier would deliberately print an overrun and sell the excess after sales of the original edition waned.

This marked the birth of the reprint business and proved to be so successful Grosset and Dunlap ceased rebinding paper books.

The first book to bear the Grosset and Dunlap imprint was The Damnation of Theron Ware, published with Herbert S. Stone & Co. The first to carry only the Grosset and Dunlap imprint was Janice Meredith.

Grosset's next great idea was to purchase the original plates and pulbish their editions, this way not being limited to the number of copies they could sell.

A profitable idea does not go unnoticed. Others were now competing. American News COmpany began rebinding their paper items in cloth covers. John Wannamaker, Thompson & Thomas, and A.L. Burt began imitating Grosset and Dunlap.

Grosset & Dunlap looked for ways to expand, to gain an advantage over competitiors. The most successful was the hiring of John H. May to head sales. He suggested Grosset & Dunlap cheap books might be idea for children and young adults with limitied money, and persuaded Grossett and Dunlap to purchase reprint rights of Chatterton & Peck, publishers of books by Edward Stratemeyer, whose Rover Boys and Tom Swift and Hardy Boys series (among others) proved to be a gold mine for Grosset and Dunlap, which soon left its competitors far behind.

Other ideas that proved profitable: a dollar dictionary, cheap edition of the works fo Shakespeare, a cheap version of Roget's Thesaurus, motion pricture editions, and the "Minute" series of biographies, operas, composers, and others.

Alexander Grosset died in 1936. His brothers, Garnet and Philip (who died in 1931) helped develop the business, as did his son Donald who inherited his father's share.

Established Ideal Publishing to issue magazines and how-to books.

Purchased Filmways, 1974, which added original non-fiction works, such as Memoirs of Richard Nixon and Pritikin Diet.

What Grosset & Dunlap achieved by creating the reprint market cannot be underestimated. The bulgeoning number of competing reprint publishers led to ever lower prices and cheaper means of publishing. It is certainly no co-incidence that Robert Fair deGraf, father of the modern paperback book, had been an executive in the reprint industry.

In fact, he had originally presented his idea for paperback books to Grosset and Dunlap, but by that time (1937), Grosset was dead and Dunlap looking to retire; still, when the idea proved successful, Grosset and Dunlap played a major role in developing Ace Books and Bantam Books. (See history of Paperbacks.)

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