Request for Question Clarification by
hummer-ga
on
24 Feb 2006 12:30 PST
Hi wendellphillips,
We have been researching your question and although we know who you
need to contact, we do not have the answer as yet. Rather than give
you all of the details of the circuitous route that landed us this
far, we'll leap-frog to the end results.
There is a book published titled, "The Cost Books of Ticknor and
Fields and their Predecessors 1832-1858", which would've had the
information that you are looking for had they covered the year 1869,
but alas, it only goes up to 1858. (Fields, Osgood & Co. are the
successors to Ticknor and Fields).
The Cost Books of Ticknor and Fields and Their Predecessors, 1832-1858.
"The information given includes the size and number of editions, data
on printing, stereotyping, paper, presswork, binding, cancels,
corrections, illustrations, royalties, prices, profits, and the dates
of printing, and publication."
http://dogbert.abebooks.com/servlet/BookDetailsPL?bi=366531676
We contacted the UNC University Libraries and the librarian kindly
informed us that given that the Ticknor & Fields Cost Book only goes
up to 1858, that we need to contact Harvard for the later years:
UNC University Libraries - Rare Book Collection -
Ticknor and Fields Imprint Collection
Ask-a-Librarian:
http://www.lib.unc.edu/cgi-bin/ask-a-librarian?sendto=rbc
Therefore, we searched the Hollis catalogue at Harvard:
http://lms01.harvard.edu/F/EUTYLT8LF8RKXJ1T1NXUG7CVL6AB6NQB8XN35CN62VPNH5LJG5-50260?func=find-b-0&local_base=pub
HOLLIS Number : 009442244
Author : Fields, Osgood & Co.
Title : Catalogue of books published by Fields, Osgood & Co.,
(successors to Ticknor and Fields).
Published : Boston : Fields, Osgood & Co., 1869.
Description : 40, [8] p. ; 18 cm.
HOLLIS Number : 000602501
Author : Houghton Mifflin Company.
Title : Correspondence and records, 1832-1944 (inclusive).
History notes : Houghton Mifflin Company, publishing house of Boston,
Mass., traces its roots back to the firm of Ticknor and Fields, the
premier "literary" publishing house in the United States during the
middle years of the nineteenth century. Ticknor and Fields originated
in the firm of Allen and Ticknor, established in 1832. The partners in
Ticknor and Fields were William D. Ticknor (one of the partners in
Allen and Ticknor) and James T. Fields, who entered the firm as a
junior partner in 1843. After a series of changes, Ticknor and Fields
evolved into Houghton, Mifflin and Company. The succession of
corporate names was as follows: Allen and Ticknor (1832-1834); William
D. Ticknor (1834-1843); William D. Ticknor and Co. (1843-1849);
Ticknor, Reed and Fields (1849-1854); Ticknor and Fields (1854-1868);
Fields, Osgood and Co. (1868-1871); James R. Osgood and Co.
(1871-1878); Houghton, Osgood and Co. (1878-1880); Houghton, Mifflin
and Co. (1880-1908); and Houghton Mifflin Co. (since 1908). Henry
Oscar Houghton began as a printer in Cambridge, Mass. and established
H. O. Houghton and Co. in 1852. Houghton?s printing establishment on
the Charles River in Cambridge was known as the Riverside Press. In
1864 he formed a publishing partnership in the firm of Hurd and
Houghton. In 1878 the business merged with James R. Osgood and Co. as
Houghton, Osgood and Co.
Summary : Records of Houghton Mifflin and its predecessors, containing
papers relating to both the printing and publishing branches of the
business. Includes a voluminous file of incoming letters, chiefly
post-1870, from authors published by the firm; some correspondence
with other publishers; a few compositions; and a small file of
editorial correspondence of The Atlantic Monthly.
Summary : Files include book and journal contracts, along with related
materials such as: copyright renewals, assignment of copyrights,
copyright certificates, copyright cards, copyright deposit receipts,
purchase orders, title pages, correspondence and interoffice
memoranda, option agreements, and literary scout agreements.
Correspondence and interoffice memoranda usually concern the fate of
printing plates, royalties, remaindering of books and authors? estates
and executorships. Documents and correspondence about wills and
estates are noted. Also includes business records (disposal of
printing plates, remainders, royalties), non-book contracts, and
occasionally correspondence not related to contracts.
HOLLIS returns for subject: "fields osgood"
1. Fields, Osgood & Co. Catalogue of books published by Fields,
Osgood & Co., (successors to Ticknor and Fields).
2. Houghton Mifflin Company. Catalogs, trade brochures, and price
lists of the Houghton Mifflin Company and subsidiary imprints
3. Ticknor and Fields. Records, 1839-1881.
4. Houghton Mifflin Company. Records, 1832-1944 (inclusive). Business
records of Houghton Mifflin Company and related firms. ...containing
papers relating to both the printing and publishing branches of the
business. Includes cost books, sales books, invoice books...
5. Houghton Mifflin Company. Correspondence and records, 1832-1944 (inclusive).
6. Houghton Mifflin Company. Contracts, 1831-1979 (inclusive), 1880-1940 (bulk).
We used the "Ask a Librarian" (at Houghton Library) feature and
received the response that we're in the queue but it could take up to
three weeks to receive an answer. Given that I'm presently outside
the U.S., I thought it would be prudent to give you the contact info
so you can make the phone call yourself if you'd like. They surely
have the information that you need there.
CONTACT
Department of Public Services
HOUGHTON LIBRARY
Harvard University
Cambridge, MA 02138
Susan Halpert
Reference Librarian
TEL: (617)495-2440 (according to their email or 2441according to the website)
FAX: (617)495-1376
E-MAIL: houghref@fas.harvard.edu
http://hcl.harvard.edu/libraries/#houghton
Ask a Librarian:
http://hcl.harvard.edu/research/ask/index.html
I'll be anxious to hear how you make out, good luck!
hummer
p.s. We also contacted Cornell but haven't received a reply yet.
Samuel J. May Anti-Slavery Collection
http://www.library.cornell.edu/mayantislavery/
http://dlxs.library.cornell.edu/m/mayantislavery/
"In 1870, Samuel J. May, a mentor and close friend of Cornell's first
president Andrew Dickson White, donated his substantial collection of
pamphlets, books, newspapers, and manuscripts to the new university.
Part of Cornell's vast holdings documenting ante-bellum and Civil War
America now housed in the Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections,
The Samuel J. May Anti-Slavery Pamphlet Collection comprises over
10,000 pamphlets and leaflets collected by May, which document the
anti-slavery struggle at local, regional, national and international
levels."
Cornell University Library
Division of Rare & Manuscript Collections
2B Carl A. Kroch Library, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, 14853
Phone Number: (607) 255-3530. Fax Number: (607) 255-9524
For reference questions, send mail to: rareref@cornell.edu
