Lucile's Publishers, 1860-1938

About 100 American publishers, listed alphabetically below, issued one or more editions of Owen Meredith's Lucile between 1860 and 1938. Its first publisher, Ticknor & Fields, through several reorganizations and mergers, established the longest thread of continuous publication of several related editions; see below for files on this thread.

In stark contrast to Lucile's American experience, there were only a few English editions: Chapman & Hall, 1860, 1861 (Second Edition), 1867 (Third Edition), the first illustrated edition 1868, and 1876 (a "Collected Edition" of five volumes in which Lucile is volume III); Kegan Paul, Trench, Trubner & Company, 1882, 1884, 1891, and 1892 (all with text blocks printed in the U.S.); and Longmans, Green, 1893 and 1906.  An [1890] Walter Scott edition of Meredith's Works contains only "Song from Lucile, The Bird of Paradise." ***

Many, but not all, of the publishers listed here submitted catalogs to Publishers' Trade List Annual (PTLA). Those catalogs listed and described the books they offered for sale, and from the late 1880s, with increasingly frequency, they pictured a representative binding for each of their series (often termed "libraries" or "editions"). When Lucile was one of the titles offered in a series, these descriptions have been transcribed and the images scanned to form the backbone of the files linked from this page. Information about imaged copies is available when you "pop" the image (by clicking on it). Known information about the history of the firm is summarized at the head of each file; many of the firms were short-lived and are now obscure.

Since publisher's series included not only Lucile but other titles (sometimes many dozens of them), it is not only possible to date many Luciles not dated on their title pages but to date other titles in the same series. The PTLA illustrations suggest the main features of the series binding with remarkable accuracy. Comparing a title published by Altemus, say, or Caldwell, Crowell, or Hurst, held in hand, with the images presented here rarely leaves much doubt about the series to which it belongs (and hence when it was first offered for sale). If a series was not pictured or described in PTLA, it may now be impossible to establish precisely when it was published (and remember that this project has transcribed information only for series including Lucile: this is a relatively small sub-set of all the publishers' series described in PTLA).

The Span of years in the following list indicates those the publisher was in business (as is best known), not years during which the firm may have or actually did produce editions of Lucile.

* = No example of Lucile from this publisher has yet been located, but there is evidence one or more editions were produced or distributed.

Adams, Victor & Co. (New York), 1877

J.B. Alden (New York), 1874-1908; for Alden operating as Advanced Book Exchange, 1879-1884, see an illustrated October 1880 article in Scientific American.

William L. Allison (New York), 1869-1892

Henry Altemus Co. (Philadelphia), 1842-1936. (Introduction) (12mo. editions) (Handy Volume editions)

American News Company (New York), 1864-1969

American Publishers Corporation (New York), 1896-1897

Arundel Printing & Publishing Co. (New York), 1879[?]-[1900]

Bay View Publishing Company (New York), [1885?-1901?]

Belford, Clarke & Company (Chicago), 1875-1892

Blue Ribbon Books (New York) -- see A.L. Burt

Charles E. Brown & Co. (Boston), 1890?

Burrows Brothers (Cleveland, Ohio), 1873-1993

A.L. Burt (New York), 1883-1902; A.L. Burt Company, 1902-1937

Butler Bros., Inc. (New York & Chicago), 1877-1929+

H.M. Caldwell (New York), 1896-1914. About and edition summary; Scans and descriptions

Samuel E. Cassino (Boston), 1870-191?

Chapman & Hall (London), 1830-present

Chatterton-Peck Company (New York), 1906-1909

Clarke, Given & Hooper (New York), 1889?-1910?

Henry T. Coates (Philadelphia), 1895-1904

W.B. Conkey (Chicago), 1877-1949

T.Y. Crowell & Company (New York), 1876-1979. (Introduction) (Crowell's Poets - 12mo and larger formats) (Handy Volume Editions)

DeWolfe, Fiske & Company (Boston), 1880-1905

Dodge Publishing (New York and San Francisco), 1895-1949

Donohue Brothers (Chicago), 1900

Donohue Henneberry & Co. (Chicago), 1871-1899

M.A. Donohue & Company (Chicago), 1901-1960s

Doubleday & McClure (New York), 1897-1899

Estes & Lauriat (Boston), 1872-1898

*Dana Estes & Company (Boston), 1898-1914

Excelsior Publishing House (New York), 1884?-1913?

Federal Book Company (New York), 1902-1904

R.F. Fenno & Company (New York), 1885-1929

Fields, Osgood & Company (Boston), 1868-1870

Gay Brothers & Company (New Haven, New York, etc.), about 1865-about 1900

Grosset & Dunlap (New York), 1898-present

H.W. Hagemann Publishing Co. (New York), 1893-1894

The Henneberry Company (Chicago), 1901-1919

George M. Hill (Chicago), 1898-1901

Home Book Company (New York), 1893-1896

Homewood Publishing Company (Chicago), 1890s?-1914; continued as The Homewood Press, 1915-1923+

Hooper, Clarke & Company (New York), 1870s?-1890?

Houghton, Mifflin & Company (Boston), 1880-1908; Houghton Mifflin Company, 1908-2007

Houghton, Osgood & Company (Boston), 1878-1880

Hovendon [, John] Company (New York), circa 1892? -- see International Book Company; Bay View Publishing Co.; Home Book Company; R. Worthington Co.

Hurst & Company (New York), 1871-1919. (Introduction; summary); (12mo. editions); (16mo.-18mo. editions)

International Book Company (New York), 1890? 1891

*P.J. Kenedy & Company (New York), 1866-present

Joseph Knight Company (Boston), 1892?-?

Knight & Brown (New York), c1898

E.A. Lawson Company (New York), 1896-1899?

J.P. Lippincott & Company (Philadelphia), 1855-1885; J.B. Lippincott Company (Philadelphia) 1885-1978

Longmans, Green (London & NY), 1887-1961

D. Lothrop & Company (Boston), 1868-1895

*A. Lovell Company (New York), 1891-?

Lovell Brothers & Company (New York), 1890s?

Frank F. Lovell (New York), 1887?-1890?

John Wurtele Lovell Company (New York), 1878-1881; John W. Lovell Company (New York), 1882-1891

Lovell, Coryell & Company (New York), 1892-1897

*Lovell, Gestefeld & Company (New York), 1892-1894?

F.M. Lupton (New York), 1882-1892; F.M. Lupton Publishing Company (New York), 1892-1902

The Merriam Company, Minneapolis and New York, 1891-1897

Merrill & Baker (New York), 1893-1906

The Mershon Company (Rahway, NJ), 1893?-1904

Montgomery Ward (Chicago), 1872-present

George Munro (New York), 1864-1908

Norman L. Munro (New York), 1873-1921

National Library Association (Chicago), 1885-1898?

New York Publishing Company (New York), c1895?

Nims & Knight (Troy, NY), 1882-1892

H.B. Nims (Troy, NY), 1892?-1897?

James R. Osgood (Boston), 1871-1878

James R. Osgood (Boston), 1880-1885

L.C. Page (Boston), 1896-1957

H. Parmelee Library Company (Des Moines, Iowa), 1882-1898); (Chicago), 1898-1902

Pathfinder Company (Washington, D.C.), 1894-1953

Paul (Kegan), Trench, Trübner & Company (London), 1877-1889, merged with Trübner & Co. and Redway & Co.; 1911 merged with George Routledge & Son

Peacock, Mansfield & Co. (Paternoster Row, London), 1860s?-1913 -- See Walter Scott Company.

*People's Publishing Company (Philadelphia), circa 1900

Porter & Coates (Philadelphia), 1866-1895

James Pott (New York), 1881-1930

*The Prudential Book Company (New York), 1894?-1914

Rand, McNally (Chicago), 1873-present

Rodgers Company (Philadelphia), before 1894-1898+?

A.M. Rothschild & Co. (Chicago), 1890s?

George Routledge & Sons (London; New York), 1836-present; New York branch from mid-19th century

School Library Association (Chicago), ?-1899s-?

Siegel, Cooper Co. (New York & Chicago), 1890s?

Siegle, Hill & Co. (London), circa 1904-circa 1921

*Parker P. Simmons (New York), 1905?-1920s?

*Strawbridge & Clothier (Philadelphia), 1868-1996

F.A. Stokes & Brother (New York), 1887-1890

Frederick A. Stokes (New York), 1890-1941

Syndicate Trading Company (New York), 1880-1890s?

Tauchnitz Edition (Leipzig, Germany). In 1869 Tauchnetz published an edition of Meredith's early poetry, presumably to protect copyrights in European countries. This volume did NOT contain the text of Lucile (or other content from it).

Ticknor & Company (New York), 1885-1889

Ticknor & Fields (Boston), 1854-1868; summary of T&F and successors' Luciles; summary of T&F and successors' Poetical Works.

Trade Publishing Co. (New York), 1890s?

Union School Furnishing Co. (Chicago), 1900?-1930?

United States Book Company (New York), 1895-1902

Universal Publishing Company (New York), circa late 1880s-circa 1900?

Walter Scott (London), 1882-1931

Ward, Lock & Co., 1854-1891. See R. Worthington

E.A. Weeks (Chicago), 1893-1898

White, Stokes & Allen (New York), 1883-1887

Wilmore-Andrews (New York), 1895-1889

Winn & Hammond (Detroit), 1885-1920s?

*John C. Winston & Company (Philadelphia), 1905-1920s?

R.H. Woodward & Company (Baltimore), 1890?-1920s?

R. Worthington (New York), 1867-1885; Worthington Company, 1885-1893

E. & J.B. Young (New York), 1881-1903

*P.W. Ziegler Company (Philadelphia & Chicago), 1880s?-1905?

****

The editions established by Ticknor & Fields (1854-1868) were for the most part continued by Fields, Osgood & Co. (1868-1870); J. R. Osgood & Co. (1871-1878); Houghton, Osgood & Co. (1878-1880); Houghton, Mifflin & Co. (1880-1908) and Houghton Mifflin Company (1908 to present).

In 1880, James Osgood formed a second J.R. Osgood & Co. (1880-1885), which became Ticknor & Co. (1885-1889), which merged with Houghton, Mifflin & Co. in 1889. Between 1880 and 1889, Osgood/Ticknor and Houghton, Mifflin & Co. issued competing editions of Lucile.

For a brief list of Ticknor & Fields & Successor's editions of Lucile (most with images of cloth binding styles) and reported copies, go to Summary. For detailed descriptions of Luciles published by these firms, with locations for reported copies, go to each publisher's file. For detailed descriptions of their editions of Meredith's Poetical Works (containing Lucile), go to their Works.

Last revised: 20 July 2024