J. B. Lippincott Company
Encyclopedia
J. B. Lippincott & Co. was an American
publishing house founded in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
in 1836 by Joshua Ballinger Lippincott.
Formed by descendants of the Religious Society of Friends
, Joshua Lippincott's company began selling a line of Bible
s, prayer book
s and other religious
works before expanding into trade books, which became the largest portion of the business. In 1849, Lippincott acquired Grigg, Elliot & Co., a major book distribution company whose origins dated back to bookstall operators Benjamin Warner and Jacob Johnson in 1792. The acquisition helped make the company one of the largest publishers in the United States. For a time in the 1850s, it did business as Lippincott, Grambo & Co., before taking on the name J. B. Lippincott & Co.
In the 1950s, the company began producing a successful line of medical and nursing books and journals. After numerous changes and mergers, which included a merger with Harper & Row in the 1970's, the company was acquired in 1990 by Wolters Kluwer
of Germany. Merged in 1998 with Williams & Wilkins to form Lippincott Williams & Wilkins
, it specializes in medical books and journals. As of 2011, HarperCollins
still controls Lippincott's back catalog of fiction titles; notable among those titles is Harper Lee
's novel To Kill a Mockingbird
.
In 1990, the company was acquired by Wolters Kluwer
of Germany, who merged it with Raven Press of New York
to form Lippincott-Raven Publishers. In 1998 Lippincott-Raven was merged with Williams & Wilkins to form Lippincott Williams & Wilkins
.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
publishing house founded in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Philadelphia is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the county seat of Philadelphia County, with which it is coterminous. The city is located in the Northeastern United States along the Delaware and Schuylkill rivers. It is the fifth-most-populous city in the United States,...
in 1836 by Joshua Ballinger Lippincott.
Formed by descendants of the Religious Society of Friends
Religious Society of Friends
The Religious Society of Friends, or Friends Church, is a Christian movement which stresses the doctrine of the priesthood of all believers. Members are known as Friends, or popularly as Quakers. It is made of independent organisations, which have split from one another due to doctrinal differences...
, Joshua Lippincott's company began selling a line of Bible
Bible
The Bible refers to any one of the collections of the primary religious texts of Judaism and Christianity. There is no common version of the Bible, as the individual books , their contents and their order vary among denominations...
s, prayer book
Prayer book
A 'prayer book' is a book outlining the 'liturgy' of religious services.In this sense, it may carry the following specific names in various religions:*Breviary or Missal, in Roman Catholicism*Agenda , in Lutheranism...
s and other religious
Religion
Religion is a collection of cultural systems, belief systems, and worldviews that establishes symbols that relate humanity to spirituality and, sometimes, to moral values. Many religions have narratives, symbols, traditions and sacred histories that are intended to give meaning to life or to...
works before expanding into trade books, which became the largest portion of the business. In 1849, Lippincott acquired Grigg, Elliot & Co., a major book distribution company whose origins dated back to bookstall operators Benjamin Warner and Jacob Johnson in 1792. The acquisition helped make the company one of the largest publishers in the United States. For a time in the 1850s, it did business as Lippincott, Grambo & Co., before taking on the name J. B. Lippincott & Co.
In the 1950s, the company began producing a successful line of medical and nursing books and journals. After numerous changes and mergers, which included a merger with Harper & Row in the 1970's, the company was acquired in 1990 by Wolters Kluwer
Wolters Kluwer
Wolters Kluwer N.V. is a global information services and publishing company. The company provides products and services for professionals in the health, tax, accounting, corporate, financial services, legal and regulatory sectors...
of Germany. Merged in 1998 with Williams & Wilkins to form Lippincott Williams & Wilkins
Lippincott Williams & Wilkins
Lippincott Williams & Wilkins is an academic and professional medical publisher owned by Wolters Kluwer group. It publishes textbooks, various electronic media, and over 275 journals and newsletters in the health-care field. Publications are aimed at physicians, nurses, clinicians, and students...
, it specializes in medical books and journals. As of 2011, HarperCollins
HarperCollins
HarperCollins is a publishing company owned by News Corporation. It is the combination of the publishers William Collins, Sons and Co Ltd, a British company, and Harper & Row, an American company, itself the result of an earlier merger of Harper & Brothers and Row, Peterson & Company. The worldwide...
still controls Lippincott's back catalog of fiction titles; notable among those titles is Harper Lee
Harper Lee
Nelle Harper Lee is an American author known for her 1960 Pulitzer-Prize-winning novel To Kill a Mockingbird, which deals with the issues of racism that were observed by the author as a child in her hometown of Monroeville, Alabama...
's novel To Kill a Mockingbird
To Kill a Mockingbird
To Kill a Mockingbird is a novel by Harper Lee published in 1960. It was instantly successful, winning the Pulitzer Prize, and has become a classic of modern American literature...
.
Leadership
- On Joshua Lippincott's death in 1886, his son Craige Lippincott took over as president. He committed suicideSuicideSuicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Suicide is often committed out of despair or attributed to some underlying mental disorder, such as depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, alcoholism, or drug abuse...
in 1911.
- He was succeeded by J. Bertram Lippincott. Bertram married his cousin Joanna Wharton, daughter of the founder of the Wharton School of the University of PennsylvaniaWharton School of the University of PennsylvaniaThe Wharton School is the business school of the University of Pennsylvania, an Ivy League university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Wharton was the world’s first collegiate business school and the first business school in the United States...
, Joseph WhartonJoseph WhartonJoseph Wharton was a prominent Philadelphia merchant, industrialist and philanthropist, who was involved in mining, manufacturing and education...
.
- In 1940 their son Joseph Wharton LippincottJoseph Wharton LippincottJoseph Wharton Lippincott was a noted publisher, author, naturalist, and sportsman who was the grandson of Joshua Ballinger Lippincott, founder of Philadelphia publisher J.B...
(1887-1976) became the company's president. In 1943 J. B. Lippincott & Co. bought out the publishing company Frederick A. StokesFrederick A. StokesFrederick A. Stokes was an eponymous American publishing company. Stokes was a graduate of Yale Law School. He had previously worked for Dodd, Mead and Company and then briefly had partnerships with others before founding his company in 1890....
.
- Joseph Wharton Lippincott, Jr.Joseph Wharton Lippincott, Jr.Joseph Wharton Lippincott, Jr., was Chairman and President of Philadelphia publisher J.B. Lippincott Company ....
(1914-2003), became the fourth generation to head the business and expanded the business into EuropeEuropeEurope is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
and AsiaAsiaAsia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.7% of the Earth's total surface area and with approximately 3.879 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population...
. In 1978 he sold the company to Harper & Row but Lippincott, Jr. remained on the Board of DirectorsBoard of directorsA board of directors is a body of elected or appointed members who jointly oversee the activities of a company or organization. Other names include board of governors, board of managers, board of regents, board of trustees, and board of visitors...
until 1987.
In 1990, the company was acquired by Wolters Kluwer
Wolters Kluwer
Wolters Kluwer N.V. is a global information services and publishing company. The company provides products and services for professionals in the health, tax, accounting, corporate, financial services, legal and regulatory sectors...
of Germany, who merged it with Raven Press of New York
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
to form Lippincott-Raven Publishers. In 1998 Lippincott-Raven was merged with Williams & Wilkins to form Lippincott Williams & Wilkins
Lippincott Williams & Wilkins
Lippincott Williams & Wilkins is an academic and professional medical publisher owned by Wolters Kluwer group. It publishes textbooks, various electronic media, and over 275 journals and newsletters in the health-care field. Publications are aimed at physicians, nurses, clinicians, and students...
.
Authors
Authors' names are followed by their known dates of association with J. B. Lippincott.- Mary Henderson Eastman, 1852-1853. The company published several other anti-Tom novels from 1853-1860, written in response to Harriet Beecher StoweHarriet Beecher StoweHarriet Beecher Stowe was an American abolitionist and author. Her novel Uncle Tom's Cabin was a depiction of life for African-Americans under slavery; it reached millions as a novel and play, and became influential in the United States and United Kingdom...
's Uncle Tom's CabinUncle Tom's CabinUncle Tom's Cabin; or, Life Among the Lowly is an anti-slavery novel by American author Harriet Beecher Stowe. Published in 1852, the novel "helped lay the groundwork for the Civil War", according to Will Kaufman....
, as well as additional anti-slavery novels. - L.L. Langstroth, 1878
- Zora Neale HurstonZora Neale HurstonZora Neale Hurston was an American folklorist, anthropologist, and author during the time of the Harlem Renaissance...
, 1934-39 - Harper LeeHarper LeeNelle Harper Lee is an American author known for her 1960 Pulitzer-Prize-winning novel To Kill a Mockingbird, which deals with the issues of racism that were observed by the author as a child in her hometown of Monroeville, Alabama...
, 1960 - Walter M. Miller, Jr.Walter M. Miller, Jr.Walter Michael Miller, Jr. was an American science fiction author. Today he is primarily known for A Canticle for Leibowitz, the only novel he published in his lifetime. Prior to its publication he was a prolific writer of short stories.- Biography :Miller was born in New Smyrna Beach, Florida...
, 1960 - Thomas PynchonThomas PynchonThomas Ruggles Pynchon, Jr. is an American novelist. For his most praised novel, Gravity's Rainbow, Pynchon received the National Book Award, and is regularly cited as a contender for the Nobel Prize in Literature...
, 1963-66 - James BaldwinJames Baldwin (writer)James Arthur Baldwin was an American novelist, essayist, playwright, poet, and social critic.Baldwin's essays, for instance "Notes of a Native Son" , explore palpable yet unspoken intricacies of racial, sexual, and class distinctions in Western societies, most notably in mid-20th century America,...
, 1973 - Nikki GiovanniNikki GiovanniYolande Cornelia "Nikki" Giovanni is an American poet, writer, commentator, activist, and educator. Her primary focus is on the individual and the power one has to make a difference in oneself and in the lives of others. Giovanni’s poetry expresses strong racial pride, respect for family, and her...
, 1973
External Links
- J. B. Lippincott Company Records, Historical Society of PennsylvaniaHistorical Society of PennsylvaniaThe Historical Society of Pennsylvania is a historical society founded in 1824 and based in Philadelphia. The Society's building, designed by Addison Hutton and listed on Philadelphia's Register of Historical Places, houses some 600,000 printed items and over 19 million manuscript and graphic items...