Saalfield Publishing
Encyclopedia
The Saalfield Publishing Company published children's books and other products from 1900 to 1977. It was once one of the largest publishers of children's materials in the world.
The company was founded in 1900 in Akron, Ohio
, by Arthur J. Saalfield who had come to take charge of the Werner Company's publishing department. During its flourishing, the company published the works of authors including Louisa May Alcott
, Horatio Alger, P. T. Barnum
, Daniel Defoe
, Colonel George Durston
, Laura Lee Hope
, Herman Melville
, Dr. Seuss
, Anna Sewell
, Shirley Temple
, Johanna Spyri
, Mark Twain
, Johann Rudolf Wyss
, and Robert Sidney Bowen
.
Saalfield published the New Americanized Encyclopædia Britannica
in 1903, and was sued for copyright violation.
The company also published educational toys and games, including the game Blockhead!
.
Among the artists employed by Saalfield was noted illustrator Ethel Hays
. She worked on a variety of the company's juvenile titles, including Peter Rabbit, The Night Before Christmas, and The Little Red Hen. Her most notable work came after Saalfield had secured the license from the Johnny Gruelle
Company in 1944 to produce Raggedy Anne and Andy material. Storybooks, coloring books, and paper doll
booklets soon followed. Most of the artwork fell to Hays, "whose exuberant, curvilinear style perfectly captured the whimsy and energy of Gruelle's characters."
In April 1977 Saalfield Publishing Company shut down, and its library and archives were purchased by Kent State University
.
Lawsuit over New Americanized Encyclopædia Britannica
Saalfield published the Americanized Encyclopædia Britannica
in 8 volumes with a 4 volume supplement (when the British edition had 24 volumes). The Encyclopædia Britannica Company had acquired all the rights to the encyclopedia in America. In addition, D. Appleton & Company
claimed that the 4 volume supplement used material from Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography.
To avoid further litigation, the suit against Saalfield Publishing was settled in court "by a stipulation in which the defendants agree not to print or sell any further copies of the offending work, to destroy all printed sheets, to destroy or melt the portions of the plates from which the infringing matter in the Supplement as it appears in the Americanized Encyclopædia Britannica
has been printed, and to pay D. Appleton & Co. the sum of $2000 damages."
by issuing their own series of science books for children. Similar in format to their competitor's then highly popular How and Why Wonder Book
series, the Saalfield Science Series consisted of a set of soft-cover books on diverse science topics, aimed at capturing a share of the lucrative children's non-fiction book market.
Identical to How and Why Wonder Books
, the Saalfield Science Series consisted of a list of unique titles printed in the classic 8 1/2 X 11 inch page format, with a standard book length of 48 pages each. These books were also generously illustrated with many color and black and white drawings depicting a wide range of scientific concepts. There were only six volumes published in the short-lived series. They were:
The company was founded in 1900 in Akron, Ohio
Akron, Ohio
Akron , is the fifth largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Summit County. It is located in the Great Lakes region approximately south of Lake Erie along the Little Cuyahoga River. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 199,110. The Akron Metropolitan...
, by Arthur J. Saalfield who had come to take charge of the Werner Company's publishing department. During its flourishing, the company published the works of authors including Louisa May Alcott
Louisa May Alcott
Louisa May Alcott was an American novelist. She is best known for the novel Little Women and its sequels Little Men and Jo's Boys. Little Women was set in the Alcott family home, Orchard House in Concord, Massachusetts, and published in 1868...
, Horatio Alger, P. T. Barnum
P. T. Barnum
Phineas Taylor Barnum was an American showman, businessman, scam artist and entertainer, remembered for promoting celebrated hoaxes and for founding the circus that became the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus....
, Daniel Defoe
Daniel Defoe
Daniel Defoe , born Daniel Foe, was an English trader, writer, journalist, and pamphleteer, who gained fame for his novel Robinson Crusoe. Defoe is notable for being one of the earliest proponents of the novel, as he helped to popularise the form in Britain and along with others such as Richardson,...
, Colonel George Durston
Colonel George Durston
Colonel George Durston was a fictional author created by the Saalfield Publishing Company, who was credited with the authorship of various American series books....
, Laura Lee Hope
Laura Lee Hope
Laura Lee Hope is a pseudonym used by the Stratemeyer Syndicate for the Bobbsey Twins and several other series of children's novels. Actual writers taking up the pen of Laura Lee Hope include Edward Stratemeyer, Howard and Lilian Garis, Elizabeth Ward, Harriet Adams, Andrew E. Svenson, June M...
, Herman Melville
Herman Melville
Herman Melville was an American novelist, short story writer, essayist, and poet. He is best known for his novel Moby-Dick and the posthumous novella Billy Budd....
, Dr. Seuss
Dr. Seuss
Theodor Seuss Geisel was an American writer, poet, and cartoonist most widely known for his children's books written under the pen names Dr. Seuss, Theo LeSieg and, in one case, Rosetta Stone....
, Anna Sewell
Anna Sewell
Anna Sewell was an English novelist, best known as the author of the classic novel Black Beauty.-Biography:Anna Mary Sewell was born in Great Yarmouth, Norfolk, England into a devoutly Quaker family...
, Shirley Temple
Shirley Temple
Shirley Temple Black , born Shirley Jane Temple, is an American film and television actress, singer, dancer, autobiographer, and former U.S. Ambassador to Ghana and Czechoslovakia...
, Johanna Spyri
Johanna Spyri
Johanna Spyri was an author of children's stories, and is best known for her book Heidi. Born Johanna Louise Heusser in the rural area of Hirzel, Switzerland, as a child she spent several summers in the area around Chur in Graubünden, the setting she later would use in her novels.-Biography:In...
, Mark Twain
Mark Twain
Samuel Langhorne Clemens , better known by his pen name Mark Twain, was an American author and humorist...
, Johann Rudolf Wyss
Johann Rudolf Wyss
Johann Rudolf Wyss was a Swiss author, writer, and folklorist who wrote the words to the former Swiss national anthem Rufst Du, mein Vaterland in 1811, and also edited the novel The Swiss Family Robinson, written by his father Johann David Wyss in 1814.Wyss was born in Bern, Switzerland, and...
, and Robert Sidney Bowen
Robert Sidney Bowen
Robert Sidney Bowen, Jr. was a World War I aviator, newspaper journalist, magazine editor and author who was born in Boston, Massachusetts and died of cancer in Honolulu, Hawaii at the age of 76. He is best known for his boys' series books written during World War II, the Dave Dawson War...
.
Saalfield published the New Americanized Encyclopædia Britannica
Encyclopædia Britannica
The Encyclopædia Britannica , published by Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., is a general knowledge English-language encyclopaedia that is available in print, as a DVD, and on the Internet. It is written and continuously updated by about 100 full-time editors and more than 4,000 expert...
in 1903, and was sued for copyright violation.
The company also published educational toys and games, including the game Blockhead!
Blockhead!
Blockhead! is a game invented in 1952 by G.W. "Jerry" D'Arcey and developed by G.W. and Alice D'Arcey in San Jose, California. Originally consisting of 20 brightly colored wooden blocks of varying shapes, the object of the game is to add blocks to a tower without having it collapse on your...
.
Ethel Hays
Ethel Hays was an American syndicated cartoonist specializing in flapper-themed comic strips in the 1920s and 1930s. She drew in an art deco style. In the later part of her career, during the 1940s and 1950s, she became one of the country's most accomplished children's book illustrators.-Early...
. She worked on a variety of the company's juvenile titles, including Peter Rabbit, The Night Before Christmas, and The Little Red Hen. Her most notable work came after Saalfield had secured the license from the Johnny Gruelle
Johnny Gruelle
Johnny Gruelle was an American artist, political cartoonist, children's book author and illustrator . He is known as the creator of Raggedy Ann and Raggedy Andy...
Company in 1944 to produce Raggedy Anne and Andy material. Storybooks, coloring books, and paper doll
Paper doll
Paper dolls are figures cut out of paper, with separate clothes that are usually held onto the dolls by folding tabs. They have been inexpensive children's toys for almost two hundred years. Today, many artists are turning paper dolls into an art form....
booklets soon followed. Most of the artwork fell to Hays, "whose exuberant, curvilinear style perfectly captured the whimsy and energy of Gruelle's characters."
In April 1977 Saalfield Publishing Company shut down, and its library and archives were purchased by Kent State University
Kent State University
Kent State University is a public research university located in Kent, Ohio, United States. The university has eight campuses around the northeast Ohio region with the main campus in Kent being the largest...
.
Lawsuit over New Americanized Encyclopædia BritannicaEncyclopædia BritannicaThe Encyclopædia Britannica , published by Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., is a general knowledge English-language encyclopaedia that is available in print, as a DVD, and on the Internet. It is written and continuously updated by about 100 full-time editors and more than 4,000 expert...
Saalfield published the Americanized Encyclopædia BritannicaEncyclopædia Britannica
The Encyclopædia Britannica , published by Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., is a general knowledge English-language encyclopaedia that is available in print, as a DVD, and on the Internet. It is written and continuously updated by about 100 full-time editors and more than 4,000 expert...
in 8 volumes with a 4 volume supplement (when the British edition had 24 volumes). The Encyclopædia Britannica Company had acquired all the rights to the encyclopedia in America. In addition, D. Appleton & Company
D. Appleton & Company
D. Appleton & Company was an American company founded by Daniel Appleton , who opened a general store which included books.- Timeline :* 1813 Relocated from Haverhill to Boston and imported books from England...
claimed that the 4 volume supplement used material from Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography.
To avoid further litigation, the suit against Saalfield Publishing was settled in court "by a stipulation in which the defendants agree not to print or sell any further copies of the offending work, to destroy all printed sheets, to destroy or melt the portions of the plates from which the infringing matter in the Supplement as it appears in the Americanized Encyclopædia Britannica
Encyclopædia Britannica
The Encyclopædia Britannica , published by Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., is a general knowledge English-language encyclopaedia that is available in print, as a DVD, and on the Internet. It is written and continuously updated by about 100 full-time editors and more than 4,000 expert...
has been printed, and to pay D. Appleton & Co. the sum of $2000 damages."
Saalfield Science Series
In the early 1960's, the Saalfield Publishing Company competed directly with rival publisher Grosset & DunlapGrosset & Dunlap
Grosset & Dunlap is a United States book publisher founded in 1898.The company was purchased by G. P. Putnam's Sons in 1982 and today is part of the British publishing conglomerate, Pearson PLC through its American subsidiary Penguin Group....
by issuing their own series of science books for children. Similar in format to their competitor's then highly popular How and Why Wonder Book
How and Why Wonder Books
How and Why Wonder Books were a series of illustrated American books published in the 1960s and 1970s that was designed to teach science and history to children and young teenagers. The series began in 1960, and was edited under the supervision of Dr. Paul E. Blackwood of the Office of Education at...
series, the Saalfield Science Series consisted of a set of soft-cover books on diverse science topics, aimed at capturing a share of the lucrative children's non-fiction book market.
Identical to How and Why Wonder Books
How and Why Wonder Books
How and Why Wonder Books were a series of illustrated American books published in the 1960s and 1970s that was designed to teach science and history to children and young teenagers. The series began in 1960, and was edited under the supervision of Dr. Paul E. Blackwood of the Office of Education at...
, the Saalfield Science Series consisted of a list of unique titles printed in the classic 8 1/2 X 11 inch page format, with a standard book length of 48 pages each. These books were also generously illustrated with many color and black and white drawings depicting a wide range of scientific concepts. There were only six volumes published in the short-lived series. They were:
- ...5806 Dinosaurs
- ...5807 Water
- ...5808 The Dawn of Man
- ...5809 Man in Flight
- ...5810 Man and Missiles
- ...5811 Pine, Man and Ax