William Warder Norton
Encyclopedia
William Warder Norton was a publisher and founder of W. W. Norton & Company
.
, moved to New York City
and started an import-export business, met and married Margaret Dows Herter, known as Polly or Mary. In 1923, they began publishing lectures delivered at the People's Institute, the adult education division of New York City's Cooper Union
. William and Margaret had a daughter, Anne Aston Warder Norton (1928-1977). The Nortons soon expanded their program beyond the Institute, acquiring manuscripts by celebrated academics from America and abroad. This is the beginning of W. W. Norton & Company. Starting in 1942 he was very active with the Council on Books in Wartime
. It was that council, which was a consortium of publishers, that agreed to an equitable distribution of paper and binding materials, all these scarce materials that went into the manufacture of books. He died at 54, just four months after V-E Day
.
W. W. Norton
W. W. Norton & Company is an independent American book publishing company based in New York City. It is well known for its "Norton Anthologies", particularly the Norton Anthology of English Literature and the "Norton Critical Editions" series of texts which are frequently assigned in university...
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Biography
He grew up in Columbus, OhioColumbus, Ohio
Columbus is the capital of and the largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio. The broader metropolitan area encompasses several counties and is the third largest in Ohio behind those of Cleveland and Cincinnati. Columbus is the third largest city in the American Midwest, and the fifteenth largest city...
, moved to New York City
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...
and started an import-export business, met and married Margaret Dows Herter, known as Polly or Mary. In 1923, they began publishing lectures delivered at the People's Institute, the adult education division of New York City's Cooper Union
Cooper Union
The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art, commonly referred to simply as Cooper Union, is a privately funded college in the East Village neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City, United States, located at Cooper Square and Astor Place...
. William and Margaret had a daughter, Anne Aston Warder Norton (1928-1977). The Nortons soon expanded their program beyond the Institute, acquiring manuscripts by celebrated academics from America and abroad. This is the beginning of W. W. Norton & Company. Starting in 1942 he was very active with the Council on Books in Wartime
Council on Books in Wartime
The Council on Books in Wartime was an American non-profit organization founded by booksellers, publishers, librarians, authors, and others, in the spring of 1942 to channel the use of books as "weapons in the war of ideas"...
. It was that council, which was a consortium of publishers, that agreed to an equitable distribution of paper and binding materials, all these scarce materials that went into the manufacture of books. He died at 54, just four months after V-E Day
Victory in Europe Day
Victory in Europe Day commemorates 8 May 1945 , the date when the World War II Allies formally accepted the unconditional surrender of the armed forces of Nazi Germany and the end of Adolf Hitler's Third Reich. The formal surrender of the occupying German forces in the Channel Islands was not...
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