George Palmer Putnam

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This article is about American book publisher who lived from 1814 to 1872. For his grandson, the American publisher, author and explorer who lived from 1887 to 1950, see George P. Putnam.

George Palmer Putnam
Mary Corinna Putnam (1842–1906)
George Haven Putnam (1844–1930)
John Bishop Putnam (1849–1915)
Irving Putnam (1852–1931)
Herbert Putnam (1861–1955)
Signature

George Palmer Putnam (February 7, 1814 – December 20, 1872) was an American publisher and author. He founded the firm G. P. Putnam's Sons and Putnam's Magazine. He was an advocate of international copyright reform, secretary for many years of the Publishers' Association, and founding superintendent of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Early life

Portrait of Putnam by Platt Powell Ryder (1872)

Putnam was born in

John Wiley established the publishing house Wiley & Putnam in New York City. In 1841, Putnam went to London
where he set up a branch office, the first American to ever do so. In 1848 he returned to New York where he dissolved the partnership with John Wiley and established G. Putnam Broadway, publishing a variety of works including quality illustrated books.

Career

In 1852, with the assistance of

New York World's Fair
.

Putnam published the books of many classic American authors including his close friend Washington Irving, William Cullen Bryant, James Fenimore Cooper, and Edgar Allan Poe. He served as secretary for the Publishers' Association for many years and was an advocate of the creation of International Copyright Law. During the American Civil War, he participated in the Loyal Publication Society of New York, and suspended his business for three years (1863–1866) to become the United States government's Collector of Internal Revenue in New York City.[3]

An important member of the New York artistic community, Putnam was the leading publisher of art books in his time and became one of the founders of the

royalties" to authors like Elizabeth Barrett Browning and Thomas Carlyle.[3][4]

Personal life

Putnam married Victorine Haven; their marriage produced seven sons and four daughters. Their daughter,

Faculté de Médecine de Paris. One of their sons, Herbert Putnam (1861–1955), became a noted librarian who served as the United States Librarian of Congress.[5] Their youngest daughter Ruth Putnam
(1856–1931) became a noted author.

Death

On Putnam's death in New York on December 20, 1872, his sons George and John inherited the business and the firm's name was changed to G. P. Putnam's Sons.[6] George Putnam published his father's memoirs in 1912. In 2000, his life's story was told again under the title George Palmer Putnam — Representative American Publisher by Ezra Greenspan, Associate Professor of English at the University of South Carolina.

George Palmer Putnam's grandson and namesake, George P. Putnam (1887–1950), was part of the family business but was also an author and explorer whose first wife was Dorothy Binney, the daughter of Edwin Binney who founded Crayola; after their divorce, he married the famous aviator Amelia Earhart.[7] His granddaughter Brenda Putnam was a well-respected sculptor and author.

Works

  • Chronology, or an Introduction and Index to Universal History, Biography, and Useful Knowledge (1833)
  • A Plea for International Copyright (1837)
  • The Tourists in Europe (1838)
  • American Book Circular with Notes and Statistics (1843)
  • American Facts, Notes and Statistics Relative to the Government of the United States (1845)
  • The World's Progress — a Dictionary of Dates (1850)
  • Ten Years of the World's Progress, a supplement to his 1850 work (1861)

References

  1. ^ The National Cyclopaedia of American Biography. Vol. II. James T. White & Company. 1921. pp. 388–389. Retrieved May 11, 2021 – via Google Books.
  2. ^ Rines, George Edwin, ed. (1920). "Putnam, George Palmer" . Encyclopedia Americana.
  3. ^
    New International Encyclopedia
    (1st ed.). New York: Dodd, Mead.
  4. ^ Lehmann-Haupt, Hellmut. The Book in America: A History of the Making and Selling of Books in the United States. New York City: R. R. Bowker Co., 1951. p. 112
  5. ISBN 9780810851726
    .
  6. ^ "News Summary". Wilkes-Barre Daily. December 21, 1872. p. 1. Retrieved May 11, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  7. ^ Herrmann, Anne "On Amelia Earhart: The Aviatrix as American Dandy" Ann Arbor, MI:The Michigan Quarterly Review Volume XXXIX, Issue 1, Winter 2000

External links

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