Call Number:

C0609

Repository:

Princeton University Library: Manuscripts Division

Extent:

• 7 boxes
• 2.8 linear feet

Language:

English

Preferred Citation:

Identification of specific item; Date (if known); Publishers' Weekly collection, Box and Folder Number; Special Collections, Princeton University Library.

Date:

1933-1946 (inclusive)

Creator:

R.R. Bowker company

Form:

Correspondence -- 20th century and Records. -- 20th century

Abstract:

Consists of correspondence and printed matter of Publishers' Weekly, the periodical published by the R. R. Bowker Company.

The company was founded by Frederick Leypoldt, a German immigrant who worked as a bookseller and recognized the need for good bibliographic information to make the book business more efficient. In 1870 Leypoldt issued the first edition of his Annual American Catalogue, a precursor to Books In Print. In 1872 he published the first issue of Publishers Weekly, and in 1876 the first issue of Library Journal. In 1878 Leypoldt's company was acquired by Richard Rogers Bowker. Leypoldt and Bowker also founded such standard book-industry reference sources as Literary Marketplace and Ulrich's International Periodicals Directory. The company has been bought and sold a couple of times since the 1960s.

The Council on Books in Wartime was a 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," the Council's motto. Its primary aim was the promotion of books to influence the thinking of the American people regarding the war, to build and maintain the will to win, to expose the true nature of the enemy, to disseminate technical information, to provide relaxation and inspiration, and to clarify war aims and problems of peace.

The Council consisted of a Board of Directors, with Archibald Ogden as Executive Director (1943-1945), and an Executive Committee, with W. W. Norton as Chairman (1943-1945), succeeded by Richard L. Simon, and various other members including John Farrar, S. Spencer Scott, Henry Hoyns, Bennett Cerf, Joseph Lippincott, Clarence Boutell, William Sloan and Datus C. Smith. Various committees worked under the Executive Committee, including the Radio Committee, Forum and Fairs Committee, Motion-Picture Committee, Library Committee, Recommended War Books Committee, Childrens Book Committee, Imperative Book Committee, Promotion and Press Committees, and the Washington Committee. The Council co-operated with the Office of War Information (OWI) and other Government agencies, but was itself a voluntary, unpaid, non-Governmental organization.

The Council attempted to achieve its goals by acting as a clearinghouse for book-related ideas, by being an intermediary between the book-trade industry and government agencies, by offering advice to publishers, and by handling all forms of public relations including distribution of reading lists and pamphlets, lectures, radio programs, newsreels, and book promotion and publication.

Two subsidiary organizations sprang from the Council on Books in Wartime, the Armed Services Editions (ASE) and Overseas Editions, Inc. (OEI). Armed Services Editions founded in February 1943 sought to alleviate the shortage of reading matter for men in the Services by publishing inexpensive paperbound books in pocket size to sell to the United States Government, at cost, and then distributing these to servicemen overseas. The books were primarily current publications, recreational in nature, including popular novels, some classics, books on the war, other non-fiction, humor and anthologies. In 1944 ASE incorporated as Editions for the Armed Services, Inc. to protect its funds in the event of lawsuits. Personnel and management however, remained the same.

ASE selected books to be reprinted from publishers' lists through a committee including John Farrar, Jennie Flexner, Mark Van Doren and Amy Loveman. These selections were subsequently approved for publication by representatives from the Army (Ray L. Trautman), and the Navy (Isabel Du Bois). Philip Van Doren Stern was manager of the ASE. From its beginning in the fall of 1943 to its post-war end in the fall of 1947 ASE printed 1,324 titles and delivered 122,951,031 books to the U. S. Government.

Overseas Editions, Inc. intended to publish translations of American books to distribute to civilians in overseas countries liberated by Allied troops in order to inform the people of Europe about America, democracy, and current events. Its management committee members were Stanley Rinehart, William Sloane and Marshall A. Best, who served under the direction of Archibald Ogden. The choice of books for OEI was made by the Office of War Information and approved by the same advisory committee serving the ASE. The books were printed in pocket book format and sold at prevailing retail prices. Between February and November, 1945 OEI published 72 titles (22 in English, 22 in French, 23 in German, and 5 in Italian) and shipped 3,636,074 volumes overseas.

With the end of the war the Council on Books in Wartime ceased active operations on Jan. 31, 1946, but maintained its corporate entities to deal with the dispersal of remaining funds and the safekeeping of records.

The company was founded by Frederick Leypoldt, a German immigrant who worked as a bookseller and recognized the need for good bibliographic information to make the book business more efficient. In 1870 Leypoldt issued the first edition of his Annual American Catalogue, a precursor to Books In Print. In 1872 he published the first issue of Publishers Weekly, and in 1876 the first issue of Library Journal. In 1878 Leypoldt's company was acquired by Richard Rogers Bowker. Leypoldt and Bowker also founded such standard book-industry reference sources as Literary Marketplace and Ulrich's International Periodicals Directory. The company has been bought and sold a couple of times since the 1960s.

The collection consists of correspondence and printed matter of Publishers' Weekly, the periodical published by the R. R. Bowker Company, and correspondence of Frederic G. Melcher, company president and editor of the weekly. The collection contains material relating to the book publishing industry's problems during World War II, especially paper shortages; the industry's response to the demands of the war, for example, helping to provide libraries for military personnel; and its dealings with public and private groups such as the War Production Board, Office of War Information, Office of the Alien Property Custodian, the Victory Book Committee, the Book Industry Committee for Roosevelt, and the Council on Books in Wartime. There is also material from the early Roosevelt years (1933-1934), such as records of hearings by the National Recovery Administration on a code of fair practices and competition for the booksellers' trade industry and the textbook publishers.

Unprocessed.