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 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.