New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1889-10-27
BOOKS FROM OVER THE SEA.
THE PUBLISHING FIRM OF MACMILLAN "
COMPANY.
WORKS ISSUED BY THE BRANCH HOUSE IN THIS


appeared in these columns all the firms spoken vi
have been distinctly American FOUNDED oy
Americans, they have achieved no small paI' VI
their great success by Offering 10 readers oil TINS
country American works. and by making iof the
people Of the New World periodicals, magazines
and encyclopedias which were demanded by q
literary taste essentially American. But 1t mas
been seen that in each case the native puoilshihs
house, while supplying foreign works rs well as
home publications. has also been contributor 10
the book supply of the Old World. 1t is inter-
csting therefore to transfer the point oil Depart
ure across the Atlantic and to sec from that point
of view what part English publishers played IN
cultivating the remarkably fertile field which IN
this country has yielded such early and full
harvests.
An illustration is readily found in the London
firm of Macmillan 81 Co., which has branch es-
Establishment at No. liz FOurth-ave., founded
in 1860. under the control of the pres
cnt manager, Mr.. Brett. In comparing
the Ncw-Yorlz house of this firm with those OF
American birth and growth, there is one dHer-
ence which at once becomes evident. The New
York branch Of Macmillan IL Co. when started
was not o young enterprise, with hard sfuggls
and n modicum at least Of uncertainty before It,
II was rather the expansion and excess of strength
of q wellestabshed, vigorous and prosperous es-
in Great Britain and thus in other countries, ana
which in spreading ont to new fields merely ac-
complSshed that which a flourishing and valuable
life had made possible. So it becomes necessary
in looking at the life of the branch to go back
and trace to some extent The growth OF the trunk
THE FOUNDER OF THE HOUSE
Daniel Macmillan. the founder of the big pub
fishing house which now under the name OF !
Macmillan & Co. is equally well known in Europe |
and America was a ScOtchman. His family Were |
poor, and for many years he was greatly haraSSed
by financial troubles, that his achievements |
must seem the more credtabe, as he died at the |
early age Of forty-four. When less than eleven |
years old he was apprenticed TO bookseller !
and boOlbnder. Within five years from tdat |
g. time The young Scotchman was managing the
business of his master At eighteen he 1Ouhd
himself in Glasgow, working from thirteen to
sixteen hours day, already broken III healuh
but indomtable Of win and spirit and close
and persistent reader in all his spare moments
After three years spent in active and vigorous
work in Cambridge his restless ambition impclled
him to London and from / s37 TO ls43 he was IN |
the employ Of the MesSrs Seeley in tlcct-st |
During this period his health for the most part |
was wretched and his business cares were greatly /
increased by others, caused by debts and efforts |
TO assist members of his family.
In le43, when Daniel Macmillan was thirty. he /
and his brother were able, through the assistance
OF friends to begin boOkselling, having two shops,
one in London and one in Cambridge But Daniel |
Macmillan was then suffering from violent |
hemorrhages of the lungs. There was talk of
giving up the London shop but his determination |
and eagerness to publish good books seem to have /
pulled him through many of his attnckS. The /
starting of his own business began new |
era for the young Scotchman. 1t is |
hardly possible TO enumerate the works |
which began to make reputation |
for him. But Daniel Macmillan had been assoc-
ated with so many able men in his social life and |
had so studied the art of publishing good books, |
loving them for themselves, that success came |
rapidly His trials, however, were for many years |
extremely bitter, and even after he haI become
well known as a publisher of good books his BUR
dens were scarcely less heavy. The need OF captal
made necessary the formation OF partnerships with |
men of money who had none of his intimate knowl |
edge with and delicate appreciation of works OF /
literary merit. But the business grew, and when |
the founder o: the firm died future success was |
more than assured.
HIS LOVE OF GOOD BOOKS
During has career publisher Daniel Mac
milan had always been consistent in his choice |
Of undertakings. He regretted for instance, that
Cambridge University sent forth no good editions
Of English thcologians, and so he began to make
handsome and artistic books Of their works. Fol !
lowing the great questions and issues of the day |
he applied the principles of his life TO the pub /
fishing business and offered TO the public, IN the |
best mechanical form, works on the most absorb |
ing subjects of the day. His success is explained |
by Thomas Hughes in his Memoir Of Daniel Mao /
milan" in these words: " No who ever sold |
books for livelihood was more conscious of a |
VOCATION more impressed with the dignity OF his |
craft and OF its value 20 humanity; more anxious |
that il should suffer no shame or dimnutiOn !
through him. And his ideal did not abide in ia k
fair image 10 be brought out and wOIshpped when !
the shop not Iul Of customers He strovc faith
afaza
have daunted any but a brave man. The chief of |
these was lifelong illness of the most irving !
kind. The disease OF which ne died quarter OF |
and he was never really sound man from that !
day" - a.. ,...c.,
in books which. after making the house so |
eminently reputable, continued 10 add TO its |
merits. So that forty years after its founding |
and fifteen years after the beginning Of the New
York branch IL Live chaacteriZes the firm |
as one which stands in the very front rank of |
Jnndon publishers by reason OF the fact that /
II issues books which have Il real value. are ele-
osptly made and sold at moderate prices |
fhe character Of the publications of Macmillan d !
RI having thus been indicated by the principles ]
,.,hich govern the house. a few examples taken I
from a list OF works which embrace every phase
of the legitimate in literature should complete
the illustration
THE PERIODICALS. !
For periodicals the house publishes "Thc Eng.
lisb Illustrated Magazine which is undoubtedly
one of the most popular OF English illustrated
magazines II is well known as publication of
disiinctively literary merit. made additionally
attractive by artistic adOrnment and CAREFUL me-
chanical work There is also Macmillans Mag
azine' which one Of the earliest Of the English
shilling monthles and which Is II medium for the
PIX preston of mems views current topics. The
scientific weekly, Nature" has among its con
trbutOrs those who arc eminent IN England,
on the Continent and in America as authorities on
oil the departments OF scientific research. IL is
an English publication which claims the unique
merit of being prepared for all people who speak
and read the English language. The aim OF the
publishers 10 10 make IL the most important