The Universalist. [volume] (Chicago [Ill.]) 1884-1897, 1895-09-28
Literary Notes.
A GREAT AMERICAN PUBLISHER.
EDITORIAL

The recent death of Mr.. H. O..
HoUGHToN, of the great Boston Pub
fishing House, removes one of the
most enlightened and liberal pub
fishers of America. The firm of which
for fourteen years Mr.. Houghton had
been the head, has attained distinc-
tive position among American pub
fishing houses, having in connection
with the old Ticknor and Fields
House and the Riverside Press, which
it absorbed, the largest list of famous
American authors and books of any
publishing firm. Under Ticknor and
Fields, Osgood & Co., and their sue
cessors, Houghton, Mifflin & Co., this
firm became recognized patron of
art and literature and the Atlantic
Monthly, established in 1857, which
became their property, still maintains
its place as the first purely literary
journal in America. The Riverside
Press has won an enviable position as
an exponent of chaste art in book
making; yet to our mind, not even the
latest issues of the Riverside Press
surpass in neatness, typographical
excellence and taste in binding which
characterized almost every book
issued by the old Ticknor and Fields
firm. The brown cloth of the bind
ing, the good paper and print, and
the carefulness and excellence of the
workmanship throughout show in the
Ticknor publications Of the poets,
De Quincy, ETC., and the early vol
umes of our American poets and ro
mancers, and make these books still
eagerly sought for in the old book
dealers shops. OF course the equip
ment of the firm today is in every re-
spect superior to what it was quar-
ter or half century ago, as in its
fine, large buildings at Cambridge
may be found the best machinery yet
invented for printing, binding, cleo
trotyping and lithographing,- an
equipment that annually sends forth
volumes that can compare favorably
with the products of the best firms of
London and Paris. To be instru-
mental in developing such firm is
great service to the cause of litera-
ture and gave Mr.. Houghton a posi-
ton among American publishers
somewhat similar to that occupied by
John Murray in England.
Henry Oscar Houghton was born
at Sutton, VT, April 30, 1923, and
after studying at Bradford Academy,
began what proved to be his life occu-
pation,-to work with printers ink, =
by an apprenticeship in the Burling-
ton, VT, Free Press, at the same time
working his way through the Univer-
sity of Vermont, from which he grad.
uated in 1916. Then followed year
or two as reporter and proof-reader
on The Evening Traveller of Boston
when, with his ample experience Mr..
Houghton in 1S49 began his career as
a publisher by opening a printing
office in Cambridge, Mass, and ten
years later, established the Riverside
Press on the banks of the Charles, at
whose head he remained till the date
of his death. The authors whose
works were first given to the world by
this firm represent all the great New
England writers whose fame is al
most synonymous with that of
American literature itself. Though
since the death of Longfellow, Emer-
son, Whittier and Holmes, Boston has
lost a portion of its literary prestige,
the firm of Houghton, Mifflin & Co.
still maintains high place if not the
highest, among American publishers,
and the author whose poems or novels