Putnam patriot., 1930-03-06

child in family of eleven. His fa- ther Was a leading New York publish CT and one of the foremost advocates of international copyrights. He was for some years a resident of London, where he published his American Facts" and where George Haven Put nam was born April 2, lS44. At an early age Mir. Putnam returned, how ever, to New York. and it was in this city that the major activities of his ] lifetime were centered.
 The Putnam home in New York was the center of literary circle of which Washington Irving was the l leader. and among Mir Putnam's boy hood memories were those of the creator of Arom Bones, Rip Van f Wrinkle and Diedrich Knickerbocker, ] for whom the Putnam firm has al- ways been publishers. Major Put nam was fond of accounting an anec- dote about Washington Irving, whose nurse at an early age. seeing General Washington riding in the street had called his attention to the fact that young Irving was named in his honor and had asked the General for his blessing for the boy
 Irving used to tell me that Gener- al Washington had taken him up into the saddle" Major Putnam re- called. "and placing his hand upon his head had given him a formal bles- sing. l used to look with interest at the head that had been touched by the great man and found myself per i plexed at Mir. Irving's word that l could not see the exact spot where the Generals hand had rested. l spoke to my father afterward about the in- l cident,, and he said Why, you stu pid, don't you know that Mir. Irving wears a wig?'
 Taken Prisoner in Civil War
 After completing his boyhood edu- cation at Columbia Grammar School Mr. Putnam was sent abroad for study at the Sorbonne and at the Universi- ty of Gottingen, where his course, begun in 1861, was interrupted the following year by his return to Amer ica to join the Union forces in the Civil War. Entering the Army as private, he rose to the rank of major, where his advancement was cut short by his capture at the Battle of Cedar i Creek in 1864 and his subsequent de- tention at Libby and Danville prisons. l His experiences as d member of the "Toothtrush Brigade" at the latter prison he described m A Prisoner of War in Virginia" and in letters home, of which only seven out of forty reached their destination. He was released from Danville in March. 1865, just before Lees surrender and the close of the war.
 On his return home he became as sociated with his iather as a deputy collector of internal revenue in the New York district. and a year later in the publishing business as G. r. Putnam & Son at 6Gl Broadway, and there began the business career which was terminated only with his death. In 1870 the firm removed to Fourth Avenue in the Y. NJ. C. A. Building at the corner of Twenty-third Street, and in 1872, after the death of the elder partner, the firm name, other brothers being associated, was changed to c. F. Putnam's Sons. Proposed Roosevelt Candidacy
 In this firm, Walter Howe, and later 1 Theodore Roosevelt, were silent part ners, an association which helped give the future President his start in pol itics, for it was at the recommends ton of Major Putnam that this young partner was suggested in 1882 as Re- publican candidate for the New York Assembly. Major Putnam often de- scribed the return of the youthful publisher-politician to his business desk of Saturday with enough schemes in his head to bankrupt the firm in a year.
 In 1869 Major Putnam married Robecca K. Shepard, who had shared with Fanny Garrison. later Mrs. Henry Willard, the honor of taking up the collections at William Lloyd Garrison's anti slavery meetings. They had a family of five daughters, and in 1895 Mrs. Putnam died, after twenty-five years in which she ire quently served as amanuensis for her husband, since a Civil War wound had disabled him, then as in later years. for overmuch autographic work. In 1899 he married second time. his wife being Emily James Smith, who before her marriage had been dean of Barnard College, and their son was christened Palmer Coss- lett Putnam.
 In his chosen field Major Putnam notably exemplified the fact that many books are due to the publishers rather than the authors ingenuity. "The Story of the Nations" and it's kindred series, the American eontinu- ation of the Cambridge History of English Literature" "The Outline of Literature" which served as a compile mentary volume to "The Outline of Science and many other volumes which have created widespread in- terest, were among the international enterprises which have been suggest d by him.
 Wrote Much in His Leisure
 Despite the demands on his time and energy made by his business, Major Putnam found leisure in which to write a number of interesting and authoritative books, among which were Authors and Publishers" (1s75), a practical handbook for writers; "The Artificial Mother" IS77), an amusing volume of maga- zine skits; the important article on Literary Property in Lalor's Cyclo- pedio (1879) Tho Question of Copy right" f1591); Authors and their Public in Ancient Times" (ls93) Books and Their Makers in the Mid ! dle Ages" (1s97) in two volumes; ! fsrrha Euwux~oksx. nf ka Eburoh Of .