Login

Publications  •  Project Statistics

Glossary  •  Schools  •  Disciplines
People Search: 
   
Title/Abstract Search: 

Dissertation Information for David Kaser

NAME:
- David Kaser
- (Alias) David Edwin Kaser

DEGREE:
- Ph.D.

DISCIPLINE:
- Library and Information Science

SCHOOL:
- University of Michigan, Ann Arbor (USA) (1956)

ADVISORS:
- None

COMMITTEE MEMBERS:
- None

MPACT Status: Incomplete - Not_Inspected

Title: Messrs. Carey & Lea of Philadelphia, 1822-1838

Abstract:
It is the purpose of this study to examine the history of
the Philadelphia publishing firm of Carey & Lea during the seventeen-
year period of its existence, 1822-1838. The period is one
of transition, during which the modern concept of publishing
evolved from the activities of the colonial printer-bookseller.
It is the period during which Armerican authors first began to receive
patronage; it is the period during which foreign authors
were first paid for American publication of their works. Carey &
- Lea were in the avant-garde of every progressive movement in the
book trade, so that their history is, in fact, a history of the
trade.
The first part of this study concerns the origin of the
Carey & Lea firm. Begun in 1785 by Mathew Carey, it was purchased
from him in 1822 by his son and son-in-law, Henry C. Carey and
Isaac Lea. The contract transferring ownership of the firm was
very complex and troubled the principals for over a decade, but
the transaction appears to have been most profitable to all three
parties.
In the second part of this work, the development of the
firm is traced chronologically in considerable detail. Attention
is devoted to important works published, reception of works by the
public, relations between the firm and its authors, developments
in the book trade affecting publication, and manifestations of
growth within the firm itself. The evidence presented here would
seem to indicate that by 1830 Carey & Lea were the largest American
house. They maintained this supremacy to the dissolution of
the partnership eight years later.
The third part of the study concerns the effect that Carey
& Lea had upon American literary history and the history of the
book trade. The firm was among the first in the nation to take
promising authors and develop their reputations to their mutual
profit, in the manner of a present-day publisher. This they did
for, among others, James Fenimore Cooper, Washington Irving, and
John P. Kennedy. Carey & Lea were also among the first American
houses to pay foreign authors for their works. Thus in 1827 they
paid Sir Walter Scott £295 for advance copy of his Life of Napoleon,
a sum which was considered at that time to be very high.
Carey & Lea published Americars first literary annual, establishing
a fad that continued almost a half-century. They were
the first publishers of the Encyclopaedia Americana. They were
solely responsible for the establi shment of the Book Trade Sales,
one of the nineteenth century's outstanding media of book distribution.
They also published many books in the fields of mediCine,
law, SCience, and technology_
Carey & Lea dominated the Philadelphia book trade at a time
when Philadelphia was the publishing center of the nat ion. Soon
after Henry C. Carey's retirement from business in 1838 America's
center of literary activity was moved to New York, where it has
remained to this day.

MPACT Scores for David Kaser

A = 44
C = 16
A+C = 60
T = 50
G = 2
W = 44
TD = 47
TA = 1
calculated 2010-04-15 15:31:18

Advisors and Advisees Graph