Frederick Winthrop Faxon (August 24, 1866 – August 31, 1936) was an American

bibliographer Bibliography (from and ), as a discipline, is traditionally the academic study of books as physical, cultural objects; in this sense, it is also known as bibliology (from ). English author and bibliographer John Carter describes ''bibliograph ...

, publisher, businessman, and owner-operator of F. W. Faxon Publishing Company, which worked with libraries (its chief customers) for over a century. Faxon served as Secretary of the

American Library Association The American Library Association (ALA) is a nonprofit organization based in the United States that promotes libraries and library education internationally. It is the oldest and largest library association in the world. History 19th century ...

from 1900 to 1902.

Life and career

Faxon was born in the

West Roxbury West Roxbury is a neighborhood in Boston, Massachusetts, United States, bordered by Roslindale and Jamaica Plain to the northeast, the village of Chestnut Hill and the town of Brookline to the north, the city of Newton to the northwest, t ...

neighborhood of

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

Massachusetts Massachusetts ( ; ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Maine to its east, Connecticut and Rhode ...

, on August 24, 1866, to Marcus and Augusta Chalmers Fernald Faxon. He graduated

Boston Latin School The Boston Latin School is a Magnet school, magnet Latin schools, Latin Grammar schools, grammar State school, state school in Boston, Massachusetts. It has been in continuous operation since it was established on April 23, 1635. It is the old ...

in 1885 and received his bachelor's degree from

Harvard College Harvard College is the undergraduate education, undergraduate college of Harvard University, a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Part of the Harvard Faculty of Arts and Scienc ...

in 1889. That year, he accepted a job in Soule & Bugbee, a company that published law books. He rose through the ranks from library department manager in 1902 to director in 1911 to president and treasurer in 1913. He purchased the firm (then named the Boston Book Company) in 1918 and changed its name to the F. W. Faxon Company. He ran the company until his death on August 31, 1936. His cousin-in-law, Albert H. Davis Sr., who had joined the company in 1929, took over the company after Faxon's death. The company continued as a serials subscription agent and publisher before struggling financially in the 1990s and filing for bankruptcy and ceasing operations in 2003. Although he never worked in a library, Faxon had a lifelong passion for supporting librarians and researchers. He edited, compiled, and contributed to many of the bibliographies he published. He was particularly interested in the history of American magazines and serials. His publishing company produced the ''Bulletin of Bibliography'' starting in 1897, the ''Bibliography of Ephemeral Bibelots'' (launched in 1897), ''Modern Chap Books and Their Imitators'' (1903), ''Useful Reference Series of Books'' (launched in 1907), ''Annual Magazine Subject Index'' (1907–1949), ''Dramatic Index'' (1909–1949), ''Checklist of Popular English and American Periodicals'' (1908), ''A Bibliography of Literary Annuals and Gift Books'' (1912), and other series. Faxon was active in the

(ALA), serving as Secretary (the equivalent of executive director) from 1900 to 1902, Travel Secretary from 1896 to 1900, Travel Committee chair from 1902 to 1934, and official delegate to the 1912 meeting of the Library Association of Great Britain in

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

. He attended 43 ALA conferences over the years and served as an unofficial conference photographer, taking hundreds of candid shots of librarians enjoying learning and leisure activities. Faxon was a member of the

Bibliographical Society of America The Bibliographical Society of America (BSA) is a North American organization that fosters the study of books and manuscripts. It was constituted from the earlier Bibliographical Society of Chicago (created in 1899) as the national membership began ...

, the

Appalachian Mountain Club Appalachian Mountain Club (AMC) is the oldest outdoor group in the United States. Created in 1876 to explore and preserve the White Mountains (New Hampshire), White Mountains in New Hampshire, it has expanded throughout the northeastern U.S., wit ...

, the Massachusetts Library Club (which he served as president from 1931 to 1932), the

New York Library Association The New York Library Association (NYLA) is a group that promotes libraries in New York. It was founded in 1890 and was the first statewide organization of librarians in the United States. One of its founders was Melvil Dewey, who has had a la ...

, and other societies. He married Adeline True Thompson in Boston on May 16, 1901.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Faxon, Frederick Winthrop 1866 births 1936 deaths 19th-century American publishers (people) 20th-century American businesspeople 20th-century American publishers (people) American Library Association people American male non-fiction writers American publishers (people) American publishing chief executives Boston Latin School alumni Businesspeople from Boston Harvard University alumni People from West Roxbury, Boston