The Saalfield Publishing Company published children's books and other products from 1900 to 1977. It was once one of the largest publishers of children's materials in the world.
The company was founded in 1900 in
Akron, Ohio
Akron () is the fifth-largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio and is the county seat of Summit County. It is located on the western edge of the Glaciated Allegheny Plateau, about south of downtown Cleveland. As of the 2020 Census, the city ...
, by Arthur J. Saalfield who had come to take charge of the Werner Company's publishing department. During its flourishing, the company published the works of authors including
Louisa May Alcott
Louisa May Alcott (; November 29, 1832March 6, 1888) was an American novelist, short story writer, and poet best known as the author of the novel '' Little Women'' (1868) and its sequels '' Little Men'' (1871) and '' Jo's Boys'' (1886). Raised ...
,
Horatio Alger
Horatio Alger Jr. (; January 13, 1832 – July 18, 1899) was an American author who wrote young adult novels about impoverished boys and their rise from humble backgrounds to lives of middle-class security and comfort through good works. His wri ...
,
P. T. Barnum
Phineas Taylor Barnum (; July 5, 1810 – April 7, 1891) was an American showman, businessman, and politician, remembered for promoting celebrated hoaxes and founding the Barnum & Bailey Circus (1871–2017) with James Anthony Bailey. He wa ...
Herman Melville
Herman Melville (born Melvill; August 1, 1819 – September 28, 1891) was an American novelist, short story writer, and poet of the American Renaissance period. Among his best-known works are ''Moby-Dick'' (1851); '' Typee'' (1846), a r ...
Anna Sewell
Anna Sewell (; 30 March 1820 – 25 April 1878)''The Oxford guide to British women writers'' by Joanne Shattock. p. 385, Oxford University Press. (1993) was an English novelist. She is known as the author of the 1877 novel '' Black Beauty'', he ...
Johanna Spyri
Louise Spyri (; ; 12 June 1827 – 7 July 1901) was a Swiss author of novels, notably children's stories, and is best known for her book ''Heidi''. Born in Hirzel, a rural area in the canton of Zurich, Switzerland, as a child she spent sev ...
,
Mark Twain
Samuel Langhorne Clemens (November 30, 1835 – April 21, 1910), known by his pen name Mark Twain, was an American writer, humorist, entrepreneur, publisher, and lecturer. He was praised as the "greatest humorist the United States has p ...
Encyclopædia Britannica
The ( Latin for "British Encyclopædia") is a general knowledge English-language encyclopaedia. It is published by Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.; the company has existed since the 18th century, although it has changed ownership various ...
'' in 1903, and was sued for copyright violation.
The company also published educational toys and games, including the game
Blockhead!
Blockhead! is a simple tabletop game suitable for children four years of age or older. It was invented in 1952 by G.W. "Jerry" D'Arcey and developed by G.W. and Alice D'Arcey in San Jose, California. Originally consisting of 20 brightly colored ...
.
Among the artists employed by Saalfield was noted illustrator Ethel Hays. She worked on a variety of the company's juvenile titles, including ''Peter Rabbit'', ''The Night Before Christmas'', and ''The Little Red Hen''. Her most notable work came after Saalfield had secured the license from the
Johnny Gruelle
John Barton Gruelle (December 24, 1880 – January 9, 1938) was an American artist, political cartoonist, children's book and comics author, illustrator, and storyteller. He is best known as the creator of Raggedy Ann and Raggedy Andy dolls and ...
Company in 1944 to produce
Raggedy Ann
Raggedy Ann is a character (arts), character created by American writer Johnny Gruelle (1880–1938) that appeared in a series of books he wrote and illustrated for young children. Raggedy Ann is a rag doll with red yarn for hair and a triangle ...
and Andy material. Storybooks, coloring books, and
paper doll
Paper dolls are figures cut out of paper or thin card, with separate clothes, also made of paper, that are usually held onto the dolls by paper folding tabs. They may be a figure of a person, animal or inanimate object. Paper dolls have been inex ...
booklets soon followed. Most of the artwork fell to Hays, "whose exuberant, curvilinear style perfectly captured the whimsy and energy of Gruelle's characters." Another artist/illustrator who did work for Saalfield was
Frances Brundage
Frances Isabelle Lockwood Brundage (1854–1937) was an American illustrator best known for her depictions of attractive and endearing children on postcards, valentines, calendars, and other ephemera published by Raphael Tuck & Sons, Samue ...
(1854 - 1937). Brundage, who also did work for
Raphael Tuck & Sons
Raphael Tuck & Sons was a business started by Raphael Tuck and his wife in Bishopsgate in the City of London in October 1866,Picture Postcards and Their Publishers, by Anthony Byatt, page 288 selling pictures and greeting cards, and eventually se ...
, the Samuel Gabriel Company, and other publishers, illustrated many classic works for children, and had widespread popularity; books with her illustrations are actively collected.
In April 1977 Saalfield Publishing Company shut down, and its library and archives were purchased by
Kent State University
Kent State University (KSU) is a public research university in Kent, Ohio. The university also includes seven regional campuses in Northeast Ohio and additional facilities in the region and internationally. Regional campuses are located in A ...
.
Lawsuit over ''New Americanized Encyclopædia Britannica''
Saalfield published the ''Americanized''
Encyclopædia Britannica
The ( Latin for "British Encyclopædia") is a general knowledge English-language encyclopaedia. It is published by Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.; the company has existed since the 18th century, although it has changed ownership various ...
in 8 volumes with a 4 volume supplement (when the British edition had 24 volumes). The Encyclopædia Britannica Company had acquired all the rights to the encyclopedia in America. In addition, D. Appleton & Company claimed that the 4 volume supplement used material from ''
Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography
''Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography'' is a six-volume collection of biographies of notable people involved in the history of the New World. Published between 1887 and 1889, its unsigned articles were widely accepted as authoritative f ...
''.
To avoid further litigation, the suit against Saalfield Publishing was settled in court "by a stipulation in which the defendants agree not to print or sell any further copies of the offending work, to destroy all printed sheets, to destroy or melt the portions of the plates from which the infringing matter in the Supplement as it appears in the ''Americanized
Encyclopædia Britannica
The ( Latin for "British Encyclopædia") is a general knowledge English-language encyclopaedia. It is published by Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.; the company has existed since the 18th century, although it has changed ownership various ...
'' has been printed, and to pay D. Appleton & Co. the sum of $2000 damages."
Saalfield Science Series
In the early 1960s, the Saalfield Publishing Company competed directly with rival publisher
Grosset & Dunlap
Grosset & Dunlap is a New York City-based publishing house founded in 1898.
The company was purchased by G. P. Putnam's Sons in 1982 and today is part of Penguin Random House through its subsidiary Penguin Group.
Today, through the Penguin ...
by issuing their own series of science books for children. Similar in format to their competitor's then highly popular How and Why Wonder Book series, the Saalfield Science Series consisted of a set of soft-cover books on diverse science topics, aimed at capturing a share of the lucrative children's non-fiction book market.
Identical to
How and Why Wonder Books How and Why Wonder Books were a series of illustrated American books published in the 1960s and 1970s that was designed to teach science and history to children and young teenagers. The series began in 1960, and was edited under the supervision of D ...
, the Saalfield Science Series consisted of a list of unique titles printed in the classic 8 1/2 X 11 inch page format, with a standard book length of 48 pages each. These books were also generously illustrated with many color and black and white drawings depicting a wide range of scientific concepts. There were only six volumes published in the short-lived series. They were:
# ''...5806 Dinosaurs''
# ''...5807 Water''
# ''...5808 The Dawn of Man''
# ''...5809 Man in Flight''
# ''...5810 Man and Missiles''
# ''...5811 Pine, Man and Ax''Stephens, Bernice ''Pine, Man and Ax''. Illustrated by Geoffrey Biggs. Saalfield Publishing Company, 1962.
See also
*
History of the Encyclopædia Britannica
The '' Encyclopædia Britannica'' has been published continuously since 1768, appearing in fifteen official editions. Several editions have been amended with multi-volume "supplements" (3rd, 5th/6th), consisted of previous editions with added sup ...
*
How and Why Wonder Books How and Why Wonder Books were a series of illustrated American books published in the 1960s and 1970s that was designed to teach science and history to children and young teenagers. The series began in 1960, and was edited under the supervision of D ...