Old Corner Bookstore 1850
Courtesy of Cornell University Library
Nineteenth Century Periodicals Collection

William Davis Ticknor

William D. Ticknor established a publishing business in 1832 and occupied the Old Corner Bookstore located on Washington and School Streets in Boston, Massachusetts. His partners included John Reed and James T. Fields.

In the spring of 1864, Ticknor died unexpectedly and his son Howard M. Ticknor joined the business to carry on his father's work as Ticknor and Fields. The name Ticknor and Fields was well known in the publishing industry for its publications and authors. Dickens, Longfellow, Holmes, Stowe, Hawthorne, Emerson, and Thoreau were a few of the individuals whose writings were published by Ticknor and Fields.

 

In 1867 the business was moved from the Old Corner Bookstore to No. 124 Tremont Street in Boston. Magazines were also acquired and added to its publishing list. These included the Atlantic Monthly, Our Young Folks, and the North American Review.

During its great publishing years the firm went by many names; Ticknor and Fields, Fields, Osgood & Co., and James R. Osgood & Co. In 1878 the houses of Hurd and Houghton and James R. Osgood & Company merged together and became Houghton, Osgood & Company. James Osgood retired in 1880 and the company became known as Houghton Mifflin & Company.

No. 124 Tremont Street
Courtesy of Cornell University Library
Nineteenth Century Periodicals Collection
The House of Ticknor. [The Bay State monthly.
/Volume 3, Issue 4, September 1885]

Henry Oscar Houghton
1823-1895
Courtesy of Cornell University Library
Nineteenth Century Periodicals Collection
Henry Oscar Houghton, Publisher. [The New England magazine. / Volume 19, Issue 2, Oct 1895]

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Children's Books of the Year 1865
Courtesy of Cornell University Library
Nineteenth Century Periodicals Collection
Children's Books of the Year. [The North American review. / Volume 102, Issue 210, Jan 1866]

Henry Oscar Houghton

Henry Oscar Houghton was born in Sutton, Vermont April 30, 1823. He became a printer's apprentice at the age of thirteen in the office of the Burlington Free Press. This served him well when he went off to college with no means of support except his printing skills. He was still in debt after college, but had the opportunity to purchase an established printing office in Cambridge, Massachusetts if he could raise $1,500. That was a very large sum of money in 1849. To his credit, he was able to find three individuals who gave $500 each. He began the Riverside Press on the banks of the Charles River in Cambridge. The firm was called H. O. Houghton & Company.

Up to this point American books had been printed on poor paper with poor ink. He was determined to improve the quality and adopted the saying, "Do it well or not at all."

He joined with Melancthon M. Hurd to publish books under the name of Hurd & Houghton in 1864. During this time period, he had a desk in the Old Corner Bookstore where he transacted business with publishers.

As noted above Hurd and Houghton merged with James R. Osgood & Company (Ticknor and Fields) and soon became known as Houghton & Mifflin Company. George H. Mifflin was connected with the Riverside Press and became a partner fater Osgood retired.

Houghton died on August 25, 1895 leaving a publishing business that continues today.