Lee & Shepard
| Company type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Publishing, Bookselling |
| Founded | 1862 |
| Founder | William Lee, Charles Augustus Billings Shepard |
| Defunct | 1905 |
| Fate | Merged with the Lothrop Company to form Lothrop, Lee & Shepard |
| Headquarters | Boston , United States |
| Products | Books, Publishing |
Lee & Shepard operated as a publishing and bookselling enterprise based in Boston from 1862 until 1905. It was established by William Lee (1826–1906) alongside Charles Augustus Billings Shepard (1829–1889). Prior to this partnership, Shepard managed Shepard, Clark & Co. during the 1850s. The company was responsible for releasing works by prominent writers such as George Melville Baker, Sophie May, Henry Morgan, Oliver Optic, William Carey Richards, Francis Henry Underwood, Madeline Leslie, and Levina Buoncuore Urbino. Their business locations included 149 Washington Street around 1872, the intersection of Franklin and Hawley Streets between 1873 and 1885, and approximately 1885, they operated near the Old South Meeting House at 10 Milk Street.
Among the firm’s initial publications was the diary of Adam Gurowski, which received attention in an 1862 critique by the New York Evening Post for its keen humor and perceptive observations.
In 1905, Lee & Shepard combined forces with the Lothrop Company to create Lothrop, Lee & Shepard. This merged entity was eventually purchased by William Morrow and Company, which itself became part of HarperCollins in 1999. Post-acquisition, Lothrop’s children’s division was discontinued, and today Lothrop functions as an imprint under HarperCollins.
Published by the firm
- Adam Gurowski. Diary from March 4, 1861 to November 12, 1862. 1862.
- My teacher's gem. 1863. Engraving by Kilburn.
- Charles R. Baker (of the Dorchester Nurseries). Practical and scientific fruit culture. 1866. (Includes illustrations partially sourced from Gardeners' Chronicle, 1847)
- Sophie May. Cousin Grace. 1866. Engraving by N. Brown.
- Henry Morgan. Ned Nevins: the news boy, or, Street life in Boston. Boston: Lee & Shepard, 1867.
- John Townsend Trowbridge. Neighbor's wives. 1867
- John Frost. Life of Daniel Webster: the statesman and the patriot. 1868.
- Oliver Optic. Our standard-bearer: or, the life of General Ulysses S. Grant. 1868. Illustrated by Thomas Nast.
- John Bunyon. Pilgrim's Progress (1871)
- Our Boys and Girls. v.11-12 (1872).
- Adeline Trafton. An American Girl Abroad (1872)
- Eleanor W. Talbot. My lady's casket of jewels and flowers for her adorning. 1885. Features color plates.
- Oliver Optic's Magazine. v.17-18 (1875).
- Irene E. Jerome. One Year's Sketch Book. 1885.
- Harriet Stewart Miner. Orchids: the Royal Family of Plants. 1885
- Irving Bacheller (1900) Eben Holden, A Tale of the North Country (a Lothrop publication)
- John Townsend Trowbridge. The Little Master. 1887
- Oliver Optic. Poor and Proud (1872)
- Madame Eugénie Foa. The Boy Life of Napoleon: Afterwards Emperor of the French [1] (1895).
- Laurence Gronlund. The Co-operative Commonwealth: An Exposition of Socialism (1900)
- Edith Thacher Hurd, illustrated by Clement Hurd. Engine Engine No. 9 (1940)
- Mrs. Partington's Mother Goose's Melodies, Edited by Uncle Willis (1889).
External links
- WorldCat. Lee and Shepard
- American Antiquarian Society. Lee and Shepard company archives, 1860s-1906.
- Publishing firms founded in 1862
- Boston Financial District
- 19th-century Boston
- Boston-based companies
- Former U.S. book publishers
- Boston cultural history
- Massachusetts book publishers
- Publishing firms closed in 1905
- Defunct Massachusetts businesses
- Massachusetts establishments in 1862
- Massachusetts closures in 1905
- Publishing companies disestablished in 1905