The Mosher Press
Thomas Bird Mosher | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1852 Biddeford, Maine, U.S. |
| Died | 1923 |
| Occupation | Publisher |
| Years active | 1891–1923 |
| Known for | Contributions to the U.S. private press movement; championing British Pre-Raphaelite and Victorian literary figures |
Thomas Bird Mosher (1852–1923) was an American publisher operating out of Portland, Maine, recognized for his significant contributions to the U.S. private press movement and for championing British Pre-Raphaelite, Aesthetic, and other Victorian literary figures. His approach to book design drew inspiration from notable publishers such as William Pickering, the Whittinghams, the Bodley Head, the Daniel Press, the Eragny Press, and Charles Ricketts associated with the Vale Press.
Early life
Born in Biddeford, Maine to Mary Elizabeth Merrill and Benjamin Mosher—a merchant ship captain engaged in the Old China Trade—Mosher’s formal education concluded by age 12 at Quincy Grammar School in Boston, Massachusetts. His early exposure to literature was nurtured through voyages with his father, including a notable 1866 journey around Cape Horn.
By 1870, Mosher had returned to Maine and briefly attended Phillips Exeter Academy. During this period, he secretly married Ellen S. "Ellie" Dresser; their families later arranged a public ceremony in 1871. Subsequently, Mosher left home and held various positions across Portland, Maine, St. Louis, New York City, and Philadelphia, working in bookshops, selling printing equipment, and at his wife’s uncle Aurin Dresser’s stationery company.
From 1879 to 1889, Mosher endured several personal setbacks including separation from his wife, the deaths of Aurin Dresser and his father, and the collapse of McClellan, Mosher and Company. Following these events, he founded a wholesale stationery manufacturing enterprise that provided a reliable source of income.
Publishing
Mosher began his publishing endeavors in 1891 by issuing George Meredith’s poem Modern Love without obtaining authorization. This was followed by James Thomson's The City of Dreadful Night in 1892 and his inaugural anthology Songs of Adieu in 1893. By 1895, after releasing 16 titles including founding The Bibelot, Mosher divested his stationery business to devote himself entirely to publishing.
In 1892, Mosher entered into a second marriage with Anna M. Littlefield.
By the time of his death in 1923, Mosher had produced a total of 384 titles complemented by 338 reprints and 61 privately printed editions—amounting to 783 volumes published within fourteen limited-edition series. His list included distinguished authors such as William Morris, Oscar Wilde, Fiona Macleod (William Sharp), Robert Louis Stevenson, Algernon Charles Swinburne, Walter Pater, Dante Gabriel Rossetti, Vernon Lee (Violet Paget), Edward FitzGerald, Walt Whitman, George Meredith, Elizabeth Barrett Browning, Robert Browning, Matthew Arnold, Francis Thompson, Marcel Schwob, Ernest Dowson, John Ruskin, William Butler Yeats, among others.