James R. Osgood | |
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| Born | James Ripley Osgood (1836-02-22)February 22, 1836 Fryeburg, Maine, US |
| Died | May 18, 1892(1892-05-18) (aged 56) London, England |
| Burial place | Kensal Green Cemetery |
| Education | Bowdoin College |
| Occupation | Publisher |
James Ripley Osgood (1836–1892) was an American publisher in Boston. He was involved with the publishing company that becameHoughton Mifflin.
James Ripley Osgood was born inFryeburg, Maine, on February 22, 1836. A reputed child prodigy, he knewLatin at the age of three and entered college at 12 years of age. He studied atBowdoin College inMaine, graduatingPhi Beta Kappa in 1854.[1] While there, he was a member of the Peucinian Society among others.[2]
He entered the publishing trade as a clerk in the Boston firmTicknor and Fields and, by 1864, became a partner.[citation needed] It was reorganized in 1868 as Fields, Osgood, and Company. In 1869, the firm published abolitionist writerHarriet Beecher-Stowe's comedy-drama novel,Oldtown Folks.[3]
The firm inheritedThe Atlantic Monthly, as did James R. Osgood and Company, the firm created by Osgood and two remaining partners after Fields retired on New Year's Day 1871. In an 1877 advertisement, James R. Osgood and Company are listed as the publishers of the weeklyThe American Architect and Building News, with the location listed asWinthrop Square (220 Devonshire Street).[4]
Successful book publications by Osgood & Co. includedBret Harte'sThe Luck of Roaring Camp and Other Stories, followed by a volume of Harte's poems and another of "condensed novels". Osgood advanced Bret Harte $10,000 for future work, but Harte never wrote another story. In 1875, Osgood publishedBlanche Willis Howard'sOne Summer, which became a best-selling novel.
In 1872 and 1877, Osgood & Co. brought outHenry Wilson's three-volume account of theCivil War,The History of the Rise and Fall of the Slave Power in America. Also in 1877 the firm sold theNorth American Review and published an edition ofEdward FitzGerald'sRubaiyat of Omar Khayyam.
In 1878 the firm dissolved, and Osgood joined forces withHenry Oscar Houghton to form the short-lived Houghton, Osgood & Company. The firm's most successful book wasWilliam Dean Howells'The Lady of the Aroostook. In 1880 this firm became the New York branch ofHoughton, Mifflin and Company. Osgood remained in Boston, where he founded a second publisher named James R. Osgood and Company.
The second Osgood company published an edition ofWalt Whitman'sLeaves of Grass in 1881 that was attacked by the Boston district attorneyOliver Stevens as "obscene literature".[5] Osgood gave in to criticism and refused to bring out another edition, forcing Whitman to find another publisher.
By this time Osgood had befriended Samuel L. Clemens, whose pen name was "Mark Twain". In 1882 the company published Twain'sThe Prince and the Pauper andThe Stolen White Elephant. That same year, Osgood accompanied Clemens on a riverboat trip collecting material forLife on the Mississippi, which was published by Osgood in 1883.
Osgood's firm was reportedly one of the most successful in Boston. However, in 1885 the company went bankrupt. Osgood's young partners, Thomas and Benjamin Ticknor, found a third partner and started a new firm. Osgood went to work forHarper's Magazine. In 1891 Osgood went into business again, with the magazine's permission, in partnership in London with Clarence McIlvaine as James R. Osgood, McIlvaine and Company. The firm had its greatest success withThomas Hardy'sTess of the D'Urbervilles; Osgood saw its initial three volume publication in 1891, but died in London[6] May 18, 1892,[7] before its publication as a single volume later that year.[8] He is buried inKensal Green Cemetery, Kensington, England.[9][10]
A fictionalized Osgood played a key role inMatthew Pearl's 2009 historical thrillerThe Last Dickens.[11]
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