Richard Rogers Bowker (September 4, 1848 – November 12, 1933) was an American journalist and businessman who was an editor ofPublishers Weekly andHarper's Magazine, and a founder of theR. R. Bowker Company.[1][2]
Richard Rogers Bowker was born inSalem, Massachusetts, on September 4, 1848, to a successful, educated family.
His paternal grandfather, Joel Bowker (1775–1858) rose from a grocery clerk to a leading merchant and part owner of sailing vessels.[3]Bowker Place inSalem is named after Joel Bowker.
His mother, Theresa Maria Bowker(née Savory; 1825–1906), was the daughter of Richard Savory (1781–1841), who owned a largecooperage in Salem.[3] His father, Daniel Rogers Bowker (1820–1895), was a partner in a prestigious business enterprise involving the sale of coal and salt in Salem until thefinancial panic in 1857, coupled with the death of the leading partner in the business, caused the business to fail.[3]
The family moved toNew York City, where Bowker's father started a barrel-making business.[3] The business never prospered, so the family never regained the affluence it had enjoyed. The plan for Bowker to attendHarvard University had to be scrapped. He attended the Free School in 1863 and entered theCity College of New York in 1866.
At City College, he founded, edited, managed and publishedThe Collegian, one of the first college newspapers in the country. He was an organizer and member of the student senate. Bowker was instrumental in establishing a chapter ofPhi Beta Kappa at the college, but wasblackballed from membership by the school's president for his "radical" activities in student government and the student newspaper.[4] Years later the injustice was corrected. In 1868, he graduated with aB.A. in journalism.[4]
In 1879, as a City College student, he was a leading member of the independent Republican Movement, also known as the "Mugwump" movement in national politics. In 1880 the Mugwumps helped defeat the nomination ofUlysses Grant for a third term because of the scandals during his administrations.
In 1880, he founded the Society for Political Education[5] to inform the public on social and political issues.[3] He was aliberal Republican who played a leading role in enacting of civil service and municipal reforms in New York in the 1880s and in 1880 wrote the civil service reform plank that was adopted in the national Republican platform.[3]
After graduation Bowker began his successful career in journalism at the newly establishedNew York Evening Mail where he was city editor and literary editor from 1868 to 1874. From 1875 to 1878 he wrote a column for theNew York Tribune and became manager ofThe New York Times in 1896. Between 1880 and 1882 he lived in London and managed the British edition ofHarper's Magazine.
In addition to journalism, he also became involved in publishing andbook sales. He assisted in organizing the first American Book Trade Show and was hired by prestigious London and New York publishers as their representatives at various times.[3] In 1872 Bowker and his friend and mentor,Frederick Leypoldt, began publishing thePublishers Weekly (thenThe Publishers' Weekly), which became the most important book-trade journal in America. Bowker served as an owner and editor of the publication for 50 years.
In May 1876, Bowker, Leypoldt, andMelvil Dewey met in New York City to discuss the development of libraries. At the time the country had 3,647 libraries with 300 or more books.[3]
The number of books in these libraries totaled 12,276,964.[3] The libraries operated on asubscription basis with no access to shelves and no children's sections. No uniform system for classifying books existed. Libraries were shifting from bound-volume catalogues to hand-written catalogue cards of varied sizes. At the meeting the three men agreed to establish a library profession, to publish a library journal and to organize a national library association.[6]
In September 1876, Leypoldt and Bowker published volume one of theLibrary Journal. Melvil Dewey was the managing editor of the journal. They organized theAmerican Library Association in October 1876.[7]The organization would be used as a model for many European countries. After a few years, Dewey left the publication for financial and personal reasons. Bowker remained the heart and soul of the publication for many years despite its lack of financial success. He not only wrote regular editorials, but also numerous essays on library history, organization and management for the publication.[8][9][10]
In March 1884, Leypoldt died. Despite the fact that Leypoldt's bibliography project had been a time-consuming, financial loss, Bowker, a chairman of the Committee on Public Documents of the American Library Association,[11][12] took on the responsibility for theAmerican Catalogue.[13] an index of all books published in the United States. He added three new features:United States government documents, publications of American literary, scientific and other societies, and state government publications. During the next fifteen years, he published a revised edition of the catalogue every five years.
Bowker was instrumental in efforts to haveHerbert Putnam appointedLibrarian of Congress. The magnificent record of the nation's foremost library during the following decades was in no small measure due to Putnam's admirable leadership, and Bowker could take just pride in the part he played in bringing this about," McClung Fleming wrote in 1952.[14]
More than once, he was asked to be president of theAmerican Library Association. But he declined because he thought it would be inappropriate, since he was not a librarian. He was a member of the Association's Council from 1898–1902; 1907–1923 and 1929–1933. He regularly attended association conferences.[15] He was recognized withAmerican Library Association Honorary Membership in 1933, an award conferred on an individual whose contribution to librarianship is so outstanding that it is of lasting importance to the advancement of the whole field of library service.[16][3]
In 1885, Bowker helped organize and was the first president of the New York Library Club.[17] He served as a trustee for theBrooklyn Public Library from its incorporation in 1902 until his death and gave most of his personal library to it. For 24 years, he served as president of the Stockbridge Library Association inMassachusetts.[4] He donated ten thousand dollars to theLibrary of Congress for bibliographical services.[3] It was written of Bowker that, "few in the library world had wider acquaintance, few had more lasting friendships, few were more generous in recognition of new talent, few more cherishing of old memories."[18] All of this and more earned Bowker a spot as one of the “100…most important leaders we had in the 20th century.”[19]
On January 1, 1902, Bowker married Alice G. Mitchell (1864–1941) inBrookline, Massachusetts. Alice's mother, Zilpha Maria Mitchell(née Morton; 1834–1888) was afirst cousin ofLevi Parsons Morton (1824–1920),[a]22ndVice President of the United States (1889–1893) and31stGovernor of New York (1895–1897).
Author: Bowker, R. R. 1848–1933.; Rogers, Bruce, Publication: Boston : Houghton, Mifflin and Co.; Cambridge : Riverside Press, 1900
Author: Bowker, R. R. 1848–1933. Publication: New York, Society for Political Education, 1883
Author: Pylodet, L. (anagram for Leypoldt); Bowker, R. R. Publication: New York : P. Smith, 1941, 1881
Author: Bowker, R. R. 1848–1933. Publication: New York? : s.n., 1895
Author: Bowker, R. R. 1848–1933. Publication: Buffalo, N.Y. : W.S. Hein, 2002, 1912
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