Dating American Tract Society Publications Through 1876 from External Evidences

The New England Religious Tract Society (also known as the New England Tract Society) was organized May 23, 1814 and incorporated in June 1816. The name was changed by an act of the Massachusetts legislature in June 1823 to "American Tract Society." In 1825 the Boston-based American Tract Society merged with the New-York Religious Tract Society to form a new organization, which called itself The American Tract Society. The American Tract Society (Boston, Mass.) became the New England Branch of the New York American Tract Society, while maintaining its autonomy.

In 1859 a major break occurred between the two American Tract Societies, due to a difference of opinion over the issue of whether or not to publish tracts which concerned "the sin of slavery." The American Tract Society (Boston, Mass.) continued to publish and distribute tracts under the name "American Tract Society." The New York-based American Tract Society promptly (1859) opened a New England Branch in Boston; they also operated major branches in Rochester, N.Y.; Cincinnati, Ohio; and Chicago, Ill., and secondary New York city branch. (It would be impossible to list all of the cities which contained ATS branches-some cities contained more than one). The American Tract Society (Boston, Mass.) maintained major branches in New York City and in Chicago, Ill. as well as in other cities across the United States.

The two societies rejoined briefly in 1868, under a "harmonious agreement" which allowed the Boston ATS to operate in New York and vice versa, but re-separated in 1869. In 1878 they rejoined once more, with the American Tract Society (Boston, Mass.) again becoming the New England Branch of the New York-based American Tract Society, while maintaining its autonomy. (1)

The following are tables of addresses for the various locations of the American Tract Society. (2)

Addresses and Locations

The New England Religious Tract Society and the American Tract Society (Boston, Mass.)

Andover, Mass.

Boston, Mass.

Chicago Branch of the [Boston, Mass.] American Tract Society

*Based on directory listings of Rev. Peabody as director of the American Tract Society (Boston, Mass.)

New York City branch of the [Boston, Mass.] American Tract Society

The American Tract Society ⁽⁷⁾

New York (Main Branch)

A variant (possibly a typographical error) appears in the 1839 New York city directory, which shows the address as 152 Nassau St. The American Tract Society used the imprint "150 Nassau-Street, near the city-hall" from about 1832 to about 1838. (9)

A new typeface was introduced in 1847 or 1848 which was taller and more delicate. (10)
The format of the imprint seems to also have changed at this time. (11)

As a general rule, if the imprint appears in the form PUBLISHED BY/ THE AMERICAN TRACT SOCIETY,/ 150 Nassau-street, New-York, it is printed in the old typeface.

If the imprint appears as PUBLISHED BY THE/ AMERICAN TRACT SOCIETY,/ 150 NASSAU-STREET, NEW YORK, it is printed in the new typeface.

New York (Auxiliary branch)

Philadelphia, Pa.

Rochester, N.Y.

Cincinnati, Ohio

Chicago, Ill.

*Based on directory listings of Rev. Glen Wood as director of the American Tract Society

Boston, Mass. (American Tract Society. New England Branch)

New York City booksellers, printers, stereotypers, and binders associated with the American Tract Society

Booksellers

John P. Haven

Printers

Daniel Fanshaw was the first printer for the American Tract Society. He was dismissed in 1846.

Egbert, Hovey & King

Became Egbert & King in 1850

Hurd & Houghton (Melancthon Hurd and H.O. Houghton)

Edward O. Jenkins

John D. Flagg

Stereotypers

Thomas B. Smith & Son

Thomas B. Smith

Binders

Samuel B. Thompson

Boston and Cambridge, Mass. printers associated with the American Tract Society

Bannister & Marvin - 1824
32 Congress St.

Bolles & Houghton (Remington Press) - 1848-1851

Houghton & Hayward (Riverside Press) - 1852

H.O. Houghton & Co. (Riverside Press) - 1853-1876

Theophilus R. Marvin ⁽¹⁵⁾

Theophilus R. Marvin & Son ⁽¹⁶⁾

Perkins & Marvin

George C. Rand & Co.

Albert J. Wright

Wright's press was called Well Spring Press [1848-1861]

Some illustrators, artists and engravers whose work appeared in American Tract Society publications (18)

• Bobbett & Hooper; active in New York 1855-1870; listed from 1868-1870 as chromolithographers
• J. Augustus Bogert (b. ca. 1831); active in New York 1850-1881
• Robert S. Bross; active in New York 1856-1860
• James Brown; active in New York 1844-1858; in St. Louis in 1859
• Bross & Bogert; active in New York 1856-1857
• Robert Hinshelwood (b. 1812); emigrated to America c. 1835
• Jocelyns (firm); established in New York 1834; dissolved 1843
• Samuel Finley Breese Morse (1791-1872)
• New York Lithograph and Engraving Company; first listed in New York directories in 1868
• Johannes Adam Simon Oertel (1823-1909); emigrated to America in 1848
• William J. Pierce; active in Boston 1851-1870
• Richardson and Cox; active in New York 1853-1859
• Robert Roberts (b. ca. 1821); active in New York 1841-1850
• Nathaniel Rudd; active in Boston 1857-1860 and later
• John M. Stafford; active in New York 1847-1848
   

© 2001 by S.J. Wolfe

Endnotes

1. The information about the mergers and machinations of the various American Tract Societies was taken from annual reports of the American Tract Society; A Brief History of the American Tract Society, Instituted at Boston, 1814, and its Relation to the American Tract Society at New York, Instituted 1825. (Boston: T.R. Marvin, 1857); Lawrence Thompson "The
Printing and Publishing Activities of the American Tract Society From 1825 to 1850" in The Papers of the Bibliographical Society of America 35 (1941), 81-114; correspondence with Kristen Mitrisin, archivist of the American Tract Society (Garland, Texas) and The National Union Catalog Pre-1956 Imprints (London: Mansell, 1968).

2. Addresses were compiled from city directories at the American Antiquarian Society, the Boston Public Library and other libraries, from imprints at the American Antiquarian Society, and from notes in the American Antiquarian Society's manuscript printer's file.

3. Theophilus Rogers Marvin was one of the printers for the ATS in Boston. The Congress Street addresses reflect his address as the printer, which is what appears in the imprint statements. According to A Brief History of the American Tract Society, Instituted at Boston, 1814 and its Relations to the American Tract Society at New York, Instituted 1825 (Boston : Press of T.R. Marvin, 1857), once the American Tract Soceiety was formed at New York "the general depository was removed from Andover to Boston, and was located in the basement of the stone church, Hanover Street, August 1826 ... January 31, 1830 the depository was destoyed by fire ... It was immediately located more advantageously than before, at no. 5 Cornhill, and in June, 1838, was removed from that place to the building at present occupied by the Society."

4. T.R. Marvin was also a partner in a bookselling business as Perkins and Marvin, and their address was 114 Washington St. from 1832-1840.

5. 1876 was the chosen cut-off date for the American Antiquarian Society collections, and so this is the last date checked for ATS activities. The angle brackets indicate that this date might possibly be extended as a result of researching directories past 1876.

6. Not found in directories after this date.

7. The branch addresses are for cities whose directories listed the ATS. New Orleans and Charleston, S.C. sometimes appear in imprints but my searching of the city directories, ATS annual reports and ATS Library archives did not turn up street addresses for the ATS in those cities. There were literally HUNDREDS of depositories and it would be impossible to list them all and their addresses.

8. Most printed sources state that the street address changed in 1833. However, the American Tract Magazine 7:7 (July 1832) has the 150 Nassau Street Address in the imprint.

9. Based on tracts catalogued by the North American Imprints Project at the American Antiquarian Society.

10. Lawrence Thompson "The Printing and Publishing activities of the American Tract Society from 1825 to 1850" in The Papers of the Bibliographical Society of America 35 (1941), 92. Thompson gives the date as 1848. However, the twenty-third annual report of the ATS (1848) states on p. 21 "The experience of another year has very satisfactorily confirmed the unanimous judgment of the committee which led to the reconstruction of the Society's house, and the procuring of adequate machinery for doing the printing, under the direction of capable men, on the Society's premises. The style of the Society's printing at the present time, and especially the very neat manner in which it is now enabled to issue works illustrated with engravings, appears to have given universal satisfaction ... " Daniel Fanshaw's obituary, on p. 17 of the annual report for 1860, states that he "was the Society's printer for twenty-two years, from its formation till 1847 when its present building was erected, since which it has done its own printing." Jane Pomeroy, who is working on a complete catalogue of the works of Alexander Anderson, argues for an even earlier date of 1846. Anderson engraved a great many illustrations for the ATS and Pomeroy's research shows experimentation with different typefaces as early as 1846 (which is the date given by Thompson for the dismissal of Daniel Fanshaw as the ATS printer, which is disputed in Fanshaw's obituary.) It is quite likely that the changeover occurred during 1847 and 1848 as old stocks of tracts were used up and new ones printed on the Society's own presses with different types that those which Fanshaw used.

11. Based on observations made comparing the old and new typefaces on various ATS imprints.

12. Not listed in directories after this year.

13. According to Kristin Mitrisin, archivist of the ATS, the Society opened a new branch in Boston, at 104 Washington Street, in October of 1868.

14. L. Thompson, 113. Fanshaw's obituary appears on p. 17 in the ATS annual report for 1860, and states that Fanshaw served as the printer for "twenty-two years, from its formation till 1847 when the present building was erected, since which it has done its own printing."

15. Also as Bannister & Marvin, 1824 and Perkins & Marvin, 1828-1833, and 1836-1841 and as Perkins, Marvin & Co., 1834-1835. Became Theophilus Rogers and Son in 1855.

16. There are some imprints during this tenure which just state "Press of T.R. Marvin" and which list a 42 Congress St. address.

17. Dates are incomplete or uncertain due to the firm not being listed in some directories which were consulted.

18. Activity dates for illustrators and engravers are taken from George C. Groce and David H. Wallace New-York Historical Society Dictionary of Artists in America, 1564-1860  New York: New Haven: Yale University Press, 1957. Of course the earliest and most prolific engraver for the American Tract Society was Alexander Anderson. According to Jane Pomeroy, whose work was mentioned earlier in the discussion of the date of typeface change, Anderson produced over 700 cuts for the ATS and his work continued to be used long after his personal activity with the ATS had ended.