Charles Scribner I: Laying Down the Foundation of Legacy for Ages

Charles Scribner I was an American publisher who co-founded a publishing company with his friend Isaac D. Baker. This company was later known as Charles Scribner’s Sons. Scribner was born on February 21, 1821 in New York City. He studied at the New York University for one year, after which he moved to Princeton University where he earned his bachelors degree in 1840. He proceeded to take law but was forced out of the university to Europe because of a sickness.

In 1846, Scribner returned from Europe to become Baker’s partner in founding the new publishing company Baker and Scribner. Unlike traditional publishing companies which are outgrowths of book sellers and printing companies, Baker and Scribner is purely a publishing company. Its publications are focused on the works of contemporary writers. Following the death of Baker in 1850, the company became solely under the control of Scribner and renamed it Charles Scribner and Co.

For the first time, Charles Scribner and Co. ventured into the publication of magazines in 1865. Its first monthly issue was the Hours at Home. In 1870, Scribner merged Hours at Home with the Scribner’s Monthly. When Scribner died in 1871, the surviving partners renamed the company as Scribner, Armstrong and Co. Later, his sons renamed the company again as Charles Scribner’s Sons.