William Davis Ticknor I (August 6, 1810 – April 10, 1864) was an American publisher in Boston, Massachusetts, USA, and a founder of the publishing house Ticknor and Fields.

Life and work

William Davis Ticknor was born on August 6, 1810, on the outskirts of Lebanon, New Hampshire, the oldest boy of nine brothers and sisters. His parents, William and Betsey (Ellis) Ticknor, were prosperous farmers. His cousin was the famous writer and historian George Ticknor. As a boy, Ticknor worked on the family farm during the summers and attended the district school during the winters. In 1827 at age seventeen he left home and went to Boston. He was first employed in the brokerage house of his uncle Benjamin. When his uncle died a few years later he was offered a position at the Columbian Bank, a position he held for a year or two. In 1832 he went into partnership with John Allen forming the publishing house of Allen and Ticknor which operated out of the Old Corner Bookstore. The following year Allen withdrew and Ticknor carried on the house under the name William D. Ticknor and Company, which would remain the legal name of the firm until his death. In 1837 he published the national monthly '' American Magazine of Useful and Entertaining Knowledge''. On December 25, 1832, he married Emeline Staniford Holt. They had seven children together; only five survived into adulthood. Their three sons Howard Malcom, Benjamin Holt and Thomas Baldwin Ticknor all graduated from

Harvard Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

and entered into their father's firm. During the Civil War, Benjamin Holt Ticknor enlisted in the Forty-Fifth Regiment of Massachusetts Volunteers and was commissioned as second lieutenant of Company G until May 1863. He was commissioned as second lieutenant in the Second Massachusetts Heavy Artillery. He was later commissioned as captain of Company E and was in command of the recruiting camp at Readville, Massachusetts. He resigned from service shortly after his father's death. In 1845 the imprint of the firm was changed to Ticknor, Reed and Fields, after John Reed and

James T. Fields James Thomas Fields (December 31, 1817 – April 24, 1881) was an American publisher, editor, and poet. His business, Ticknor and Fields, was a notable publishing house in 19th century Boston. Biography Early life and family He was born in ...

were admitted as partners. It continued under this imprint until 1854 when John Reed withdrew and the name was changed to the well-known Ticknor and Fields. With the widely varying but well matched talents of the two partners, Ticknor and Fields grew to become one of the leading publishing houses in the 19th century. Ticknor was the first American publisher to pay foreign authors for the rights to their works, beginning with a check to Alfred Tennyson in 1842. From the Old Corner Book Store, Ticknor and Fields published the works of

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, Charles Dickens, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Oliver Wendell Holmes, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, James Russell Lowell,

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, Tennyson,

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, and

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. The firm also published the ''

Atlantic Monthly ''The Atlantic'' is an American magazine and multi-platform publisher. It features articles in the fields of politics, foreign affairs, business and the economy, culture and the arts, technology, and science. It was founded in 1857 in Boston, ...

'', ''Our Young Folks'', and the '' North American Review''. During his life Ticknor was very involved with the Baptist church. He was a director of the Boston Lyceum, treasurer of the American Institute of Instruction, a trustee of the Perkins Institute, and a leading member of the School Committee. He was also a resident member of the

New England Historic Genealogical Society The New England Historic Genealogical Society (NEHGS) is the oldest and largest genealogical society in the United States, founded in 1845. NEHGS provides family history services through its staff, original scholarship, website,The Scarlet Letter'', Ticknor became a close friend and advisor to Hawthorne.

Death

In the spring of 1864 Hawthorne's health was failing. Both Ticknor and Sophia Hawthorne insisted on a restorative health trip. During their trip, Ticknor's health suddenly failed. He caught what he assumed was a cold before leaving Boston, and Hawthorne later wrote home that his friend had eaten bad oysters. By the time they reached New York, his illness was determined to be pneumonia. Wineapple, Brenda. ''Hawthorne: A Life''. New York: Random House, 2003: 371. Ticknor was more concerned about Hawthorne, writing to Sophia, "You will be glad to hear that your patient continues to improve." In Philadelphia, the duo visited

Fairmount Park Fairmount Park is the largest municipal park in Philadelphia and the historic name for a group of parks located throughout the city. Fairmount Park consists of two park sections named East Park and West Park, divided by the Schuylkill River, with ...

and Ticknor offered Hawthorne his jacket for warmth before they returned to the Continental Hotel. Hawthorne wrote to Fields that "our friend Ticknor is suffering under a billious attack... He had previously seemed uncomfortable, but not to an alarming degree." A physician offered various medicines, but Ticknor died on the morning of April 10, 1864. George William Childs arrived shortly after and accompanied the distraught and grieving Hawthorne back to Boston.Wineapple, Brenda. ''Hawthorne: A Life''. New York: Random House, 2003: 372. The sudden loss of Ticknor was devastating to the already failing health of Hawthorne, who died about a month later on May 19. Ticknor was buried at

Mount Auburn Cemetery Mount Auburn Cemetery is the first rural cemetery, rural, or garden, cemetery in the United States, located on the line between Cambridge, Massachusetts, Cambridge and Watertown, Massachusetts, Watertown in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, Middl ...

; the distinguished of both literary and business circles came to pay their final tribute.

References

External links

*
American National Biography Online
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ticknor, William 1810 births 1864 deaths American book publishers (people) Businesspeople from Boston Burials at Mount Auburn Cemetery 19th-century American businesspeople

Life and work

Death

References

Further reading

External links