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AMERICAN PUBLISHERS OF INDECENT BOOKS, 1840-1890 A Dissertation Presented to The Academic Faculty by Elizabeth Haven Hawley In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy in the School of History, Technology, and Society Georgia Institute of Technology December 2005 COPYRIGHT 2005 BY ELIZABETH HAVEN HAWLEY AMERICAN PUBLISHERS OF INDECENT BOOKS, 1840-1890 Approved by: Dr. Andrea Tone, Advisor Dr. Gregory Nobles McGill University School of History, Technology, & Society Georgia Institute of Technology Dr. August Giebelhaus Dr. Steve Usselman School of History, Technology, & Society School of History, Technology, & Georgia Institute of Technology Society Georgia Institute of Technology Dr. Helen Lefkowitz Horowitz Smith College Date Approved: November 22, 2005 To Ruth, Who Waited ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I learned the place of blind luck in shaping one’s academic possibilities at a conference in Charlottesville, Virginia. I had just begun graduate school, and the world of academia was an exhilarating change from my previous job in printing production. Studying the history of technology allowed me to stay within a field that I loved, but at enough of a remove to avoid the uncertainty of being in an industry in which new technologies and competitors seemed to appear each day. At that conference of the Society for the History of Technology, I had the good fortune to talk with Bill Pretzer, who urged me to visit the University of Virginia campus to meet up with a group of printing historians. In the basement of the library, I found myself in a room packed with books, printing equipment, refreshments, and members of the American Printing History Association meeting at Rare Book School, formerly known as the Book Arts Press. In that crowded room, I soon conversed with Terry Belanger and learned from others that I should become acquainted with Michael Winship. The unfortunate maxim that “Those who can, do, and those who can’t, teach” is as wrong-headed as the sophisticated isolation of many academics from the insights of the world of work. Through these two scholars and many others, I found the field of book history to be a home where my identity as an academic and as a craftsperson could be joined, and I am grateful to take a place behind them in the discipline. My years of coursework at Georgia Tech introduced me to a number of remarkable scholar-teachers. August Giebelhaus, Greg Nobles, Phil Scranton, Andrea Tone, Steve Usselman, and Steven Vallas have proven that great teaching derives from a iv passion to “get the story right” and to communicate it to others. Mary Frank Fox has exemplified the highest levels of scholarly commitment, allowing me to be part of her research teams and mentoring me from my first year in school to the present. I am grateful to these people, as well as to Homer Rice, whom I hold in high regard for his efforts to integrate sport and personal development into academic life. I am suspicious of solitary intellectual work. No researcher truly works in isolation. Good scholarship is shaped by communities that inform, challenge, and support a researcher, and I have been fortunate during my dissertation work to have been aided by many in my journey across disciplines. I have relied for advice, knowledge, and generosity from colleagues in American studies, English, history, and sociology; catalogers, conservators, museum curators, and special collections staff; and printers, book shop owners, and rare book collectors. A complete listing would stretch the length of the dissertation even further, and I hope that each of those who so kindly gave of their time and experience can know some measure of my appreciation. Printing museum and special collections staff members throughout North America made this dissertation possible by going beyond their daily work in making me familiar with their collections, tracking down answers to my research requests, and helping me to make the most of sometimes brief windows of opportunity for visiting a city. Others showed great patience over the lengthy course of my research as I came back again and again with additional call slips or questions by e-mail. I would like to thank staff members at numerous institutions, as well as trustees and supporters, for collecting, maintaining, and ensuring maximum access to reference materials and rare books critical to the completion of this dissertation. v Claire Sheridan of the Osborne Library at the American Textile History Museum kindly arranged a guided tour of her museum, and Rev. Donat R. Lamothe, d’Alzon Library at Assumption College, made sure that when I did walk through that blizzard in Worcester to see a single book, the doors were open and that book was available. William H. Loos (retired), of the Grosvenor Room at the Buffalo and Erie County Public Library patiently read materials to me by phone to verify the uniqueness of that institution’s holdings. Jane Siegel of the Graphic Arts Collection in the Rare Book and Manuscript Library at Columbia University provided encouragement to me during my first classes at Rare Book School, long before she had the opportunity to welcome me to the collection under her care. Christine Riggle and Laura Linard of the Historical Collections of the Baker Library at Harvard University, as well as staff of the Widener and Houghton libraries, and Liana Zhou of the Library and Special Collections at the Kinsey Institute for Research in Sex, Gender, and Reproduction helped me make the most of the few days rather than the many weeks that should have been spent at their institutions. Staff members of the Rare Books Department at the Boston Public Library; the Special Collections and Preservation Division at the Chicago Public Library; the Special Collections at the Cleveland Public Library; and the Manuscript, Archives, and Rare Book Library and the Pitts Theology Library at Emory University assisted me in viewing their holdings. I also thank those who helped me during my visits to the New York Public Library; Department of Special Collections at the University of California–Los Angeles; the University of Georgia libraries; Rare Book Collection of the Special Collections and Archives at Georgia State University; the Historical Society of Pennsylvania; and the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library at Yale University. vi For special attention to my interest in the physical properties of books, I am grateful for advice given by Alan Jutzi, Avery Chief Curator in the Rare Books Department at the Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens; Cindy Bowden of the Robert C. Williams Paper Museum at the Institute of Paper Science and Technology; and Gayle Cooper of the Albert and Shirley Small Special Collections Library at University of Virginia. Aloha South of the National Archives and Records Administration is herself a national treasure, and the depth of knowledge she shares with researchers has made possible more dissertations than mine. Many people gave me notable access to their holdings, including Kenneth Cobb of the New York Municipal Archives; John Brady of the Newberry Library; David Pankow of the Melbert B. Cary, Jr. Graphic Arts Collection at the Rochester Institute of Technology; Anthony Bliss, curator of Rare Books and Literary Manuscripts of the Bancroft Library at the University of California-Berkeley; and Marie Korey of the Robertson Davies Library at Massey College, University of Toronto. As part of its commitment to public history, the Museum of Sex created the remarkable exhibition “NYC Sex: How New York City Transformed Sex in America,” which was on display April 1-October 3, 2004 in New York City. That exhibition itself became a research event, as it gathered materials from the New-York Historical Society, New York Academy of Medicine, The Mutter Museum, and private lenders, as well as from institutions I had visited. The Library of Congress is a beautifully grand but sometimes intimidating institution. I developed a love for the nation’s library and made contacts that enriched me professionally and personally through my friendship with Cynthia J. Johanson. Cinder vii loved the library, the people who worked there, and those whom they served. Her death has left an empty space at the institution that will not be filled. The Rare Book and Special Collections Reading Room staff, including Mark Dimunation, Rosemary Fry Plakas, Clark Evans, and Gerry Wager, who sadly also has passed away, gave generously of their time to my project. John Y. Cole of The Center for the Book helped me to learn more about the library, as did manuscript staff overseeing the administrative archives. The American Antiquarian Society became the mainstay of my dissertation research. The collections of that institution are as broad and deep as the staff members are kind and generous. Georgia Barnhill, Meg Bocian, Nancy Burkett, Joanne Chaison, Babette Gehnrich, Vincent Golden, John Hench, Marie Lamoureux, Laura Oxley, Jennifer Racine, Caroline Sloat, and S.J. Wolfe contributed in untold ways to the advancement of my research, as well as to my happiness while a fellow. In narrowing the list to these few, I am stricken with guilt. Stan Nelson, retired from the Division of Graphic Arts at the Smithsonian Institution, is arguably the greatest living expert at demonstrating the range of American printing skills from colonial times through the nineteenth century. It has been my honor to work alongside Stan, Richard-Gabriel Rummonds, Barbara Henry, and others. Mark Barbour of the International Printing Museum and Gardner J. LePoer of the Museum of Printing provided behind-the-scene tours of their impressive holdings as I learned more about printing techniques. John Buchtel and Terry Belanger of Rare Book School helped me to hone my skills further. At my own institution, Jody Lloyd Thompson of the Archives and Special Collections made it possible for me to teach my students about rare books while in her viii department.

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