McLoughlin Brothers: Nineteenth Century Entrepreneurs and Innovators of the American Picture Book

Laura E. Wasowicz, photo courtesy of the author.

The Marjorie G. and Carl W. Stern Book Arts and Special Collections Center will celebrate the opening of the exhibition Educate!Amuse! And In Colors! : Selections from the George M. Fox Collection of Early Children's Books with the 16th Annual Holiday Lecture by Laura E. Wasowicz, Curator of Children's Literature from the American Antiquarian Society. The lecture will be held in the Koret Auditorium of the Main Library, on Saturday, January 5th, at 2pm.

The exhibition features over eighty examples of 19th century color printing, drawn from the file copies of the McLoughlin Brothers publishing firm of New York, and donated to the library in 1978. These books are on view for the first time since 1986. 

Miss Mouser's Tea Party. New York : McLoughlin Bros., [187-?]

Wasowicz’s talk is entitled McLoughlin Brothers: Nineteenth-Century Entrepreneurs and Innovators of the American Picture Book. She will discuss the history of McLoughlin Brothers (active ca. 1858-1950), and their unique role in American publishing history as the premier 19^th century producer of color picture books. Through their adaptation of developing technologies and modern marketing techniques, they made possible the full-color picture books we know today.

The Ark Alphabet. New York : McLoughlin Bros., [between 1868 and 1874?]

Wasowicz has worked for twenty-five years at the American Antiquarian Society in Worcester, Massachusetts where she develops and manages their collection of 24,000 children’s books issued between 1650 and 1899.  She has written articles on various aspects of nineteenth-century American children’s book publishing, picture book iconography, and children’s reading habits.  She is also the editor of the Nineteenth-Century American Children’s Book Trade Directory. She holds a master’s degree in Library Science from the University of Chicago and a master’s degree in History from Clark University.

Cinderella. New York: McLoughlin Bros., ca. 1882. Pantomime Toy Book Series. Image courtesy of the American Antiquarian Society.