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The Prose Writers Of America
Rufus Wilmot Griswold
Porter & Coates, 1870
Literary Criticism; American; General; Authors, American; Literary Criticism / American / General
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Abraham Hart was an American publisher and philanthropist. He was a co-founder of the publishing company Carey & Hart.
Background
Abraham Hart was born on December 15, 1810 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. He was the son of Abraham Hart, a shopkeeper, who came from Hanover, Germany, in 1804. His mother was Sarah Stork, a native of Holland. When the elder Hart died in 1823, the boy was put to work.
Career
Attracting the attention of Moses Thomas, auctioneer and former publisher, Hart was introduced to Henry C. Carey, of the publishing house of Carey & Lea, who gave him a position. When the business of the firm was divided in 1829 young Hart became associated with Edward L. Carey in the bookselling and publishing business under the style of E. L. Carey & A. Hart. Two years earlier Thomas had sent young Hart, then a boy of sixteen, to a Boston trade sale, giving him a letter of credit for $5, 000 and depending upon his judgment to make purchases.
Enterprising to a remarkable degree, the new firm, both of whose members were very young, made rapid progress. Several instances of their alertness have been recorded. One of these anecdotes refers to the first publication in America of Bulwer-Lytton's Rienzi, in 1836. Carey & Hart had purchased an advance copy from the English publishers, but the packet ship which brought it also brought an advance copy for Harper & Brothers in New York. On the day the copy was received by Carey & Hart, they divided it among twelve printing houses in Philadelphia, and the printers, by working continuously, had the sheets in the binder's hands at nine o'clock the following morning. On the afternoon of the same day five hundred complete copies of the book were placed in the mail stage for New York, which had been entirely reserved. With Hart accompanying them they were carried to New York, where they were on sale a full day ahead of the Harpers' edition.
For years Carey & Hart published an annual, the Gift, edited by Eliza Leslie, to which Poe contributed some of his best-known tales. They had Longfellow prepare his Poets and Poetry of Europe, which they published in 1845, and also had Rufus W. Griswold compile The Poets and Poetry of America (1842), The Prose Writers of America (1847), The Female Poets of America (1849), and others of a similar character. Macaulay's Critical and Miscellaneous Essays (1842-1844) they brought out in a fivevolume edition. They also published many of Captain Marryat's romances and paid him on his last book, Snarleyyow; or, the Dog Fiend (1837), about the first copyright money ever given a foreign author by an American publisher.
After the death of Edward L. Carey, in 1845, Hart conducted the business with Henry Carey Baird as partner until 1849, when the firm was dissolved. Hart then continued alone until his retirement in 1854. He then entered upon various enterprises as a capitalist, being at one time president of the Centennial Button-hole Machine Company, and vice-president of the American Button-hole Machine Company.
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This is a reproduction of a book published before 1923....)
Religion
Hart was closely connected with the Jewish Congregation Mickvéh Israel, the oldest in Philadelphia, and served as its president for some time.
Membership
Hart was prominent in Jewish educational and charitable organizations in the city, many of which he assisted in founding. In many more he was an honored officer.
Connections
Hart married Rebecca Cohen Isaacks on November 23, 1831. They had seven children.