Background
Godey, Louis Antoine was born on June 6, 1804 in New York City. Son of Louis and Margaret Godey.
Godey, Louis Antoine was born on June 6, 1804 in New York City. Son of Louis and Margaret Godey.
His family was poor and he had no formal schooling, but he was self-educated. At age 15, he took a job as a newspaper boy in New New York Several years later, he moved to Philadelphia and became an editor for the Daily Chronicle.
In 1830, he published the first edition of the Lady"s Book, composed of reprinted articles and illustrations from French magazines.
Godey married Maria Duke in 1833 and had five children. Godey hired Sarah Josepha Hale to be editor of Godey"s Lady"s Book in 1837.
She remained the editor until her retirement in 1877. The magazine became extremely popular, becoming America"s highest circulated magazine in the 1840s and reaching over 150,000 subscribers by 1858.
Godey published two other magazines, The Young People's Book (1841) and Lady’s Musical Library (1842) with less successful results.
Godey copyrighted each issue of Godey"s Lady"s Book starting in 1845, making it one of the first magazines in America to do southern In the 1870s, he retired to Saint Augustine, Florida, but returned to Philadelphia where he died in 1878.
Married Maria Duke, August 31, 1833, at least 5 children.
