Peter Fenelon Collier

Background

Peter Fenelon Collier was born on December 12, 1849, in Myshall, Carlow, Ireland to Robert Collier and Catherine Fenelon. In 1866 he migrated with his parents to America.

Education

He was educated at Mt. St. Mary's Seminary in Cincinnati, Ohio, but became a book salesman.

Career

In 1875, with $300 capital, he started printing and selling Bibles and Father Burke's Lectures from his basement store on Vandewater St. , New York. By bringing the works of famous authors to the general public by means of a plan of small monthly payments, he became known as the father of the modern subscription-book industry. To promote his book business, in 1888 Collier founded a popular family magazine called Once A Week, which in 1895 he renamed Collier's, The National Weekly. Its circulation grew from 200, 000 copies weekly in 1900 to more than 3, 200, 000 50 years later. Collier and his only son, Robert J. , born June 17, 1876, were responsible for the publication of Dr. Eliot's world-famous "Five Foot Shelf of Books" - The Harvard Classics. Peter Fenelon Collier died Apr. 24, 1909, and was succeeded by his son. In addition to serving as editor and publisher of Collier's, Robert was one of the world's early aviation enthusiasts, and it is in his memory that the Collier Trophy is awarded annually for the year's outstanding contribution to the progress of aviation. Using popular subscription methods, he raised funds for the purchase of the old Lincoln farm in Kentucky and had a granite memorial erected at the site of the log cabin in which President Lincoln was born. Robert Collier died November 8, 1918. The following year controlling interests in P. F. Collier and Son Company were taken over by the Crowell Publishing Company, and in 1939 the official name became the Crowell-Collier Publishing Company. This development combined the three magazines (Collier's, the American Magazine, and Woman's Home Companion) and a substantial book operation, including Collier's Encyclopedia (first published complete in 1952) and The Harvard Classics. In 1956 the three magazines suspended publication. A merger with The Macmillan Company, one of the largest general book publishers in the United States, took place in 1960. In 1965 the corporate name was changed to Crowell Collier and Macmillan, Inc. , and in 1973 it became Macmillan, Inc. British publisher Robert Maxwell, owner of Maxwell Communication Corporation, bought Macmillan, Inc. , in 1988. After Maxwell's death in 1991, Maxwell Communication filed for bankruptcy. In 1993 its P. F. Collier division was acquired in a joint venture by the Instituto Geografico De Agostini of Italy and Planeta Associates of Spain.

Achievements

• He was a pioneer American subscription-book and magazine publisher.

Connections

In July 1873 Peter married to Catherine Dunne. He had a son: Robert J.

Father:

Robert Collier

Mother:

Catherine Fenelon

Spouse:

Catherine Dunne

Son:

Robert J.