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Thomas Mosher

September 11, 1852 (age 70)

Biddeford, Maine, United States

Mosher then spent several years accompanying his father on voyages, including an 1866 trip around Cape Horn. Along the way, he read an edition of Bell's British Theatre which his father had given him, which contributed to a growing love of literature. The voyage did not end until the winter of 1870. In 1871 he began his career in the book world as a clerk in a publishing house on Exchange Street, Portland, Maine, above which his office was afterward situated, and in 1882 he became one of the firm of McLellan, Mosher & Company. He had in mind the production of beautiful books at low cost, which should introduce to the American public little-known masterpieces of literature. Uninfluenced by the revival of printing in heavy types and sumptuous forms led by William Morris in England in 1890, Mosher followed classical models and made his books not only beautiful in type and paper, but in small and inexpensive format. He selected for their contents, with rare discrimination, the best literature of all times and all countries. In 1891 he produced the first of the "Mosher Books" - George Meredith's Modern Love and Other Poems - then all but unknown. Some of the works of English authors who had failed to secure American copyright, Mosher appropriated for his books. His reprint of Andrew Lang's Aucassin and Nicolette (1896) so aroused Lang's ire as an act of piracy that he never forgave him. On the other hand, many authors, like William Sharp, were glad to have their works reprinted in the United States, and in many cases Mosher paid substantial honorariums to authors unprotected by American copyright. Though not a practical printer, Mosher followed very definite ideas and ideals in the more than five hundred works which he designed and published. In January 1895 he brought out the first number of The Bibelot, "a reprint of poetry and prose from scarce editions and sources not generally known. " Produced in monthly parts of some twenty-four pages each, he continued it for twenty years, the series ending in 1915 with an index volume. Everything that he published bore the mark of his good taste. Two volumes of Amphora (1912 - 1926) contain selections made by him from opuscula printed in his catalogues. The second, issued after his death by Flora Macdonald Lamb, holds tributes to his memory by noted authors. He died on August 31, 1923, in Portland, Maine.

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Thomas Mosher

Thomas Mosher

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College/University

Career

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Photos
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book

The Bibelot

(This is a reproduction of a classic text optimised for ki...)

Sylvie : souvenirs du Valois

(This book was originally published prior to 1923, and rep...)

The city of dreadful night

(This book was originally published prior to 1923, and rep...)

Amphora: a collection of prose and verse chosen by the editor of the Bibelot

(This book was digitized and reprinted from the collection...)

Odes, Sonnets & Lyrics of John Keats

(This book was originally published prior to 1923, and rep...)

Modern love

(This book was originally published prior to 1923, and rep...)

My sister Henrietta;

(This book was originally published prior to 1923, and rep...)

Poems

(This book was originally published prior to 1923, and rep...)

The Mosher Books. A List of Books in Belles Lettres Issued in Choice and Limited Editions.

Underneath the Bough: A Book of Verses

(This is a pre-1923 historical reproduction that was curat...)

Thomas Bird Mosher Edit Profile

Background

Thomas B. Mosher was born on September 11, 1852, in Biddeford, Maine, the son of Benjamin Mosher and Mary Elizabeth Merrill. His forebears were mainly seafaring people but his parents were familiar with good literature.

Education

Mosher attended the Quincy Grammar School in Boston, Massachusetts, graduating at age 12, the only formal schooling he would complete.

Career

Mosher then spent several years accompanying his father on voyages, including an 1866 trip around Cape Horn. Along the way, he read an edition of Bell's British Theatre which his father had given him, which contributed to a growing love of literature. The voyage did not end until the winter of 1870.

In 1871 he began his career in the book world as a clerk in a publishing house on Exchange Street, Portland, Maine, above which his office was afterward situated, and in 1882 he became one of the firm of McLellan, Mosher & Company. He had in mind the production of beautiful books at low cost, which should introduce to the American public little-known masterpieces of literature. Uninfluenced by the revival of printing in heavy types and sumptuous forms led by William Morris in England in 1890, Mosher followed classical models and made his books not only beautiful in type and paper, but in small and inexpensive format. He selected for their contents, with rare discrimination, the best literature of all times and all countries.

In 1891 he produced the first of the "Mosher Books" - George Meredith's Modern Love and Other Poems - then all but unknown. Some of the works of English authors who had failed to secure American copyright, Mosher appropriated for his books. His reprint of Andrew Lang's Aucassin and Nicolette (1896) so aroused Lang's ire as an act of piracy that he never forgave him. On the other hand, many authors, like William Sharp, were glad to have their works reprinted in the United States, and in many cases Mosher paid substantial honorariums to authors unprotected by American copyright. Though not a practical printer, Mosher followed very definite ideas and ideals in the more than five hundred works which he designed and published.

In January 1895 he brought out the first number of The Bibelot, "a reprint of poetry and prose from scarce editions and sources not generally known. " Produced in monthly parts of some twenty-four pages each, he continued it for twenty years, the series ending in 1915 with an index volume. Everything that he published bore the mark of his good taste. Two volumes of Amphora (1912 - 1926) contain selections made by him from opuscula printed in his catalogues. The second, issued after his death by Flora Macdonald Lamb, holds tributes to his memory by noted authors. He died on August 31, 1923, in Portland, Maine.

Achievements

Thomas Bird Mosher was a publisher, who was notable for his contributions to the private press movement in the United States, and as a major exponent of the British Pre-Raphaelites and Aesthetes as well as other British Victorians.

Works

The Bibelot The Bibelot

Sylvie : souvenirs du Valois Sylvie : souvenirs du Valois

The city of dreadful night The city of dreadful night

Amphora: a collection of prose and verse chosen by the editor of the Bibelot Amphora: a collection of prose and verse chosen by the editor of the Bibelot

Odes, Sonnets & Lyrics of John Keats Odes, Sonnets & Lyrics of John Keats

Modern love Modern love

My sister Henrietta; My sister Henrietta;

Poems Poems

The Mosher Books. A List of Books in Belles Lettres Issued in Choice and Limited Editions. The Mosher Books. A List of Books in Belles Lettres Issued in Choice and Limited Editions.

Underneath the Bough: A Book of Verses Underneath the Bough: A Book of Verses

book
- Sylvie : souvenirs du Valois
  (This book was originally published prior to 1923, and rep...)
- The city of dreadful night
  (This book was originally published prior to 1923, and rep...)
- Odes, Sonnets & Lyrics of John Keats
  (This book was originally published prior to 1923, and rep...)
- Modern love
  (This book was originally published prior to 1923, and rep...)
- My sister Henrietta;
  (This book was originally published prior to 1923, and rep...)
- Poems
  (This book was originally published prior to 1923, and rep...)
- Amphora: a collection of prose and verse chosen by the editor of the Bibelot
  (This book was digitized and reprinted from the collection...)
- Underneath the Bough: A Book of Verses
  (This is a pre-1923 historical reproduction that was curat...)
- The Bibelot
  (This is a reproduction of a classic text optimised for ki...)
- The Mosher Books. A List of Books in Belles Lettres Issued in Choice and Limited Editions.

Membership

Thomas Mosher was a member of the Bibliographical Society of London, the Grolier Club of New York, and the Authors', Omar Khayyam, and City clubs of Boston.

Personality

Thomas B. Mosher was a genial person. Of medium height, rather thick-set and somewhat portly in later life, with his twinkling blue eyes and quizzical smile, he was in appearance far from the ascetic scholar.

Connections

On July 2, 1892, Thomas B. Mosher married Anna M. Littlefield of Saco, Maine.

Father:: Benjamin Mosher
Mother:: Mary Elizabeth Mosher (Merrill)
Wife:: Anna M. Mosher (Littlefield)

References