William Davis Ticknor I

Background

William Ticknor was born on August 6, 1810 in Lebanon, N. H. He was the son of William and Betsey (Ellis) Ticknor. An ancestor, William Ticknor, had emigrated from England and settled in Massachusetts as early as 1646.

Education

The boy's educational opportunities were confined to those offered by the village school; and at the age of seventeen, with a sum of money derived from the sale of sheep which he had raised on his father's farm.

Career

He went to Boston to seek his fortune. There he found employment in the brokerage office of an uncle, Benjamin Ticknor. And there, five years later, his bookish tastes as well as his marked aptitude for business prompted him to establish himself as a publisher and seller of books. The firm which he founded, and in which James Thomas Fields early became a junior partner, was variously known in Ticknor's lifetime as Allen and Ticknor (1832 - 33), William D. Ticknor and Company (1833 - 49), Ticknor, Reed, and Fields (1849 - 54), and Ticknor and Fields.

In addition to taking over the Atlantic Monthly Ticknor's house published, with financial success, the works of many of the leading contemporary writers of England and America: Tennyson, Browning, DeQuincey, Leigh Hunt, Hawthorne, Emerson, Thoreau, Longfellow, Holmes, Whittier, Lowell, and others. During these years, too, Ticknor was the directing genius of "the old Corner Bookstore, " which was the favorite rendezvous of the literary men of Boston, Cambridge, and Concord.

An unimpeachable integrity was his leading trait; as an instance, for which he should receive especial honor, one may cite the fact that at a time when piratical publication flourished in both England and America Ticknor was among the first in America to insist upon full payment for the works of English authors. Tennyson in a letter to the son of the publisher in 1889 rightly praised Ticknor as "one who gave so honorable an example to his countrymen of justice in the highest sense".

His notable friendship with Nathaniel Hawthorne began about 1850 and continued without interruption until death. Their relations can be traced in details in the numerous letters (about one hundred and fifty altogether) written by the author to his publisher. Ticknor often accompanied Hawthorne on journeys: to Washington in 1853, shortly after the inauguration of Franklin Pierce; to Liverpool in the same year, Ticknor returning to America after having spent about three months in England and on the Continent; and to Washington again in 1862, when the two men saw Lincoln and visited the scene of Bull Run. During these years of friendship, and particularly while he was abroad, Hawthorne trusted his publisher implicitly with the management of his business affairs.

On March 28, 1864, Ticknor, apparently robust, set out with Hawthorne on a southward journey in the hope of reviving the latter's failing health. In Philadelphia Ticknor was suddenly stricken with pneumonia and died on Apr. 10; and Hawthorne's death, which occurred little more than a month later, was doubtless hastened by the shock of the loss of this true and faithful friend.

Achievements

• William Davis Ticknor I is remembered as a founder of the publishing house Ticknor and Fields.

Religion

He was a public-spirited citizen prominent in many civic and educational enterprises, and an active member of the Baptist Church.

Membership

He was a resident member of the New England Historic Genealogical Society.

Interests

• In his busy career as publisher, Ticknor found time for his family, for public service, and for friendships.

Connections

He married on December 25, 1832, Emeline Staniford Holt, who bore him seven children, five of whom survived their father.

Father:

William Ticknor

Mother:

Betsey (Ellis) Ticknor

Spouse:

Emeline Staniford Holt Ticknor

(1810–1879)

child:

Benjamin Holt Ticknor

(1842–1914)

child:

Thomas Baldwin Ticknor

(1848–1925)

child:

Emeline Ticknor

(1845–1911)

child:

Richard Ellis Ticknor

(1841–1841)

child:

Howard Malcolm Ticknor

(1836–1905)

Friend:

Nathaniel Hawthorne

(July 4, 1804 – May 19, 1864) He was an American novelist, dark romantic, and short story writer.

References

• Hawthorne and his publisher. by Caroline Ticknor.
• Fifty Years Among Authors, Books and Publishers
• Appleton's Cyclopedia of American Biography. (6 Vol. set)