Phillips and Sampson Publishing House Letterhead

(Click on the letter to seee the ads clearly)

Phillips and Sampson was a publishing power in Boston during the mid-19th century. Moses Dresser Phillips, the businessman and Charles Sampson, the book man, started their venture in book publishing in the early 1840's. Before long their author list was quite impressive including the likes of Christopher Cranch, Trowbridge, Emerson and Jacob Abbott. Just as their list was impressive, so were their employees. William Lee later of Lee and Shepard and A.K. Loring were two men in the employ of this company. (For more information see Lee and Shepard Publishers for the People, Raymond Kilgour, Shoe String Press, 1965.)

The company went out of business in 1859 shortly after the deaths of both named partners. There is a great amount of interest in Phillips and Sampson and its relationship to Oliver Optic and other early authors but that is for another time.

This letterhead is interesting because it lists a number of the books on the Phillips and Sampson list on the left side of the page. The letter is dated in 1858. It includes reprints of the Rollo Series. (This 14 book series is different from the 10 book Rollo's Travels series.) It does not include the early Phillips and Sampson Oliver Optic books published after this stationary was printed in 1859.