Neale Publishing Company

The Neale Publishing Company was an American book publisher active between 1894 and 1933. It was a prolific publisher of books about the American Civil War and the Southern United States.

History

The Neale Publishing Company was founded by Walter Neale in 1894.[1] Neale, who had previously worked as a writer, established the company in Washington, D.C. and was one of only two employees. Neale began publishing books in 1896.[2]: v  In 1899 the company published a journal, Conservative Review, but the periodical lasted only two years. It was enough, however, to kick-start the rest of Neale's publishing operation, and forty books were published between 1900 and 1901.

Neale incorporated the company in March of 1901. It began to rapidly expand and in 1902 was officially listed in the Publishers Trade List Annual.[2]: viii  Sometime in this period, writer Ambrose Bierce wrote a scathing review of one of Neale's publications that extended to the company itself. The book in question quickly sold 6,000 copies as a result of the review and Bierce and Neale became close friends shortly thereafter.[2]: x  The company would go on to publish nearly all of Bierce's future books.[2]: xi 

From 1901 onwards, Neale became a prolific publisher books about the American Civil War and the Southern United States in general.[3] Walter Neale was a openly racist and often criticized the policies of the Reconstruction era, however, he regularly published books critical of his own position.[4][2]: iv  By 1910, the Neale Publishing Company had printed more books by Southern writers on the South than any other American publisher.[3][5] The company offered its authors significant royalties for the time — 20-to-25% of gross sales and 50% of income from republications — and heavily advertised its books, spending more than $50,000 in advertising in the first half of the company's existence (equivalent to $1,628,519 in 2022).[2]: xii–xiv 

In 1911 the company shut down its Washington, D.C. office and moved all operations to New York City.[2]: xvi  In 1912, Walter Neale was arrested after sending a threatening letter to one of his authors, Elizabeth Meriwether.[6] Around this time, Neale ventured into publishing periodicals again, with the first issue of Neale's Monthly being published in January of 1913. Despite projecting profits in excess of $250,000 (equivalent to $7,402,357 in 2022), the journal only lasted eighteen months and it is unclear if it made any profit.[2]: xvi–xvii 

Beginning in 1915, the company began a gradual decline. It moved locations to a smaller and less expensive building, sold much of its back catalog at a significant discount, and stopped nearly all of its print advertising.[2]: xviii  In 1919, the company's bindery was destroyed in a fire.[7] No new books were published between 1920 and 1927 as Walter Neale focused his attention on several other business ventures, including two other publishing companies and a supply company. Publications resumed in 1927, culminating in Neale publishing a book of his own in 1929: Life of Ambrose Bierce, a tribute to his friend who had disappeared in 1913.[2]: xviii–xix  Neale died of heart disease in 1933 and, with his death, the company went defunct.[1][2]: xix 

In 1977, Morningside Press published Neale Books: An Annotated Bibliography by Robert T. Krick, which documented all of the books Neale published over the course of its existence.[2]

Noted books

The Neale Publishing Company released at least 596 titles between 1894 and 1933. Of those, 215 were fiction, 279 were non-fiction, and 75 were poetry.[2]: xx 

References
  1. "Walter Neale, 60, Found Dead in Bed". The New York Times. 1933-09-29. p. 19. Gale 100862039. Retrieved 2023-01-23.
  2. Krick, Robert T. (1977). Neale Books: An Annotated Bibliography. Morningside Press.
  3. Du Bose, John W. (1911-07-09). "Walter Neale in Southern Literature". Lexington Herald-Leader. Lexington, Kentucky. p. 28. Retrieved 2023-01-24 – via Newspapers.com.
  4. Parfait, Claire (2009). "Rewriting History: The Publication of W. E. B. Du Bois's "Black Reconstruction in America" (1935)". Book History. 12: 289. doi:10.1353/bh.0.0022. JSTOR 40930547. S2CID 162457311.
  5. "Authors of "The Betrayal," a Late Novel". Bossier Banner-Progress. Benton, Louisiana. 1910-05-26. p. 2. Retrieved 2023-01-24 – via Newspapers.com.
  6. "Aged Author Causes Publisher's Arrest". The New York Times. 1912-10-21. p. 20. Gale 97328146. Retrieved 2023-01-23.
  7. Williams Jr., Vernon J. (June 2022). "A Gifted Amateur: The Case of George Washington Ellis". American Anthropologist. 104 (2): 548. JSTOR 684004.
  8. Ironside, R. G. (2000). "Canadian Northern Settlements: Top-Down and Bottom-Up Influences". Geografiska Annaler. 82 (2): 103–114. doi:10.1111/j.0435-3684.2000.00077.x. JSTOR 491068. S2CID 143660965.
  9. Behrend, Justin (Fall 2012). "Facts and Memories: John R. Lynch and the Revising of Reconstruction History in the Era of Jim Crow". The Journal of African American History. 97 (4): 427–448. doi:10.5323/jafriamerhist.97.4.0427. JSTOR 10.5323/jafriamerhist.97.4.0427. S2CID 149154065.
  10. "Recollections of a California Pioneer". The Californian. Salinas, California. 1917-05-18. p. 5. Retrieved 2023-01-24 – via Newspapers.com.
  11. "Walter Neale Writes a Life of Ambrose Bierce". The Boston Globe. Boston, Massachusetts. 1929-07-20. p. 8. Retrieved 2023-01-24 – via Newspapers.com.
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