Harper & Brothers
—This house was founded in 1817 by John Harper, Wesley Harper, James Harper, and Fletcher Harper. Harper & Brothers began to publish educational books in 1836, the title of their first publication being Professor Anthon’s Classical Series. Some of their most notable educational books are the Harper Geographies, Harper’s United States Series of Readers, Harper’s Arithmetics, Rolfe’s Shakespeare, Swinton’s Language Books, Green’s Short History of the English People, Harper’s Greek and Latin texts. In 1890 or thereabouts, the American Book Company bought the educational list of Harper & Brothers.
James Harper, the oldest brother of the original four Harpers, was elected Mayor of New York City in 1844. He originated the idea of the magazine, and Fletcher, who was an unusually fine business man, the idea of Harper’s Weekly.