Louis Antoine Godey
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Louis Antoine Godey (born June 6, 1804, New York City; died November 29, 1878, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) was an American editor and publisher, known as the founder of Godey's Lady's Book, the first successful American women's fashion magazine.
Godey was born to French immigrant parents in New York. His family was poor and he had no formal schooling, but he was self-educated. At age 15, he took a job as a newspaper boy in New York. Several years later, he moved to Philadelphia and became an editor for the Daily Chronicle. In 1830, he published the first edition of the Lady's Book, composed of reprinted articles and illustrations from French magazines. The magazine was extremely popular, with over 150,000 subscribers by 1858. Godey published two other magazines, The Young People’s Book (1841) and Lady’s Musical Library (1842) with less successful results.
Godey married Maria Duke in 1833 and had five children. In the 1870s, he retired to St. Augustine, Florida, but returned to Philadelphia where he died in 1878.
