William Henry Appleton

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William Henry Appleton (1814-99) was an American publisher, a son of Daniel Appleton. He was born at Haverhill, Massachusetts, and studied in secondary schools.

In 1848 he became the senior member of the firm of D. Appleton & Company, and for 60 years was prominent in the book trade. He was active in the struggle for an international copyright. He published pathbreaking authors ranging from Lewis Carroll to Charles Darwin.

Among the reference books brought out by him were The New American Cyclopœdia (1858-63); Webster's Spelling Book (1858); cyclopædias of Drawing (1857), American Biography (1887-1900), Applied Mechanics (1897), and an Annual Cyclopœdia (1885-1903). In 1872 he wrote Letters on International Copyright.

He lived in Wave Hill (New York), later turned into a botanic garden in the Riverdale section of the Bronx, New York.

This article incorporates text from an edition of the New International Encyclopedia that is in the public domain.