J. B. Lippincott & Co.

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J. B. Lippincott & Co. was an American publishing house founded in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1836 by Joshua B. Lippincott.

From descendants of members of the Religious Society of Friends, Joshua Lippincott's company began selling a line of Bibles, prayer books and other religious works then successfully expanded into trade books which became the largest portion of the business. In 1849, Lippincott acquired Grigg, Elliot & Co., a major book distribution company whose origins dated back to bookstall operators Benjamin Warner and Jacob Johnson in 1792. The acquisition helped make the company one of the largest publishers in the United States. In the 1950s the company began proudcing a successful line of medical and nursing books and journals.

On Joshua Lippincott's death in 1886 his son Craige Lippincott took over as president. He committed suicide in 1911 and was replaced by J. Bertram Lippincott. Married to Joanna Wharton, daughter of the founder of the Wharton School of Business, Joseph Wharton, in 1940 their son Joseph Wharton Lippincott (1887-1976) became the company's president. His son, Joseph Wharton Lippincott, Jr. (1914-2003), became the fourth generation to head the business and expanded the busdiness into Europe and Asia. The company was sold to Harper & Row in 1978 but Joseph Wharton Lippincott, Jr. remained on the Board of Directors until 1987.

In 1990, the company was acquired by Wolters Kluwer who merged it with Raven Publishers and then with Williams & Wilkins to form Lippincott Williams & Wilkins in 1998.

[edit] References

• Brief history of J. B. Lippincott Company at Lippincott Williams & Wilkins
• April 7, 1911 New York Times article on the death of Craige Lippincott
• Princeton University memorial for Joseph Wharton Lippincott, Jr.