Messrs. Roberts Brothers (1857–1898) were bookbinders and publishers in 19th-century Boston, Massachusetts. Established in 1857 by Austin J. Roberts,[1] John F. Roberts,[2] and Lewis A. Roberts,[3] the firm began publishing around the early 1860s. Authors included Louisa May Alcott, George Sand, Julia Ward Howe and many others.
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The Roberts Brothers were "bookbinders" from 1857 until 1862 (offices successively at: 120 Washington St.;[4] Temple Place;[5] 149 Washington St.)[6] Beginning in 1862 they were also makers of "photograph albums."[7][8] In 1863 Thomas Niles, Jr. began working at the firm. He became partner some years thereafter and remained with the Roberts Brothers until his death in 1894.[9][10] By 1873 the firm was listed under the names of just Lewis Roberts and Thomas Niles.[11] After several decades on Washington Street across from Old South,[12] the business moved to Somerset Street in the 1880s.[13]
As publishers, the Roberts Brothers made their name in 1868 with the publication of Louisa May Alcott's Little Women, a best-seller. It featured illustrations by Alcott's sister, May Alcott, who also appeared as a character (Amy) in the book.
The Famous Women Series of the 1880s and 1890s consisted of biographies of Margaret Fuller, Jane Austen, Mary Wollstonecraft, George Eliot, and others, most of them written by women. As a contemporary review put it, "subjects and authors are in the main English, but several famous American women have had their trials and triumphs recorded by other famous American women."[14]
Little, Brown bought the firm in 1898.[15]
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