A. C. McClurg

A. C. McClurgwas a stationer, publisher, and book wholesaler for over 120 years inChicago, Illinois.The business began in 1844 as Chicago's firststationerystore and first retail bookstore',^[1]changing hands several times, often as the result of a fire. Alexander McClurg came into management of the business at the time of theGreat Chicago Fire(1871) and established an interest in fine literature, which was pursued by the company until late in the first decade of the 20th century. While pursuing interests in fine English literature and the literary magazine,The Dial,perhaps one of the most historically important books published by McClurg's "Rare Books" section wasW. E. B. Du Bois'The Souls of Black Folk(1903).^[2]

About a decade after McClurg's death, the company shut down his Rare Books section of the business and pursued popular adventure. It was the original publisher of theTarzan of the Apesnovelsand other stories by Chicago authorEdgar Rice Burroughs,as well as theTom Mixstories. While these books proved very successful, the business model eventually changed again, and from 1922 to 1962, A.C. McClurg was primarily a book wholesaler.

History[edit]

The company was founded inChicago, Illinoisin 1844 asW. W. Barlow & Co.,which soon changed names toS. C. Griggs & Co.^[1]It was briefly known asGriggs, Bross & Co.afterWilliam Brosswas admitted as a partner in 1848; the partnership dissolved after eighteen months.Alexander C. McClurg,a former law student who moved to Chicago to join the mercantile trade, joined the company in 1859. McClurg joined Griggs as a junior partner after he returned a general from theCivil War.The company building was burned down in theGreat Chicago Fireof 1871. After the fire, Griggs sold his share of the company and it becameJansen, McClurg & Co.McClurg became senior partner in 1887 and the company took the name ofA. C. McClurg & Co.^[a]The company was again destroyed in a fire in 1899, but McClurg financed anew building.McClurg died in 1901, but the company retained his name in subsequent decades.^[3]

A. C. McClurg revitalizedThe Dialmagazine in 1880 as a platform of politics and literary criticism. UnderFrancis Fisher Browne,the magazine gained national prominence, but it was sold three years after Browne's death in 1913. In 1913, A. C. McClurg published its firstEdgar Rice BurroughsTarzan of the Apesbook. McClurg would publish the first ten novels of the series. By 1923, the company's operations focused exclusively on wholesaling. The company remained in business until 1962.

Notes[edit]

^Probably the company was renamed in 1886. It is identified as "Messrs. A. C. McClurg & Co. (Successors to Jansen, McClurg & Co.), Chicago." at the head of its list of new books received during September: "Books of the Month",The DialVII:78 (October 1886), pp. 137-39.