Dromo's Den

[Up] [Dromo's Den]

Henry Houghton Biography

Henry Houghton Image

HOUGHTON, Henry Oscar (1823–95). An American publisher, born at Sutton, Vt. He graduated in 1846 at the University of Vermont and worked in Boston as compositor and newspaper reporter. In 1849 he entered the Cambridge firm of Messrs. Bolles and Houghton, printers, and in 1852, upon Mr. Bolles's retirement, transferred the office to its present site and established the well-known Riverside Press. In 1864 he became a member of the publishing firm of Hurd and Houghton, which in 1878 became Houghton, Osgood, and Company and in 1880 Houghton, Mifflin, and Company. In 1872 he was elected mayor of Cambridge. In 1878, by acquiring control of the large list of the old firm of Messrs. Ticknor and Fields, the Houghton house secured exclusive publication rights for the works of many leading American authors, such as Emerson, Longfellow, and Holmes. For many years Webster's International Dictionary—now Webster's New International Dictionary, published by G. and C. Merriam Company of Springfield, Mass.—has been printed by the Riverside Press.