Halsey William Wilson (May 12, 1868 – March 1, 1954)[1] was the creator of the Readers' Guide, the Cumulative Book Index, and the Book Review Digest and founder of the H. W. Wilson Company, a publisher. In 1999, American Libraries named him one of the "100 Most Important Leaders We Had in the 20th Century".[2]
Born in Wilmington, Vermont, Wilson was orphaned at the age of two, and raised by his maternal grandparents. When he was 12, he moved to Iowa to live with an aunt, and later to Minnesota. He attended Beloit College, and later the University of Minnesota. He and a fellow student, Henry S. Morris, set up a student textbook store on campus in 1889, the roots of what would become the H. W. Wilson Company. In 1891, Wilson first conceived the idea of a regularly updated catalog of books, alphabetized by subject.
Wilson saved sufficient money to launch a service in 1898, investing $500 in the hope that he and his wife could enlist 500 subscribers to the service for a dollar a year. His first year, he would say later, "was memorable for some heartening endorsements, nearly 300 subscriptions, and a rapidly growing deficit".[3] It was in 1900 that Wilson created the United States Catalog and the well-known green volumes of the Readers' Guide to Periodical Literature, known to librarians, teachers and students simply as "The Readers' Guide". The Book Review Digest was introduced in 1905. By 1913, Wilson had outgrown his Rochester, Minnesota, location and relocated his business, in 13 railcars, to White Plains, New York. Four years later, he moved to the Bronx, and the H.W. Wilson Company became one of the leading publishers of contemporary reference materials. As a supplement to the general interest magazine articles in the Readers' Guide, Wilson created more specialized guides to professional journals, such as the Industrial Arts Index (1913), the Agricultural Index (1916), the Education Index (1929), the Art Index (1929), the Bibliographic Index (1938), Current Biography (1940), the Biography Index (1946), the Play Index (1949), and the Short Story Index (1953).[4] In addition to the subscription based guides, the H.W. Wilson Company published numerous well-known reference books, including Joseph Nathan Kane's Facts About the Presidents and Famous First Facts.
^"Halsey William Wilson." Contemporary Authors Online. Detroit: Gale, 2003. Biography In Context. Web. 13 Oct. 2013.
^Leonard Kniffel, Peggy Sullivan, Edith McCormick, "100 of the Most Important Leaders We Had in the 20th Century," American Libraries 30, no. 11 (December 1999): 43.
halsey, william, wilson, persons, similar, name, wilson, disambiguation, 1868, march, 1954, creator, readers, guide, cumulative, book, index, book, review, digest, founder, wilson, company, publisher, 1999, american, libraries, named, most, important, leaders,. For persons of a similar name see H W Wilson disambiguation Halsey William Wilson May 12 1868 March 1 1954 1 was the creator of the Readers Guide the Cumulative Book Index and the Book Review Digest and founder of the H W Wilson Company a publisher In 1999 American Libraries named him one of the 100 Most Important Leaders We Had in the 20th Century 2 Halsey William WilsonBorn12 May 1868 Wilmington Died1 March 1954 aged 85 Alma materUniversity of MinnesotaBeloit College OccupationPublisher AwardsJoseph W Lippincott Award 1950 Biography EditBorn in Wilmington Vermont Wilson was orphaned at the age of two and raised by his maternal grandparents When he was 12 he moved to Iowa to live with an aunt and later to Minnesota He attended Beloit College and later the University of Minnesota He and a fellow student Henry S Morris set up a student textbook store on campus in 1889 the roots of what would become the H W Wilson Company In 1891 Wilson first conceived the idea of a regularly updated catalog of books alphabetized by subject Wilson saved sufficient money to launch a service in 1898 investing 500 in the hope that he and his wife could enlist 500 subscribers to the service for a dollar a year His first year he would say later was memorable for some heartening endorsements nearly 300 subscriptions and a rapidly growing deficit 3 It was in 1900 that Wilson created the United States Catalog and the well known green volumes of the Readers Guide to Periodical Literature known to librarians teachers and students simply as The Readers Guide The Book Review Digest was introduced in 1905 By 1913 Wilson had outgrown his Rochester Minnesota location and relocated his business in 13 railcars to White Plains New York Four years later he moved to the Bronx and the H W Wilson Company became one of the leading publishers of contemporary reference materials As a supplement to the general interest magazine articles in the Readers Guide Wilson created more specialized guides to professional journals such as the Industrial Arts Index 1913 the Agricultural Index 1916 the Education Index 1929 the Art Index 1929 the Bibliographic Index 1938 Current Biography 1940 the Biography Index 1946 the Play Index 1949 and the Short Story Index 1953 4 In addition to the subscription based guides the H W Wilson Company published numerous well known reference books including Joseph Nathan Kane s Facts About the Presidents and Famous First Facts He was awarded Honorary Membership in the American Library Association in 1945 5 Halsey died on March 1 1954 at the age of 85 References Edit Halsey William Wilson Contemporary Authors Online Detroit Gale 2003 Biography In Context Web 13 Oct 2013 Leonard Kniffel Peggy Sullivan Edith McCormick 100 of the Most Important Leaders We Had in the 20th Century American Libraries 30 no 11 December 1999 43 Current Biography 1941 pp 924 26 Wilson Halsey William 1868 1954 Summary Retrieved August 22 2007 a href Template Cite book html title Template Cite book cite book a website ignored help American Library Association Honorary Membership http www ala org awardsgrants awards 176 all yearsExternal links EditWorks by Halsey William Wilson at Project Gutenberg Works by or about Halsey William Wilson at Internet Archive Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Halsey William Wilson amp oldid 1139290550, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
