Adam Willis Wagnalls
Adam Willis Wagnalls (1843 - 1924) was an American publisher. He was the co-founder and co-eponym of the Funk & Wagnalls Company in 1877.
Early life
He was born in Lithopolis, Ohio, but moved away at age 5. He married Hester Anna Willis, also a native of Lithopolis. They had one child, Mabel.
He attended Wittenberg College (now Wittenberg University) in Springfield, Ohio with Isaac Kaufmann Funk.
Legacy
The rights to publish the encyclopedia were obtained by the Unicorn Press, later known as the Standard Reference Work Publishing Co. By 1953 that firm began to sell the encyclopedia and other educational materials through supermarket continuity promotions, enjoying considerable success with this marketing technique.
In 1965 Funk & Wagnalls Co. was purchased by the Reader’s Digest Association.
The company (by this time Funk & Wagnalls, Inc.) was acquired by Dun & Bradstreet in 1971. It retained Funk & Wagnalls New Encyclopedia, but all other properties were transferred to other publishers in later corporate mergers. The firm was purchased by its senior officers in 1984. They sold it to the Field Corporation in 1988. In 1991 it was sold to K-III Holdings, Inc.; and in 1993 it acquired The World Almanac and related properties. In 1996 the corporate name was changed to K-III Reference Corp., which acquired Facts on File News Services. In 1997 the corporate name was changed to PRIMEDIA Reference Inc., and the company acquired Gareth Stevens, Inc., a publisher of juvenile books for schools and libraries. In 1999 the company was sold to Ripplewood Holdings L.L.C. and was renamed World Almanac Education Group, Inc. In the 1990s electronic versions of Funk & Wagnalls New Encyclopedia, The World Almanac, Facts on File World News Digest, and related publications were available, on disk and online, both for consumers and for schools, libraries, and businesses.[1]
The family maintained ties with family and friends in Lithopolis and visited frequently. Anna's wish was to "do something for the little village which had never had anything done for it." Upon Anna's death in 1914, Mabel established and gifted to Lithopolis and Bloom Township the Wagnalls Memorial Library, and a few years later established the The Wagnalls Foundation.
The Wagnalls Memorial Library is a public library given to the residents of Lithopolis and Bloom Township by Mabel Wagnalls Jones in memory of her parents, Adam and Anna Willis Wagnalls.[2]
Notes
ReferencesISBN links support NWE through referral fees
External Links
- Funk & Wagnalls Time.com.
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Credits
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- ↑ Funk & Wagnalls History.com. Retrieved November 13, 2008.
- ↑ Wagnalls Memorial Library Wagnalls.lib.oh.us. Retrieved November 13, 2008.
