Bobbs-Merrill Company

The Bobbs-Merrill Company was a book publisher located in Indianapolis, Indiana. Bobbs-Merrill was known for publishing such authors as James Whitcomb Riley, Irma S. Rombauer, Dow Mossman, David Markson, and Ayn Rand. Bobbs-Merrill also published the early works of America's first successful writer of fantasy, L. Frank Baum, whose 1900 bookThe Wonderful Wizard of Oz is recognized as America's first home-grown fairy tale. Bobbs-Merrill was also responsible for publishing the official records of the State of Indiana. Bobbs-Merrill also published texts in the history of philosophy.

The company history starts in 1850 when Samuel Merrill bought an Indianapolis bookstore and entered the publishing business. Soon after the Civil War the business became Merrill, Meigs, and Company, and in 1883 the name changed again to the Bowen-Merrill Company. In 1903 William Conrad Bobbs became a partner and the name became the Bobbs-Merrill Company. Howard W. Sams Company purchased Bobbs-Merrill in 1959.