A collection of 159 titles published by HCB
between ca. 1850 and ca. 1920
Over the past several years we have assembled a collection of 159 titles published by the Philadelphian Henry Carey Baird (1825-1912). Baird was the grandson of Matthew Carey and the nephew of the noted American political economist Henry C. Carey. At the age of 16 Baird entered the publishing company of Carey and Hart in Philadelphia. He reorganized the firm under the name of Henry Carey Baird & Co. in 1849 and made it "the first publishing house in America to make a specialty of books on technical and industrial matters." [DAB].
Over his long career he published well over 250 scientific and technical titles. His motivation for doing this was far more than simply to build a profitable business (though he did presumably do that); in the largest sense he felt that only by its own native initiative could American industry achieve its full potential. As had his uncle before him, he argued strongly for tariff protection and at the same time relentlessly continued to publish his scientific and practical books in an effort to further native American manufactures.
Thus the Baird list becomes a paradigm for American industrial progress and eventual preeminence in the second half of the nineteenth century. As James Green has stated: "Henry Carey Baird's contribution to this transformation was different [than that of his family, who had invested directly in the Pennsylvania iron industry], more difficult to assess, but possibly crucial; he provided the technical information needed by the crowd of mechanics, scientists, and businessmen who really made it happen; and for thousands of readers, from Presidents to working people, he supplied the ideaology which convinced nearly everyone that what was good for industry was good for America." - "Henry Carey Baird & Co., America's first technical publishers," in PACSCALnews, Vol I, no. 1, Sept., 1991, p. 9. We recommend the entire article. H. C. Baird is surely deserving of a book length study and a proper bibliography. Our collection would make a fine start for such a study.
The collection currently consists of 159 titles, for sale en bloc only. The condition is as would be expected for these kinds of books; almost all are in their original bindings with varying degrees of wear from fine copies to poor copies [but all but one (item 114) are complete]; a few have been rebacked and a few recased in modern cloth.
HENRY CAREY BAIRD, "Industrial Publisher" (about 150 items items published by HCB, c.1850-c1925)