George Haven Putnam (1844-1930) was a publisher and author best known for his commitment to the establishment of national copyright legislation in the U.S. and to American adherence to the international copyright Convention of Berne. After serving...
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George Haven Putnam (1844-1930) was a publisher and author best known for his commitment to the establishment of national copyright legislation in the U.S. and to American adherence to the international copyright Convention of Berne. After serving in the U.S. Civil War, he entered his father's publishing house, G.P. Putnam's Sons. He assumed the presidency of the firm in 1872 and became an authority on the legal implications of copyright. In 1886 he formed the American Publishers' Copyright League and the English Speaking Union in the U.S. Collection consists of correspondence, minutes and printed matter relating to Putnam's efforts to establish and improve copyright legislation in the U.S. Correspondence, 1888-1930, concerns activities of the American Publishers' Copyright League (absorbed into the National Association of Book Publishers in 1922). Also, minute books, 1887-1914; clippings about copyright matters; and government publications. There is a small amount of material pertaining to Putnam's involvement with the Allies Bazaar, a group dedicated to raising money for the French and British war efforts in 1916; and to the publication and distribution of Putnam's book The Censorship of the Church of Rome (1906-1907).
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