Edmund A. Stanley, Jr. collection relating to Bowne & Co

circa 1774-1995

Bowne & Co., Inc. which is now located at 345 Hudson Street in New York City, was founded in 1775 by the merchant and Quaker, Robert Bowne (1744-1818), a descendant of John Bowne who emigrated to America from England in 1649. Farsighted and successful as a merchant, Robert Bowne participated in many of the notable achievements of his day including the founding of the Bank of New York, the Bank of America, and the planning of the Erie Canal.

From its origins as a modest mercantile firm selling writing paper, printing materials and a variety of other merchandise including furs (Robert Bowne had been associated for a time with John Jacob Astor), Bowne & Co., Stationers, located on Queen Street (now Pearl) in Lower Manhattan gradually turned exclusively to financial printing in order to meet the growing demands of banks, insurance companies, and other businesses for commercial paper. Throughout most of the 19th century the firm had been headed by a member of the Bowne family. In 1898 the last Bowne to head the company (another Robert Bowne) relinquished control to Stanley M. Dewey. The latter hired in 1909 Edmund A. Stanley (Sr.), another emigrant from England (and father of Edmund A. Stanley, Jr.) who acceded to the presidency of Bowne & Co. in 1922, a post he held until his death in 1956. Throughout the elder Stanley's tenure Bowne & Co. had remained a modest-sized firm struggling with larger competitors for a share of the commercial printing market.

When he joined his father's firm in 1949 following his graduation from Princeton (he had previously served in the infantry in W.W. II and had won the Bronze Star) Edmund A. Stanley, Jr. was surprised to learn that no account of the firm's corporate history had ever been made. He immediately began the task of researching the firm's history from its origins in the 18th century until the present, an activity which lasted for several decades and which resulted in the accumulation of a mass of original manuscript sources and genealogical data relating to the Bowne and related families, and a collection of miscellaneous corporate records reflecting the contemporary operations of the firm and his stewardship of it. These materials gradually formed the basis for Mr. Stanley's historical narratives published first in booklet form: 1775 Bowne & Co. 1952; and then in two letterpress editions: Since 1775...the Story of Bowne & Co. (New York, Bowne & Co., 1952); and Of Men and Dreams: the Story of the People of Bowne & Co. and the Fulfillment of Their Dreams in the Company's 200 years from 1775 to 1975 (New York, Bowne & Co., 1975).

Although he was only thirty-two years old when he acceded in 1956 to the presidency and chairmanship of Bowne & Co., Inc. following his father's sudden death, Edmund A. Stanley, Jr. began the task of reorganizing and restructuring the firm to make it more efficient and competitive. In 1961 the firm moved from 163 Front Street where it had occupied six floors to a single floor in a modernized building at 345 Hudson St., thereby virtually doubling its work space. New equipment and the most modern printing presses were acquired and installed. Under Mr. Stanley's leadership the firm concentrated on serving all of the needs of the financial community including mergers, public offerings, and acquisitions. With its increased market share (its sales volume had doubled in five years) the firm was gradually able to buy out its major competitors. When Stanley retired in 1986, Bowne & Co., Inc. had become the largest corporate and financial printing firm in America, with a national and worldwide clientele. During his retirement at his estate in Oxford, Maryland, Mr. Stanley has continued his interest in philanthropic affairs. He has contributed generously to many non-profit institutions including WNET Channel 13 and the South Street Seaport Museum. In 1968 he established the Robert Bowne Foundation for the support of literacy programs for New York City's youth.