Donohue, Henneberry & Company, Chicago

Michael Ambrose Donohue (1841-1915) and William Henneberry founded this company in 1878.

Donohue was born in Ireland in 1841. After living in Philadelphia for a short time, he moved with his family in 1856 to Chicago. He was an apprentice bookbinder with Charles Scott until 1861 when he became a member of the Cox and Donohue firm. Alfred Cox (1835-1910) was a native of England who was active in the bookbinding business from the days of his partnership with Donohue. Donohue's partnership with Cox ended shortly after the Chicago fire of 1871 destroyed their firm's place of business. Cox continued as a bookbinder, A. J. Cox and Company, after his work with Donohue ended.

Later in 1871 Donohue became a named partner in Donohue, Wilson (William) and Henneberry, This firm operated until 1878 when it was succeeded by Donohue and Henneberry.

The other named partner in Donohue and Henneberry was William Henneberry (1848-). He was a native of Chicago and had apprenticed as a bookbinder until he joined Donohue in 1871. After the dissolution of Donohue, Henneberry and Company in 1900, he established the Henneberry Company. This latter company became one of the largest publishers of mail order catalogues in the United States.

Initially Donohue and Henneberry was exclusively a bookbinder. By 1879 it was publishing the very popular "Red Line Series". This was not a series of books however but rather a series of items for schools. By 1887 the Red Line Series included school registers, class records, report cards, diplomas, examination records and writing spellers, etc. In 1887 the Red Line series included catalogues, blank books, ledgers, various forms for schools, certificates, etc., for numerous midwest states. The catalogue was unchanged through 1889.

1879 advertisement

Here is a 1892 self-addressed postcard for a purchaser to order miscellaneous supplies as well as items from the "Red Line Series".

Advertising cover 1893

The firm did print and bind a number of random titles on its own imprint between 1875 and 1889. Many of these were written about Chicago subjects or were the products of local Chicago authors. In 1890 the newly named firm of Donohue, Henneberry and Company began to actively publish books on its own imprint. As with most of the reprint publishers during this era, a majority of its books were published as parts of its publisher's series.

Here are several early title pages with the Donohue and Henneberry imprint.

1879 title page

1885 Printed and bound by Donohue & Henneberry

1886

1889

Pictures of the 1887 Dearborn firm address

The firm's addresses:

1861-1864 Cox and Donohue Corner of Lake and Clark Streets (23 Clark Street)
1864-1867 Cox and Donohue -51 and 53 LaSalle Street
1868 Cox and Donohue 168 Clark Street
1871-2 Donohue, Wilson and Henneberry - 30-2 North Canal Street
1872- West Lake Street
1873-1879 - 105-107-109 Madison Street
1881- 180/182/184 Monroe Street with extra space at 54-56 Franklin Street
1886 Wabash Avenue and Congress Avenue
(In May, 1886 fire burnt down the Wabash Avenue building which at the time was the largest publishing house facility west of New York)
1886- 182-184 Monroe (returned here temporarily)
1887 (spring)-1900's 407-425 Dearborn Street

An envelope from 1897

 

In 1894 Donohue, Henneberry and Company enhanced their inventory list by purchasing a number of book plates of the defunct Worthington Company.

In 1900 Donohue petitioned a local circuit court to legally help dissolve the partnership between him and William Henneberry. Apparently the partners had been unable to come to an amicable dissolution of their partnership. Donohue started up a new firm with his sons, Donohue Brothers, in April, 1900. Soon after its founding the Donohue Brothers purchased the plates of the W. L. Allison Company, a prominent New York book publisher. By 1901 Donohue had purchased Henneberry's share, combined it with the Donohue Brothers and continued the business under the M. A. Donohue and Co. name. Associated with Donohue was his sons- Michael A. Donohue Jr., J. W. Donohue, W. F. Donohue, and E. T. Donohue. Henneberry continued in the book publishing business as the Henneberry Company.

The legal fight between the two partners went on for several years. In 1906 it ended with Donohue being told to vacate its Dearborn Street location or pay a significantly increased rent to Henneberry.

Both the Donohue and Henneberry names continued to be of major import in the book publishing world for many years.

THE BOOKS

The Donohue, Henneberry & Company books were mainly reprints published in series form. Each hard cover series generally had the same covers for every title. The covers frequently came in multiple colors. This publisher also printed a number of paperback series which are also shown below. All of the books were published between 1890 and 1900. Without exception, all of the books either came in a labeled box or originally had a dust jacket.

This site does not discuss any non-series books (at this time)

Here are the known series:

All Aboard Series

Stories for Girls