Methodist Book Concern, New York

Carlton & Phillips
Carlton & Porter
Carlton & Lanahan
Nelson & Phillips
Phillips & Hunt
Hunt & Eaton
Eaton & Mains

The Methodist Concern published thousands of books for juveniles. The publisher's imprint is usually noted to be the names of the agents. The relevant agent names are noted below.

Some of the very early Methodist Book Concern editions had Sunday School Union as the imprint.

Thomas Carlton (1807-1874) was a native of New Hampshire. He was elected principal agent of the Methodist Book Concern in 1852. He had been involved with the book business since becoming a member of the book committee beginning in 1848. During his twenty year tenure the "Concern's" publishing business expanded significantly.

In 1856 James S. Porter became a junior agent and the agency of Carlton & Porter was formed. In 1868 the “General Conference” elected John Lanahan as an assistant agent to Carlton. Lanahan was born in Virginia in 1816 and became a minister in 1838.

Also in 1868 Eleazer Thomas was made an agent but assigned to the San Francisco office. (The secondary imprint of E. Thomas is sometimes noted on books of this era.)

Carlton & Porter were not a good match and the agency was dissolved in 1872. In addition in 1871 certain acts of fraud were alleged against Lanahan in his capacity as an Assistant Book Agent. This most likely was a major cause of his duties being terminated.

Reuben Nelson (1818-) was a native of Andes, New York. In 1872 he was elected as a book agent and along with John M. Phillips took control of the New York Methodist Book Concern.

John M. Phillips (1820-) became a part of the Western Book Concern in 1839 in Cincinnati. In 1872 he was elected as an agent in the Book Concern based in New York.

Sandford Hunt succeeded Reuben Nelson and partnered with John M. Phillips for ten years.

Homer Eaton, a Vermont native, took over for John M. Phillips. George P. Mains succeeded Sanford Hunt in 1896. Mains retired in 1916.

Dating the "Concern's" books within a time range is relatively simple.

Carlton & Phillips 1852-1856
Carlton & Porter 1856-1868
Carlton & Lanahan 1868-1872
Nelson & Phillips 1872-1878
Phillips & Hunt 1879-1889
Hunt & Eaton 1889-1896
Eaton & Mains 1896-

Many of the "Concern's" books were co-published with the Western Book Concern’s outfit in Cincinnati. Here are those firm names with the dates:
Swormstedt & Poe 1852-1860
Poe & Hitchcock 1860-1868
Hitchcock & Walden 1868-1880
Walden & Stowe 1880-1884
Stowe & Cranston 1884-1892
Cranston & Curts 1892-1896
Curts & Jennings 1896-1900

New York Addresses:
200 Mulberry Street 1832-1869
805 Broadway 1869-

The numerous series are listed below. Mostly the books were sold as boxed sets and not individually.
In addition to the series noted below, the firms published a number of publisher's series ranging in volume size from 25 books to more than 700 books.

For information about the publisher's series, see here.