Peter G. Thomson, Cincinnati

Peter G. Thomson (1851-1931) received his publishing education as a personal secretary and assistant to Robert Clarke, a well known Cincinnati publisher. By 1877 he had left Clarke and went into business for himself. He was well known as a comic valentine publisher in addition to being a publisher of juvenile and other works. He was also an author whose 1880 Bibliography of the State of Ohio was widely acclaimed. His juvenile works, games, toys and valentines apparently were so popular that his main competitor, Mcloughlin Bros., bought him out. This occurred in about 1889.

He eventually left the publishing business and in 1892 established the Champion Coated Paper Company. This company was hugely successful and still operates today.

Most all of the series published by Thomson were in wraps. Some were also linen bound. One clothbound series has been noted. I have arbitrarily assigned numbers to the books in each series. This is for identification purposes only. Thomson did not number the books. All of these books have multiple pages of illustrations.

Dating these books can be very difficult. Many have the copyright date on the front cover. Ads on the verso can be helpful. Note that sometime in 1884 Thomson stopped putting ads on the back page.