Tom Nicely Collection of Books, Inc. Books, 1911-1970

The collection was assembled by Tom Nicely, the owner of Leaves of Grass Bookshop, a highly respected antiquarian and rare bookstore located in the Detroit Metropolitan Area, and a grandson of Books.Inc co-owner Andrew Hamming. Andrew Hamming launched the first of his two independent publishing ventures, the Hamming Publishing Co. of Chicago, by about 1911, in the age of 31. The rist firm lasted about 6 years, ca. 1911-1916, and seems to have specialized in juvenile titles. Next, the Hammings moved to Brooklyn, and Andrew worked for other publishers including World. His second and more successful publishing venture, Books, Inc. was born as the Depression ended, at the time when the Colonial Press (Worcester, MA) needed work. It was another corporate partnership: Andrew picked the books, Colonial's owner Lewis M. Adams would print them, then Andrew would cell them. They started with a one-volume encyclopedia (an abridgement of a 10-volume set) retailing at $1. The encyclopedia was quickly followed by a Bible, a cookbook, a dictionary, juveniles (hard and soft cover), mysteries, and literary classics in public domain. With offices at 1140 Broadway in New York City, Books, Inc. negotiated with other publishers for the plates of O.P. titles. It also published free and uncopyrighted pamphletes and pictures offered by the US Government Printing Office. Andrew Hamming was a pioneer in selling inexpensive books by the carload in places where the books had never been sold before. Thus, he introduced 25 cent paperbacks to G.C. Murphy's variety store customers, sold Bibles to Kress (the $1 edition, which came to be known as Books, Inc. "Special K") and became the first publisher to place books in Philadelphia's American Stores (later Acme). He saw himself as a bookman's Henry Ford, selling large quantities of books to large numbers of people who may never have purchased a book before.Andrew sold Books.Inc to Publisher's Company Inc in 1961, .