Arthur J. Saalfield (April 1863 - January 11, 1919) founded the Saalfield Publishing Co. (1900 - 1977), a major publisher of children's books and other materials, including dictionaries and encyclopedias, based in Akron, Ohio. Born in Leeds, England, Saalfield and his family moved to the United States when he was a young boy. Settling first in New York City, Saalfield's father died shortly afterwards, and the family moved to Chicago. Arthur began working in the book trade at the age of nine, then moved to New York as a teenager to attend school, but quickly fell back into the book trade. He developed a reputation as a very effective salesman and quickly rose in the ranks of the industry. In 1892, he started his own bookselling business but left it in 1898 to run the trade book division of the Werner Company (founded in 1884 by Paul E. Werner, 1850-1931), based in Akron. Soon afterwards, Saalfield bought out the division from Werner; thus, the Saalfield Publishing Co. was a successor to Werner Company, though Werner continued to publish educational books afterwards occasionally. Werner's operation was already sizeable when Saalfield purchased it, and the latter wasted no time in ramping up production even further, moving several times to larger premises and churning out encyclopedias, novels (by the likes of Mark Twain, Horatio Alger, and Louisa May Alcott), and illustrated books of fairy tales. At its height, the company was one of the world's largest and most prominent publishers of children's books and games. Like many contemporary publishers, the company was bogged down in copyright litigation in the early 20th century, particularly with the Encyclopedia Britannica . Saalfield also began to experience health problems and was convalescing in Florida when he died in 1919. In 1885, he married the children's book author Adah Louise Sutton (1860 - 1935), and the couple had five children together. The eldest, Albert G. Saalfield (1886 - 1959), had worked with his father for several years and inherited management of the business. The Saalfield Publishing Co. continued to operate until 1977, after which its records were turned over to Kent State University. In 1987, the former company's large building in Akron burned down in a massive fire.
