Muse Selection of the Month for October 2002

Thomas Bird Mosher is a controversial figure in American publishing. Detractors claim that his style is derivative and repetitive. A more serious charge is that he was a literary pirate who profited from the lack of international copyright laws. The subtitle of this month’s selection, Thomas Bird Mosher: Pirate Prince of Publishers, refers to the name that the British booktrade gave to Mosher, the “Portland Pirate.” The Carleton College Special Collections includes a small collection of examples of Mosher’s work, including those in this case.