Edward W. Bok

He was told the balance, less the checks given to him. "But I haven't turned them in yet," he explained. "Anyhow, you have enough in bank to meet the…

Edward was very young then, and Mr. Beecher's methods of financiering seemed to him quite in line with current notions of the Plymouth pastor's…

Edward had offered to help Mr. Beecher with his correspondence; at the close of one afternoon, while he was with the Plymouth pastor at work, an…

"Now, just bring that child into the house and put them on her feet for me, will you?" he said when the shoes came. "I'll be able to work so much…

"There is a good deal of fraud about beggars," he remarked as he waved a sot away from him one day; "but that doesn't apply to women and children,"…

Mr. Beecher was constantly thoughtful of a struggling young man's welfare, even at the expense of his own material comfort. Anxious to save him…

Edward Bok was in the formative period between boyhood and young manhood when impressions meant lessons, and associations meant ideals. Mr. Beecher…

"Wonderful man, Beecher is," said a market dealer in green goods once. "I had handled thousands of bunches of celery in my life and never noticed how…

"Did I say that?" he asked. Edward looked at him. Mr. Beecher's face was tense. After a few moments he said: "That's generally the way with…

Edward told him he regretted the reference because he knew that General Hayes would read it in the New York papers, and he would be nonplussed to…

When the Reverend T. De Witt Talmage began to come into public notice in Brooklyn, some of Mr. Beecher's overzealous followers unwisely gave the…

At one time a fellow Brooklyn minister, a staunch Prohibitionist, publicly reproved Mr. Beecher for being inconsistent in his temperance views, to…

Mr. Beecher was rarely angry. Once, however, he came near it; yet he was more displeased than angry. Some of his family and Edward had gone to a…

"Exactly," said Mr. Beecher. "Your modesty leads you to run away from this young man because he might possibly see you under a single light in…

"'It's folly for you to be kept in constant excitement week after week,' he would say. 'I shall wait till the work is completed, and take it all at…

"When reminded that the dinner-bell had rung, he rose and went to the table, still with his book in his hand. He asked the blessing with a tremor…

"Mr. Beecher was a very slow reader. I was getting uneasy over the marks of strong feeling and excitement, and longed to have him finish the book.…

When he could stop laughing, he said: "You know, Rossiter, that I am always ready to lend my books to any one who will make good use of them and…

"Never heard of it?" he repeated, and he fastened that curious look upon Edward again. It was so compelling that it held the boy. For several moments…

And then he told the boy as much of the days in court as he thought he would understand, and how the lawyers worked and worked, in court all day, and…

There was naturally one question in the boyish mind to ask the man before him--one question! Yet, instinctively, something within him made him…

Mr. Beecher's weekly newspaper "syndicate" letter was not only successful in itself, it made liberal money for the writer and for its two young…

Edward's attention was now turned, for the first time, to women and their reading habits. He became interested in the fact that the American woman…

There was a bright letter of New York gossip published in the New York Star, called "Bab's Babble." Edward had read it, and saw the possibility of…

Edward followed this up by engaging Ella Wheeler Wilcox, then at the height of her career, to write a weekly letter on women's topics. This he…

The material supplied by the Bok Syndicate Press was of the best; the standard was kept high; the writers were selected from among the most popular…

This is true even of the woman's material in the leading newspapers, and the reason is not difficult to find. The average editor has, as a rule, no…

But having given the subject little thought, he attaches minor importance to the woman's "stuff," regarding it rather in the light of something…

Edward Bok now became convinced, from his book-publishing association, that if the American women were not reading the newspapers, the American…

Owing to his constant contact with authors, he was in a peculiarly fortunate position to know their plans in advance of execution, and he was…

Edward believed he could convince editors of the public interest in a newsy, readable New York literary letter, and he prevailed upon the editor of…

Occasionally he sent to an editor here and there what he thought was a particularly newsy letter just "for his information, not for sale." The editor…

Edward had been in the employ of Henry Holt and Company as clerk and stenographer for two years when Mr. Cary sent for him and told him that there…

Edward Bok was now twenty-one years of age. He had already done a prodigious amount of work for a boy of his years. He was always busy. Every spare…

Enterprise and energy the boy unquestionably possessed, but one need only think back even thus far in his life to see the continuous good fortune…

Take, for example, the peculiarly fortuitous circumstances under which he entered the Scribner publishing house. As stenographer to the two members…

The Scribners had the foremost theological list of all the publishing houses; its educational list was exceptionally strong; its musical list…

He was again fortunate in that his desk was placed in the advertising department of the house; and here he found, as manager, an old-time Brooklyn…

The house also issued another periodical, The Presbyterian Review, a quarterly under the editorship of a board of professors connected with the…

He worked early and late. An increase in his salary soon told him that he was satisfying his employers, and then, when the new Scribner's Magazine…

He suddenly found himself directing a stenographer instead of being a stenographer himself. Evidently his apprentice days were over. He had, in…

The study of the writers who were interested in following the press notices of their books, and those who were indifferent to them became a…

One day Mr. Burlingame asked Bok to take some proofs to Stevenson at his home; thinking it might be a propitious moment to interest the author in the…

As the proofs were to be brought back, Bok waited, and thus had an opportunity for nearly two hours to see the author at work. No man ever went…

After one or two visits from Bok, having grown accustomed to him, Stevenson would discuss some sentence in an article, or read some amended paragraph…

In fact, Bok reasoned it out that the novelist did not really expect an answer or an opinion, but was at such times thinking aloud. The mental…

Bok saw it was of no use: Stevenson was interested in his work, but, beyond a certain point, not in the world's reception of it. Bok's estimate of…

It now fell to the lot of the young advertiser to arouse the interest of the public in what were to be some of the most widely read and best-known…

The advertising of these books keenly sharpened the publicity sense of the developing advertising director. One book could best be advertised by…

"Well, Stockton," said Frost, "I have found a way at last to make a farm stop eating up money. Perhaps it will help you."

When the stories of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde and Little Lord Fauntleroy were made into plays, Bok was given an opportunity for an entirely different…

One day while waiting in the anteroom of a publishing house to see a member of the firm, he picked up a book and began to read it. Since he had to…

Bok promised the publisher he would let him know. He carried with him a copy of the book, wrote some advertisements for it, prepared an attractive…

Edward Bok does not now remember whether the mental picture had been given him, or whether he had conjured it up for himself; but he certainly was…

In the first place, he found every avenue leading to success wide open and certainly not over-peopled. He was surprised how few there were who really…

Here and there a relative "played a favorite," but even with the push and influence behind him "the lucky one," as he was termed, did not seem to…

It interested Bok to listen to the talk of his fellow-workers during luncheon hours and at all other times outside of office hours. When the talk did…

Bok felt that this constant thought of the wages earned or deserved was putting the cart before the horse; he had schooled himself into the belief…

It is only fair, however, to add here, parenthetically, that it is neither just nor considerate to a conscientious stenographer for an employer to…

Bok found it a uniform rule among his fellow-workers to do exactly the opposite to his own idea; there was an astonishing unanimity in working by the…