George Haven Putnam

Publisher and writer, born in London, UK. Emigrating to the USA as a child, he capably succeeded his father, George Palmer Putnam, as president of G P Putnam & Son (1872). In 1896 he organized the International Copyright League to lobby for copyright legislation. His own writings included several volumes on the Civil War and a popular children's book, The Little Gingerbread Man (1910).

George Haven Putnam, A.M., Litt.D. (April 2, 1844 – February 27, 1930) was an American soldier, publisher, and author.

The eldest son of publisher George Palmer Putnam and Victorine Haven Putnam, he was born in London, UK where his father had been living since 1841 while establishing a branch office for his New York City publishing company, Wiley & Putnam. In 1848 the family returned to the United States and George Haven Putnam was educated in New York. Putnam was held for a short time at the notorious Libby Prison in Richmond, Virginia before being transferred to Danville where he was held until March of 1865 when he was returned to the Union forces as part of a prisoner exchange. At the war's end, Major Putnam joined his father's publishing business, "G. Putnam Broadway." Putnam published an account of his experiences titled "A Prisoner of War in Virginia - An Experience in Virginia Prisons During the Last Winter of the War." Putnam and his brothers John and Irving took over the business, renaming it G. Putnam's Sons. Putnam would be made president of the firm, a position he held for the next fifty-two years. In 1884, Putnam hired the then twenty-six-year old Theodore Roosevelt as a special partner who in the ensuing years would write several works published by Putnam. Putnam was active in numerous civic, social, and business causes. Putnam retired in 1924, formally handing over the presidency of G. Putnam's Sons to Palmer C. Putnam.

Among Putnam's own writings are scholarly and historical publications but he also wrote children's books such as and The Artificial Mother (1894) and The Little Gingerbread Man (1910).

Other published works:

Authors and Publishers (1882) (co-authored with brother, John Bishop Putnam) Anecdotes of Luther and the Reformation (1883) Books and Their Makers during the Middle Ages (2 vol. 1897) Washington Irving, his life and work (1903) Censorship of the Church of Rome and Its Influence Upon the Production and Distribution of Literature, Part 1 (1906) Abraham Lincoln (1909) (Project Gutenberg - ) A Prisoner of War in Virginia (1912) Memories of My Youth (1914) Memories of a Publisher (1915) Some Memories of the Civil War (1924)