The Howe Press
A clergy side-gig for many centuries was writing devotional manuals for the faithful. Dr. McKenzie wrote a classic that sold over 48,000 copies from about 1905 to 1978. This pocket-sized Manual for The Holy Eucharist was printed by The Howe Press until 1934, when the rights were sold to Morehouse Publishing in Milwaukee, as the School print shop was discontinued. Morehouse became Morehouse-Gorham in 1938 and moved to NYC. The Howe Press, located behind the stage in Blake Hall, also printed Heralds and the 1933 Tatler as well as other School printing needs. Dr. McKenzie’s Manual, like Fr. Archibald Campbell Knowles’ competing The Practice of Religion, were bought mostly by parish priests as gifts to confirmands. These were especially popular among anglo-catholics. Both books are regularly on E-Bay(r) (The parents usually gave a copy of the Book of Common Prayer.)
Halsey Davidson 1920 describes a visit to the Howe Press shop in his book School Days.
Here are 3 Howe Press print runs we have found in Manual title pages:
1905 fifth thousand (black cover)
1907 tenth thousand (maroon cover)
1909 fifteenth thousand (4th Edition)
Between 1934-1938, 48th thousand (12th Edition) by Morehouse Milwaukee.
Here 1907 are the two earliest editions I have found.
The 1905 black covers and binding are higher quality than the 1907 maroon-covered (all later versions had maroon covers).
The 1907 edition had a photo of the St. James interior as the frontspiece; the title page was always like this, except after 1920, referred to the author as Late Rector of Howe School.
Although most Tatlers were printed in Sturgis, Elkhart, or elsewhere, in the depth of the Depression the 1933 Tatler was printed by the Howe Press with this thoughtful credit.
There was an earlier Press credit years prior in a Howe Herald.
