Bobbs-Merrill Company

The Bobbs-Merrill Company was a book publisher located in Indianapolis, Indiana. Bobbs-Merrill was known for publishing such authors as James Whitcomb Riley, Irma Rombauer , and Ayn Rand. Bobbs-Merrill was also responsible for publishing the official records of the State of Indiana.

The company history starts in 1850 when Samuel Merrill bought an Indianapolis bookstore and entered the publishing business. Soon after the Civil War the business became Merrill, Meigs, and Company, and in 1883 the name changed again to the Bowen-Merrill Company. In 1903 William Conrad Bobbs became a partner and the name became the Bobbs-Merrill Company. Howard W. Sams purchased Bobbs-Merrill in 1959.