William R. Scott, Inc.

William Rufus Scott, founder of the small publishing house William R. Scott, Inc., was born August 27, 1910. He graduated from Yale University in 1931 and worked for several small publishers, where he developed skill as a typographer and learned about illustrating. Scott founded William R. Scott, Inc. in 1938 with his wife, Ethel McCullough Scott, and her brother, John C. McCullough, and began to publish children's books. The first editor was Margaret Brown, who published ''The Noisy Book,'' in 1939. Around 1972, Scott sold his publishing house to Addison-Wesley and most of the books previously published went out of print. Years later, some were reissued by HarperCollins and by the Linnet imprint of Shoe String Press.

Scott is considered a pioneering publisher of modern children's books and created vibrant books with creative educational content. He died on July 22, 1997 in North Bennington, VT at the age of 86.

From the guide to the William R. Scott, Inc. records, 1938-1997, 1938-1960, (Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library)