Graeme Mercer Adam
Graeme Mercer Adam was a prominent figure in the publishing industry, best known for founding what became the John W. Lovell Publishing Company. Born in Scotland in the early nineteenth century, he became a Canadian citizen in his early twenties after receiving a solid education in Portobello and Edinburgh. Adam began his career in publishing at a remarkably young age, eventually taking charge of a department at a respected publishing house. Following the owner's sudden death and the dissolution of the business, he had offers from two major firms but opted to move to Canada, where he co-founded Adam, Stevenson, and Company.
His publishing efforts included notable periodicals such as the British American Magazine and the Canadian Monthly and National Review, while he authored significant works, including "The Canadian North-West, Its History, and Its Troubles." Beyond publishing, Adam served as a captain in the Canadian militia and was involved in various roles as a journalist, educator, and critic. Adam faced personal challenges, including the death of his wife Jane after ten years of marriage and raising eight children alone. He continued his career in publishing across various cities in the United States and Canada until his death in New York, where he was laid to rest in Toronto.
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Graeme Mercer Adam
Writer
- Born: 1839
- Birthplace: Loanhead, Midlothian, Scotland
- Died: October 30, 1912
- Place of death: New York, New York
Biography
Graeme Mercer Adam, renown as a founder of the publishing house that became the John W. Lovell Publishing Company, was born to James Adam and Margaret Wishart in the first half of the nineteenth century in Scotland. He became a Canadian citizen in his early twenties. He was educated at Portobello and Edinburgh, and then taken to be responsible for an entire department by a respected and established publishing house before he was twenty years old. A few months later, the owner died suddenly, and the business dissolved. Adam received two offers from two groups to continue his bright career in publishing; Nelson’s offered running a colonial book publishing business in Calcutta, Blackwood’s overseeing the Reverend Doctor J. Cunningham Geikie’s publishing house. He chose Canada. Adams was not yet twenty-one.
Within two years the business became Adam, Stevenson, and Company. Adams then went to New York for two years, founding the publishing house now known as the John W. Lovell Publishing Company. Rollo and Adam’s mainstay was the British American Magazine. Adams, Stevenson, and Co.’s was the Canadian Monthly and National Review. The most significant work he authored was The Canadian North-West, Its History, and Its Troubles, although this is hardly a qualifier as he was also a journalist, educator, and critic, as well as an author, editor, and publisher.
Adam then served twelve years in the Canadian militia as a captain and a commander. In the mid-nineteenth century, he married Jane Gibson, a daughter of the late John Gibson, of Lovell and Gibson, printers and editors. Jane died about ten years later, leaving Adam with eight children. With finances shaky, Adam then worked in Chicago, Ohio, and New York publishing houses throughout the last years of the nineteenth century and the first decade of the next. He died in New York, and was buried in Toronto.