Albert Boni
| Albert Boni | |
|---|---|
| Born |
29 October 1892 New York City, New York, United States |
| Died | 31 July 1981 (aged 88) Ormond Beach, Florida |
| Education | Harvard (1 year), Cornell (2 years) |
| Occupation | Book Publisher |
| Years active | 1912-1974 |
| Notable work | Microprinting |
| Home town | Newark, New Jersey |
| Spouse(s) | Nell, of Ormond Beach, Fla |
| Children | William, of Carmel, N.Y., and three granddaughters, Karin Fisher of St. Paul, Minn., Mariette Bock of Chester, Vt., and Nell Hughes of Rochelle Park, N. J. |
| Relatives | Brother, John L. Boni (1924 - 2013), Frank (Shirley) Boni of Allegany, 3 sisters |
Albert Boni (29 October 1892, New York City – 31 July 1981, Ormond Beach, Florida) was co-founder of the publishing company Boni & Liveright and a pioneering publisher in paperbacks and book clubs.
Born in 1892 to a Jewish family in New York City, Albert Boni moved, at an early age, with his family to Newark and completed his secondary school education there. He completed two years of college at Cornell University and one year at Harvard University. Instead of starting his senior year at Harvard, Boni convinced his father to finance the establishment (originally at 95 Fifth Avenue and then at 135 MacDougal Street) of the Washington Square Bookshop with Albert's brother Charles as a partner. The Boni brothers' book store became a meeting place for leftist, Greenwich Village writers and intellectuals. The Boni brothers, with two other partners, created the Little Leather Library of pocket-sized editions of literary classics bound in imitation leather. These editions were hugely successful — the Woolworth stores sold a million copies in one year. In 1913–1914 the Boni brothers published the short-lived literary magazine The Glebe. In 1914, Albert Boni, with Lawrence Langner and others, founded the Washington Square Players. In 1915 the Boni brothers sold the Washington Square Bookshop to Frank Shay.
In 1917 Albert Boni married Cornelia 'Nell' van Leeuwen, a widow with a young son, adopted by Albert Boni upon the marriage. With financial backing from Horace Liveright's father-in-law, paper executive Herman Elsas, the two partners Albert Boni and Horace Liveright incorporated the publishing house Boni & Liveright on February 16, 1917. Boni & Liveright founded the Modern Library (originally called Modern Library of the World's Best Classics), which was eventually acquired by Random House. The Modern Library was financed by $25,000 from Felix M. Warburg and the Boni brothers' uncle Thomas Seltzer. A year and a half after incorporating, Albert Boni sold his interest in Boni & Liveright to Horace Liveright in 1919. However, the name of the firm remained "Boni & Liveright" until 1928, when the name of the publishing house was changed to "Horace Liveright, Inc."
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