Lester J. Cappon, Scholarly Publishing, and the Atlas of Early American History, 1957–1976

Abstract

The Atlas of Early American History: The Revolutionary Era 1760–1790, published in 1976, remains one of the lasting legacies of the US Bicentennial. Funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities and a variety of private foundations, the publication was only incidentally a product of the celebration of the birth of a nation. The Atlas was the product of twenty years of effort by Lester J. Cappon—historian, archivist, and documentary editor—and because of his commitment to maintaining his own personal archives, we can learn more about this scholarly publishing venture than most. His rich diaries, personal papers, and Atlas archives enable us to follow the trials and tribulations of this publishing venture. We also learn that the kinds of issues facing scholarly publishing today, with a few differences (such as e-publishing), are not unique at all from those of half a century ago.