R. R. Bowker
American publishing company from 1868, acquired 1878 by Richard Rogers Bowker
R. R. Bowker LLC (trading as Bowker) is an American limited liability company domiciled under Delaware Limited Liability Company Law and based in Chatham, New Jersey. Among other things, Bowker provides bibliographic information on published works to the book trade, including publishers, booksellers, libraries, and individuals; its roots in the industry trace back to 1868. Bowker is the exclusive U.S. agent for issuing International Standard Book Numbers (ISBNs). Bowker is the publisher of Books in Print and other compilations of information about books and periodical titles. It provides supply chain services and analytical tools to the book publishing industry. Bowker is headquartered in Chatham, New Jersey, with additional operational offices in England and Australia. It is now owned by Cambridge Information Group.
History
The company was founded in New York City by Frederick Leypoldt, a German immigrant who worked as a bookseller and recognized the need for good bibliographic information to make the book business more efficient. He established the monthly Literary Bulletin, his first periodical, in 1868. In 1870 Leypoldt issued the first edition of his Annual American Catalogue, the forerunner for Books in Print.
“R. R. Bowker” enters the record as american publishing company from 1868, acquired 1878 by Richard Rogers Bowker. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Bowker, American and publishing can confirm, complicate or overturn.
Why this record matters
“R. R. Bowker” is worth following because a concise public description often conceals a longer documentary argument. Here, Bowker, American and publishing provides the most credible route into that argument.
Chronology, provenance and viewpoint should be read together before a broad social or political interpretation is accepted. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 23, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q21809557. VIAF identifies the subject as 142671788. The Library of Congress control number is n79046287. 3 of 4 selected statements include explicit references; 1 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1868 and 1870.
Official terminology may obscure informal participation, dissent or communities documented only indirectly. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
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This entry incorporates text from “R. R. Bowker” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.