Publisher. He was a pioneering publisher and licenser of plays and musicals. He set up his publishing company in New York in 1854, and in 1859 visited London, where he met Thomas Hailes Lacy, a former actor working as a theatrical bookseller. The two men went into partnership, with the resulting company trading in both Britain and the United States. He then took up permanent residence in London, leaving the New York business in the control of his son. He purchased Lacy’s share of the business in 1873, and went on to become the largest theatrical publisher in Britain, representing almost all of the most important playwrights of the time. His company remains one of the leading licensers of plays to amateur theatre companies. (bio by: js)