Publisher of the Encyclopædia Britannica, born in Worcester, MA, on the 8th of December 1859. He was of English descent, his father’s family having settled in New England about 1650, while his mother was a descendant of John Leverett, governor of Massachusetts 1672–1679. Having been educated in the public schools of Worcester and of Washington, DC, he started in business in early life at Denver, CO, but a few years later removed to Chicago where with others he organized the Western Book & Stationery Company with bookstores in a number of the large western cities. In 1895 he moved to New York and joined a company for the sale of The Century Dictionary, and his success in this enterprise led to wider fields. In 1897 he went to London and arranged with A. & C. Black, publishers of the Encyclopædia Britannica, for a reprint of the 9th Edition of that work, and with The Times for its sale through that paper. Later he purchased the copyright. By reducing the price and by providing for payments in small monthly instalments the sale of the work was revolutionized, 70,000 sets being sold in the next five years. The success of this enterprise led Mr. Hooper to have prepared, in 1902, a large supplement in 11 volumes (under the editorship of Sir Donald Mackenzie Wallace, President Arthur T. Hadley of Yale, and Mr. Hugh Chisholm) which, added to the volumes of the 9th Edition, formed the 10th Edition. For this also there was a large sale. His next enterprise was The Historians’ History of the World, 1904, a work in 25 volumes. Meanwhile Mr. Hooper’s relation with The Times grew more close. He took an intimate part in the business management, and it was at his suggestion and under his personal direction that The Times Book Club was formed. In 1908 when the proprietorship of The Times passed into the late Lord Northcliffe’s hands, Mr. Hooper’s connection with that paper came to an end.
In 1903 Mr. Hooper entered upon a larger enterprise than any yet attempted, the preparation of an entirely new edition, the 11th, of the Encyclopædia Britannica, under the editorship of Mr. Hugh Chisholm. This was published in the closing months of 1910 and the first of 1911 under an arrangement with the Cambridge University Press. Hitherto all large works of reference had been issued volume by volume over a period of years. By his energy and the liberal expenditure of money, Mr. Hooper arranged that the 11th Edition of the Encyclopædia Britannica should all be published at the same time, thus greatly enhancing the usefulness of the work. Of this edition 75,000 sets were sold in the next few years, the use of India paper being one factor in its success. In 1915 Mr. Hooper published the work in a smaller and cheaper form known as the Handy Volume Issue, the contents being identical with the original issue. In this form nearly 200,000 sets were sold within a few years. The last enterprise in which Mr. Hooper was engaged was the publication in 1922 of Three New Volumes of the Encyclopædia Britannica, which supplemented the 11th Edition, and with the 29 volumes of that Edition made the 12th Edition.
Mr. Hooper’s success in publishing and distributing so widely the important works mentioned above lay partly in the originality, boldness and brilliance of his operations, but chiefly in his faith in the intelligence and ambition of the great masses of the people. He believed in the educational value of good books, and that the people would order such books and use them if the matter were properly placed before them. The ideals he set before himself were the maintenance in the Encyclopædia Britannica of the highest standard of scholarship and the placing of the work as an educational aid in the greatest number of homes. Many professional educators of note have done less than he toward popular enlightenment. For a number of years Mr. Hooper lived in England. He was a strong believer in the unity of the English-speaking peoples, and exerted his influence toward the removal of causes of friction between England and America and the establishment of cordial feeling and a mutual understanding. He died at Bedford Hills, NY, on the 13th of June 1922.
