Beautiful certificate from the Harper & Brothers issued in 1906. This historic document was printed by the Broun Green Company and has an ornate border around it with a vignette of the New York State Seal. This item has the signatures of the Company's Vice - President, J. Henry Harper and Secretary, F. A. Duncka and is over 103 years old.
Certificate Vignette Harper & Brothers was a prominent New York City book and magazine publishing firm which founded Harper's Magazine. James Harper and his brother John, printers by training, started their book publishing business J. & J. Harper in 1817. Their two brothers, Joseph Wesley Harper and Fletcher Harper, joined them in the mid 1820s. The company changed its name to "Harper & Brothers" in 1833. The headquarters of the publishing house were located at 331 Pearl Street, facing Franklin Square in Lower Manhattan (about where the Manhattan approach to the Brooklyn Bridge lies today). Harper & Brothers began publishing Harper's New Monthly Magazine in 1850. The brothers also published Harper's Weekly (starting in 1857) and Harper's Bazar (starting in 1867). George B. M. Harvey became president of Harper's on Nov. 16, 1899. Harper's New Monthly Magazine ultimately became Harper's Magazine, which is now published by the Harper's Magazine Foundation. Harper's Weekly was absorbed by The Independent (New York; later Boston) in 1916, which in turn merged with The Outlook in 1928. Harper's Bazar was sold to William Randolph Hearst in 1913 and is now Bazaar, published by the Hearst Corporation. In 1962 Harper & Brothers merged with Row, Peterson & Company to become Harper & Row. Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation acquired Harper & Row in 1987, and William Collins & Sons in 1990. The names of these two national publishing houses (Harper & Row in the United States and Collins in Britain) survives in the newly formed HarperCollins, which has since expanded its international reach with further acquisitions of formerly independent publishers. History from Wikipedia and OldCompany.com (old stock certificate research service).