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78-600: R.R. Donnelley & Sons Company was founded in Chicago in 1864 by Richard Robert Donnelley. His son, Reuben H. Donnelley, founded the otherwise unrelated company formerly known as R. H. Donnelley . Richard Robert Donnelley established his company in downtown Chicago, which in 1870 became the Lakeside Printing and Publishing Company. The business was destroyed in the Great Chicago Fire of 1871. After

156-415: A claim by Cohn to have been present at the start of the fire. According to Cohn, on the night of the fire, he was gambling in the O'Learys' barn with one of their sons and some other neighborhood boys. When Mrs. O'Leary came out to the barn to chase the gamblers away at around 9:00, they knocked over a lantern in their flight, although Cohn states that he paused long enough to scoop up the money. The argument

234-418: A cow owned by Sullivan's mother. Bales's account does not have consensus. The Chicago Public Library staff criticized his account in their web page on the fire. Despite this, the Chicago city council was convinced of Bales's argument and stated that the actions of Sullivan on that day should be scrutinized after the O'Leary family was exonerated in 1997. Anthony DeBartolo reported evidence in two articles of

312-597: A definitive agreement to be acquired by Chatham Asset Management for $ 7.50 per share in cash. After a bidding war with Atlas Holdings, Chatham increased their offer to buy R.R. Donnelley's remaining shares for $ 10.85 per share in cash, for a value of nearly $ 900 million. The acquisition completed in February 2022. Lakeside Press was a Chicago publishing imprint under which the R.R. Donnelley Company produced fine-quality books as well as mail order catalogs, telephone directories, encyclopedias, and advertising. The Press

390-551: A dry summer, so that winds from the front that moved in that evening were capable of generating rapidly expanding blazes from available ignition sources, which were plentiful in the region. On that hot, dry, and windy autumn day, three other major fires occurred along the shores of Lake Michigan at the same time as the Great Chicago Fire. Some 250 miles (400 km) to the north, the Peshtigo Fire consumed

468-409: A fire swept through the city of Urbana, Illinois , 140 miles (230 km) south of Chicago, destroying portions of its downtown area. Windsor, Ontario , likewise burned on October 12. The city of Singapore, Michigan , provided a large portion of the lumber to rebuild Chicago. As a result, the area was so heavily deforested that the land deteriorated into barren sand dunes that buried the town, and

546-567: A fourteen-point Caslon type-face, and he did make the pages rather large. The artist considered his illustrations "literary woodcutting, not engraving", and added that the illustrations show the "midnight darkness enveloping human existence, the darkness of the human soul, the abyss, -- such is the mood of Moby-Dick ." In 1992, the Library of Congress held an exhibition devoted to the Four American Classics series. In 1929,

624-409: A growing pride in and market for American literature. C. G. Littell, vice president and treasurer, and William A. Kittredge, head of the department of design and typography, organized the campaign. When Kittredge approached William Addison Dwiggins about illustrating a book for the project, Dwiggins, who was a well-established designer of magazine and newspaper advertisements, replied that he welcomed

702-440: A major redesign every quarter century. In 1995, the date line on the title page was changed from "Christmas" to "December". For the redesign in 2003, Bruce Campbell, known for his work on The Library of America , was engaged. Among other changes, the gold-framing on the cover was restored and the typeface was changed from Bulmer to Garamond The company did not keep detailed records on how many copies were printed. The preface to

780-401: A more old-fashioned way of life, and that the fire was caused by people ignoring traditional morality. On the other hand, others believed that a lesson to be learned from the fire was that cities needed to improve their building techniques. Frederick Law Olmsted observed that poor building practices in Chicago were a problem: Chicago had a weakness for "big things", and liked to think that it

858-588: A number of other companies outright, steadily increasing in size. In February 2004, R.R. Donnelley merged with Moore Wallace Inc., keeping the name R.R. Donnelley as the name of the combined company. Donnelley went on to purchase OfficeTiger, a major publishing and financial outsourcing company, as well as printing company Banta Corporation in 2007. In May 2007, R.R. Donnelley also acquired book and educational materials printer Von Hoffmann (and creative/ pre-press subsidiary Anthology Inc.) from Visant Corporation. R.R. Donnelley also purchased Perry Judd's Holdings Inc.,

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936-425: A private catalog and magazine printer, at the beginning of 2007. In 2005, it acquired Hong Kong based Asia Printers Group from CVC Capital Partners . Asia Printers Group consists of South China Printing, which was acquired by Asia Printers Group in 2002. In 2006, it acquired Canadian Bank Note Company 's financial printing business, consisting of documentation for initial public offerings. In 2007, R.R. Donnelley

1014-550: A series of reorganizations and expansions, Donnelley built the Lakeside Press Building on Plymouth Court, and in 1902 began construction of the R.R. Donnelley and Sons Co. Calumet Plant on 21st Street and Calumet Avenue. The company aimed to produce books and periodicals with impressive modern design and mass printed commercial and reference materials. Lakeside Press produced Encyclopædia Britannica , Time Magazine , Life Magazine , promotional literature for

1092-408: A small barn belonging to the O'Leary family that bordered the alley behind 137 W. DeKoven Street . The shed next to the barn was the first building to be consumed by the fire. City officials never determined the cause of the blaze, but the rapid spread of the fire due to a long drought in that year's summer, strong winds from the southwest, and the rapid destruction of the water pumping system explain

1170-487: A tornado-like effect. These fire whirls are likely what drove flaming debris so high and so far. Such debris was blown across the main branch of the Chicago River to a railroad car carrying kerosene . The fire had jumped the river a second time and was now raging across the city's north side. Despite the fire spreading and growing rapidly, the city's firefighters continued to battle the blaze. A short time after

1248-416: A training program or had come up through the ranks. The firm's turnover remained low. As Chicago became home to a northward migration of blacks, the workforce became stratified as non-whites found it hard to attain management positions. Racial tensions in the 1960s further weakened the company's ability to meet technological challenges and global competition. Declining fortunes led to layoffs and contention, and

1326-778: Is a much more important task than hiring a journeyman." The company was one of many which at the time offered apprenticeship courses of this type, ranging from the American Bridge Company and the American Locomotive Company to the Winchester Repeating Arms Company . In the early years, 90 percent of the company's executives and supervisors were graduates of the Apprentice Training School and were either college graduates who had gone through

1404-636: Is not universally accepted. An alternative theory, first suggested in 1882 by Ignatius L. Donnelly in Ragnarok: The Age of Fire and Gravel , is that the fire was caused by a meteor shower . This was described as a "fringe theory" concerning Biela's Comet . At a 2004 conference of the Aerospace Corporation and the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics , engineer and physicist Robert Wood suggested that

1482-605: The Chicago Tribune (October 8, 1997, and March 3, 1998, reprinted in Hyde Park Media ) suggesting that Louis M. Cohn may have started the fire during a craps game. Following his death in 1942, Cohn bequeathed $ 35,000 which was assigned by his executors to the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University . The bequest was given to the school on September 28, 1944, and the dedication contained

1560-492: The Common Council of London gave 1,000 guineas, as well as £7,000 from private donations. In Greenock , Scotland (pop. 40,000) a town meeting raised £518 on the spot. Cincinnati , Cleveland , and Buffalo , all commercial rivals, donated hundreds and thousands of dollars. Milwaukee , along with other nearby cities, helped by sending fire-fighting equipment. Food, clothing and books were brought by train from all over

1638-721: The Model T Ford , catalogs for Sears Roebuck , among others. The Press produced high quality collectible editions for the Chicago Caxton Club and the Limited Editions Club . Donnelley was the official printer for the 1933–1934 World's Fair, "A Century of Progress ", which took place on the Lake Michigan lakefront just to the east of the plant. The company designed and printed official tickets, postcards, posters, brochures, and magazines which displayed

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1716-549: The Modern Library edition of 1943, helped the novel to find a wider audience. Kent's illustrations give the impression of being woodcuts but are in fact ink and wash. Kent counselled Kittredge that the "whole book is a work that should be read slowly, reflectively; the large page and type induce such reading. The character of the type should be homely, rather than refined and elegant, for homeliness flavors every line that Melville wrote." He wrote that he had thought of using

1794-643: The main stem of the river, consuming the Near North Side . Help flowed to the city from near and far after the fire. The city government improved building codes to stop the rapid spread of future fires and rebuilt rapidly to those higher standards. A donation from the United Kingdom spurred the establishment of the Chicago Public Library . The fire is said to have started at about 8:30 p.m. on October 8, in or around

1872-552: The 1910s selections turned to first-person narratives of American history, especially those which were rare or out of print. Themes included the Civil War, the Old West, exploration and frontier life. In the 1990s, several changes were introduced. Partly to acknowledge the company's global markets, narratives by Americans abroad were included. An early admirer wrote in 1923 that the printing, binding, and finishings were all done by

1950-464: The 1935 volume says that the print run for the first volume was 1,500 copies, but no further information was included in later editions. In the 1970s printings were in the tens of thousands. The hardest volume to find is the 1904 Inaugural Addresses of the Presidents, Washington to Lincoln . It is not known whether the run was smaller or whether collectors of Washington and Lincoln have kept them off

2028-546: The City Council passed the ordinance to establish the free Chicago Public Library , starting with the donation from the United Kingdom of more than 8,000 volumes. The fire also led to questions about development in the United States. Due to Chicago's rapid expansion at that time, the fire led to Americans reflecting on industrialization. Based on a religious point of view, some said that Americans should return to

2106-541: The United States had been distrustful of Catholics (or papists , as they were often called) since its beginning, carrying over attitudes in England in the 17th century; as an Irish Catholic, Mrs. O'Leary was a target of both anti-Catholic and anti-Irish sentiment. This story was circulating in Chicago even before the flames had died out, and it was noted in the Chicago Tribune ' s first post-fire issue. In 1893

2184-412: The apprentice class to "illustrate the ideals of a well-made book", and that "not only are these books well made, but they contain historical works, autobiographies, and early travels unforgettable to him who loves this fair land." He concluded that the series is becoming "an institution near and dear to the collector of books of intrinsic value and beauty." Minor design changes were made occasionally and

2262-570: The beginning of 2008, RRD also announced the acquisition of Pro Line Printing, Inc. In 2010 and 2011, R.R. Donnelley acquired Bowne & Co. , San Francisco-based Nimblefish Technologies, Helium.com, and Austin-based LibreDigital. During the Labor Day weekend in September 2011, R.R. Donnelley announced it would close its Bloomsburg printing plant where Penguin Classics and paperbacks in

2340-609: The best-selling Twilight and Idiot's Guide series were printed. In March 2012, RR Donnelley closed their plant in Windsor, Connecticut and in May of the same year, the company closed their plant in Danbury, Connecticut . On August 15, 2012, R.R. Donnelley acquired EDGAR Online . In 2013, R.R. Donnelley acquired Consolidated Graphics . In August 2015, the company announced it would split into three different companies. One would keep

2418-592: The books to the public, but gave each of the company employees a copy at Christmas, making the series valued collectors items. Thomas Donnelley wrote in the introduction to Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin , the first volume in the series, that "If, in a modest way this volume conveys the idea that machine-made books are not a crime against art, and that books may be plain but good, and good though not costly, its mission has been accomplished." Following volumes featured speeches and writings of noted Americans, then in

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2496-467: The burned district are still standing: St. Michael's Church and the Pumping Station were both gutted in the fire, but their exteriors survived, and the buildings were rebuilt using the surviving walls. Additionally, though the inhabitable portions of the building were destroyed, the bell tower of St. James Cathedral survived the fire and was incorporated into the rebuilt church. The stones near

2574-579: The chance to "do something besides waste-basket stuff" which would be "promptly thrown away". After he turned down several suggestions, Dwiggins agreed to illustrate the Tales of Edgar Allan Poe . The Press considered his fee of $ 2,000 low for an illustrator of his commercial power. Edward A. Wilson illustrated Richard Henry Dana 's mid-19th century sea-adventure Two Years Before the Mast and Rudolph Ruzicka Henry David Thoreau 's Walden . The best known of

2652-420: The city as well are safe." For two weeks Sheridan's men patrolled the streets, guarded the relief warehouses, and enforced other regulations. On October 24 the troops were relieved of their duties and the volunteers were mustered out of service. Of the approximately 324,000 inhabitants of Chicago in 1871, 90,000 Chicago residents (about 28% of the population) were left homeless. 120 bodies were recovered, but

2730-402: The city began to rewrite its fire standards, spurred by the efforts of leading insurance executives, and fire-prevention reformers such as Arthur C. Ducat . Chicago soon developed one of the country's leading fire-fighting forces. Business owners and land speculators such as Gurdon Saltonstall Hubbard quickly set about rebuilding the city. The first load of lumber for rebuilding was delivered

2808-409: The city including over 17,000 structures, and left more than 100,000 residents homeless. The fire began in a neighborhood southwest of the city center . A long period of hot, dry, windy conditions, and the wooden construction prevalent in the city, led to the conflagration spreading quickly. The fire leapt the south branch of the Chicago River and destroyed much of central Chicago and then crossed

2886-472: The company opened the Lakeside Galleries on the eighth floor of their newly completed building on 22nd Street. From 1930 to 1961, when the corporate headquarters were moved, the galleries devoted exhibitions to the works of American and European artists and photographers, as well as to typography and book design. Throughout its history, particularly in the 1990s and 2000s, R.R. Donnelley purchased

2964-472: The company's distinctive modernist design. " The company eventually became a global provider of printing and print-related services. From 1922 to 1945, the Director of Design and Typography was William A. Kittredge , who commissioned other well-regarded artists and designers, such as Rudolph Ruzicka , Edward A. Wilson, and W.A. Dwiggins . R.R. Donnelley's cartographic production facility grew to be one of

3042-594: The continent. Mayor Mason placed the Chicago Relief and Aid Society in charge of the city's relief efforts. Operating from the First Congregational Church , city officials and aldermen began taking steps to preserve order in Chicago. Price gouging was a key concern, and in one ordinance, the city set the price of bread at 8¢ for a 12-ounce (340 g) loaf. Public buildings were opened as places of refuge, and saloons closed at 9 in

3120-493: The day the last burning building was extinguished. By the World's Columbian Exposition 22 years later, Chicago hosted more than 21 million visitors. The Palmer House hotel burned to the ground in the fire 13 days after its grand opening. Its developer, Potter Palmer , secured a loan and rebuilt the hotel to higher standards, across the street from the original, proclaiming it to be "The World's First Fireproof Building". In 1956,

3198-532: The death toll may have been as high as 300. The county coroner speculated that an accurate count was impossible, as some victims may have drowned or had been incinerated, leaving no remains. In the days and weeks following the fire, monetary donations flowed into Chicago from around the country and abroad, along with donations of food, clothing, and other goods. These donations came from individuals, corporations, and cities. New York City gave $ 450,000 along with clothing and provisions, St. Louis gave $ 300,000, and

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3276-470: The evening for the week following the fire. Many people who were left homeless after the incident were never able to get their normal lives back since all their personal papers and belongings burned in the conflagration. After the fire, A. H. Burgess of London proposed an "English Book Donation", to spur a free library in Chicago, in their sympathy with Chicago over the damages suffered. Libraries in Chicago had been private with membership fees. In April 1872,

3354-497: The extensive damage of the mainly wooden city structures. There has been much speculation over the years on a single start to the fire. The most popular tale blames Mrs. O'Leary's cow, which allegedly knocked over a lantern; others state that a group of men were gambling inside the barn and knocked over a lantern. Still other speculation suggests that the blaze was related to other fires in the Midwest that day . The fire's spread

3432-401: The fire began when a fragment of Biela's Comet impacted the Midwest. Biela's Comet had broken apart in 1845 and had not been observed since. Wood argued that four large fires took place, all on the same day, all on the shores of Lake Michigan (see related events ), suggesting a common root cause. Eyewitnesses reported sighting spontaneous ignitions, lack of smoke, "balls of fire" falling from

3510-682: The fire had already started to burn itself out. The fire had spread to the sparsely populated areas of the north side, having thoroughly consumed the densely populated areas. Once the fire had ended, the smoldering remains were still too hot for a survey of the damage to be completed for many days. Eventually, the city determined that the fire destroyed an area about 4 miles (6 km) long and averaging 3 ⁄ 4 mile (1 km) wide, encompassing an area of more than 2,000 acres (809 ha). Destroyed were more than 73 miles (117 km) of roads, 120 miles (190 km) of sidewalk, 2,000 lampposts, 17,500 buildings, and $ 222 million in property, which

3588-399: The fire jumped the river, a burning piece of timber lodged on the roof of the city's waterworks . Within minutes, the interior of the building was engulfed in flames and the building was destroyed. With it, the city's water mains went dry and the city was helpless. The fire burned unchecked from building to building, block to block. Late in the evening of October 9, it started to rain, but

3666-485: The fire started when Daniel "Pegleg" Sullivan, who first reported the fire, ignited hay in the barn while trying to steal milk. Part of Bales's evidence includes an account by Sullivan, who claimed in an inquiry before the Fire Department of Chicago on November 25, 1871, that he saw the fire coming through the side of the barn and ran across DeKoven Street to free the animals from the barn, one of which included

3744-403: The fire started, but stories of the cow began to spread across the city. Catherine O'Leary seemed the perfect scapegoat : she was a poor, Irish Catholic immigrant. During the latter half of the 19th century, anti-Irish sentiment was strong in Chicago and throughout the United States. This was intensified as a result of the growing political power of the city's Irish population. Furthermore,

3822-442: The fire to grow unchecked. An alarm sent from the area near the fire also failed to register at the courthouse where the fire watchmen were, while the firefighters were tired from having fought numerous small fires and one large fire in the week before. These factors combined to turn a small barn fire into a conflagration. When firefighters finally arrived at DeKoven Street, the fire had grown and spread to neighboring buildings and

3900-488: The fire, while strong southwest winds helped to carry flying embers toward the heart of the city. In 1871, the Chicago Fire Department had 185 firefighters with just 17 horse-drawn steam pumpers to protect the entire city. The initial response by the fire department was timely, but due to an error by the watchman, Matthias Schaffer, the firefighters were initially sent to the wrong place, allowing

3978-491: The heat and from burning debris blown by the wind. Around midnight, flaming debris blew across the river and landed on roofs and the South Side Gas Works. With the fire across the river and moving rapidly toward the heart of the city, panic set in. About this time, Mayor Roswell B. Mason sent messages to nearby towns asking for help. When the courthouse caught fire, he ordered the building to be evacuated and

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4056-566: The lake to the east, the town of Holland, Michigan , and other nearby areas burned to the ground. Some 100 miles (160 km) to the north of Holland, the lumbering community of Manistee also went up in flames in what became known as the Great Michigan Fire . Farther east, along the shore of Lake Huron , the Port Huron Fire swept through Port Huron, Michigan and much of Michigan 's "Thumb" . On October 9, 1871,

4134-494: The lake" if "it is not the greatest illustrated book ever done in America." (In fact, the book is considered one of the finest of the 20th century.) Random House quickly issued a one-volume trade edition, which was also printed by Lakeside Press, bound in black cloth with silver print and decorations. The book's cover and the first advertisements both featured Kent's name but did not mention Melville's. Kent's design, especially in

4212-535: The largest custom mapmaking companies in the United States . In the early 1990s, the division successfully integrated routing technology with its digital map databases and launched a separate company, Geosystems, which several years later became MapQuest . The Calumet Plant was closed in 1993, following the cancellation of the Sears catalog . Donnelley's handling of the closing generated a lawsuit, which went all

4290-437: The market by retaining them. The second scarcest is Fruits of Solitude , which may have been easy to lose because it had the fewest pages. The difficulty of finding the volume Memorable Speeches led one family member to joke that the speeches were so unmemorable that everyone threw them out. The Chicago publisher Reilly & Britton was given rights to reissue some of the earliest titles as “The Patriotic Classics.” By 2015,

4368-459: The mixtures also become explosive, a situation unlikely to occur from meteorites. Methane gas is lighter than air and thus does not accumulate near the ground; any localized pockets of methane in the open air rapidly dissipate. Moreover, if a fragment of an icy comet were to strike the Earth, the most likely outcome, due to the low tensile strength of such bodies, would be for it to disintegrate in

4446-637: The name R.R. Donnelley & Sons whereas the other two would be titled LSC Communications and Donnelley Financial Solutions . The separation was completed in October 2016. The company left the Brazilian market in 2019. In September 2021, R.R. Donnelley announced it would be closing the company's plant in Lewisburg in November 2021. In October 2021, R.R. Donnelley announced that it had entered into

4524-475: The prisoners jailed in the basement to be released. At 2:30 a.m. on the 9th, the cupola of the courthouse collapsed, sending the great bell crashing down. Some witnesses reported hearing the sound from a mile (1.6 km) away. As more buildings succumbed to the flames, a major contributing factor to the fire's spread was a meteorological phenomenon known as a fire whirl . As hot air rises, it comes into contact with cooler air and begins to spin, creating

4602-481: The publications in the series was Rockwell Kent 's edition of Herman Melville 's novel, Moby-Dick , which at that point was not yet accepted as an American classic. Kittredge commissioned Kent to perform the design and illustrations in 1926, and the book appeared four years later in a three-volume limited edition of one-thousand copies issued in an aluminum slipcase. Kittredge called it "the greatest book done in this generation" and declared that "we will all go jump in

4680-572: The remaining structures on the original O'Leary property at 558 W. DeKoven Street were torn down for construction of the Chicago Fire Academy, a training facility for Chicago firefighters, known as the Quinn Fire Academy or Chicago Fire Department Training Facility. A bronze sculpture of stylized flames, entitled Pillar of Fire by Egon Weiner , was erected on the point of origin in 1961. The following structures from

4758-402: The reporter Michael Ahern retracted the "cow-and-lantern" story, admitting it was fabricated, but even his confession was unable to put the legend to rest. Although the O'Learys were never officially charged with starting the fire, the story became so engrained in local lore that Chicago's city council officially exonerated them—and the cow—in 1997. Amateur historian Richard Bales has suggested

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4836-538: The rules. He was determined to open a program modeled on the apprentice training program at the Chaix Printing Company in Paris, France, which combined instruction and practical experience. "The whole plant", in the words of one official description, "is the laboratory of the school" The inscription for the 1913 handbook for apprentices stated that "The employer should realize that engaging an apprentice

4914-491: The school closed in 1993. Donnelley launched a "Four American Books" campaign in 1926 which culminated with their publication in 1930. The aim was to establish that the company's modern commercial machinery could produce illustrated books to rival high-quality presses in Europe and to establish a reputation as a printer of fine trade editions in order to enter the mass-market book industry. The choice of American authors reflected

4992-401: The series included 113 volumes. In 2017, publication was taken over by newly created company LSC Communications, and the final edition was published in 2019, with 117 total editions produced. Lakeside Classics were not sold to the public and only made available to employees, clients and others associated with R.R. Donnelley (and later LSC Communications). The week before Christmas, each employee

5070-420: The sky, and blue flames. According to Wood, these accounts suggest that the fires were caused by the methane that is commonly found in comets. Meteorites are not known to start or spread fires and are cool to the touch after reaching the ground, so this theory has not found favor in the scientific community. Methane-air mixtures become flammable only when the methane concentration exceeds 5%, at which point

5148-452: The top of the tower are still blackened from the soot and smoke. Almost from the moment the fire broke out, various theories about its cause began to circulate. The most popular and enduring legend maintains that the fire began in the O'Leary barn as Mrs. O'Leary was milking her cow. The cow kicked over a lantern (or an oil lamp in some versions), setting fire to the barn. The O'Leary family denied this, stating that they were in bed before

5226-465: The town of Peshtigo, Wisconsin , along with a dozen other villages. It killed 1,200 to 2,500 people and charred approximately 1.5 million acres (6,100 km ). The Peshtigo Fire remains the deadliest in American history but the remoteness of the region meant it was little noticed at the time, due to the fact that one of the first things that burned were the telegraph lines to Green Bay. Across

5304-461: The upper atmosphere, leading to a meteor air burst like the Tunguska event . The specific choice of Biela's Comet does not match with the dates in question, as the 6-year period of the comet's orbit did not intersect that of the Earth until 1872, one full year after the fire, when a large meteor shower was observed. A common cause for the fires in the Midwest in late 1871 is that the area had had

5382-621: The way to the US Supreme Court, concerning alleged discrimination against black employees. Donnelley settled the lawsuit in 2003. In 1908 T.E. Donnelley, son of the founder, opened the Lakeside Press Apprentice School. Donnelley, a Yale graduate and a trustee of the University of Chicago, felt that the recent revival of the ancient practice of apprenticeship was unsatisfactory because unions dominated

5460-461: Was about a third of the city's valuation in 1871. On October 11, 1871, General Philip H. Sheridan came quickly to the aid of the city and was placed in charge by a proclamation, given by mayor Roswell B. Mason : "The Preservation of the Good Order and Peace of the city is hereby intrusted to Lieut. General P.H. Sheridan, U.S. Army." To protect the city from looting and violence, the city

5538-533: Was aided by the city's use of wood as the predominant building material in a style called balloon frame . More than two-thirds of the structures in Chicago at the time of the fire were made entirely of wood, with most of the houses and buildings being topped with highly combustible tar or shingle roofs. All of the city's sidewalks and many roads were also made of wood. Compounding this problem, Chicago received only 1 inch (25 mm) of rain from July 4 to October 9, causing severe drought conditions before

5616-400: Was also named as an interested party in an attempt to purchase Quebecor World . In May 2009, the company tendered an unsolicited bid to purchase Quebecor World. In July 2008, the company established a multi-year contract with F+W Publications Inc. , which allowed Donnelley to print a large amount of F + W's book and magazine publications. The contract was valued at about $ 80 million. At

5694-683: Was best known for its high quality editions for the Chicago Caxton Club as well as the Lakeside Classics, a series of fine reprints produced annually, at Christmas time, by R.R. Donnelley. The Lakeside Classics tradition began in 1903 by Thomas E. Donnelley, who was then the company president. The basic format of these books has remained essentially the same since inception, as a hardcover, cloth wrapped and gold embossed. Subject matter tended to cover elements of American history. Many early volumes contained speeches and writings of noted Americans, including Benjamin Franklin , whose autobiography

5772-517: Was given one copy of that year's volume. As such, some of the volumes have become scarce, and are in demand on the collectors' market. Antiquarian bookstores often have a section devoted to Lakeside Classics, and early volumes command large sums from book collectors. Great Chicago Fire The Great Chicago Fire was a conflagration that burned in the American city of Chicago during October 8–10, 1871. The fire killed approximately 300 people, destroyed roughly 3.3 square miles (9 km ) of

5850-435: Was outbuilding New York. It did a great deal of commercial advertising in its house-tops. The faults of construction as well as of art in its great showy buildings must have been numerous. Their walls were thin, and were overweighted with gross and coarse misornamentation. Olmsted also believed that with brick walls, and disciplined firemen and police, the deaths and damage caused would have been much less. Almost immediately,

5928-579: Was progressing toward the central business district. Firefighters had hoped that the South Branch of the Chicago River and an area that had previously thoroughly burned would act as a natural firebreak . All along the river, however, were lumber yards, warehouses, and coal yards, as well as barges, and numerous bridges across the river. As the fire grew, the southwest wind intensified and the temperature rose, causing structures to catch fire from

6006-432: Was published as the first Lakeside Classic. Lakeside Classics is a series started in 1903 that reprinted neglected classic works. Thomas E. Donnelley, then president of the company, was impressed by a set of seven razors presented to him by one of the company's suppliers, and wanted to create a gift that would similarly represent his own company's product and could not be purchased on the open market. The company did not sell

6084-511: Was put under martial law for two weeks under Gen. Sheridan's command structure with a mix of regular troops, militia units, police, and a specially organized civilian group "First Regiment of Chicago Volunteers." Former Lieutenant-Governor William Bross, and part owner of the Tribune , later recollected his response to the arrival of Gen. Sheridan and his soldiers: "Never did deeper emotions of joy overcome me. Thank God, those most dear to me and

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