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June 3

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Born on this date in 1821, Edward Livingston Youmans, American science writer and editor. In 1871 he started publication of the International Scientific Series of then-modern classics of scientific literature (published simultaneously first in New York, London, Paris, and Leipzig, later also in St. Petersburg and Milan), and the next year started the magazine Popular Science Monthly. In these and other venues he promoted the work of British philosopher Herbert Spencer, instigating Spencer to write the popular “The Study of Sociology,” and arranging publication of all of Spencer’s books with D. Appleton & Co., as well as many other international authors – with royalties on the sales (which in Spencer’s case reached 132,000 copies by 1890) going to the authors, despite the lack of an international copyright.

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