The rise of Frank A. Munsey from a poor postoffice clerk in Augusta,
Maine, to the head of one of the most profitable publishing houses
in the world has been as rapid as it is remarkable. His only capital
when he began his current business were his ideas and his nerve; yet,
in less than ten years, he has made a fortune. Mr. Munsey was born
in Mercer, Maine, August 21, 1854, the son of Andrew C. and Mary J.
Munsey. After securing an ordinary education in the public schools
of Maine, he began his business career in a country store, and later
became manager of the Western Union telegraph office of Augusta, Maine.
When, in 1882, he went to New York and started the Golden Argosy,
a juvenile weekly (now the adult monthly, The Argosy), his friends
thought he was as unwise as he was reckless. It is said that some of
them actually proposed an inquiry into his sanity. Having made money by
The Argosy, he invested it, in 1890, in a magazine, launching Munsey’s
Weekly, which he converted October, 1891, into Munsey’s Magazine.
He now also publishes The Puritan and the Junior Munsey, besides
newspapers in New York and Washington. Although more widely known as
a publisher than an author, he has written several books, including
Afloat in a Great City, 1887; Boy Broker, 1888; Tragedy of Errors,
1889; Under Fire, 1890, and Deering Forte, 1895.