19th century Joshua Ballinger Lippincott (March 18, 1813 – January 5, 1886) founded the publishing company in
Philadelphia when he was 23 years old. J. B. Lippincott & Co. began business publishing Bibles and prayer books before expanding into history, biography, fiction, poetry, and gift books. The company later added almanacs, medicine and law, school textbooks, and dictionaries. In 1849, Lippincott acquired Grigg, Elliot & Co., a significant publisher and wholesaler whose origins dated back to printer and bookseller Benjamin and Jacob Johnson in 1792. In 1850 J. B. Lippincott & Co. became Lippincott, Grambo & Co. but reverted to its former name in 1855. The company was incorporated in 1878 as J. B. Lippincott Company. Lippincott published the first textbook of nursing in the U.S. in 1878 and the first issue of the
American Journal of Nursing in 1900. By the end of the 19th century, Lippincott was one of the largest and best-known publishers in the world. which was headquartered in the
A.J. Holman and Company building. In 1978, J. B. Lippincott Company was acquired by
Harper & Row Publishers, Inc. A. J. Holman was sold to the
Sunday School Board of the Southern Baptist Convention in 1979. Lippincott's trade, juvenile and elementary and high school divisions were merged into Harper's. The remaining publishing activities, in medicine, nursing, and allied health, were combined with Harper's programs to form "J.B. Lippincott—the Health Professions Publisher of Harper & Row". In 1990, Lippincott was acquired by
Wolters Kluwer N.V. of The Netherlands. J. B. Lippincott Company celebrated its 200th anniversary in 1992. , designed by William B. Pritchett in the
Italianate style; in 2005, it was converted to a 33-unit luxury condo building. Wolters Kluwer merged Lippincott with its other medical publisher, Raven Press, in 1996 to form Lippincott-Raven Publishers. In 1998, Wolters Kluwer acquired medical publisher Williams & Wilkins and combined it with Lippincott-Raven to form
Lippincott Williams & Wilkins.
21st century After further internal reorganization at Wolters Kluwer in 2002, Lippincott Williams & Wilkins ceased to exist as an operational entity; instead, the names Lippincott Williams & Wilkins and Lippincott are now used solely as brands and publishing imprints of Wolters Kluwer Health. ==Leadership==