Godey, Louis Antoine

Godey, Louis Antoine (gō`dē), 1804–78, American publisher, b. New York City. He was joint founder in 1830 of the Lady's Book (known after his partner's withdrawal as Godey's Lady's Book), the first successful women's magazine. The magazine, which featured articles by famous authors and colored plates of the latest fashions, attained a circulation of 150,000 by 1858 and was considered an arbiter of morals and taste. Godey also owned a publishing house that produced such works as The Young People's Book or Magazine of Useful or Entertaining Knowledge (1841) and the Lady's Musical Library (1842).

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Godey, Louis Antoine (1804–78) publisher; born in New York City. Educated largely in newspaper editorial offices, he was a middle-class tastemaker in fashion, music, and literature as the publisher of Godey's Lady's Book (1830–77), the largest circulation magazine of its time. Its illustrations not only influenced women's fashions of the time but would become documents for social historians and prized items for collectors. A publisher also of children's and music journals, Godey was among the first to copyright magazine contents.