Nelson Doubleday - Early Life and Education

Early Life and Education

Nelson Doubleday was born in Brooklyn, New York to Frank Nelson Doubleday (of French Huguenot descent, from a DuBaldy family) and Neltje Blanchan. His older brother Felix Doty was adopted, and he had a younger sister Dorothy. In the city, the children attended a private Friends School run by Quakers. The family moved out to a large estate in Locust Valley on Long Island, called "Effendi" after their father's nickname given to him by his friend, the British author Rudyard Kipling. The author wrote his Just So Stories after the boy Nelson asked him to publish a book of animal stories.

Nelson grew up in the world of book publishing, as his father had founded the Doubleday company. His mother wrote several books about gardening and birds, which were considered notable for their combination of scientific content and lyrical expression.

Nelson later studied at a private school in Ossining, New York. He attended two years of New York University before joining his father in business, which he found more interesting. Even as a youth, he had creative solutions to business issues, for instance, suggesting selling dated magazines at a discount and thereby gaining some revenue from them.

Read more about this topic:  Nelson Doubleday

Famous quotes containing the words early, life and/or education:

    “No doubt they rose up early to observe
    The rite of May.”
    —William Shakespeare (1564–1616)

    “In soliciting donations from his flock, a preacher may promise eternal life in a celestial city whose streets are paved with gold, and that’s none of the law’s business. But if he promises an annual free stay in a luxury hotel on Earth, he’d better have the rooms available.”
    —Unknown. Charlotte Observer (October 6, 1989)

    “She gave high counsels. It was the privilege of certain boys to have this immeasurably high standard indicated to their childhood; a blessing which nothing else in education could supply.”
    —Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)