The Pacific Press

The Pacific Press was established in Oakland in 1874 by James White and his wife, the "prophet" Ellen G. White. It was one of two firms that published the works of the Seventh-Day Adventist Church which was established by the Whites among others in Battle Creek, Michigan. The first church had been built in 1855. The name Seventh-day Adventist was adopted in 1860.

The Whites lived in Battle Creek, Michigan in the 1850's where they published works with the Review and Herald Publishing House (the other publishing house for this religious group). This firm published newspapers and periodicals as well as religious books. James White was the editor of the Advent Review and Sabbath Herald. Ellen G. White was a prolific writer. Unfortunately her claim to fame of receiving messages directly from God is somewhat suspect since her book "The Great Controversy" written in 1886 was plagiarized (pictures and text) in large part from the "History of Protestantism" by J. A. Wyllie, an 1876 book. This is despite the claim that the contents came to her as a revelation from God. Perhaps God forgot he had read the earlier book.

One wonders if her other "visions" from God were also fabricated. That is a topic for another place however.

Pacific Press in 1876

The Pacific Press / Review and Herald Publishing House published a number of juvenile series. The advertised list is shown below. A number of the series were published by Thomas Nelson and Sons. It is unclear whether the Pacific Press just sold those sets or also published the titles/sets.

James White was quoted as saying that Mrs. White had "gathered juvenile books and papers in great quantities" and "We purchased every series of books for children and youth in America". Perhaps familiarity with the Nelson series accounted for the sets.