William T. Truman, Cincinnati
Truman & Spofford

William Thompson Truman (1808-1845) and Winthrop Smith established Truman, Smith and Company in about 1833. It morphed into Truman and Smith in 1834.

Truman and Smith's claim to fame originated with its being the publisher of the McGuffey Reader. In 1835 this company asked William Holmes McGuffey to write readers for young students. In 1843 the partnership dissolved with William T. Truman taking the children’s books and Winthrop B. Smith taking the McGuffey Readers.

Ainsworth Spofford (1825-1908) was a native of Gilmanton, New Hampshire. He moved to Cincinnati and worked with the William T. Truman firm in 1845 after the death of Truman. At the time the firm was run by Elizabeth Truman, William’s widow. Because of Spofford's abilities, he was made a partner in 1850 in the newly named house of Truman & Spofford. Financial setbacks eventually caused the failure of the firm in 1859. Spofford later became an editorial writer for the Cincinnati Commercial newspaper and eventually was head librarian for the Library of Congress.

To summarize:
Wm. Truman and Co. 1832
Truman, Smith & Company 1833-1834
Truman and Smith 1834-1843 (Dissolved in April, 1843)
Wm. T. Truman 1843-1845
Truman & Spofford 1850-1859 (In some instances Truman is spelled Trueman.)

(Elizabeth D. Truman succeeded her husband in 1845 as a publisher and bookseller but Wm.'s name still appeared as the publisher on title page imprints. Elizabeth however is the Truman in the Truman & Spofford firm)

Two children's series were published. As of yet I do not have complete lists of these series. The cover illustrations of both series are very similar. Seven of the nine vignettes are the same.

The covers of the books in each series are very similar. There are nine illustrated vignettes. Seven of the nine are the same.

1. Truman's Entertaining Toy Books
2. Truman's Entertaining and Instructive Toy Books