David McKay

David McKay (June 24, 1860 – November 20, 1918) was a Scottish American publisher, head of David McKay Publications, which published books of all kinds, including early examples of comic books. Biography Early life McKay was born in Dysart, Scotland, on June 24, 1860. At the age of 11, he came to the United States with his parents. At the age of 13, he began working for J. B. Lippincott & Co., learning the bookselling trade. Rees Welsh By the age of 21, McKay was placed in charge of the miscellaneous catalog of books by publisher Rees Welsh. One year later, upon hearing McKay had been offered a position with a rival publisher, Welsh asked McKay to take the helm, offering to sell the entire publishing firm to him. McKay’s notoriety as a publisher actually began while still working for Rees Welsh & Co., by bringing out Walt Whitman’s Leaves of Grass when another publisher, James R. Osgood & Co., had thrown it out because of threatened legal action by the attorney-general of Massachusetts for its “alleged immorality.”