Sixty-one years after it was founded, F. A. Davis Company reluctantly published a volume of definitions that had been cultivated by a middle-aged 70-year old acquisitions editor as a sidelight to his diverse career. Mired in post-Depression caution as induced by Mr. Jackson, the omnipresent banker, President (Aunt) Irene Craven Davis, for once relented and let Clarence Taber roar one of his terrible roars. It was a proposition that even a skeptical banker wouldn't refute. So in 1940, against the sensibility of fiscal restraint, the first edition of Taber's Cyclopedic Medical Dictionary was published. Although the dictionary became an instant success, Aunt Irene and Mr. Jackson could never have imagined the long-term impact of Mr. Taber'soverpowering proposition.

But did Mr. Taber imagine? Unfortunately, the foresight of Mr. Taber'splan is unknown, and the trail of its formality lost. Perhaps Mr. Taber was shrewd enough to realize the exploitation of his amazingly clear vision would fail to be persuasive. After all, he wouldn't want to give Aunt Irene and Mr. Jackson the satisfaction of declaring him mentally incompetent once they saw his forecast of 7 million copies over a 55-year stretch with basically the same cover design. And surely, it was beneath him to conform to a 1930s style proposal where editors' blood samples were not required but dutifully requested from the likes of Mr. Jackson. In accordance, Mr. Taber'sirreverence in the home office was legendary and proposals even then were a pain in the lexicon to put together. Alas, this middle-aged nursing editor of 70 years, in fact, merely conveyed himself as a 1990s thinker: he threatened to sue & and rhetorically inquired, "Mr. Jackson, have you a place in the 1939 budget for legal fees?"

Since those mid-century roars, where teeth were gnashed and eyes rolled, F. A. Davis has stayed on a private boat that has with your support enjoyed agreeable seas. We have stared into the yellow eyes of the monstrous corporate predators and we haven't blinked. Like Mr. Taber, whose remarkable life ended in 1968 at the tender age of 97, we have constantly beat the odds.

Mr. Taber's1939 proposition has ultimately helped maintain for F. A. Davis Company the blessing of independence and hence, the rich tradition of placing significant value on our heritage. In February of 1997, the 18th edition of Taber's Cyclopedic Medical Dictionary shall bring you the best in dictionary service with full color illustrations. The 18th edition is the culmination of an unprecedented evaluation of Taber's every element. Taber's has always enlightened your students as they navigated their career paths. The 18th edition will do this better than ever, even our banker thinks so.

	President's Letters 2009 2008 2007 2006 2005 2004 2003 2001-02 2000 1999 1998 1996
Robert H. Craven, Jr.