The Principles of Scientific Management by Frederick W. Taylor: the private printing

Abstract

The Principles of Scientific Management by Frederick W. Taylor began as the text of a fireside lecture and evolved into a classic work of the Scientific Management Era. Taylor failed to convince his colleagues in the American Society of Mechanical Engineers to publish his “Principles” in the ASME Transactions, in spite of an extensive letter writing campaign directed toward the effort. He resorted to a “private printing” of the material that had been rejected by the ASME. Taylor personally distributed copies of the private printing to his friends in the Society before the publication of each of the forthcoming magazine articles and the “trade edition” of essentially the same material. Personal correspondence preserved in the Taylor Collection at Stevens Institute of Technology provides clues to the events of 1910‐1911, wherein Taylor labored over the manner of publication of his “Principles of Scientific Management.” This paper tracks the details of these events through the publication of the private printing. Articles in subsequent issues of Journal of Management History will track the publishing events following the private printing.