Rand McNally & Company

▪ American publishing company

      American publishers and printers of maps, atlases, globes, and tourist guidebooks; its headquarters are in Skokie, Ill. Founded in 1856 by William H. Rand and Andrew McNally and incorporated in 1873, it is the oldest firm of its kind in the country and one of the world's leading mapmakers. The company's first publication was an annual report of a railroad company in 1868, and the first map was issued in 1872. The Business Atlas, now known as the annual Commercial Atlas and Marketing Guide, began publication in 1877. A textbook department opened in 1894 with the publication of the Rand McNally Primary School Geography. Children's books were added to its publishing list in 1900. With the advent of automobiles about 1908, its first road guide was published. Rand McNally began publication of Goode's School Atlas, now Goode's World Atlas, a pioneer work in school geography, in the early 1920s. Its chief products include maps, atlases, globes, geography and travel books, reference guides, children's books, custom maps, and wall maps.

* * *