Lakeside Press

Lakeside Press
Lakeside Press was a historic Chicago-based publishing imprint and fine printing operation associated with R.R. Donnelley & Sons Company (often called RR Donnelley or RRD), one of the largest printing companies in the world during much of the 20th century.

Founded in 1864 by Richard Robert Donnelley in Chicago, the company initially operated as a small printing business. It was reorganized in 1870 as the Lakeside Printing and Publishing Company, but the Great Chicago Fire of 1871 destroyed the operation. Donnelley rebuilt using his reputation, leading to expansions and the establishment of the “Lakeside Press” as a prestigious imprint.

The Press became renowned for high-quality book production, including:
Fine editions for organizations like the Caxton Club.
Major commercial work (e.g., Sears catalogs, telephone directories, encyclopedias).
The famous Lakeside Classics series — a tradition started in 1903 by Thomas E. Donnelley (the founder’s son and then-president). These were specially bound reprints of historical American narratives (often first-person accounts), produced annually as Christmas gifts for employees, customers, and friends. The series ran continuously for over a century (1903–2010s in various forms), with bindings changing colors every 25 years (e.g., dark green/black early on, then red, blue, brown, etc.). They are highly collectible today among book enthusiasts and Americana collectors.

The main facility was housed in iconic Chicago buildings, including the Lakeside Press Building on Plymouth Court (still standing and adaptively reused) and later the massive Calumet Plant.

The dedicated Lakeside Press printing operations wound down in the early 1990s, with the Calumet plant closing in 1993 amid industry changes. Production shifted elsewhere within RRD.

The best places to find Lakeside Press books online are:
eBay Books