The History of the Standard Oil Company

Public Domain

Editor’s Note

This two-volume book is an “exposé about the Standard Oil Company, run at the time by oil tycoon John D. Rockefeller, the richest figure in American history.” More from Wikipedia:

“Originally serialized in nineteen parts in McClure’s magazine, the book is a seminal example of muckraking, and inspired many other journalists to write about trusts, large businesses that (in the absence of strong antitrust laws in the 19th century) attempted to gain monopolies in various industries.”
“The History of the Standard Oil Company is credited with hastening the breakup of Standard Oil, which came about in 1911, when the Supreme Court of the United States found the company to be violating the Sherman Antitrust Act.”
“The original book was a two-volume hardcover set. An abridged paperback edition was released later.”

Ida M. Tarbell

Ida M. Tarbell (1857–1944) “was an American writer, investigative journalist, biographer, and lecturer. She was one of the leading muckrakers and reformers of the Progressive Era of the late 19th and early 20th centuries and was a pioneer of investigative journalism.” She “is best known for her 1904 book The History of the Standard Oil Company.” (Source: Wikipedia.)

This work is in the public domain in the United States because it was published before January 1, 1929. It was adapted by the Observatory from a version produced by Wikisource contributors.

The longest-living author of this work died in 1944, so this work is in the public domain in countries and areas where the copyright term is the author’s life plus 79 years or less. This work may be in the public domain in countries and areas with longer native copyright terms that apply the rule of the shorter term to foreign works.

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