For nearly 200 years there have been Black-owned book publishers in the United States, addressing the special concerns of black people in ways that other book publishers have not. This is a study of the individual publishing histories of 46 of these companies. It provides details of literary history, as well as facts about the contribution of Blacks to Western civilization. The firms included in the book were selected through an examination of major bibliographic works, book advertisements, periodical literature and business directories. Each profile contains details of the company's publishing history, books and other publications, information sources about the company, other titles issued, libraries holding titles produced by the publisher, and officers and addresses, where appropriate. Entries are arranged alphabetically, an appendix presents a geographic listing of the firms and an index offers author, title and subject access.