Arthur Robert Harding

Arthur Robert Harding (July 1871 – 1930), better known as A. R. Harding, was an American outdoorsman and the founder of Hunter-Trader-Trapper and Fur-Fish-Game Magazine, and publisher, editor and author of many popular outdoor how-to books of the early 1900s. His company was known as the A. R. Harding Publishing Company of Columbus, Ohio, and St. Louis, Missouri.

Family background A. R. Harding, the son of Alvin Bartlett Harding (1835–1908) and Mary "Mollie" Thompson Harding (1844–1910), was born July 1871 in Gallia County, Ohio. The family lived in Cheshire Township, Gallia County, Ohio, near Kyger, along the Ohio River. Arthur's only sibling was a brother, Howard M. Harding, who became a produce dealer in Gallipolis, Ohio.

Arthur married Marilla Vincent on October 29, 1902, in Gallipolis. They had two children, Louise Harding and Arthur V. Harding, and made their home in Columbus, Ohio.

A. R. Harding died in 1930.

Early career Harding began hunting and trapping at the age of nine. At age 14, he was buying pelts from boys in his neighborhood, and reselling them at a profit. Making his rounds on horseback, he carried most of the pelts in a sack, but tied the fox skins to the saddle to show that his business was doing well. By the age of 20, Harding was employed by L. Frank & Sons, Ohio's Reliable Fur and Hide Dealers, of Zanesville, Ohio, as a fur buyer.

Pleasure and Profit Books In 1906 the A. R. Harding Publishing Company copyrighted and produced Fox Trapping and Mink Trapping, the first in what would become a long line of instructional books. These were the first widely distributed books published about traps and trapping methods. In 1907, three new titles were added to the series: Deadfalls and Snares, Steel Traps and Canadian Wilds.

In 1908 Harding moved his operations to the Columbus Savings and Trust Building, and that year released three more books: Ginseng and Other Medicinal Plants, Land Cruising and Prospecting and Bee Hunting. In the spring of 1909, Harding published Fur Farming; in June 1909, Science of Trapping; and later the same year, Hunting Dogs and Wolf and Coyote Trapping.

In December 1909, Harding started a weekly publication called Camp and Trail, which was incorporated into the Hunter-Trader-Trapper by August 1913. The addition broadened the focus of the magazine to include these recreational activities.

A new book, Camp and Trail Methods, was released in 1910, and Science of Fishing in 1912.

In October 1912, the A. R. Harding Publishing Company moved to 55–57 East Main Street, Columbus, Ohio.

The September 1912 issue of Hunter-Trader-Trapper listed their available books, and the order in which they were published, along with the following statement:

Thus it will be seen that fourteen have already been published. These cover the subjects of hunting, fishing, trapping, camping, prospecting, bee hunting, fur farming, ginseng and other medicinal root growing.

What is more to your interest these books are written by men, who know what they write from experience. Mr. E. Kreps is the author of Camp and Trail Methods and Science of Trapping; Martin Hunter wrote Canadian Wilds; A. F. Wallace wrote Land Cruising and Prospecting; John R. Lockard wrote Bee Hunting; Lake Brooks wrote Science of Fishing. The others were written by A. R. Harding. Each of these books tell in a plain manner what you want to know. At any rate the tens of thousands that have bought those first published are among the first to purchase the new ones as issued.

Harding's Pleasure & Profit Books A list of 24 instructional books published by Arthur Robert Harding. Year Book Title Author/Editor Online Image Online eBook 1906 Fox Trapping Arthur Robert Harding Internet Archive Gutenberg 1906 Mink Trapping Arthur Robert Harding Internet Archive Gutenberg 1907 Deadfalls and Snares Arthur Robert Harding Internet Archive Gutenberg 1907 Steel Traps Arthur Robert Harding Internet Archive Gutenberg 1907 Canadian Wilds Martin Hunter Internet Archive Gutenberg 1908 Ginseng and Other Medicinal Plants Arthur Robert Harding Internet Archive Gutenberg 1908 Land Cruising and Prospecting Arthur Fuller Wallace Goggle Books Gutenberg 1908 Bee Hunting John Ready Lockard Internet Archive Gutenberg 1909 Fur Farming Arthur Robert Harding Internet Archive Gutenberg 1909 The Science of Trapping Elmer Harry Kreps Internet Archive Gutenberg 1909 Hunting Dogs Oliver Hartley Internet Archive Gutenberg 1909 Wolf and Coyote Trapping Arthur Robert Harding Internet Archive Gutenberg 1910 Camp and Trail Methods Elmer Harry Kreps Google Books Gutenberg 1913 Fifty Years a Hunter and Trapper Eldred Nathaniel Woodcock Internet Archive Gutenberg 1913 Game, Fur and Fish Laws Arthur Robert Harding Internet Archive Gutenberg 1913 3001 Questions & Answers Arthur Robert Harding Google Books Gutenberg 1913 A Trip on the Great Lakes Raymond S. Spears Internet Archive Gutenberg 1913 The Cabin Boat Primer Raymond S. Spears Internet Archive Gutenberg 1915 Ferret Facts and Fancies Arthur Robert Harding Internet Archive Gutenberg 1915 Fur Buyer's Guide Arthur Robert Harding Internet Archive Gutenberg 1916 Home Taxidermy for Pleasure and Profit Albert Burton Farnham Google Books Gutenberg 1916 Home Manufacture of Furs and Skins Albert Burton Farnham Internet Archive Gutenberg1922 Home Tanning and Leather Making Guide Albert Burton Farnham Google Books Gutenberg 1927 Practical Muskrat Raising E. J. Dailey Internet Archive Gutenberg