Frederick A. Stokes and Joel Parker White set up the publishing business White and Stokes in New York in 1881; they were joined by Frank Allen in 1883 when the firm became White, Stokes and Allen. When Stokes and his brother bought out the other partners in 1887 the firm became Frederick A. Stokes and Brother, and it was incorporated as Frederick A. Stokes Company in 1890.
A respected leader of the publishing undustry, Frederick Stokes was a conservative publisher who produced handsome books with quality bindings and illustrations. The firm's early list showed a bais towards the publication of poetry, but the company developed as a publisher of novels, both original and in reprint, humour and general non-fiction. It also had a distinguished children's list.
Frederick A. Stokes Company was purchased by J. B. Lippincott Company in 1941.