H. H. Bancroft and Co. was founded in 1856 in San Francisco by Hubert Howe Bancroft and George L. Kenney, as a bookseller and publisher. Besides titles in law, medicine and education, the company published some books of poetry. Hubert Bancroft progressively left the firm in the hands of his brother Albert while he pursued historical research about the history of the western coast of America, which was ultimately published in 39 volumes. The firm became A. L. Bancroft and Company in 1869. In 1886, folowing the destruction of the Bancroft building by fire, a number of new companies were established. Bancroft-Whitney Company was formed to publish the company's law titles; The History Company was formed to publish some volumes of Hubert's monumental history, and The Bancroft Company was formed by Hubert and his nephew Will Bancroft to carry on printing, publishing and bookselling activities.
Hubert Howe Bancroft sold his collection of West Americana to the University of California (Berkeley), where it formed the basis of the Bancroft Library. The Bancroft-Whitney Company became part of the Lawyers Co-operative Publishing Company in 1919.
