High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! George Ayres Leavitt (May 13, 1822 - December 18, 1888) was the son of a Massachusetts bookbinder who founded several of New York`s earliest publishing firms. George Leavitt subsequently founded his own publishing company, Leavitt & Allen, but it failed during a financial panic that swept the nation during the American Civil War. Leavitt later tried to reestablish himself as both publisher and fine arts auctioneers, founding one of the first upscale auction houses, and eventually retiring from the book industry entirely.