In 1909, Abraham Franklin Lewis, a Chicago printer, created a hand typeset directory of his friends in the local printing trade. He never suspected that a one-page sheet listing a few dozen addresses and phone numbers would become today's nationwide group of Graphic Arts Blue Books.

Lewis, a popular printer, started his simple trade list when telephones were just coming into use. Friends in the trade asked for copies, and soon, suppliers asked if they could be listed in boldface to stand out from their competitors. A business was born, and soon salesman canvassed the busy Chicago printing district, soliciting ads from trade shops, type founders, ink manufacturers, paper merchants and equipment manufacturers. Printers, binders and typesetters soon found that being listed in the Blue Book meant being in the inner circle of companies that got prized jobs and referrels from their peers.

The first directory, published in 1910, was titled The Chicago Printing Trades Blue Book. A hard cover book with 181 pages, it was subtitled "A Business Directory for Busy People." The book included a Where-to-Buy-It section with alphabetized headings, and listed all the printers, engravers, book binders and trade shops, as well as newspapers and magazines published in Chicago.

Even from the first issue, the Blue Book tried to be comprehensive in its coverage, listing many printed specialty products and including many companies that provided products and services printers used.

In 1913, Abe Lewis was joined by his brother, Meyer Franklin Lewis, who became the publisher in 1928. Management of the business passed to Meyer's son, Harrie F. Lewis, in 1956, and upon his retirement in 1983, to his grandson, Timothy S. Lewis. During these decades, the Printing Trades Blue Book expanded nationwide to cover all the U.S. graphic arts industry's production centers. Now called the Graphic Arts Blue Book, the directories cover all 50 states and Canada in eight regional editions.

In 1998, the Blue Book became part of Reed Business Information, the largest business-to-business publisher in North America and long-time printing industry participant as publisher of Graphic Arts Monthly magazine.

Today, supported by an experienced full-time staff of editors and researchers, the Graphic Arts Blue Book represents the largest and most current, comprehensive and trusted database of North American graphic arts professionals available anywhere - including more than 110,000 individuals at over 62,000 locations encompassing printers, tradeshops, and suppliers.