In February 1922, the very first issues of a new kind of reading service - Reader's Digest magazine -
went out to 1,500 original subscribers. Its founder was DeWitt Wallace, a wise, witty and unassuming
man who in October 1921 married the youthful, idealistic Lila Acheson.
Lila shared his enthusiasm and confidence in his dream, so much so that she kept her social service job
for the first year of their marriage in order to pay the rent of their basement flat in New York's
Greenwich Village, while the young couple worked together to produce the first issues.
Founders Lila & DeWitt Wallace
The inspiration for Reader's Digest came while the then Sergeant Wallace was recovering from shrapnel
wounds in France. Reading dozens of magazines, he was impressed by the fact that certain articles had
far more enduring appeal than others and that the impact of most articles could be improved by vigorously
condensing them, focusing on essentials. He wanted to condense the best of previously published material
of enduring appeal into a pocket-sized, non-fiction magazine that would inform, enlighten and entertain.
It is a formula that remains the essence of the Digest today.
The growth of the magazine's popularity was beyond DeWitt and Lila Wallace's dream - 5,000 circulation for
the first issue, 50,000 in 1926, 228,000 in 1929. The first international edition appeared in Britain in 1938.
The Indian edition was born in 1954. In that year, its circulation was 40,000 copies. Today, the Reader's
Digest is published in India by Living Media India Ltd., and sells over 600 thousand copies - a
Fifteen fold increase.
DeWitt Wallace died in 1981; Lila Acheson Wallace three years later. Their memorial is the world's most
widely read magazine, reaching almost 100 Million people, 165 Countries, 21 Languages,
51 Editions.
Each issue contains articles of lasting interest.
