Tag: Classics

Agatha Christie

Agatha Christie.
The house of Collins acquired “Queen of Crime” Agatha Christie after she disagreed with her former publisher over the spelling of “coco”/”cocoa” in her first book, The Mysterious Affair at Styles. More

To Kill a Mockingbird

To Kill a Mockingbird
Much-loved Pulitzer Prize–winning classic, voted by librarians across America as the best novel of the twentieth century. More

Letter from “Padington”

Letter from “Padington”
Signed with a paw print, this letter from “Padington” (circa 1966) was sent to Australian booksellers and sales staff, encouraging them to sell the latest Paddington title. More

Garth Williams, Illustrator

Marketing flyer promoting the 1946 publication of Little Fur Family, written by Margaret Wise Brown and illustrated by Garth Williams.
Garth Williams was a little-known but talented young illustrator when he was commissioned by Ursula Nordstrom, head of Harper’s Department of Books for Boys and Girls, to illustrate the classic Stuart Little by E. B. White. More

Eugene Exman and Martin Luther King

Strength to Love by Martin Luther King Jr.
Shortly after the Montgomery bus boycott of 1955 and ‘56, Harper & Brothers religious books editor Eugene Exman left New York City for Alabama and secured a meeting with Martin Luther King Jr. More

C.S. Lewis and Christianity

A 1961 edition of The Screwtape Letters by C. S. Lewis.
Born in 1898 in Belfast, Clive Staples Lewis lost his faith in Christianity at a young age after his mother died and he was sent away to boarding school. More

Bridge to Terabithia

Bridge to Terabithia
Newbery Medal–winning novel; a true modern classic and touchstone of children’s literature. More

Fahrenheit 451

Fahrenheit 451
Though set in a dystopian world without books, Bradbury’s most famous work has never gone out of print. More

Amelia Bedelia

Amelia Bedilia
The first book featuring the now-classic, hilariously literal-minded character Amelia Bedelia. More

J.R.R. Tolkien and the Trilogy

J. R. R. Tolkien.
Sir Stanley Unwin, chairman of British publishers George Allen & Unwin (later acquired by HarperCollins), originally rejected the 9,250-page manuscript of The Lord of the Rings, the sequel to J. R. R. Tolkien’s moderately successful (at the time) The Hobbit, as it was too long, and the author would make a deal with the publisher only if they also agreed to take another of his unfinished books. More

The Look of Stuart Little

Stuart Little by E. B. White (1945).
In early 1945, Ursula Nordstrom, head of Harper’s Department of Books for Boys and Girls was awaiting completion of E. B. White’s manuscript for a children’s story about a talking mouse, titled Stuart Little. More

J. B. Lippincott

The Lippincott logo from 1937.
Born in 1813 in New Jersey, Joshua Ballinger Lippincott became a bookseller shortly after he moved to Philadelphia at age 14. More

Brave New World

Brave New World
Huxley’s best-known novel; a prophetic classic of speculative fiction that continues to resonate. More