Where the Wild Things Are
This winner of the 1964 Caldecott Medal changed the face of children’s literature. More
1953: William Collins and Sons gains the rights to publish C. S. Lewis…
William Collins and Sons purchases the religious publishing firm of Geoffrey Bles, Ltd., gaining the rights to the works of C. S. Lewis, including his Chronicles of Narnia fantasy books. More
Page from the original manuscript of “The Man from Snowy River”
A handwritten page from the original manuscript of “The Man from Snowy River” by Banjo Paterson. More
1860: Harper & Brothers enters into the crime fiction genre
Harper & Brothers pay Wilkie Collins £750 for The Woman in White, which heralds the firm's entry into the crime fiction genre. More
1971: William Peter Blatty’s The Exorcist is published…
William Peter Blatty’s The Exorcist becomes the first horror story to reach number one on the New York Times bestseller list and helps initiate the modern horror film movement. More
Letter from Katharine White (E. B. White’s wife) regarding Stuart Little’s illustrations
This letter from E. B. White’s wife, Katharine White, to Ursula Nordstrom, head of the U.S. Harper Children’s division, expresses her husband’s excitement... More
1992: John Gray’s Men Are from Mars, Women Are from Venus is published…
John Gray’s Men Are from Mars, Women Are from Venus is published and becomes one of the bestselling nonfiction books of the 1990s, launching an era of gender and relationship dialogue. More
Fahrenheit 451
Though set in a dystopian world without books, Bradbury’s most famous work has never gone out of print. More
Gabriel García Márquez
Gabriel García Márquez drew on his childhood experiences in Colombia when crafting the story of the fictional Buendía family in the classic One Hundred Years of Solitude. More
The Murder of Roger Ackroyd
Christie’s first book to be published by William Collins; known for its startling reveal. More
The Inklings
Clive Staples Lewis (better known as C. S. Lewis) loved nothing more than sitting in the back room of his favorite pub, The Eagle and Child, surrounded by his closest literary friends, including J. R. R. Tolkien. More
1927: Harper & Brothers signs Aldous Huxley, author of Brave New World…
Harper & Brothers signs Aldous Huxley, author of Brave New World. More
The Complete Works of Mark Twain: Authorized Edition
Twain worked directly with Harper & Brothers to produce this authorized edition of his works. More
The Bridge of San Luis Rey
The Pulitzer Prize–winning novel of fate, tragedy, and the meaning of the human condition. More
The Odyssey of Homer
Hailed as “the best translation there is of a great, perhaps the greatest, poet” (New York Times Book Review). More
Letter from Fred Gipson regarding Old Yeller
Old Yeller is the beloved tale of a boy and his loyal, clever, “big yeller” dog. More
The Carrot Seed
An early classic in children’s literature about perseverance; never out of print. More
Goodnight Moon
Every child’s must-have bedtime classic; beloved by generations of readers and listeners. More
I Can Read!
Inspired by an occasion in which she attempted to find an appropriate book for a young boy who had just learned to read, Boston librarian Virginia Haviland telephoned her friend Ursula Nordstrom, the head of children’s publishing at Harper & Brothers. More
Master and Commander
First book in O’Brian’s Aubrey/Maturin series, widely regarded as the greatest series of historical novels ever written. More
1848: Harper & Brothers publishes the first American editions of the Brontë’s works
Harper & Brothers publishes the first American editions of Emily Brontë’s Wuthering Heights, Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre, and Anne Brontë's The Tenant of Wildfell Hall. More
1963: Maurice Sendak receives the Caldecott Medal for Where the Wild Things Are…
Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak is published. It is awarded the 1964 Caldecott Medal. More
Middlemarch
Ranked number one in a 2015 BBC poll of the 100 greatest British novels. More
Letter from Agatha Christie
This letter from Agatha Christie (here signing with her second married name, Mallowan) shows the close relationship she had with Collins publisher Billy Collins. More
Eugene Exman and Martin Luther King
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
Patricia MacLachlan
I read as a child to find out what I thought, what I wished for, and what scared me. More
Herman Melville and Moby-Dick
Harper & Brothers turned down Herman Melville’s first book, Typee: A Peep at Polynesian Life, and it was released to strong sales by another publisher. More