1958: Collins publishes the first English translation of Doctor Zhivago…
Collins publishes the first English translation of Doctor Zhivago by Boris Pasternak, winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature. More
The Steam-Powered Press
For years, the Harper brothers relied on a white draft horse named Dobbin, who plodded a circular path in the basement of their offices, turning a wooden shaft that powered the Treadwell hand press two floors above, until new technology sent him out to pasture. More
1975: Thomas Nelson commissions the New King James Version (NKJV) of the Bible…
Thomas Nelson commissions 130 scholars, pastors, and lay Christians to create the New King James Version (NKJV) of the Bible, aiming to “retain the purity and stylistic beauty” of the original King James produced in 1611. More
Ursula Nordstrom
When Anne Carroll Moore, the powerful and opinionated superintendent of children’s work at the New York Public Library, asked Harper & Brothers editor Ursula Nordstrom why she felt qualified to produce children’s books, Nordstrom said only this: “Well, I am a former child, and I haven’t forgotten a thing.” More
Social Change: Sex in the 20th Century
In between the two world wars, Harper authors tackled the then taboo subject of sex. More
Canada’s White Circle Pocket Editions
In response to global paper shortages during World War II, Canada began manufacturing books for international markets in 1941. More
1888: Collins opens its first branch in Auckland, New Zealand
Collins opens its first branch in Auckland, New Zealand. More
Employees in the Collins Canada general office, circa 1940s
Collins Canada employees working in the general office during the 1940s More
1970: Harper & Row publishes the first English translation of One Hundred Years of Solitude…
Harper & Row publishes the first English translation of One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel García Márquez, establishing him as a leading young Latin American writer and a dominant and innovative figure on the global literary scene. More
The Growth of Harlequin Romance
Lawrence Heisey, a former soap salesman who had been appointed president of Harlequin in 1971, revolutionized romance publishing by distributing Harlequin romances to supermarkets and department stores, where they would be right at the fingertips of Canadian and American homemakers. More
1970: Zondervan publishes the number one nonfiction bestseller of the decade…
Zondervan publishes The Late Great Planet Earth by Hal Lindsey, which becomes the number one nonfiction bestseller of the decade. More
Publishing Firsts: The NIV and NKJV Bible
In 1965, members from the Christian Reformed Church and a broad spectrum of evangelical churches, denominations, and organizations came together to discuss the creation of a new contemporary translation of the Bible. 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
The Zondervan brothers
Bernie and Pat Zondervan (founders of religious publishing firm Zondervan) in their first store in Grand Rapids in 1933, shortly before they began publishing books. More
From Printers to Publishers
James and John Harper began their business in 1817 primarily as printers, although they soon began to publish and sell original works. More
How Harlequin Became Romance
When Richard H.G. Bonnycastle, a former Arctic explorer with the Hudson Bay Company, launched Harlequin Books in Winnipeg in 1948, he had little interest in building a publishing empire around romance novels. More
Publishing Firsts: The Historical Romance Genre
At the time of its publication in 1972, nothing like Kathleen Woodiwiss’s The Flame and the Flower had ever been published. More
Letter recommending Sounder for publication
Harper editor Ferd Monjo wrote this letter to the head of the U.S. Harper Children’s division, Ursula Nordstrom, regarding a manuscript he had received in July 1968. More
1854: Thomas Nelson becomes the first British publishing house with a branch in the U.S.
Thomas Nelson becomes the first British publishing house to have a branch in the United States when it opens an office at 131 Nassau Street in New York City. More
2012: HarperCollins India becomes a wholly owned subsidiary…
HarperCollins India becomes a wholly owned subsidiary of HarperCollins Publishers. More
The Collins UK warehouse, circa 1948
Crates of books sit in the Collins warehouse ready for distribution all over the world—from Johannesburg to Jerusalem to Madagascar. More
Social Change: Women Writers
In the mid-late 1800s, Harper & Brothers reprinted several milestone titles in the history of British feminist literature as well as the global canon, such as Emily Brontë’s Wuthering Heights (1847), Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre (1847), and Anne Brontë’s The Tenant of Wildfell Hall (1848), as well as George Eliot’s Middlemarch (1872). More
The Woman in White
One of the earliest works of detective fiction, this story caused a sensation with readers at the time. More
Social Change: Collins Gives Back
In the UK, William Collins II of Collins and Sons took up labor causes, especially child labor. More
Textbook Publishing: Row, Peterson & Co.
Robert Row was a textbook author and teacher. More
1946: William Morrow establishes its first children’s imprint…
William Morrow establishes its first children’s imprint, Morrow Junior Books, and develops successful children’s author Beverly Cleary. More
From Clerk to Chairman of the Board
One summer day in 1884, Horatio Harper, grandson of founder John Harper, began talking with a bright young boy during his regular steamboat commute from Long Island to Manhattan. More