Tag: Expanding literature

Social Change: Thomas Nast, Illustrator

Illustrator Thomas Nast first made his name documenting the Civil War in all its gruesome reality, but he is best known for developing the political cartoon form and our modern depictions of Santa Claus. More

Gordon Korman

I read to be astounded by other writers’ ideas. More

Gordon Korman

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

1949: Harlequin Books is founded…

Harlequin Books is founded in Winnipeg by Richard Bonnycastle, Doug Weld, and Jack Palmer. 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

2013: HarperCollins partners with digital book subscription services…

HarperCollins is the first major publisher to partner with digital book subscription services. 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

1888: Collins opens its first branch in Auckland, New Zealand

Collins opens its first branch in Auckland, New Zealand. 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

Publishing Firsts: The VendAvon

Chips, cookies, sodas–and books–from a vending machine. Avon’s entertaining comic books—western, horror, romance, war, science fiction, and gangster titles, mostly—appealed to readers of all ages from 1945 through the mid-1950s. More

1992: HarperCollins begins publishing operations in India…

HarperCollins begins publishing operations in India, represented by Rupa & Co, a small independent publisher. In 2003, HarperCollins India enters a joint venture agreement with the Living Media group, the largest media conglomerate in India. 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

The Exorcist

The first horror story to reach number one on the New York Times bestseller list. More

Becoming Children’s Authors: Sendak, Silverstein And Ursula Nordstrom

Neither Maurice Sendak nor Shel Silverstein started their careers with children’s literature as a focus. More

1931: Pat and Bernard Zondervan start a religious publishing firm…

Pat and Bernard Zondervan start a religious publishing firm out of their mother’s farmhouse. 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

1839: Collins receives a license to publish the King James Version of the Bible

Collins receives a license to publish the King James Version of the Bible. More

Social Change: Civil Rights

Beginning with This Is My Story (1937), Harper & Brothers published many works by Eleanor Roosevelt that promoted civil rights and the need for government action, including This I Remember (1949), On My Own (1958), and Tomorrow Is Now (1963). 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

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

Letter to Eleanor Roosevelt regarding a new autobiographical book

Harper editor and chairman of the board Cass Canfield sent this letter, dated April 10, 1951, to Eleanor Roosevelt... More

Letter from John Donovan submitting the manuscript for I’ll Get There. It Better Be Worth the Trip.

In June 1968, author John Donovan wrote to Ursula Nordstrom, head of the U.S. Harper Children’s division, asking her to read the manuscript... More

Men Are from Mars, Women Are from Venus

While giving a talk to a group of men and women about relationships, author John Gray realized he had a hook for a new book. More

Tess of the d’Urbervilles

Major nineteenth-century English novel that challenged the sexual morals of late Victorian England. More

1952: Caedmon Audio is founded…

Caedmon Audio, the first company to sell audio versions of works by writers such as Dylan Thomas, e. e. cummings, and Robert Frost, is founded. 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

1999: William Morrow, Avon, Ecco Press, Amistad and 4th Estate are acquired…

HarperCollins acquires William Morrow, mass market romance imprint Avon, independent publisher Ecco Press, and Amistad Press, the pre-eminent publisher of African-American authors. A year later Collins acquires independent press 4th Estate. More