Timeline

1817

Brothers James and John Harper open the modest printing establishment of J. & J. Harper, Printers, in New York City. More
Discover more:
  • The first installment of Great Expectations by Charles Dickens published in Harper’s Weekly.
  • S.S. Europe
  • The logo and address for J. & J. Harper Publishers
  • Westbow
  • Vaults in the Harper & Brothers offices where stereotyped plates were stored (circa 1855).
James Harper
J. & J. Harper publishes its first book... More
Discover more:
  • Vaults in the Harper & Brothers offices where stereotyped plates were stored (circa 1855).
  • S.S. Europe
  • The first installment of Great Expectations by Charles Dickens published in Harper’s Weekly.
  • The logo and address for J. & J. Harper Publishers
  • Westbow
Page from Senecas Morals

1818

Thomas Nelson
Thomas Nelson expands his secondhand bookstore into a publishing business… More
Discover more:
  • The logo and address for J. & J. Harper Publishers
  • Westbow
  • Title page of the Thomas Nelson edition of the Adventures of Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe (1860).
  • Employees working in the Nelson and Sons bindery.
  • Bob Goff

1819

Chalmers & Collins Bookshop and Printing Works opens and prints its first book… More
Discover more:
  • Charles Chalmers and Rev. Thomas Chalmers.
  • The 1859 license granted to William Collins and Company, giving it permission to print the Bible.
  • The logo and address for J. & J. Harper Publishers
  • Westbow
  • Queen Elizabeth II visiting the Collins Glasgow offices
Portrait of William Collins

1824

Collins Globe Dictionary 500 illustrations (cover)
The first Collins dictionary is printed. More
Discover more:
  • Title page of an 1869 Collins atlas, printed for the Scottish School Book Association and featuring Bartholomew maps.
  • An advertisement for the New Naturalist Library.
  • The Times Comprehensive Atlas of the World
  • Charles Chalmers and Rev. Thomas Chalmers.
  • Title pages of several books featured in Harper’s Family Library in the 1830s, including The History of the Bible and The Lives of Celebrated Travelers.

1830

Stereotyping
J. & J. Harper is the first publisher to adopt the process of stereotyping, using papier-mâché molds to forge reusable metal plates of entire pages. More
Discover more:
  • Vaults in the Harper & Brothers offices where stereotyped plates were stored (circa 1855).
  • The Long Short Cut by Andrew Garve (1968).
  • An illustration depicting the Harper fire of 1853.
  • Illustration from Incidents of Travel in Yucatán (1843).
  • The Harper “fire” and Collins “water” colophons, which were combined to create today’s “fire and water” HarperCollins logo.
John Inman is hired by the Harper brothers as their first official “reader.” More
Discover more:
  • The logo and address for J. & J. Harper Publishers
  • Westbow
  • The first installment of Great Expectations by Charles Dickens published in Harper’s Weekly.
  • S.S. Europe
  • The 1859 license granted to William Collins and Company, giving it permission to print the Bible.

1833

J. & J. Harper is renamed Harper & Brothers to reflect the addition of brothers Fletcher and Joseph Wesley Harper to the firm. More
Discover more:
  • The original agreement between Herman Melville and Harper & Brothers for Moby-Dick, dated September 12, 1851.
  • An ad promoting all of the Harper periodicals: Harper’s Weekly, Harper’s New Monthly, and Harper’s Bazaar.
  • The first installment of Great Expectations by Charles Dickens published in Harper’s Weekly.
  • An advertisement for the Collins Select Library of Christian Authors, which ran in The School Newspaper on January 2, 1882.
  • “A Word of Apology” from Harper & Brothers regarding the Harper fire of 1853
New York Commerical Advertiser: J & J Harper, will hereafter transact business under the firm of Harper & Brothers, at No 82 Cliff street, New York. James Harper, John Harper, J.W Harper, F/ Harper

1836

The Sleeping Beauty lithograph print
Harper & Brothers begins publishing books for children with the Fairy Book Collection. More
Discover more:
  • December 1961 I Can Read! advertisement placed in The New Yorker.
  • An edition of Harper’s Illuminated and New Pictorial Bible from 1846.
  • Ursula Nordstrom.
  • The New Kid on the Block
  • A 1972 edition of William’s Doll, written by Charlotte Zolotow and illustrated by William Pène Du Bois.

1837

Harper & Brothers debuts its New England School Library, a first in packaging and distribution. More
Discover more:
  • Illustration from Incidents of Travel in Yucatán (1843).
  • An advertisement for the Collins Select Library of Christian Authors, which ran in The School Newspaper on January 2, 1882.
  • December 1961 I Can Read! advertisement placed in The New Yorker.
  • An edition of Harper’s Illuminated and New Pictorial Bible from 1846.
  • An 1885 letter from Henry Hoyns to the Harper brothers requesting a raise after being promoted to the stock desk.
Imahe of the a cabinet with text that reads: This New England School Library was probably assembled in 1843, although most of the titles were printed the preceding year. The Library was shipped in its self-contained, 19x29-inch, pine-board cabinet, which was fitted with shelves, a lock and key, and a top piece which could be nailed to a schoolroom wall. When this cabinet and its contents were recently found in the attic of a Connecticut house, only four of the seventy-five half-leather gold-stamped volumes were missing.

1839

Collins receives a license to publish the King James Version of the Bible. More
Discover more:
  • An edition of Harper’s Illuminated and New Pictorial Bible from 1846.
  • An illustration from the Collins Illustrated Pocket Classics edition of A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens.
  • Title page of an 1869 Collins atlas, printed for the Scottish School Book Association and featuring Bartholomew maps.
  • The 1859 license granted to William Collins and Company, giving it permission to print the Bible.
  • The Harper “fire” and Collins “water” colophons, which were combined to create today’s “fire and water” HarperCollins logo.
The Hole Bible. According to the authorized version, with the marginal readings and parallel references, printed at Length. (Cover)

1848

The Brontë Sisters by Patrick Branwell Brontë restored
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
Discover more:
  • Author Catharine M. Sedgwick (1832).
  • Wuthering Heights
  • Middlemarch
  • Jane Eyre
  • An Armed Services Edition of A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith (1943).

1850

Cover: Harper's New Monthly Magazine. No 1 June, 1850, Proce 25 Cents. Published by Harpers & Brothers, 82 Cliff Street, New York. Sold by the trade generally.
Harper’s New Monthly Magazine launches in June, serializing Charles Dickens’s Bleak House, as well as then unknown authors Herman Melville and Mark Twain. More
Discover more:
  • An ad promoting all of the Harper periodicals: Harper’s Weekly, Harper’s New Monthly, and Harper’s Bazaar.
  • The Woman in White
  • Wuthering Heights
  • A 1900 letter from Mark Twain (Samuel Clemens) to Harper & Brothers confirming their publishing agreement.
  • Bleak House
Rotary printing press machine
Thomas Nelson Jr. perfects the rotary press, one of the greatest technological advances in printing since Johannes Gutenberg’s development of movable type in the fifteenth century. More
Discover more:
  • Rotary printing press machine
  • Title page of the Thomas Nelson edition of the Adventures of Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe (1860).
  • The logo and address for J. & J. Harper Publishers
  • The Thomas Nelson office on Paternoster Row in London.
  • The 1859 license granted to William Collins and Company, giving it permission to print the Bible.

1853

On December 10, the Harper & Brothers New York City office suffers a destructive fire, leaving the establishment in ruins. Almost immediately, the company decides to rebuild. More
Discover more:
  • The Adams Power Press.
  • “A Word of Apology” from Harper & Brothers regarding the Harper fire of 1853
  • An illustration depicting the Harper fire of 1853.
  • The original agreement between Herman Melville and Harper & Brothers for Moby-Dick, dated September 12, 1851.
  • An 1885 letter from Henry Hoyns to the Harper brothers requesting a raise after being promoted to the stock desk.
A tall New York City building set ablaze captioned: The Destruction of Harper & Borhters' Buidlings.
William Collins introduces new steam presses, allowing Collins and Sons to publish Shakespeare and The Pilgrim’s Progress in affordable editions available to the masses. More
Discover more:
  • The 1859 license granted to William Collins and Company, giving it permission to print the Bible.
  • The logo and address for J. & J. Harper Publishers
  • Charles Chalmers and Rev. Thomas Chalmers.
  • Westbow
  • An advertisement for the Collins Select Library of Christian Authors, which ran in The School Newspaper on January 2, 1882.
Factory floor with steam presses

1854

Ad: Thomas Nelson & Sons, 131 Nassau Street, New York
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
Discover more:
  • Westbow
  • The 1859 license granted to William Collins and Company, giving it permission to print the Bible.
  • The logo and address for J. & J. Harper Publishers
  • The Thomas Nelson office on Paternoster Row in London.
  • Title page of the Thomas Nelson edition of the Adventures of Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe (1860).

1856

Collins New Complete Atlas
The first Collins Atlas is published. More
Discover more:
  • Title page of an 1869 Collins atlas, printed for the Scottish School Book Association and featuring Bartholomew maps.
  • Title pages of several books featured in Harper’s Family Library in the 1830s, including The History of the Bible and The Lives of Celebrated Travelers.
  • An advertisement for the Collins Select Library of Christian Authors, which ran in The School Newspaper on January 2, 1882.
  • Charles Chalmers and Rev. Thomas Chalmers.
  • Illustration from Incidents of Travel in Yucatán (1843).

1860

The Woman in White. A Novel. By Wilkie Sollins, author of
Harper & Brothers pay Wilkie Collins £750 for The Woman in White, which heralds the firm's entry into the crime fiction genre. More
Discover more:
  • The Woman in White
  • Bleak House
  • Author Catharine M. Sedgwick (1832).
  • The Case of the Velvet Claws by Erle Stanley Gardner (William Morrow, 1933) and The Corpse in the Green Pyjamas by R. A. J. Walling (Avon Books, 1941).
  • The Murder of Roger Ackroyd

1862

The School Board Atlas // Twenty-Four Maps
Collins becomes the publisher for the Scottish School Book Association and Irish National Schools, by 1875 buying out the Scottish School Book Association and supplying books directly to schools. More
Discover more:
  • Charles Chalmers and Rev. Thomas Chalmers.
  • Title pages of several books featured in Harper’s Family Library in the 1830s, including The History of the Bible and The Lives of Celebrated Travelers.
  • Title page of an 1869 Collins atlas, printed for the Scottish School Book Association and featuring Bartholomew maps.
  • An advertisement for the Collins Select Library of Christian Authors, which ran in The School Newspaper on January 2, 1882.
  • The logo and address for J. & J. Harper Publishers
Harper's Weekly A Journal of Civilization. New York, Saturday, January 3, 1863
Thomas Nast begins documenting the Civil War and politics through caricature in Harper’s Weekly. More
Discover more:
  • Illustrations by Thomas Nast.
  • An illustrated cover of Harper’s Weekly just after the outbreak of the Civil War, dated July 20, 1861.
  • Two classic Avon romance titles, Sweet Savage Love by Rosemary Rogers (1974) and Shanna by Kathleen Woodiwiss (1977).
  • A snippet of the first installment of Middlemarch by George Eliot, which was serialized in Harper’s Weekly (December 16, 1871).
  • Author Catharine M. Sedgwick (1832).

1863

Harper & Brothers takes a clear stand in favor of abolition with the publication of Fanny Kemble’s Journal of a Residence on a Georgian Plantation in 1838–1839. More
Discover more:
  • An illustrated cover of Harper’s Weekly just after the outbreak of the Civil War, dated July 20, 1861.
  • Author Catharine M. Sedgwick (1832).
  • Letter to Eleanor Roosevelt regarding a new autobiographical book
  • A snippet of the first installment of Middlemarch by George Eliot, which was serialized in Harper’s Weekly (December 16, 1871).
  • Title pages of several books featured in Harper’s Family Library in the 1830s, including The History of the Bible and The Lives of Celebrated Travelers.
Fanny Kemble

1871

Harper’s Weekly serializes Middlemarch by Mary Ann Evans, who worked under the male pseudonym George Eliot. More
Discover more:
  • Middlemarch
  • A snippet of the first installment of Middlemarch by George Eliot, which was serialized in Harper’s Weekly (December 16, 1871).
  • Author Catharine M. Sedgwick (1832).
  • An ad promoting all of the Harper periodicals: Harper’s Weekly, Harper’s New Monthly, and Harper’s Bazaar.
  • Tess of the d’Urbervilles
Mary Ann Evans

1877

Thomas Nelson introduces the Royal Readers and Royal School series in response to the enactment of compulsory schooling laws and increased demand for instructional books. More
Discover more:
  • Title pages of several books featured in Harper’s Family Library in the 1830s, including The History of the Bible and The Lives of Celebrated Travelers.
  • Employees working in the Nelson and Sons bindery.
  • Title page of an 1869 Collins atlas, printed for the Scottish School Book Association and featuring Bartholomew maps.
  • The Thomas Nelson office on Paternoster Row in London.
  • The logo and address for J. & J. Harper Publishers
The Royal Readers No 1 (Cover)

1886

A&R LTD Logo
David Angus and George Robertson form a bookselling partnership in Sydney, going on to publish Australian authors like Banjo Paterson and Henry Lawson to much acclaim and success. More
Discover more:
  • The Angus & Robertson bookshop in Sydney (1916).
  • The logo and address for J. & J. Harper Publishers
  • Australian author Banjo Paterson, best known for writing “The Man from Snowy River.”
  • Letter from “Padington”

1888

Collins opens its first branch in Auckland, New Zealand. More
Discover more:
  • The logo and address for J. & J. Harper Publishers
  • Letter from “Padington”
  • The 1940 destruction of the Collins Bridewell Place offices.
  • William Collins II.
  • Title page of an 1869 Collins atlas, printed for the Scottish School Book Association and featuring Bartholomew maps.

1891

Enabled by the 1891 International Copyright Treaty, Harper & Brothers purchases the rights to Arthur Conan Doyle’s The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes. More
Discover more:
  • Bleak House
  • The first installment of Great Expectations by Charles Dickens published in Harper’s Weekly.
  • The Woman in White
  • An ad promoting all of the Harper periodicals: Harper’s Weekly, Harper’s New Monthly, and Harper’s Bazaar.
  • Middlemarch
Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by A. Conan Doyle Author of

1895

Mark Twain signs an exclusive contract with Harper & Brothers, which serializes Joan of Arc in its periodicals and publishes it as a book one year later. More
Discover more:
  • An ad promoting all of the Harper periodicals: Harper’s Weekly, Harper’s New Monthly, and Harper’s Bazaar.
  • The Complete Works of Mark Twain: Authorized Edition
  • Tess of the d’Urbervilles
  • Bleak House
  • A 1900 letter from Mark Twain (Samuel Clemens) to Harper & Brothers confirming their publishing agreement.
Image of men in suits (TO DO: add names)

1902

Collins' Dictionaries (Pages view)
Collins publishes the first Gem, a Pocket Pronouncing Dictionary that has 608 pages and is 2½" x 4½" in size. More
Discover more:
  • An illustration from the Collins Illustrated Pocket Classics edition of A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens.
  • Title page of an 1869 Collins atlas, printed for the Scottish School Book Association and featuring Bartholomew maps.
  • An advertisement for the New Naturalist Library.
  • The Times Comprehensive Atlas of the World
  • William Collins II.

1903

Collins is the first to publish a series of illustrated, shilling-priced pocket size classics with the introduction of Collins Illustrated Pocket Classics. Included in this series are a maroon cloth-bound David Copperfield, many other Charles Dickens favorites, Sir Walter Scott’s Kenilworth, George Eliot’s Adam Bede, and Charlotte Brontë’s Shirley. More
Discover more:
  • An illustration from the Collins Illustrated Pocket Classics edition of A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens.
  • Hilary Mantel
  • Jane Eyre
  • A sample of Fontana from the Font Specimen Book.
  • The Woman in White
Collins' Clear-type Press.

1908

Auckland's First Sky-Scrapper. The Wyndam Street Building.
During a time of expansion for Collins in New Zealand, the company obtains New Zealand Post Office Box #1 (which it continues to use to this day) and moves to a new building on Wyndham Street, which at eight stories high, was then Auckland’s tallest building. More
Discover more:
  • The 1940 destruction of the Collins Bridewell Place offices.
  • Title page of an 1869 Collins atlas, printed for the Scottish School Book Association and featuring Bartholomew maps.
  • William Collins II.
  • Australian author Banjo Paterson, best known for writing “The Man from Snowy River.”
  • The 1859 license granted to William Collins and Company, giving it permission to print the Bible.

1917

Harper & Brothers releases a series of 12 Bubble Books, the first-ever book and phonograph record “bundle,” featuring nursery rhymes like “Jack and Jill” and “Simple Simon.” More
Discover more:
  • An edition of Harper’s Illuminated and New Pictorial Bible from 1846.
  • December 1961 I Can Read! advertisement placed in The New Yorker.
  • A 1972 edition of William’s Doll, written by Charlotte Zolotow and illustrated by William Pène Du Bois.
  • Where the Wild Things Are
  • Letter from John Donovan submitting the manuscript for I'll Get There. It Better Be Worth the Trip.
The Bubble Book (The Harper Columbia Book that sings). Singing:-by Time the Piper's Son, Mary and her little lamb and Jack and Jill. Story:-by Ralph Mayhew and Burges Johnson. Pictures:-by Rhoda Chase.

1923

Harper & Brothers sells the buildings and grounds at Franklin Square and moves its publishing enterprise to 49 East 33rd Street in New York City. More
Discover more:
  • An 1885 letter from Henry Hoyns to the Harper brothers requesting a raise after being promoted to the stock desk.
  • A 1923 New York Times advertisement placed by Harper & Brothers regarding its move from Franklin Square to 49 East 33rd Street in New York City.
  • The logo and address for J. & J. Harper Publishers
  • A 1946 edition of Brave New World (1934), which features a special introduction by Aldous Huxley.
  • Riders of the Purple Sage
Harper & Brothers Building
The Harper Prize Novel is introduced as a competition to discover unknown authors, and receives more than 700 submissions in its first year. The first winner, The Able McLaughlins by Margaret Wilson, is later awarded the Pulitzer Prize for the Novel (1924). More
Discover more:
  • One Hundred Years of Solitude
  • Editions of Color by Countee Cullen (1925), The Known World by Edward P. Jones (2003), Annie Allen by Gwendolyn Brooks (1949), and a 1978 edition of Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston (1934).
  • Author Catharine M. Sedgwick (1832).
  • To Kill a Mockingbird
  • A page from the Fall 1937 Harper & Brothers catalog touting This Is My Story by Eleanor Roosevelt.
The Harper Prize Novel (Ribbon)

1924

Agatha Christie and Collins enjoying a drink at a party.
“Queen of Crime” Agatha Christie joins the house of Collins, and two years later publishes her seminal Hercule Poirot novel, The Murder of Roger Ackroyd. More
Discover more:
  • And Then There Were None
  • The Murder of Roger Ackroyd
  • Agatha Christie.
  • The Hobbit
  • The Fellowship of the Ring

1926

Charlotte’s Web
Goodnight Moon
The Department of Books for Boys and Girls is established at Harper & Brothers. More
Discover more:
  • Virginia Kirkus.
  • Little House on the Prairie
  • The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein
  • Stuart Little
  • Goodnight Moon
William Morrow
William Morrow is founded and publishes its first book, On to Oregon! by Honoré Morrow. More
Discover more:
  • The Case of the Velvet Claws by Erle Stanley Gardner (William Morrow, 1933) and The Corpse in the Green Pyjamas by R. A. J. Walling (Avon Books, 1941).
  • The logo and address for J. & J. Harper Publishers
  • Riders of the Purple Sage
  • Riders of the Purple Sage by Zane Grey (1912).
  • The Murder of Roger Ackroyd

1927

Harper & Brothers signs Aldous Huxley, author of Brave New World. More
Discover more:
  • A 1946 edition of Brave New World (1934), which features a special introduction by Aldous Huxley.
  • Brave New World
  • neil gaiman
  • American Gods
  • The War of the Worlds
Aldous Huxley

1930

Crime Club: Sign of Good Detective Novel
Collins establishes the Collins Crime Club, which continues for six decades. Members receive quarterly newsletters that list the best new releases as selected by a panel of experts. More
Discover more:
  • And Then There Were None
  • The Case of the Velvet Claws by Erle Stanley Gardner (William Morrow, 1933) and The Corpse in the Green Pyjamas by R. A. J. Walling (Avon Books, 1941).
  • The Murder of Roger Ackroyd
  • The Woman in White
  • Original cover design for a Collins Crime Club title

1931

Pat and Bernard Zondervan start a religious publishing firm out of their mother’s farmhouse. More
Discover more:
  • Women of the Old Testament by Abraham Kuyper, the first book published by Zondervan, circa 1933.
  • The Zondervan brothers
  • The Zondervans on their silver anniversary
  • The 1859 license granted to William Collins and Company, giving it permission to print the Bible.
  • Bernie and Pat Zondervan outside their Grand Rapids headquarters
Zondervan Farmhouse

1932

Franklin F. Appleton
The Canadian branch of William Collins and Sons is founded in Toronto by Franklin F. Appleton. More
Discover more:
  • Australian author Banjo Paterson, best known for writing “The Man from Snowy River.”
  • Internal memo from Collins Canada announcing a hot air balloon publicity stunt
  • Canadian White Circle Pocket Editions of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain (1946) and Two Solitudes by Hugh MacLennan (circa late 1940s).
  • A planning meeting at Collins Canada, circa 1940s
  • An illustration from the Collins Illustrated Pocket Classics edition of A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens.
Little House in The Big Woods by Laura Ingalls Wilder, Drawings by Helen Sewell. Harper & Brothers Established 1817.
Virginia Kirkus, inaugural department editor of Harper’s Department of Books for Boys and Girls, launches Laura Ingalls Wilder with the publication of Little House in the Big Woods. More
Discover more:
  • Little House on the Prairie
  • A 1972 edition of William’s Doll, written by Charlotte Zolotow and illustrated by William Pène Du Bois.
  • Virginia Kirkus.
  • Shel Silverstein’s original artwork for a “Union for Children’s Rights” from A Light in the Attic (1981).
  • Stuart Little

1936

Example of Fontana Type
Collins is the first major publishing house to create its own font. More
Discover more:
  • An illustration from the Collins Illustrated Pocket Classics edition of A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens.
  • An edition of Harper’s Illuminated and New Pictorial Bible from 1846.
  • A sample of Fontana from the Font Specimen Book.
  • An advertisement for the New Naturalist Library.
  • Title page of an 1869 Collins atlas, printed for the Scottish School Book Association and featuring Bartholomew maps.

1937

J. B. Lippincott publishes Zora Neale Hurston’s masterpiece, Their Eyes Were Watching God. More
Discover more:
  • Their Eyes Were Watching God
  • Native Son
  • Editions of Color by Countee Cullen (1925), The Known World by Edward P. Jones (2003), Annie Allen by Gwendolyn Brooks (1949), and a 1978 edition of Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston (1934).
  • A leader of his people tells The Montgomery Story. Stride Toward Freedom by Martin Luther King, Jr. (Cover)
  • Black Boy
Photocopy of a newspaper review of
Harper & Brothers publishes This Is My Story by Eleanor Roosevelt. More
Discover more:
  • Letter to Eleanor Roosevelt regarding a new autobiographical book
  • Profiles in Courage
  • An Armed Services Edition of A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith (1943).
  • A page from the Fall 1937 Harper & Brothers catalog touting This Is My Story by Eleanor Roosevelt.
  • The Downing Street Years
Eleanor Roosevelt

1938

Native Son (Cover)
Harper & Brothers publishes Richard Wright’s debut story collection, Uncle Tom’s Children. More
Discover more:
  • Black Boy
  • Native Son
  • Editions of Color by Countee Cullen (1925), The Known World by Edward P. Jones (2003), Annie Allen by Gwendolyn Brooks (1949), and a 1978 edition of Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston (1934).
  • A leader of his people tells The Montgomery Story. Stride Toward Freedom by Martin Luther King, Jr. (Cover)
  • The Known World

1941

Avon Books is established by New York businessman Joseph Meyers in association with Edna B. Williams. Now renowned for widely popularizing the historical romance category, the publisher originally begins with a focus on paperback reprints. More
Discover more:
  • The Case of the Velvet Claws by Erle Stanley Gardner (William Morrow, 1933) and The Corpse in the Green Pyjamas by R. A. J. Walling (Avon Books, 1941).
  • The VendAvon.
  • Two classic Avon romance titles, Sweet Savage Love by Rosemary Rogers (1974) and Shanna by Kathleen Woodiwiss (1977).
  • An advertisement for Is Sex Necessary? by James Thurber and E. B. White, published in The New York Times on January 19, 1930.
  • The logo and address for J. & J. Harper Publishers
Here are the NEW, Fast Sedlling Avon Pocket size Book. Photocopy of a newspaper add from 1941.

1943

Betty Smith’s A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, a story about growing up poor in turn-of-the-century Brooklyn, shines a light on first- and second-generation Americans living in poverty. More
Discover more:
  • An Armed Services Edition of A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith (1943).
  • Author Catharine M. Sedgwick (1832).
  • A Tree Grows in Brooklyn
  • To Kill a Mockingbird
  • Profiles in Courage
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn. A Novel by Betty Smith. Original Cover. Harper & Brothers. Established 1817.

1946

Henry Huggins by Beverly Cleary. Illustrated by Louis Darling (Cover)
William Morrow establishes its first children’s imprint, Morrow Junior Books, and develops successful children’s author Beverly Cleary. More
Discover more:
  • Virginia Kirkus.
  • Beezus and Ramona
  • Stuart Little
  • Amelia Bedilia
  • Letter from “Padington”

1949

Harper & Brothers publishes Annie Allen by Gwendolyn Brooks, which wins the Pulitzer Prize in Poetry and makes Brooks the first African American writer to receive the award. More
Discover more:
  • Editions of Color by Countee Cullen (1925), The Known World by Edward P. Jones (2003), Annie Allen by Gwendolyn Brooks (1949), and a 1978 edition of Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston (1934).
  • Black Boy
  • Native Son
  • A leader of his people tells The Montgomery Story. Stride Toward Freedom by Martin Luther King, Jr. (Cover)
  • The Known World
Annie Allen (Cover) Powems by Gwendolyn Brooks Author of a Street in Bronzeville.
Harlequin Books is founded in Winnipeg by Richard Bonnycastle, Doug Weld, and Jack Palmer. More
Discover more:
  • The Hospital in Buwambo by Anne Vinton, Harlequin’s first reprint (1957) of a Mills & Boon romance.
  • The Hospital in Buwambo
  • Canada Post stamp honoring Harlequin
  • A collection of titles published by Harlequin.
  • An advertisement for Is Sex Necessary? by James Thurber and E. B. White, published in The New York Times on January 19, 1930.
Strange Loves of a seaman The Manatee by Nancy Bruff

1952

Dylan Thomas Reading A Child's Christmas in Wales LPCover
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
Discover more:
  • Dylan Thomas: The Caedmon Collection audiobook.
  • An advertisement for Is Sex Necessary? by James Thurber and E. B. White, published in The New York Times on January 19, 1930.
  • The logo and address for J. & J. Harper Publishers
  • The VendAvon.
  • The Long Short Cut by Andrew Garve (1968).

1953

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
Discover more:
  • A 1961 edition of The Screwtape Letters by C. S. Lewis.
  • The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (Chronicles of Narnia #1)
  • The Inklings.
  • Michael Bond
  • The Fellowship of the Ring
The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (Chronicles of Narnia #1)

1954

Map of Middle Earth
Publisher George Allen & Unwin, later purchased by HarperCollins, publishes the 9,250-page manuscript of The Lord of the Rings, by J.R.R. Tolkien. More
Discover more:
  • The Fellowship of the Ring
  • The Hobbit
  • A letter from J. R. R. Tolkien to his editor regarding the first chapter of his “sequel” to The Hobbit, titled “A Long-expected Party”—which would become the first chapter of The Fellowship of the Ring.
  • J. R. R. Tolkien.
  • A 1961 edition of The Screwtape Letters by C. S. Lewis.

1956

Profiles in Courage (Cover). Decisive moments in the lives of celebrated americans. Senator John F. Kennedy. Forward by Allan Nevins.
Harper & Brothers publishes Profiles in Courage by John F. Kennedy, which wins the Pulitzer Prize in 1957 and helps propel the young senator to the White House. More
Discover more:
  • New York Times advertisement for Profiles in Courage from May 19, 1957.
  • A Time to Heal by Gerald R. Ford (1979).
  • Profiles in Courage
  • Strength to Love by Martin Luther King Jr.
  • A New York Times advertisement announcing the publication of To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, which ran on July 17, 1960.

1957

The I Can Read! series launches with the publication of Little Bear, written by Else Holmelund Minarik and illustrated by Maurice Sendak, and becomes the number one beginning reader series in the United States. More
Discover more:
  • Virginia Kirkus.
  • Amelia Bedilia
  • December 1961 I Can Read! advertisement placed in The New Yorker.
  • Where the Wild Things Are
  • Little Bear by Else Holmelund Minarik. Pictures bt Maurice Sendak. an I CAN READ book. (Cover)
Little Bear by Else Holmelund Minarik. Pictures bt Maurice Sendak. an I CAN READ book. (Cover)

1958

A leader of his people tells The Montgomery Story. Stride Toward Freedom by Martin Luther King, Jr. (Cover)
After leading the Montgomery bus boycott in 1955 and becoming the voice of the civil rights movement, the Reverend Martin Luther King Jr. selects Harper & Brothers to publish Stride Toward Freedom, his memoir about the Montgomery bus boycott. More
Discover more:
  • Editions of Color by Countee Cullen (1925), The Known World by Edward P. Jones (2003), Annie Allen by Gwendolyn Brooks (1949), and a 1978 edition of Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston (1934).
  • Black Boy
  • Native Son
  • A leader of his people tells The Montgomery Story. Stride Toward Freedom by Martin Luther King, Jr. (Cover)
  • Lawrence Hill
Dr. Zhivago by Boris Pasternak (Cover)
Collins publishes the first English translation of Doctor Zhivago by Boris Pasternak, winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature. More
Discover more:
  • Doctor Zhivago
  • One Hundred Years of Solitude
  • Agatha Christie.
  • Queen Elizabeth II visiting the Collins Glasgow offices
  • Agatha Christie

1960

Harper Lee in blue dress
J. B. Lippincott publishes the Pulitzer Prize–winning To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, one of the most influential books on race in America, which goes on to sell more than 40 million copies. More
Discover more:
  • A New York Times advertisement announcing the publication of To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, which ran on July 17, 1960.
  • To Kill a Mockingbird
  • A Tree Grows in Brooklyn
  • The Lippincott logo from 1937.
  • New York Times advertisement for Profiles in Courage from May 19, 1957.

1961

The first Beginner Books by Dr. Seuss are published by Collins in the UK. This series includes The Cat in the Hat (which had been previously published by Collins in 1958 and was an immediate success) and Green Eggs and Ham. More
Discover more:
  • Letter from “Padington”
  • An early cover layout for A Bear Called Paddington by Michael Bond, published by Collins in 1958.
  • The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (Chronicles of Narnia #1)
  • The Inklings.
  • Original cover artwork for a 1965 edition of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by C. S. Lewis
The Cat in the Hat by Dr. Seuss (Original Cover)

1962

H&R Logo circa 1962
Harper & Brothers merges with textbook publisher Row, Peterson & Co. to form Harper & Row. More
Discover more:
  • The logo and address for J. & J. Harper Publishers
  • Title page for Open the Door by Mabel O’Donnell, illustrated by Florence and Margaret Hoopes, which was part of the Alice and Jerry Reading Program.
  • Editions of Color by Countee Cullen (1925), The Known World by Edward P. Jones (2003), Annie Allen by Gwendolyn Brooks (1949), and a 1978 edition of Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston (1934).
  • A page from the Fall 1937 Harper & Brothers catalog touting This Is My Story by Eleanor Roosevelt.
  • Letter to Eleanor Roosevelt regarding a new autobiographical book

1963

Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak is published. It is awarded the 1964 Caldecott Medal. More
Discover more:
  • Where the Wild Things Are
  • Virginia Kirkus.
  • Little Bear by Else Holmelund Minarik. Pictures bt Maurice Sendak. an I CAN READ book. (Cover)
  • Shel Silverstein’s original artwork for a “Union for Children’s Rights” from A Light in the Attic (1981).
  • Letter recommending Sounder for publication
Where The Wild Things Are

1964

The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein
Harper & Row publishes The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein, a “moving story about the love of a tree for a boy.” More
Discover more:
  • Where the Wild Things Are
  • Virginia Kirkus.
  • Shel Silverstein’s original artwork for a “Union for Children’s Rights” from A Light in the Attic (1981).
  • The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein
  • Charlotte’s Web

1969

After founding the religious publishing firm Royal Publishing in 1962, Sam Moore acquires Thomas Nelson and Sons and adopts the company’s name. More
Discover more:
  • The Thomas Nelson office on Paternoster Row in London.
  • Women of the Old Testament by Abraham Kuyper, the first book published by Zondervan, circa 1933.
  • The NKJV translation committee at work.
  • A selection of Bibles (including the NIV and NKJV) published by HarperCollins Christian Publishing.
  • Sam Moore with Ronald Reagan
Sam Moore

1970

The Late Great Planet Earth. The National Best Seller by Hal Lindsey with C.C. Carlson. A penetrating look at incredible prophecies involving this generation. (Cover)
Zondervan publishes The Late Great Planet Earth by Hal Lindsey, which becomes the number one nonfiction bestseller of the decade. More
Discover more:
  • A selection of Bibles (including the NIV and NKJV) published by HarperCollins Christian Publishing.
  • Women of the Old Testament by Abraham Kuyper, the first book published by Zondervan, circa 1933.
  • The Zondervan brothers
  • The 1859 license granted to William Collins and Company, giving it permission to print the Bible.
  • The Beginner’s Bible
Gabriel Garcia Marquez. One Hundred Years of Solitude. (Cover)
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
Discover more:
  • Telegram dated October 21, 1982, in which Harper editor Cass Canfield Jr. congratulates Gabriel García Márquez on winning the Pulitzer Prize for One Hundred Years of Solitude.
  • Telegram regarding the publication of One Hundred Years of Solitude
  • One Hundred Years of Solitude
  • Editions of Color by Countee Cullen (1925), The Known World by Edward P. Jones (2003), Annie Allen by Gwendolyn Brooks (1949), and a 1978 edition of Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston (1934).
  • First edition of I’m OK—You’re OK by Thomas A. Harris from 1969.
Collection of books
Harlequin acquires Mills & Boon and brings Harlequin books beyond bookstores and into supermarkets, drugstores, and other places women frequent. More
Discover more:
  • An advertisement for Is Sex Necessary? by James Thurber and E. B. White, published in The New York Times on January 19, 1930.
  • Lawrence Heisey, a former soap salesman who was appointed president of Harlequin in 1971.
  • The Hospital in Buwambo by Anne Vinton, Harlequin’s first reprint (1957) of a Mills & Boon romance.
  • Prince Charles reading a Harlequin Mills & Boon title
  • A collection of titles published by Harlequin.

1971

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
Discover more:
  • The Exorcist
  • neil gaiman
  • The War of the Worlds
  • Fahrenheit 451
  • American Gods
The Exorcist. Wiliam Peter Blatty. (Cover)

1972

“Harper & Row” building designed by Emery Roth at 10 East 53rd Street.
Harper & Row moves from 49 East 33rd Street, where it had been since 1923, to the new “Harper & Row” building designed by Emery Roth at 10 East 53rd Street. More
Discover more:
  • The logo and address for J. & J. Harper Publishers
  • An illustration depicting the Harper fire of 1853.
  • Westbow
  • Telegram dated October 21, 1982, in which Harper editor Cass Canfield Jr. congratulates Gabriel García Márquez on winning the Pulitzer Prize for One Hundred Years of Solitude.
  • The Long Short Cut by Andrew Garve (1968).
Kathleen E. Woodiwiss Author of Shanna. The Flame and the Flower. (Cover)
Avon launches the historical romance genre when it publishes Kathleen Woodiwiss’s The Flame and the Flower, a historical romance with a strong female lead and sexual situations that go a step beyond the tame romances of earlier eras. More
Discover more:
  • Two classic Avon romance titles, Sweet Savage Love by Rosemary Rogers (1974) and Shanna by Kathleen Woodiwiss (1977).
  • An advertisement for Is Sex Necessary? by James Thurber and E. B. White, published in The New York Times on January 19, 1930.
  • Cally Taylor
  • The Perfect Neighbor
  • Author Catharine M. Sedgwick (1832).

1973

William Collins and Sons secures the rights to Soviet dissident Alexander Solzhenitsyn’s The Gulag Archipelago, an eye-opening work that exposes in startling detail the horrors of the communist regime in Russia. More
Discover more:
  • Perestroika: New Thinking for Our Country and the World
  • Gorky Park
  • The Gulag Archipelago
  • The Downing Street Years
  • Doctor Zhivago
William Collins and Sons

1975

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
Discover more:
  • A selection of Bibles (including the NIV and NKJV) published by HarperCollins Christian Publishing.
  • The 1859 license granted to William Collins and Company, giving it permission to print the Bible.
  • The NKJV translation committee at work.
  • Title page of the Thomas Nelson edition of the Adventures of Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe (1860).
  • Sam Moore with Ronald Reagan
The New King james Bible New Testament (Cover)

1978

Zondervan publishes the New International Version (NIV) of the Bible, a contemporary English translation that provides an accurate and understandable alternative to the King James Version. More
Discover more:
  • A selection of Bibles (including the NIV and NKJV) published by HarperCollins Christian Publishing.
  • The 1859 license granted to William Collins and Company, giving it permission to print the Bible.
  • The Thomas Nelson office on Paternoster Row in London.
  • The NKJV translation committee at work.
  • The Zondervan brothers
Tales of the City by Armistead Maupin (Original cover)
Harper & Row publishes the first book in Armistead Maupin’s Tales of the City series after it is serialized in the San Francisco Chronicle. The series highlights gay issues and becomes a cultural icon for generations of readers. More
Discover more:
  • Two classic Avon romance titles, Sweet Savage Love by Rosemary Rogers (1974) and Shanna by Kathleen Woodiwiss (1977).
  • Tales of the City
  • An advertisement for Is Sex Necessary? by James Thurber and E. B. White, published in The New York Times on January 19, 1930.
  • Telegram dated October 21, 1982, in which Harper editor Cass Canfield Jr. congratulates Gabriel García Márquez on winning the Pulitzer Prize for One Hundred Years of Solitude.
  • First edition of I’m OK—You’re OK by Thomas A. Harris from 1969.

1987

Harper & Row is acquired by The News Corporation Limited. More
Discover more:
  • The logo and address for J. & J. Harper Publishers
  • An advertisement for Is Sex Necessary? by James Thurber and E. B. White, published in The New York Times on January 19, 1930.
  • Telegram regarding the publication of One Hundred Years of Solitude
  • The current HarperOne logo.
  • A 1923 New York Times advertisement placed by Harper & Brothers regarding its move from Franklin Square to 49 East 33rd Street in New York City.
Harper & Row, Publishers, Inc 1817 (Logo)

1988

Zondervan Publishing House (Logo) Circa 1989
Zondervan is acquired by Harper & Row. More
Discover more:
  • Women of the Old Testament by Abraham Kuyper, the first book published by Zondervan, circa 1933.
  • The Beginner’s Bible
  • The Committee on Bible Translation scholars.
  • A selection of Bibles (including the NIV and NKJV) published by HarperCollins Christian Publishing.
  • The NKJV translation committee at work.

1989

News Corporation acquires William Collins Ltd., and brings together Collins, Harper & Row, Gower Publishing, Times Books, Bartholomew, and Angus & Robertson in a new worldwide group called Harper & Collins. More
Discover more:
  • The logo and address for J. & J. Harper Publishers
  • The 1940 destruction of the Collins Bridewell Place offices.
  • First edition paperback of Sharpe’s Eagle by Bernard Cornwell (1981).
  • Australian author Banjo Paterson, best known for writing “The Man from Snowy River.”
  • Sharpe’s Eagle
NewsCorporation (Logo)

1990

The Harper “fire” and Collins “water” colophons, which were combined to create today’s “fire and water” HarperCollins logo.
On May 29, 1990, HarperCollins becomes the new global name for the combined Harper & Row and Collins. More
Discover more:
  • The logo and address for J. & J. Harper Publishers
  • The 1859 license granted to William Collins and Company, giving it permission to print the Bible.
  • The Harper “fire” and Collins “water” colophons, which were combined to create today’s “fire and water” HarperCollins logo.
  • Westbow
  • Middlemarch

1992

Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus. A Practical Guide for Imporving Communcation and Getting What You Want in Your Relationships. Jhn Gray, Ph.D. (Cover)
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
Discover more:
  • First edition of I’m OK—You’re OK by Thomas A. Harris from 1969.
  • Handwritten letter from John Gray regarding his manuscript for Men Are from Mars, Women are from Venus
  • Two classic Avon romance titles, Sweet Savage Love by Rosemary Rogers (1974) and Shanna by Kathleen Woodiwiss (1977).
  • I’m OK—You’re OK
  • Virginia Kirkus.
A collection on Indian titles By HarperCollins.
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
Discover more:
  • M J Akbar
  • V. Raghunathan
  • Namita Gokhale
  • Collected Poems 1947–1997
  • Pallavi Aiyar

1993

Former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher publishes The Downing Street Years, which recounts her eleven and a half years at London’s 10 Downing Street, the official prime minister’s residence, with HarperCollins. More
Discover more:
  • The Downing Street Years
  • Profiles in Courage
  • Letter to Eleanor Roosevelt regarding a new autobiographical book
  • Perestroika: New Thinking for Our Country and the World
  • Essays of E. B. White
Margaret Thatcher, The Downing Street Years.

1996

A Game of Thrones
George R.R. Martin redefines the fantasy genre with his epic series, A Song of Ice and Fire, published by HarperCollins in the UK. More
Discover more:
  • The Fellowship of the Ring
  • A Game of Thrones
  • The Hobbit
  • The War of the Worlds
  • Divergent

1999

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
Discover more:
  • The logo and address for J. & J. Harper Publishers
  • The Case of the Velvet Claws by Erle Stanley Gardner (William Morrow, 1933) and The Corpse in the Green Pyjamas by R. A. J. Walling (Avon Books, 1941).
  • The 2nd Avon Fantasy Reader (1947).
  • Two classic Avon romance titles, Sweet Savage Love by Rosemary Rogers (1974) and Shanna by Kathleen Woodiwiss (1977).
  • The cover of the Fall 1993/Winter 1994 Amistad catalog.

2000

Winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature. Soul Mountain by Gao Xingjian. Translated by the Chinese by Mabel Lee. (Cover).
Gao Xingjian becomes the first Chinese author to win the Nobel Prize for Literature after HarperCollins Australia publishes his novel Soul Mountain. More
Discover more:
  • The Year of Magical Thinking
  • Papillon
  • Anthony Doerr
  • Bernard Cornwell
  • Winner of The Man Booker Prize 2012: Bring Up The Bodies by Hilary Mantel (Cover).

2003

HarperCollins becomes the first major trade publisher to partner with an e-book loan service catering to public libraries. More
Discover more:
  • Illustration from Incidents of Travel in Yucatán (1843).
  • A 1972 edition of William’s Doll, written by Charlotte Zolotow and illustrated by William Pène Du Bois.
  • An advertisement for the Collins Select Library of Christian Authors, which ran in The School Newspaper on January 2, 1882.
  • Australian author Banjo Paterson, best known for writing “The Man from Snowy River.”
  • Two classic Avon romance titles, Sweet Savage Love by Rosemary Rogers (1974) and Shanna by Kathleen Woodiwiss (1977).
New York Public Library at 42nd Street Rendering (Creative Commons License)

2008

The White Tiger
HarperCollins India publishes The White Tiger by Aravind Adiga, which wins the 2008 Man Booker Prize. More
Discover more:
  • The White Tiger
  • People of the Book
  • One Hundred Years of Solitude
  • Wolf Hall
  • Half of a Yellow Sun

2011

HarperCollins acquires Thomas Nelson, a world-leading publisher and provider of inspirational and Christian content. More
Discover more:
  • The Thomas Nelson office on Paternoster Row in London.
  • The Purpose Driven Life
  • Bob Goff
  • lee strobell
  • Grace for the Moment
Thomas Nelson Since 1798 (Logo)

2012

HarperCollins Christian Publishing (Logo)
Thomas Nelson and Zondervan combine to create HarperCollins Christian Publishing, a new Christian division within HarperCollins. More
Discover more:
  • The Thomas Nelson office on Paternoster Row in London.
  • A selection of Bibles (including the NIV and NKJV) published by HarperCollins Christian Publishing.
  • The Purpose Driven Life
  • Jen Hatmaker
  • Jesus Calling
Winner of The Man Booker Prize 2012: Bring Up The Bodies by Hilary Mantel (Cover).
Bring Up the Bodies by Hilary Mantel, published by HarperCollins in the UK, wins the Man Booker Prize. Mantel becomes the first woman ever to win the prize twice, having first won for Wolf Hall in 2009. More
Discover more:
  • Winner of The Man Booker Prize 2012: Bring Up The Bodies by Hilary Mantel (Cover).
  • Wolf Hall
  • Hilary Mantel
  • Bel Canto
  • The Collectors’ Preview Edition of A Game of Thrones by George R. R. Martin, Book One of A Song of Ice and Fire.
HarperCollins Publishers India logo
HarperCollins India becomes a wholly owned subsidiary of HarperCollins Publishers. More
Discover more:
  • Namita Gokhale
  • M J Akbar
  • Sanjay Suri
  • V. Raghunathan
  • People of the Book

2013

HarperCollins is the first major publisher to partner with digital book subscription services. More
Discover more:
  • The Long Short Cut by Andrew Garve (1968).
  • An illustration depicting the Harper fire of 1853.
  • A 1972 edition of William’s Doll, written by Charlotte Zolotow and illustrated by William Pène Du Bois.
  • December 1961 I Can Read! advertisement placed in The New Yorker.
  • The Adams Power Press.

2014

Harlequin (Logo)
HarperCollins acquires Harlequin Enterprises from Torstar. More
Discover more:
  • Canada Post stamp honoring Harlequin
  • Brochure from the 2009 celebration of Debbie Macomber’s fictional town of Cedar Cove
  • 16 Lighthouse Road
  • The Hospital in Buwambo by Anne Vinton, Harlequin’s first reprint (1957) of a Mills & Boon romance.
  • Virgin River
The HarperCollins Global headquarters Lobby at 195 Broadway in lower Manhattan
HarperCollins moves its global headquarters from 10 East 53rd Street to 195 Broadway in lower Manhattan. More
Discover more:
  • The logo and address for J. & J. Harper Publishers
  • Official City Hall portrait of James Harper
  • An ad promoting all of the Harper periodicals: Harper’s Weekly, Harper’s New Monthly, and Harper’s Bazaar.
  • S.S. Europe
  • The Harper “fire” and Collins “water” colophons, which were combined to create today’s “fire and water” HarperCollins logo.

2015

HarperCollins expands from a primarily English-language publisher to one publishing in 17 languages, with operations in 18 countries around the world. More
Discover more:
  • The logo and address for J. & J. Harper Publishers
  • The 1859 license granted to William Collins and Company, giving it permission to print the Bible.
  • Australian author Banjo Paterson, best known for writing “The Man from Snowy River.”
  • A 1961 edition of The Screwtape Letters by C. S. Lewis.
  • Agatha Christie.
HarperCollins Global Publishing (Logo)

2017

HarperCollins Publishers celebrates its 200th anniversary. More
Discover more:
  • The logo and address for J. & J. Harper Publishers
  • The 1859 license granted to William Collins and Company, giving it permission to print the Bible.
  • Westbow
  • Australian author Banjo Paterson, best known for writing “The Man from Snowy River.”
  • Wuthering Heights
HarperCollins Publishers (Since 1817) 200 Years Anniversary Logo