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 logo and address for J. & J. Harper Publishers
  • S.S. Europe
  • The first installment of Great Expectations by Charles Dickens published in Harper’s Weekly.
  • 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).
  • The logo and address for J. & J. Harper Publishers
  • S.S. Europe
  • Westbow
  • The first installment of Great Expectations by Charles Dickens published in Harper’s Weekly.
Page from Senecas Morals

1818

Thomas Nelson
Thomas Nelson expands his secondhand bookstore into a publishing business… More
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  • Westbow
  • 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
  • Rotary printing press machine
  • The 1859 license granted to William Collins and Company, giving it permission to print the Bible.

1819

Chalmers & Collins Bookshop and Printing Works opens and prints its first book… More
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  • Charles Chalmers and Rev. Thomas Chalmers.
  • 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.
  • Queen Elizabeth II visiting the Collins Glasgow offices
  • Westbow
Portrait of William Collins

1824

Collins Globe Dictionary 500 illustrations (cover)
The first Collins dictionary is printed. More
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  • Title page of an 1869 Collins atlas, printed for the Scottish School Book Association and featuring Bartholomew maps.
  • The Times Comprehensive Atlas of the World
  • An advertisement for the New Naturalist Library.
  • Charles Chalmers and Rev. Thomas Chalmers.
  • The logo and address for J. & J. Harper Publishers

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
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  • Vaults in the Harper & Brothers offices where stereotyped plates were stored (circa 1855).
  • The Long Short Cut by Andrew Garve (1968).
  • Two classic Avon romance titles, Sweet Savage Love by Rosemary Rogers (1974) and Shanna by Kathleen Woodiwiss (1977).
  • An illustration depicting the Harper fire of 1853.
  • An edition of Harper’s Illuminated and New Pictorial Bible from 1846.
John Inman is hired by the Harper brothers as their first official “reader.” More
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  • The first installment of Great Expectations by Charles Dickens published in Harper’s Weekly.
  • Westbow
  • S.S. Europe
  • The logo and address for J. & J. Harper Publishers
  • Vaults in the Harper & Brothers offices where stereotyped plates were stored (circa 1855).

1833

J. & J. Harper is renamed Harper & Brothers to reflect the addition of brothers Fletcher and Joseph Wesley Harper to the firm. More
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  • The first installment of Great Expectations by Charles Dickens published in Harper’s Weekly.
  • 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.
  • “A Word of Apology” from Harper & Brothers regarding the Harper fire of 1853
  • Official City Hall portrait of James Harper
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
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  • An edition of Harper’s Illuminated and New Pictorial Bible from 1846.
  • December 1961 I Can Read! advertisement placed in The New Yorker.
  • A Light in the Attic
  • Marketing flyer promoting the 1946 publication of Little Fur Family, written by Margaret Wise Brown and illustrated by Garth Williams.
  • 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
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  • 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.
  • Author Catharine M. Sedgwick (1832).
  • The first installment of Great Expectations by Charles Dickens published in Harper’s Weekly.
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.
  • The 1859 license granted to William Collins and Company, giving it permission to print the Bible.
  • 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.
  • Illustration from Incidents of Travel in Yucatán (1843).
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
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  • Author Catharine M. Sedgwick (1832).
  • Wuthering Heights
  • Middlemarch
  • An Armed Services Edition of A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith (1943).
  • Jane Eyre

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
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  • An ad promoting all of the Harper periodicals: Harper’s Weekly, Harper’s New Monthly, and Harper’s Bazaar.
  • The Woman in White
  • Bleak House
  • A 1900 letter from Mark Twain (Samuel Clemens) to Harper & Brothers confirming their publishing agreement.
  • “A Word of Apology” from Harper & Brothers regarding the Harper fire of 1853
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 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 logo and address for J. & J. Harper Publishers

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
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  • An illustration depicting the Harper fire of 1853.
  • The Adams Power Press.
  • “A Word of Apology” from Harper & Brothers regarding the Harper fire of 1853
  • Official City Hall portrait of James Harper
  • The original agreement between Herman Melville and Harper & Brothers for Moby-Dick, dated September 12, 1851.
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
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  • The 1859 license granted to William Collins and Company, giving it permission to print the Bible.
  • 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.
  • Westbow
  • The logo and address for J. & J. Harper Publishers
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.
  • Rotary printing press machine

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.
  • An advertisement for the Collins Select Library of Christian Authors, which ran in The School Newspaper on January 2, 1882.
  • 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.
  • Charles Chalmers and Rev. Thomas Chalmers.
  • King James Version Bible (KJV)

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
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  • The Woman in White
  • 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).
  • Bleak House
  • Author Catharine M. Sedgwick (1832).
  • 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:
  • 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.
  • 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
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  • 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).
  • An ad promoting all of the Harper periodicals: Harper’s Weekly, Harper’s New Monthly, and Harper’s Bazaar.
  • A snippet of the first installment of Middlemarch by George Eliot, which was serialized in Harper’s Weekly (December 16, 1871).

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
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  • An illustrated cover of Harper’s Weekly just after the outbreak of the Civil War, dated July 20, 1861.
  • 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).
  • Letter to Eleanor Roosevelt regarding a new autobiographical book
  • 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).
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.
  • A 1900 letter from Mark Twain (Samuel Clemens) to Harper & Brothers confirming their publishing agreement.
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
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  • Employees working in the Nelson and Sons bindery.
  • 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.
  • 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
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  • The Angus & Robertson bookshop in Sydney (1916).
  • Australian author Banjo Paterson, best known for writing “The Man from Snowy River.”
  • The logo and address for J. & J. Harper Publishers
  • Middlemarch

1888

Collins opens its first branch in Auckland, New Zealand. More
Discover more:
  • The logo and address for J. & J. Harper Publishers
  • The 1940 destruction of the Collins Bridewell Place offices.
  • William Collins II.
  • Australian author Banjo Paterson, best known for writing “The Man from Snowy River.”
  • 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
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  • An ad promoting all of the Harper periodicals: Harper’s Weekly, Harper’s New Monthly, and Harper’s Bazaar.
  • The Woman in White
  • Bleak House
  • Middlemarch
  • The first installment of Great Expectations by Charles Dickens published in Harper’s Weekly.
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
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  • The Complete Works of Mark Twain: Authorized Edition
  • An ad promoting all of the Harper periodicals: Harper’s Weekly, Harper’s New Monthly, and Harper’s Bazaar.
  • A 1900 letter from Mark Twain (Samuel Clemens) to Harper & Brothers confirming their publishing agreement.
  • Moby Dick
  • Author Catharine M. Sedgwick (1832).
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
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  • An advertisement for the New Naturalist Library.
  • 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.
  • A sample of Fontana from the Font Specimen Book.
  • The Harper “fire” and Collins “water” colophons, which were combined to create today’s “fire and water” HarperCollins logo.

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.
  • And Then There Were None
  • An edition of Harper’s Illuminated and New Pictorial Bible from 1846.
  • The Woman in White
  • Moby Dick
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
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  • Title page of an 1869 Collins atlas, printed for the Scottish School Book Association and featuring Bartholomew maps.
  • Australian author Banjo Paterson, best known for writing “The Man from Snowy River.”
  • The 1940 destruction of the Collins Bridewell Place offices.
  • William Collins II.
  • The Dangerous Book for Boys

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
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  • An edition of Harper’s Illuminated and New Pictorial Bible from 1846.
  • December 1961 I Can Read! advertisement placed in The New Yorker.
  • Letter from John Donovan submitting the manuscript for I'll Get There. It Better Be Worth the Trip.
  • Ursula Nordstrom.
  • A 1972 edition of William’s Doll, written by Charlotte Zolotow and illustrated by William Pène Du Bois.
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:
  • The logo and address for J. & J. Harper Publishers
  • 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.
  • Brave New World
  • The Inklings.
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
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  • 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).
  • One Hundred Years of Solitude
  • To Kill a Mockingbird
  • An Armed Services Edition of A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith (1943).
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.
  • A 1961 edition of The Screwtape Letters by C. S. Lewis.
  • The Fellowship of the Ring

1926

Goodnight Moon
Charlotte’s Web
The Department of Books for Boys and Girls is established at Harper & Brothers. More
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  • Virginia Kirkus.
  • Stuart Little
  • Little House on the Prairie
  • The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein
  • A Light in the Attic
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).
  • Riders of the Purple Sage
  • Riders of the Purple Sage by Zane Grey (1912).
  • The Murder of Roger Ackroyd
  • The logo and address for J. & J. Harper Publishers

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
  • The War of the Worlds
  • American Gods
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
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  • 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).
  • And Then There Were None
  • The Woman in White
  • The Murder of Roger Ackroyd
  • 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
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  • The Zondervan brothers
  • Women of the Old Testament by Abraham Kuyper, the first book published by Zondervan, circa 1933.
  • 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
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  • Australian author Banjo Paterson, best known for writing “The Man from Snowy River.”
  • 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
  • Internal memo from Collins Canada announcing a hot air balloon publicity stunt
  • Original contract for Thorn-Apple Tree
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
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  • 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.
  • Stuart Little
  • Charlotte’s Web

1936

Example of Fontana Type
Collins is the first major publishing house to create its own font. More
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  • 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.
  • The Harper “fire” and Collins “water” colophons, which were combined to create today’s “fire and water” HarperCollins logo.

1937

J. B. Lippincott publishes Zora Neale Hurston’s masterpiece, Their Eyes Were Watching God. More
Discover more:
  • Native Son
  • Their Eyes Were Watching God
  • 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
  • A leader of his people tells The Montgomery Story. Stride Toward Freedom by Martin Luther King, Jr. (Cover)
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
  • The Downing Street Years
  • A Tree Grows in Brooklyn
  • An Armed Services Edition of A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith (1943).
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:
  • An advertisement for Is Sex Necessary? by James Thurber and E. B. White, published in The New York Times on January 19, 1930.
  • The VendAvon.
  • 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).
  • Two classic Avon romance titles, Sweet Savage Love by Rosemary Rogers (1974) and Shanna by Kathleen Woodiwiss (1977).
  • 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).
  • To Kill a Mockingbird
  • Author Catharine M. Sedgwick (1832).
  • A Tree Grows in Brooklyn
  • A New York Times advertisement announcing the publication of To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, which ran on July 17, 1960.
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
  • The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein
  • Charlotte’s Web
  • Little Bear by Else Holmelund Minarik. Pictures bt Maurice Sendak. an I CAN READ book. (Cover)

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
  • The Known World
  • Half of a Yellow Sun
  • A leader of his people tells The Montgomery Story. Stride Toward Freedom by Martin Luther King, Jr. (Cover)
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
  • Anne O'Brien
  • A collection of titles published by Harlequin.
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 Long Short Cut by Andrew Garve (1968).
  • The logo and address for J. & J. Harper Publishers
  • The VendAvon.

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)
  • Michael Bond
  • The Inklings.
  • 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 Hobbit
  • The Fellowship of the Ring
  • 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.
  • The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (Chronicles of Narnia #1)

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.
  • Profiles in Courage
  • A Time to Heal by Gerald R. Ford (1979).
  • An Armed Services Edition of A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith (1943).
  • 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).

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.
  • Little Bear by Else Holmelund Minarik. Pictures bt Maurice Sendak. an I CAN READ book. (Cover)
  • 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)

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
  • Agatha Christie.
  • The 1940 destruction of the Collins Bridewell Place offices.
  • Queen Elizabeth II visiting the Collins Glasgow offices
  • Letter from 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.
  • Author Catharine M. Sedgwick (1832).

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.
  • Original cover artwork for a 1965 edition of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by C. S. Lewis
  • The Tiger Who Came to Tea
  • The Fellowship of the Ring
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).
  • Riders of the Purple Sage by Zane Grey (1912).
  • An advertisement for Is Sex Necessary? by James Thurber and E. B. White, published in The New York Times on January 19, 1930.

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
  • 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).
  • Virginia Kirkus.
  • Marketing flyer promoting the 1946 publication of Little Fur Family, written by Margaret Wise Brown and illustrated by Garth Williams.
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
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  • Shel Silverstein’s original artwork for a “Union for Children’s Rights” from A Light in the Attic (1981).
  • Virginia Kirkus.
  • Where the Wild Things Are
  • The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein
  • Little Bear by Else Holmelund Minarik. Pictures bt Maurice Sendak. an I CAN READ book. (Cover)

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.
  • The NKJV translation committee at work.
  • Women of the Old Testament by Abraham Kuyper, the first book published by Zondervan, circa 1933.
  • Sam Moore with Ronald Reagan
  • A selection of Bibles (including the NIV and NKJV) published by HarperCollins Christian Publishing.
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).
  • The cover of the Fall 1993/Winter 1994 Amistad catalog.
Collection of books
Harlequin acquires Mills & Boon and brings Harlequin books beyond bookstores and into supermarkets, drugstores, and other places women frequent. More
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  • Lawrence Heisey, a former soap salesman who was appointed president of Harlequin in 1971.
  • An advertisement for Is Sex Necessary? by James Thurber and E. B. White, published in The New York Times on January 19, 1930.
  • 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
  • The War of the Worlds
  • neil gaiman
  • The Dispossessed
  • Brave New World
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
  • The 1859 license granted to William Collins and Company, giving it permission to print the Bible.
  • 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.
  • An illustration depicting the Harper fire of 1853.
  • Telegram regarding the publication of One Hundred Years of Solitude
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.
  • Author Catharine M. Sedgwick (1832).
  • Eloisa James
  • A page from the Fall 1937 Harper & Brothers catalog touting This Is My Story by Eleanor Roosevelt.

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:
  • Gorky Park
  • The Gulag Archipelago
  • Perestroika: New Thinking for Our Country and the World
  • Judith Kerr.
  • 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 NKJV translation committee at work.
  • The 1859 license granted to William Collins and Company, giving it permission to print the Bible.
  • King James Version Bible (KJV)
  • The Thomas Nelson office on Paternoster Row in London.
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 NKJV translation committee at work.
  • Original editorial correspondence regarding Joni Eareckson Tada
  • Women of the Old Testament by Abraham Kuyper, the first book published by Zondervan, circa 1933.
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).
  • An advertisement for Is Sex Necessary? by James Thurber and E. B. White, published in The New York Times on January 19, 1930.
  • Tales of the City
  • 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.

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.
  • First edition of I’m OK—You’re OK by Thomas A. Harris from 1969.
  • Freaky Friday
  • Telegram regarding the publication of One Hundred Years of Solitude
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 Committee on Bible Translation scholars.
  • Original editorial correspondence regarding Joni Eareckson Tada
  • The Beginner’s Bible
  • 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.”
  • Bridge to Terabithia
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 Harper “fire” and Collins “water” colophons, which were combined to create today’s “fire and water” HarperCollins logo.
  • The 1859 license granted to William Collins and Company, giving it permission to print the Bible.
  • Middlemarch
  • Westbow

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
  • The Woman in White
  • Dan Harris
  • Flow
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
  • The White Tiger
  • Sanjay Suri

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
  • Letter to Eleanor Roosevelt regarding a new autobiographical book
  • Profiles in Courage
  • A page from the Fall 1937 Harper & Brothers catalog touting This Is My Story by Eleanor Roosevelt.
  • When Hitler Stole Pink Rabbit
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 Dispossessed
  • 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).
  • Two classic Avon romance titles, Sweet Savage Love by Rosemary Rogers (1974) and Shanna by Kathleen Woodiwiss (1977).
  • The Lippincott logo from 1937.
  • An advertisement for Is Sex Necessary? by James Thurber and E. B. White, published in The New York Times on January 19, 1930.

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
  • Anthony Doerr
  • Papillon
  • Winner of The Man Booker Prize 2012: Bring Up The Bodies by Hilary Mantel (Cover).
  • The Known World

2003

HarperCollins becomes the first major trade publisher to partner with an e-book loan service catering to public libraries. More
Discover more:
  • December 1961 I Can Read! advertisement placed in The New Yorker.
  • 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.”
  • A 1972 edition of William’s Doll, written by Charlotte Zolotow and illustrated by William Pène Du Bois.
  • The Adams Power Press.
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
  • Winner of The Man Booker Prize 2012: Bring Up The Bodies by Hilary Mantel (Cover).
  • Matt Haig

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.
  • lee strobell
  • Bob Goff
  • Jesus Calling
  • 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.
  • The Purpose Driven Life
  • A selection of Bibles (including the NIV and NKJV) published by HarperCollins Christian Publishing.
  • Heaven Is For Real
  • Bob Goff
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).
  • The Collectors’ Preview Edition of A Game of Thrones by George R. R. Martin, Book One of A Song of Ice and Fire.
  • Bel Canto
  • Hilary Mantel
  • Wolf Hall
HarperCollins Publishers India logo
HarperCollins India becomes a wholly owned subsidiary of HarperCollins Publishers. More
Discover more:
  • M J Akbar
  • Namita Gokhale
  • Sanjay Suri
  • Pallavi Aiyar
  • The White Tiger

2013

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

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
  • A collection of titles published by Harlequin.
  • 16 Lighthouse Road
  • 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
  • The Harper “fire” and Collins “water” colophons, which were combined to create today’s “fire and water” HarperCollins logo.
  • The 1859 license granted to William Collins and Company, giving it permission to print the Bible.
  • Vaults in the Harper & Brothers offices where stereotyped plates were stored (circa 1855).
  • S.S. Europe

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
  • 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.
  • Middlemarch
  • 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.
  • Australian author Banjo Paterson, best known for writing “The Man from Snowy River.”
  • Westbow
  • A Christmas Carol
HarperCollins Publishers (Since 1817) 200 Years Anniversary Logo