The John Day Company was a New York publishing firm that specialized in illustrated fiction and current affairs books and pamphlets from 1926 to 1968. It was founded by Richard J. Walsh in 1926 and named after John Day, the Elizabethan printer. Walsh was the editor and second husband of

Pearl S. Buck Pearl Sydenstricker Buck (June 26, 1892 – March 6, 1973) was an American writer and novelist. She is best known for ''The Good Earth'' a bestselling novel in the United States in 1931 and 1932 and won the Pulitzer Prize in 1932. In 1938, Buck ...

. The John Day Company was sold to the

Thomas Y. Crowell Co. Thomas Y. Crowell Co. was a publishing company founded by Thomas Y. Crowell. The company began as a bookbindery founded by Benjamin Bradley in 1834. Crowell operated the business after Bradley's death in 1862 and eventually purchased the compan ...

in 1974.

Authors

Some of the many authors associated with John Day Publishing. *

Chinua Achebe Chinua Achebe (; 16 November 1930 – 21 March 2013) was a Nigerian novelist, poet, and critic who is regarded as the dominant figure of modern African literature. His first novel and ''magnum opus'', ''Things Fall Apart'' (1958), occupies ...

Irving Adler Irving Adler (April 27, 1913 – September 22, 2012) was an American author, mathematician, scientist, political activist, and educator. He was the author of 57 books (some under the pen name Robert Irving) about mathematics, science, and e ...

* Peggy Adler *

Scott Buchanan Scott Buchanan (1895 – 1968) was an American philosopher, educator, and foundation consultant. He is best known as the founder of the Great Books program at St. John's College, at Annapolis, Maryland.The same program is used at St. John's Colle ...

James Burnham James Burnham (November 22, 1905 – July 28, 1987) was an American philosopher and political theorist. He chaired the New York University Department of Philosophy; his first book was ''An Introduction to Philosophical Analysis'' (1931). Burn ...

Buwei Yang Chao Buwei Yang Chao (née Yang Buwei; ; 1889–1981) was a Chinese-American physician and writer. She was one of the first women to practice Western medicine in China. She was married to linguist Yuen Ren Chao. Life and early education Yang was born ...

Stuart Chase Stuart Chase (March 8, 1888 – November 16, 1985) was an American economist, social theorist, and writer. His writings covered topics as diverse as general semantics and physical economy. His thought was shaped by Henry George, by economic philoso ...

Peter Drucker Peter Ferdinand Drucker (; ; November 19, 1909 – November 11, 2005) was an Austrian-American management consultant, educator, and author, whose writings contributed to the philosophical and practical foundations of the modern business co ...

Albert Einstein Albert Einstein ( ; ; 14 March 1879 – 18 April 1955) was a German-born theoretical physicist, widely acknowledged to be one of the greatest and most influential physicists of all time. Einstein is best known for developing the theory ...

Langston Hughes James Mercer Langston Hughes (February 1, 1901 – May 22, 1967) was an American poet, social activist, novelist, playwright, and columnist from Joplin, Missouri. One of the earliest innovators of the literary art form called jazz poetry, Hug ...

Sidney Hook Sidney Hook (December 20, 1902 – July 12, 1989) was an American philosopher of pragmatism known for his contributions to the philosophy of history, the philosophy of education, political theory, and ethics. After embracing communism in his youth ...

Jawaharlal Nehru Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru (; ; ; 14 November 1889 – 27 May 1964) was an Indian anti-colonial nationalist, secular humanist, social democrat— * * * * and author who was a central figure in India during the middle of the 20t ...

Patrick O'Brian Patrick O'Brian, Order of the British Empire, CBE (12 December 1914 – 2 January 2000), born Richard Patrick Russ, was an English novelist and translator, best known for his Aubrey–Maturin series of sea novels set in the Royal Navy during t ...

Franklin D. Roosevelt Franklin Delano Roosevelt (; ; January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), often referred to by his initials FDR, was an American politician and attorney who served as the 32nd president of the United States from 1933 until his death in 1945. As the ...

Joseph Stalin Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Ioseb Besarionis dze Jughashvili; – 5 March 1953) was a Georgian revolutionary and Soviet political leader who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until his death in 1953. He held power as General Secreta ...

Leon Trotsky Lev Davidovich Bronstein. ( – 21 August 1940), better known as Leon Trotsky; uk, link= no, Лев Давидович Троцький; also transliterated ''Lyev'', ''Trotski'', ''Trotskij'', ''Trockij'' and ''Trotzky''. (), was a Russian ...

Rexford Guy Tugwell Rexford Guy Tugwell (July 10, 1891 – July 21, 1979) was an American economist who became part of Franklin D. Roosevelt's first "Brain Trust", a group of Columbia University academics who helped develop policy recommendations leading up to R ...

Lin Yutang Lin Yutang ( ; October 10, 1895 – March 26, 1976) was a Chinese inventor, linguist, novelist, philosopher, and translator. His informal but polished style in both Chinese and English made him one of the most influential writers of his generati ...

Pamphlet Series

The

Great Depression The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...

led to a steep decline in book sales in the early 1930s, this led to a small revival in pamphlet literature. Between 1932 and 1934 the John Day Company published a pamphlet series known as The John Day Pamphlet Series. In total, 45 were published. They are as follows: *

Rebecca West Dame Cicily Isabel Fairfield (21 December 1892 – 15 March 1983), known as Rebecca West, or Dame Rebecca West, was a British author, journalist, literary critic and travel writer. An author who wrote in many genres, West reviewed books ...

, Arnold Bennett Himself *

, Out of the Depression—and After: A Prophecy *

Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Ioseb Besarionis dze Jughashvili; – 5 March 1953) was a Georgian revolutionary and Soviet political leader who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until his death in 1953. He held power as General Secretar ...

, The New Russian Policy: June 23, 1931 *

Norman Edwin Himes Norman Edwin Himes (1899–1949) was an American sociologist and economist and Professor at Colgate University, known for his work on the medical history of contraception. Himes obtained his PhD from Harvard University in 1932. After graduati ...

, The Truth about Birth Control: With a Bibliography of Birth Control Literature *

Walter Lippmann Walter Lippmann (September 23, 1889 – December 14, 1974) was an American writer, reporter and political commentator. With a career spanning 60 years, he is famous for being among the first to introduce the concept of Cold War, coining the te ...

, Notes on the Crisis *

Charles Austin Beard Charles Austin Beard (1874–1948) was an American historian and professor, who wrote primarily during the first half of the 20th century. A history professor at Columbia University, Beard's influence is primarily due to his publications in the f ...

, The Myth of Rugged American Individualism *

, Mr. Hoover's Economic Policy * Herman Hagedorn, The three pharaohs: a dramatic poem * Marion Hawthorne Hedges, A Strikeless Industry: A Review of the National Council on Industrial Relations for the Electrical Construction Industry *

Gilbert Seldes Gilbert Vivian Seldes (; January 3, 1893 – September 29, 1970) was an American writer and cultural critic. Seldes served as the editor and drama critic of the seminal modernist magazine ''The Dial'' and hosted the NBC television program '' The ...

, Against Revolution * George Sylvester Counts, ''

Dare the School Build a New Social Order? ''Dare the School Build a New Social Order?'' is a collection of speeches by educator George S. Counts on the role and limits of progressive education. Further reading * * * * * * 1932 non-fiction books American books Progr ...

'' (Special, 56 pages) *

Hendrik Willem Van Loon Hendrik Willem van Loon (January 14, 1882 – March 11, 1944) was a Dutch-American historian, journalist, and children's book author. Life He was born in Rotterdam, Netherlands, the son of Hendrik Willem van Loon and Elisabeth Johanna Hanken. ...

, To Have or to Be—Take Your Choice *

Norman Thomas Norman Mattoon Thomas (November 20, 1884 – December 19, 1968) was an American Presbyterian minister who achieved fame as a socialist, pacifist, and six-time presidential candidate for the Socialist Party of America. Early years Thomas was the ...

, The Socialist Cure for a Sick Society *

Herbert George Wells Herbert George Wells"Wells, H. G."
Revised 18 May 2015. ''The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction'' (sf-en ...

, What Should be Done—Now: A Memorandum on the World Situation *

Victor Francis Calverton Victor Francis Calverton was the pseudonym of George Goetz (1900–1940), an unaffiliated American left-radical writer and literary critic. Life Calverton was born (named George Goetz), in Baltimore in 1900, the son of Charles and Ida Janette Geige ...

, For Revolution * Horace Meyer Kallen, College Prolongs Infancy * Richard Bartlett Gregg, Gandhiism versus Socialism * Pearl Sydenstricker Buck, Is There a Case for Foreign Missions? *

, Technocracy: An Interpretation *

, The Fight Against War. Edited by Alfred Lief. (Special, 64 pages) *

Arthur Gordon Melvin Arthur is a common male given name of Brythonic origin. Its popularity derives from it being the name of the legendary hero King Arthur. The etymology is disputed. It may derive from the Celtic ''Artos'' meaning “Bear”. Another theory, more wi ...

, Education for a New Era: a Call to Leadership * John Strachey, Unstable Money * Ambrose William Benkert and Earl Harding, How to Restore Values: The Quick, Safe Way Out of the Depression * Everett Ross Clinchy, The Strange Case of Herr Hitler *

, A New Social Order *

Elwyn Brooks White Elwyn Brooks White (July 11, 1899 – October 1, 1985) was an American writer. He was the author of several highly popular books for children, including ''Stuart Little'' (1945), ''Charlotte's Web'' (1952), and ''The Trumpet of the Swan'' ( ...

, Alice Through the Cellophane * Osgood Nichols and Comstock Glaser, Work Camps for America * Louis Morton Hacker, The Farmer is Doomed * Archibald MacLeish, Frescoes for Mr. Rockefeller's City * Committee of the

Progressive Education Association The Progressive Education Association was a group dedicated to the spread of progressive education in American public schools from 1919 to 1955. The group focused on pedagogy in elementary schools through the twenties. The group turned towards p ...

on Social and Economic Problems, A Call to the Teachers of the Nation *

Henry Hazlitt Henry Stuart Hazlitt (; November 28, 1894 – July 9, 1993) was an American journalist who wrote about business and economics for such publications as ''The Wall Street Journal'', ''The Nation'', ''The American Mercury'', ''Newsweek'', and '' ...

, Instead of Dictatorship *

, The Promise of Power *

Matthew Josephson Matthew Josephson (February 15, 1899 – March 13, 1978) was an American journalist and author of works on nineteenth-century French literature and American political and business history of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Josephson popu ...

, Nazi Culture: The Brown Darkness Over Germany * Maurice Finkelstein, The Dilemma of the Supreme Court: Is the N.R.A. Constitutional? *

, What Hitler Wants * Audacity! More Audacity! Always Audacity!, Published in Cooperation with The United Action Campaign Committee *

Harold Rugg Harold Ordway Rugg (1886–1960) was an educational reformer in the early to mid 1900s, associated with the Progressive education movement. Originally trained in civil engineering at Dartmouth College (BS 1908 & CE 1909), Rugg went on to study p ...

and Marvin Krueger, Study Guide to National Recovery: An Introduction to Economic Problems * Bertram David Wolfe, Marx and America * Marquis William Childs, Sweden: Where Capitalism is Controlled * Sir Arthur Salter, Toward a Planned Economy *

Edward Albert Filene Edward Albert Filene (September 3, 1860 – September 26, 1937) was an American businessman and philanthropist. He is best known for building the Filene's department store chain and for his decisive role in pioneering credit unions across the U ...

, The Consumer's Dollar * Rev.

John Haynes Holmes John Haynes Holmes (November 29, 1879 – April 3, 1964) was an American Unitarian minister, pacifist, and co-founder of the NAACP and the ACLU. He is noted for his anti-war activism. Early life Holmes was born in Philadelphia on November 2 ...

, Is Suicide Justifiable? * Mary Catherine Philips and Frederick John Schlink, Discovering Consumers * James Rorty, Order on the Air! *

, Move the Goods! The last page of pamphlet 45 is currently visible on

HathiTrust HathiTrust Digital Library is a large-scale collaborative repository of digital content from research libraries including content digitized via Google Books and the Internet Archive digitization initiatives, as well as content digitized locally ...

, listing all pamphlets in order.

Other book series

* Creative Music Series * The Daughters of Valor Series * Finding Out About Geography * Finding Out About Science * Great Men of Science * Here's How Series * Let's Visit series * The Living Drama Series (Series editor:

William Kozlenko William Kozlenko was a playwright, screenwriter, and editor of multiple stage-play compilations and anthologies, as well as being a founding editor of ''One-Act Play Magazine'', which published from 1937–1942,

) * John Day Books in Contemporary Education * The John Day Intimate Guide Series * The New York Times Survey Series * Our Neighbors series * Picture Aids to World Geography * The Reason Why Series * Scientists at Work Series * The World of Architecture * The Young Historian Series (Series editor:

Patrick Moore Sir Patrick Alfred Caldwell-Moore (; 4 March 1923 – 9 December 2012) was an English amateur astronomer who attained prominence in that field as a writer, researcher, radio commentator and television presenter. Moore was president of the Brit ...

) * The Your Fair Land Series"The Easy Way", ''

El Paso Times The ''El Paso Times'' is the newspaper for the US city of El Paso, Texas. The newspaper has an approximate daily circulation of 65,000 and 125,000 on Sundays. The paper is the only English-language daily in El Paso (when the '' El Paso Herald-Po ...

'', 29 May 1960, p. 90.

References

{{reflist Publishing companies established in 1926 Book publishing companies based in New York (state) Book publishing companies of the United States