Charles Scribner's Sons, or simply Scribner's or Scribner, is an American publisher based in New York City, known for publishing American authors including Henry James, Ernest Hemingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Kurt Vonnegut, Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings,

Stephen King Stephen Edwin King (born September 21, 1947) is an American author of horror, supernatural fiction, suspense, crime, science-fiction, and fantasy novels. Described as the "King of Horror", a play on his surname and a reference to his high s ...

, Robert A. Heinlein, Thomas Wolfe, George Santayana,

John Clellon Holmes John Clellon Holmes (March 12, 1926, Holyoke, Massachusetts – March 30, 1988, Middletown, Connecticut) was an American author, poet and professor, best known for his 1952 novel '' Go''. Considered the first "Beat" novel, ''Go'' depicted eve ...

, Don DeLillo, and

Edith Wharton Edith Wharton (; born Edith Newbold Jones; January 24, 1862 – August 11, 1937) was an American novelist, short story writer, and interior designer. Wharton drew upon her insider's knowledge of the upper-class New York "aristocracy" to portray ...

. The firm published '' Scribner's Magazine'' for many years. More recently, several Scribner titles and authors have garnered Pulitzer Prizes,

National Book Awards The National Book Awards are a set of annual U.S. literary awards. At the final National Book Awards Ceremony every November, the National Book Foundation presents the National Book Awards and two lifetime achievement awards to authors. The Nat ...

and other merits. In 1978 the company merged with Atheneum and became The Scribner Book Companies. In turn it merged into

Macmillan MacMillan, Macmillan, McMillen or McMillan may refer to: People * McMillan (surname) * Clan MacMillan, a Highland Scottish clan * Harold Macmillan, British statesman and politician * James MacMillan, Scottish composer * William Duncan MacMillan ...

in 1984. Simon & Schuster bought Macmillan in 1994. By this point only the trade book and reference book operations still bore the original family name. After the merger, the Macmillan and Atheneum adult lists were merged into Scribner's and the Scribner's children list was merged into Atheneum. The former imprint, now simply "Scribner", was retained by Simon & Schuster, while the reference division has been owned by Gale since 1999. , Scribner is a division of Simon & Schuster under the title Scribner Publishing Group which also includes the Touchstone Books imprint. The president of Scribner is Susan Moldow (who also held the position of publisher from 1994 to 2012), and the current publisher is Nan Graham.

History

The firm was founded in 1846 by Charles Scribner I and

Isaac D. Baker Isaac; grc, Ἰσαάκ, Isaák; ar, إسحٰق/إسحاق, Isḥāq; am, ይስሐቅ is one of the three patriarchs of the Israelites and an important figure in the Abrahamic religions, including Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. He was th ...

as "Baker & Scribner." After Baker's death, Scribner bought the remainder of the company and renamed it the "Charles Scribner Company." In 1865, the company made its first venture into magazine publishing with ''Hours at Home''. In 1870, the Scribners organized a new firm, Scribner and Company, to publish a magazine entitled '' Scribner's Monthly''. After the death of Charles Scribner I in 1871, his son John Blair Scribner took over as president of the company. His other sons

Charles Scribner II Charles Scribner II (October 18, 1854 – April 19, 1930) was the president of Charles Scribner's Sons and a trustee at Skidmore College. Early life He was born in New York City on October 18, 1854. He was the son of Emma Elizabeth Blair (1827–1 ...

and Arthur Hawley Scribner would also join the firm, in 1875 and 1884. They each later served as presidents. When the other partners in the venture sold their stake to the family, the company was renamed Charles Scribner's Sons. The company launched ''

St. Nicholas Magazine ''St. Nicholas Magazine'' was a popular monthly American children's magazine, founded by Scribner's in 1873. The first editor was Mary Mapes Dodge, who continued her association with the magazine until her death in 1905. Dodge published work by th ...

'' in 1873 with Mary Mapes Dodge as editor and

Frank R. Stockton Frank Richard Stockton (April 5, 1834 – April 20, 1902) was an American writer and humorist, best known today for a series of innovative children's fairy tales that were widely popular during the last decades of the 19th century. Life Born i ...

as assistant editor; it became well known as a children's magazine. When the Scribner family sold the magazine company to outside investors in 1881, ''Scribner's Monthly'' was renamed the '' Century Magazine.'' The Scribners brothers were enjoined from publishing any magazine for a period of five years. In 1886, at the expiration of this term, they launched '' Scribner's Magazine.'' The firm's headquarters were in the

Scribner Building The Scribner Building (also known as the Old Scribner Building) is a commercial structure at 155 Fifth Avenue, near 21st Street, in the Flatiron District of Manhattan in New York City. Designed by Ernest Flagg in the Beaux Arts style, it was c ...

, built in 1893, on lower Fifth Avenue at 21st Street, and later in the

Charles Scribner's Sons Building The Charles Scribner's Sons Building, also known as 597 Fifth Avenue, is a commercial structure in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City, on Fifth Avenue between 48th and 49th Streets. Designed by Ernest Flagg in a Beaux Arts ...

, on Fifth Avenue in midtown. Both buildings were designed by Ernest Flagg in a Beaux Arts style. The children's book division was established in 1934 under the leadership of Alice Dalgliesh. It published works by distinguished authors and illustrators including

N.C. Wyeth Newell Convers Wyeth (October 22, 1882 – October 19, 1945), known as N. C. Wyeth, was an American painter and illustrator. He was the pupil of Howard Pyle and became one of America's most well-known illustrators. Wyeth created more than 3,000 ...

, Robert A. Heinlein,

Marcia Brown Marcia Joan Brown (July 13, 1918 – April 28, 2015) was an American writer and illustrator of more than 30 children's books. She has won three annual Caldecott Medals from the American Library Association, and three Caldecott Medal honors as an ...

, Will James, Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings, and

Leo Politi Atiglio Leoni Politi (November 21, 1908 – March 26, 1996) was an American artist and author who wrote and illustrated some 20 children's books, as well as ''Bunker Hill, Los Angeles'' (1964), intended for adults. His works often celebrated cu ...

. Scribner merged with Atheneum in 1978, and then merged into

in 1984. In 1994,

was bought by Simon & Schuster. the publisher is owned by the CBS Corporation. Simon & Schuster reorganized their adult imprints into four divisions in 2012. Scribner became the Scribner Publishing Group and would expand to include Touchstone Books which had previously been part of Free Press. The other divisions are Atria Publishing Group, Simon & Schuster Publishing Group, and the

Gallery Publishing Group Gallery Publishing Group is a general interest publisher and a division of Simon & Schuster which houses the imprints Gallery Books, Pocket Books, Scout Press, Gallery 13, and Saga Press. Jen Bergstrom is the Senior Vice President and Publisher. ...

. The new Scribner division would be led by Susan Moldow as president.

Presidents

* Charles Scribner I (1821–1871), 1846 to 1871 * John Blair Scribner (1850–1879), 1871 to 1879 *

(1854–1930), 1879 to 1930 * Arthur Hawley Scribner (1859–1932), circa 1900 *

Charles Scribner III Charles Scribner III (January 26, 1890 – February 11, 1952), also known as Charles Scribner Jr., was president of Charles Scribner's Sons publishing company starting in 1932. Biography He was born on January 26, 1890, to Charles Scribner II. H ...

(1890–1952), 1932 to 1952 *

Charles Scribner IV Charles Scribner IV (July 13, 1921 – November 11, 1995), also known as Charles Scribner Jr., was the head of the Charles Scribner's Sons publishing company. He was a resident of Manhattan for most of his adult life, establishing a residence in t ...

(1921–1995), 1952 to 1984

Notable authors

S. S. Van Dine S. S. Van Dine (also styled S.S. Van Dine) is the pseudonym used by American art critic Willard Huntington Wright (October 15, 1888 – April 11, 1939) when he wrote detective novels. Wright was active in avant-garde cultural circles in pre-Worl ...

James Jones James Jones may refer to: Sports Association football *James Jones (footballer, born 1873) (1873–1955), British Olympic footballer * James Jones (footballer, born 1996), Scottish footballer for Wrexham *James Jones (footballer, born 1997), Wel ...

Alan Paton Alan Stewart Paton (11 January 1903 – 12 April 1988) was a South African writer and anti-apartheid activist. His works include the novels ''Cry, the Beloved Country'' and '' Too Late the Phalarope''. Family Paton was born in Pietermaritzbu ...

Notable authors under Simon and Schuster

Simon & Schuster has published thousands of books from thousands of authors. This list represents some of the more notable authors (those who are culturally significant or have had several bestsellers) from Scribner since becoming part of Simon & Schuster. For a more extensive list see List of Simon & Schuster authors. * Annie Proulx * Andrew Solomon * Anthony Doerr * Don DeLillo * Frank McCourt *

(1998–present for new releases; 2016–present for re-releases in US/Canada) * Jeanette Walls

Names

* ''Baker & Scribner'', until the death of Baker in 1850 * Charles Scribner Company * ''Charles Scribner's Sons'' * ''Scribner''

Bookstores

The Scribner Bookstores are now owned by

Barnes & Noble Barnes & Noble Booksellers is an American bookseller. It is a Fortune 1000 company and the bookseller with the largest number of retail outlets in the United States. As of July 7, 2020, the company operates 614 retail stores across all 50 U. ...

References

External links

Archives of Charles Scribner's Sons at the Princeton University Library, Manuscript Division

Charles Scribner's Sons Art Reference Department records at the Smithsonian Archives of American Art

Charles Scribner's Sons: An Illustrated Chronology
Princeton Library {{DEFAULTSORT:Scribner's, Charles Book publishing companies based in New York (state) Publishing companies based in New York City Simon & Schuster Publishing companies established in 1846 1846 establishments in New York (state) Barnes & Noble Cengage Princeton University

History

Presidents

Notable authors

Notable authors under Charles Scribner II

Notable authors under Charles Scribner's Sons

Notable authors under Maxwell Perkins and John Hall Wheelock

Notable authors under Simon and Schuster

Names

Bookstores

See also

References

Further reading

External links