The Dial Press was a publishing house founded in 1923 by

Lincoln MacVeagh Lincoln MacVeagh (October 1, 1890January 15, 1972) was a United States soldier, diplomat, businessman, and archaeologist. He served a long career as the United States ambassador to several countries during difficult times. MacVeagh family The ...

. The Dial Press shared a building with ''

The Dial ''The Dial'' was an American magazine published intermittently from 1840 to 1929. In its first form, from 1840 to 1844, it served as the chief publication of the Transcendentalists. From the 1880s to 1919 it was revived as a political review and ...

'' and

Scofield Thayer Scofield Thayer (12 December 1889 in Worcester, Massachusetts – 9 July 1982 in Edgartown) was a wealthy American poet and publisher, best known for his art collection, now at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and as a publisher and editor of the l ...

worked with both. The first imprint was issued in 1924. Authors included

Elizabeth Bowen Elizabeth Bowen CBE (; 7 June 1899 – 22 February 1973) was an Irish-British novelist and short story writer notable for her books about the "big house" of Irish landed Protestants as well her fiction about life in wartime London. Life ...

W. R. Burnett William Riley Burnett (November 25, 1899 April 25, 1982) was an American novelist and screenwriter. He is best known for the crime novel ''Little Caesar'', the film adaptation of which is considered the first of the classic American gangster ...

and

Glenway Wescott Glenway Wescott (April 11, 1901 – February 22, 1987) was an American poet, novelist and essayist. A figure of the American expatriate literary community in Paris during the 1920s, Wescott was openly gay.Eric Haralson, ''Henry James and Queer Mo ...

Frank Yerby Frank Garvin Yerby ( – ) was an American writer, best known for his 1946 historical novel ''The Foxes of Harrow''. Early life Yerby was born in Augusta, Georgia, on September 5, 1916, the second of four children of Rufus Garvin Yerby (1886– ...

, James Baldwin, Roy Campbell, Susan Berman,

Herbert Gold Herbert Gold (born March 9, 1924) is an American novelist. Early life Gold was born on March 9, 1924 in Cleveland, Ohio, in to a Russian Jewish family. His parents were Samuel S. and Frieda (Frankel) Gold. His father ran a fruit store and later a ...

, Thomas Berger,

Vance Bourjaily Vance Nye Bourjaily (September 17, 1922 – August 31, 2010) was an American novelist, playwright, journalist, creative writing teacher, and essayist.T. Rees Shapirofrom ''The Washington Post'', September 4, 2010. Life Bourjaily was born in Cle ...

, Judith Rossner, and Norman Mailer. In 1963, Dell Publishing Company acquired 60% of the Dial Press stock but the Press remained an independent subsidiary. It was jointly owned by Richard Baron and Dell Publishing;

E. L. Doctorow Edgar Lawrence Doctorow (January 6, 1931 – July 21, 2015) was an American novelist, editor, and professor, best known for his works of historical fiction. He wrote twelve novels, three volumes of short fiction and a stage drama. They included ...

was editor-in-chief. In 1969 the Dial Press became wholly owned by Dell Publishing Company. In 1976 Doubleday bought Dell Publishing and the children's division of Dial Press (Dial Books for Young Readers) was sold to

E. P. Dutton E. P. Dutton was an American book publishing company. It was founded as a book retailer in Boston, Massachusetts, in 1852 by Edward Payson Dutton. Since 1986, it has been an imprint of Penguin Group. Creator Edward Payson Dutton (January 4, ...

. The children's division of Dial Press published books under the Pied Piper imprint. Dutton would be bought by

New American Library The New American Library (also known as NAL) is an American publisher based in New York, founded in 1948. Its initial focus was affordable paperback reprints of classics and scholarly works as well as popular and pulp fiction, but it now publish ...

, which in turn became a part of the

Penguin Group Penguin Group is a British trade book publisher and part of Penguin Random House, which is owned by the German media conglomerate Bertelsmann. The new company was created by a merger that was finalised on 1 July 2013, with Bertelsmann initi ...

, a division of Pearson PLC. When the Penguin Group obtained the rights to children's books published by the Dial Press, some were published in paperback under the imprint Puffin Pied Piper (because Puffin has been the longtime paperback imprint for the Penguin Group). Doubleday dissolved Dial Press in 1985. The adult imprint was revived by Carole Baron the publisher of Dell at the time part of Bantam/Doubleday/Dell under the leadership of Susan Kamil. It went on to gain awards and bestsellers. It was bought when BDD was sold to

Random House Random House is an American book publisher and the largest general-interest paperback publisher in the world. The company has several independently managed subsidiaries around the world. It is part of Penguin Random House, which is owned by Germ ...

. Penguin and Random House merged in 2013, forming

Penguin Random House Penguin Random House LLC is an Anglo-American multinational conglomerate publishing company formed on July 1, 2013, from the merger of Penguin Group and Random House. On April 2, 2020, Bertelsmann announced the completion of its purchase ...

, with the main division part of Random House and the Young Readers division part of Penguin.

Notable books published by The Dial Press

*'' An American Dream'', Norman Mailer *'' Easy Street'', Susan Berman *'' The Detective'',

Roderick Thorp Roderick Mayne Thorp, Jr. (September 1, 1936 – April 28, 1999) was an American novelist specializing mainly in police procedural/crime novels. His novel '' The Detective'' was adapted into a film of the same name in 1968. Thorp is also better ...

*''

The Ecstasy Business ''The Ecstasy Business'' was the seventh book by the American satirist and political novelist Richard Condon, first published by The Dial Press in 1967. Told in the third person, it is the broadly comic story of Tynan Bryson, "the greatest film ...

'',

Richard Condon Richard Thomas Condon (March 18, 1915 – April 9, 1996) was an American political novelist. Though his works were satire, they were generally transformed into thrillers or semi-thrillers in other media, such as cinema. All 26 books were writte ...

*'' The Good Thief'', Hannah Tinti *'' I've Got Your Number'', Sophie Kinsella *''

Mile High ''Mile High'' is a British television drama based on the lives of the cabin crew members of Fresh!, a budget airline based in London. The name of the show is a reference to the Mile High Club. The show was broadcast on Sky1 from 2003 to 2005 ...

'',

*''Nine Months in the Life of an Old Maid'', Judith Rossner *'' The Report from Iron Mountain'' *''

The Fire Next Time ''The Fire Next Time'' is a 1963 non-fiction book by James Baldwin, containing two essays: "My Dungeon Shook: Letter to my Nephew on the One Hundredth Anniversary of the Emancipation" and "Down at the Cross: Letter from a Region of My Mind". Th ...

'', James Baldwin *'' Stardance'',

Spider Robinson Spider Robinson (born November 24, 1948) is an American-born Canadian science fiction author. He has won a number of awards for his hard science fiction and humorous stories, including the Hugo Award 1977 and 1983, and another Hugo with his co-a ...

and

Jeanne Robinson Jeanne Robinson (March 30, 1948 – May 30, 2010) was an American-born Canadian choreographer who co-wrote three science fiction novels, ''The Stardance Saga'', with her husband Spider Robinson. ''Stardance'' won the Hugo Award for Best Novell ...

*''

The Secret Life of Salvador Dalí ''The Secret Life of Salvador Dalí'' is an autobiography by the internationally renowned artist Salvador Dalí published in 1942 by Dial Press. The book was written in French and translated into English by Haakon Chevalier. It covers his family ...

'',

Salvador Dalí Salvador Domingo Felipe Jacinto Dalí i Domènech, Marquess of Dalí of Púbol (; ; ; 11 May 190423 January 1989) was a Spanish surrealist artist renowned for his technical skill, precise draftsmanship, and the striking and bizarre images in ...

*'' Die Nigger Die!'', H. Rap Brown *'' Ethics: Origin and Development'', Peter Kropotkin *'' Secrets at Sea'', Richard Peck, illustrated by

Kelly Murphy Kelly Murphy is an American author, illustrator and educator. She is based in Providence, Rhode Island. Early life Murphy was born in Boston, Massachusetts and raised in southeastern Massachusetts. She attended the Rhode Island School of Design ...

*'' The Mouse with the Question Mark Tail'', Richard Peck, illustrated by

*'' Another Country'', James Baldwin *''

Little Big Man Little Big Man ( Lakota: Wičháša Tȟáŋkala), or Charging Bear, was an Oglala Lakota, or Oglala Sioux, who was a fearless and respected warrior who fought under, and was distant cousin to, Crazy Horse ("His-Horse-Is-Crazy"). He opposed the 186 ...

'', Thomas Berger *''Confessions of a Spent Youth'',

*'' The Giant's House'',

Elizabeth McCracken Elizabeth McCracken (born 1966) is an American author. She is a recipient of the PEN New England Award. Life and career McCracken, a graduate of the Iowa Writers' Workshop, was born in Boston, Massachusetts, graduated from Newton North High S ...

*''It was gonna be like Paris'', Emily Listfield * ''

The War That Saved My Life ''The War That Saved My Life'', by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley, is a 2015 children’s historical novel published by Dial Books for Young Readers. In 2016, it was a Newbery Honor Book and was named to the Bank Street Children's Book Committee ...

'',

Kimberly Brubaker Bradley Kimberly Brubaker Bradley (born June 24, 1967) is an American children's and young adult book author. In 2016, her children's book ''The War That Saved My Life'' received the Newbery Honor Award and was named to the Bank Street Children's Book ...

* ''The Short Novels of Dostoevsky'' (with introduction by

Thomas Mann Paul Thomas Mann ( , ; ; 6 June 1875 – 12 August 1955) was a German novelist, short story writer, social critic, philanthropist, essayist, and the 1929 Nobel Prize in Literature laureate. His highly symbolic and ironic epic novels and novell ...

), Fyodor Dostoevsky, translated by

Constance Garnett Constance Clara Garnett (; 19 December 1861 – 17 December 1946) was an English translator of nineteenth-century Russian literature. She was the first English translator to render numerous volumes of Anton Chekhov's work into English and the ...

* ''The Mysterious Tale of Gentle Jack and Lord Bumblebee George Sand (writer), illustrated by

Gennady Spirin Gennady Spirin (born 25 December 1948) is a Russian painter and children's book illustrator. A graduate of the Surikov School of Fine Art in Moscow and the Moscow Stroganov Institute of Art, he is noted for his unique style of watercolor illust ...

, translated by Gela Jacobson

Book series

* The Bourbon Classics * The Dial Detective Library * The Dial Standard Library * Fireside Library * The Golden Dragon Library * Library of Living ClassicsLibrary of Living Classics
owu.edu. Retrieved 26 October 2020. * Permanent Library * The Rogue's Library

Notes

External links

* * Dial Press Records. Yale Collection of American Literature, Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library.
Dial Press finding aid
for chronological key events {{Authority control Book publishing companies based in New York (state) Publishing companies established in 1923 Random House Dial Press books

Notable books published by The Dial Press

Book series

See also

Notes

External links