Duell, Sloan and Pearce was a publishing company located in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

. It was founded in 1939 by C. Halliwell Duell, Samuel Sloan and Charles A. Pearce. It initially published general fiction and non-fiction, but not westerns, light romances or children's books. It published works by many prominent authors, including Archibald MacLeish, John O'Hara,

Erskine Caldwell Erskine Preston Caldwell (December 17, 1903 – April 11, 1987) was an American novelist and short story writer. His writings about poverty, racism and social problems in his native Southern United States, in novels such as '' Tobacco Road'' (1 ...

(including his

American Folkways series The American Folkways is a 28-volume series of books, initiated and principally edited by Erskine Caldwell, and published by Duell, Sloan and Pearce from 1941 to 1955. Each book focused on a different region, or "folkway", of the United States, inc ...

) Anaïs Nin,

Conrad Aiken Conrad Potter Aiken (August 5, 1889 – August 17, 1973) was an American writer and poet, honored with a Pulitzer Prize and a National Book Award, and was United States Poet Laureate from 1950 to 1952. His published works include poetry, short ...

Wallace Stegner Wallace Earle Stegner (February 18, 1909 – April 13, 1993) was an American novelist, short story writer, environmentalism, environmentalist, and historian, often called "The Dean of Western Writers". He won the Pulitzer Prize in 1972 and the U. ...

E. E. Cummings Edward Estlin Cummings, who was also known as E. E. Cummings, e. e. cummings and e e cummings (October 14, 1894 - September 3, 1962), was an American poet, painter, essayist, author and playwright. He wrote approximately 2,900 poems, two autobi ...

Howard Fast Howard Melvin Fast (November 11, 1914 – March 12, 2003) was an American novelist and television writer. Fast also wrote under the pen names E.V. Cunningham and Walter Ericson. Biography Early life Fast was born in New York City. His mother, ...

Benjamin Spock Benjamin McLane Spock (May 2, 1903 – March 15, 1998) was an American pediatrician and left-wing political activist whose book '' Baby and Child Care'' (1946) is one of the best-selling books of the twentieth century, selling 500,000 copies ...

Joseph Jay Deiss Joseph Jay Deiss (1912–1999), an American author, businessman, historian and archaeologist, was born in Twin Falls, Idaho and graduated from the University of Texas, where he also received his Masters. Life and work Deiss was born in Twin Fall ...

and

William Bradford Huie William Bradford Huie (November 13, 1910 – November 20, 1986) was an American writer, investigative reporter, editor, national lecturer, and television host. His credits include twenty-one books that sold over 30 million copies worldwide. In ad ...

. In addition to their literary list, the firm published many works of military history with a focus on aviation in the war years. Duell, Sloan and Pearce soon became sales agent for Musette Publishers, which had a line of children's books. The firm also published photographic essays, including the ''U.S. Camera'' annuals. ''U.S. Camera 1941'' was

banned in Boston "Banned in Boston" is a phrase that was employed from the late 19th century through the mid-20th century, to describe a literary work, song, motion picture, or play which had been prohibited from distribution or exhibition in Boston, Massachuset ...

because it contained photographs of nudes. In 1942, the firm agreed to handle all advertising, promotion, selling and distribution of Eagle Books titles. The firm later added the Essential Books and

Bloodhound Mysteries ''The Bloodhound'' was an imprint of Duell, Sloan & Pearce for the publishing of its suspense, crime, and detective fiction novels. In the same manner as other publishers of mystery novels such as Doubleday's The Crime Club, J. B. Lippin ...

divisions. In 1947, they introduced the New American Naturalist series, which was intended to provide a comprehensive survey of American flora and fauna for the general reader. Arrowhead Books was later added as an independent subsidiary of Duell, Sloan and Pearce. In 1951, Duell, Sloan and Pearce entered into an agreement with

Little, Brown and Company Little, Brown and Company is an American publishing company founded in 1837 by Charles Coffin Little and James Brown in Boston. For close to two centuries it has published fiction and nonfiction by American authors. Early lists featured Emily ...

for Little, Brown to handle the manufacturing, warehousing, promotion and selling of all Duell, Sloan and Pearce titles. The two firms remained independent, but the books carried both imprints. In 1956, Duell, Sloan and Pearce terminated the arrangement with Little, Brown, and joined the McKay Group, a cooperative selling and manufacturing association in New York. In March 1961 Duell, Sloan and Pearce became an affiliate of

Meredith Publishing Company The ''Meredith Publishing Company'', a division of Meredith Corporation Meredith Corporation was an American media conglomerate based in Des Moines, Iowa, that owned magazines, television stations, websites, and radio stations. Its publication ...

. In 1967, Meredith announced that all affiliated imprints, including Duell, Sloan and Pearce, would no longer be used. The rights to Duell, Sloan and Pearce books were sold by Meredith to the independent publisher Hawthorn Books in 1969. After Hawthorn closed in 1977, the rights to its titles were acquired by

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, ...

.Hawthorn Books, Inc.
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References

* Harry Thompson (1986). "Duell, Sloan and Pearce". In Peter Dzwonkoski (ed.), "American Literary Publishing Houses, 1900–1980: Trade and Paperback", pp. 127–9, ''Dictionary of Literary Biography, Volume Forty-six''.

Detroit, Michigan Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at ...

. Gale Research Company. . Defunct book publishing companies of the United States Companies based in New York City Publishing companies disestablished in 1967 Publishing companies established in 1939 1939 establishments in New York City {{US-publish-company-stub

See also

References