Dodd, Mead and Company was one of the pioneer publishing houses of the United States, based in New York City. Under several names, the firm operated from 1839 until 1990.

History

Origins

In 1839,

Moses Woodruff Dodd Moses Woodruff Dodd (November 11, 1813 – April 8, 1899) was the founder of a publishing company that eventually became Dodd, Mead and Company in New York City. Biography Moses Woodruff Dodd was born in Bloomfield, New Jersey on November 11, 1 ...

(1813–1899) and John S. Taylor, at that time a leading publisher in New York, formed the company of Taylor and Dodd as a publisher of religious books. In 1840, Dodd bought out Taylor and renamed the company as M.W. Dodd. Frank Howard Dodd (1844–1916) joined his father in business in 1859 and became increasingly involved in the publishing company's operation. With the retirement of founder Moses Dodd in 1870, control passed to his son Frank Howard Dodd, who joined in partnership with his cousin Edward S. Mead (1847–1894), and the company was reorganized as Dodd and Mead. In 1876, Bleecker Van Wagenen became a member of the firm and the name was changed to Dodd, Mead and Company. Tebbel, John, ''Between Covers: The Rise and Transformation of Book Publishing in America''. New York: Oxford University Press, 1987, , p. 111
Dodd, Mead and Company, Papers, 1836–1939
American Antiquarian Society (retrieved January 22, 2011).

Growth and prominence

The company was well known for the quality of its publications, including many books on American history and contemporary literature. As a bookseller, the firm was a dealer and leading authority in rare books. As head of Dodd, Mead and Company, Frank Dodd established '' The Bookman'' in 1895, and ''The

New International Encyclopedia ''The New International Encyclopedia'' was an American encyclopedia first published in 1902 by Dodd, Mead & Co. It descended from the ''International Cyclopaedia'' (1884) and was updated in 1906, 1914 and 1926. History ''The New Internatio ...

'' in 1902. He was president of the

American Publishers Association American Publishers Association (APA) was created in 1901 to maintain the price of copyright books in the American market. In 1913, the New York Supreme court ruled in favor of R. H Macy's & Co. vs American Publishers Association, saying Macy' ...

for a number of years. The firm built the Dodd Mead Building (1910) at the corner of Fourth Avenue and Thirtieth Street, and the 11-story building was heralded as creating a new trade center in New York City. Dodd, Mead and Company published the work of new poets including

Robert W. Service Robert William Service (16 January 1874 – 11 September 1958) was an English-born Canadian poet and writer, often called “The Poet of the Yukon" and "The Canadian Kipling". Born in Lancashire of Scottish descent, he was a bank clerk by trade ...

, Bliss Carman and

Paul Laurence Dunbar Paul Laurence Dunbar (June 27, 1872 – February 9, 1906) was an American poet, novelist, and short story writer of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Born in Dayton, Ohio, to parents who had been enslaved in Kentucky before the American C ...

. When Frank Dodd died in 1916, the partnership was dissolved and the business was incorporated. Dodd's only son, Edward H. Dodd, succeeded him as president. In 1922 Dodd, Mead and Company began a period of great expansion with the purchase of the American branch of John Lane Company, publisher of

Anatole France (; born ; 16 April 1844 – 12 October 1924) was a French poet, journalist, and novelist with several best-sellers. Ironic and skeptical, he was considered in his day the ideal French man of letters.William John Locke and many prominent poets. Other authors included

Aubrey Beardsley Aubrey Vincent Beardsley ( ; 21 August 187216 March 1898) was an English illustrator and author. His black ink drawings were influenced by Woodblock printing in Japan, Japanese woodcuts, and depicted the grotesque, the decadent, and the erotic. ...

Max Beerbohm Sir Henry Maximilian Beerbohm (24 August 1872 – 20 May 1956) was an English essayist, Parody, parodist and Caricature, caricaturist under the signature Max. He first became known in the 1890s as a dandy and a humorist. He was the theatre crit ...

Rupert Brooke Rupert Chawner Brooke (3 August 1887 – 23 April 1915The date of Brooke's death and burial under the Julian calendar that applied in Greece at the time was 10 April. The Julian calendar was 13 days behind the Gregorian calendar.) was an En ...

G. K. Chesterton Gilbert Keith Chesterton (29 May 1874 – 14 June 1936) was an English author, philosopher, Christian apologist, journalist and magazine editor, and literary and art critic. Chesterton created the fictional priest-detective Father Brow ...

Agatha Christie Dame Agatha Mary Clarissa Christie, Lady Mallowan, (; 15 September 1890 – 12 January 1976) was an English people, English author known for her 66 detective novels and 14 short story collections, particularly those revolving ...

Theodore Dreiser Theodore Herman Albert Dreiser (; August 27, 1871 – December 28, 1945) was an American novelist and journalist of the naturalism (literature), naturalist school. His novels often featured main characters who succeeded at their objectives despi ...

, and

Stephen Leacock Stephen Butler Leacock (30 December 1869 – 28 March 1944) was a Canadian teacher, political scientist, writer, and humourist. Between the years 1915 and 1925, he was the best-known English-speaking humourist in the world. Early life S ...

. In 1924 Dodd purchased Moffat, Yard & Co., adding books by

William James William James (January 11, 1842 – August 26, 1910) was an American philosopher and psychologist. The first educator to offer a psychology course in the United States, he is considered to be one of the leading thinkers of the late 19th c ...

Sigmund Freud Sigmund Freud ( ; ; born Sigismund Schlomo Freud; 6 May 1856 – 23 September 1939) was an Austrian neurologist and the founder of psychoanalysis, a clinical method for evaluating and treating psychopathology, pathologies seen as originating fro ...

, and

Carl Jung Carl Gustav Jung ( ; ; 26 July 1875 – 6 June 1961) was a Swiss psychiatrist, psychotherapist, and psychologist who founded the school of analytical psychology. A prolific author of Carl Jung publications, over 20 books, illustrator, and corr ...

to their list. Dodd, Mead's ''

'' was sold in 1931 to

Funk & Wagnalls Funk & Wagnalls was an American publisher known for its reference works, including ''A Standard Dictionary of the English Language'' (1st ed. 1893–5), and the ''Funk & Wagnalls Standard Encyclopedia'' (25 volumes, 1st ed. 1912).Funk & Wagnalls N ...

. In 1934, Dodd, Mead acquired Duffield and Green, publisher of

Elinor Glyn Elinor Glyn ( Sutherland; 17 October 1864 – 23 September 1943) was a British novelist and scriptwriter who specialised in romantic fiction, which was considered scandalous for its time, although her works are relatively tame by modern stand ...

Emma Gelders Sterne Emma Gelders Sterne (May 13, 1894–August 29, 1971) was an American writer of children's books, with a historical and literary focus. Born in Alabama, she became involved in liberal causes which included women's suffrage and racial equality, is ...

, and

General Krasnov Pyotr Nikolayevich Krasnov (; – 17 January 1947), also known as Peter Krasnov, was a Russian military leader, writer and later Collaboration with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy, Nazi collaborator. Krasnov served as a lieutenant general in t ...

; and the Sears Publishing Company. Dodd, Mead acquired the complete works of

George Bernard Shaw George Bernard Shaw (26 July 1856 – 2 November 1950), known at his insistence as Bernard Shaw, was an Irish playwright, critic, polemicist and political activist. His influence on Western theatre, culture and politics extended from the 188 ...

Acquisition and end

In December 1981, Dodd, Mead and Company became a subsidiary of Thomas Nelson Inc. One of the last family-owned publishers in the United States, it was purchased for $4 million. The company was sold again in 1986 to Gamut Publishing Company, a partnership founded by Jon B. Harden and Lynne A. Lumsden for the purpose of acquiring book publishing companies, for $4.7 million. To retire some of its debt, the owners of the 149-year-old publishing house sold its greatest assets – the U.S. rights to books by

and

Max Brand Frederick Schiller Faust (May 29, 1892 – May 12, 1944) was an American writer known primarily for his Western (genre), Western stories using the pseudonym Max Brand. As Max Brand, he also created the popular fictional character of young ...

— to the Putnam Berkley Group in 1988. The business operations of Dodd, Mead and Company were suspended in March 1989 pending the outcome of arbitration with its fulfillment house, Metro Services, Inc. By the end of 1990 the company ceased publications.

Authors

Authors' names are followed by their known dates of association with Dodd, Mead and Company. *

Edward Abbey Edward Paul Abbey (January 29, 1927 – March 14, 1989) was an American author and essayist noted for his advocacy of environmental issues, criticism of public land policies, and anarchist political views. His best-known works include the nov ...

Amelia Edith Huddleston Barr Amelia Edith Huddleston Barr (March 29, 1831 – March 10, 1919) was an English novelist and teacher. Many of the plots of her stories are laid in Scotland and England. The scenes are from her girlhood recollection of surroundings. Her works inclu ...

(1885–1911) * Caroline French Benton (1901, '' Gala-day luncheons'') * N. J. Berrill (1951–1966) *

Don Blanding Donald Benson Blanding (November 7, 1894–June 9, 1957) was an American poet, sometimes described as the "poet laureate of Hawaii." He was also a journalist, cartoonist, author and speaker. Early life Blanding was born in Kingfisher, Oklahom ...

(1928–1955) *

* Anna Alice Chapin (September 1912) *

(1922–1976) *

Winston Churchill Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 1874 – 24 January 1965) was a British statesman, military officer, and writer who was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1940 to 1945 (Winston Churchill in the Second World War, ...

(1896–1914) *

Norman A. Fox Norman Arnold Fox (May 26, 1911 – March 24, 1960) was an American author best known for Western (genre), Western stories and western novel, novels. His stories were often set around actual events in Montana history and contained authentic det ...

(1911–1960) *

Ernest Holmes Ernest Shurtleff Holmes (January 21, 1887 – April 7, 1960) was an American New Thought writer, teacher, and leader. He was the founder of a spiritual movement known as Religious Science, part of the greater New Thought movement, whose spi ...

(1953 publication of ''

The Science of Mind ''The Science of Mind'' is a book by Ernest Holmes. It was published in 1926 and proposes a science with a new relationship between humans and God. Overview The book was originally published by Holmes, the founder of Religious Science, in 1926 ...

'') *

W. W. Jacobs William Wymark Jacobs (8 September 1863 – 1 September 1943) was an English author of short fiction and drama. He is best known for his story "The Monkey's Paw". Early life He was born in 1863 at 5, Crombie's Row, Mile End Old Town (not Wappin ...

Charles Kingsley Charles Kingsley (12 June 1819 – 23 January 1875) was a broad church priest of the Church of England, a university professor, social reformer, historian, novelist and poet. He is particularly associated with Christian socialism, the workin ...

Ross Macdonald Ross Macdonald was the main pseudonym used by the American-Canadian writer of crime fiction Kenneth Millar (; December 13, 1915 – July 11, 1983). He is best known for his series of hardboiled novels set in Southern California and featur ...

Addison Mizner Addison Cairns Mizner ( ) (December 12, 1872 – February 5, 1933) was an American architect whose Mediterranean Revival Style architecture, Mediterranean Revival and Spanish Colonial Revival architecture, Spanish Colonial Revival style interpret ...

(1932) *

Ruth Bryan Owen Ruth Baird Leavitt Owen Rohde (née Bryan; October 2, 1885 – July 26, 1954), also known as Ruth Bryan Owen, was an American politician and diplomat who represented in the United States House of Representatives from 1929 to 1933 and served as ...

(1935–1942) *

John Cowper Powys John Cowper Powys ( ; 8 October 187217 June 1963) was an English novelist, philosopher, lecturer, critic and poet born in Shirley, Derbyshire, where his father was vicar of the parish church in 1871–1879. Powys appeared with a volume of verse ...

(1920–1925) *

Arthur Ransome Arthur Michell Ransome (18 January 1884 – 3 June 1967) was an English author and journalist. He is best known for writing and illustrating the ''Swallows and Amazons'' series of children's books about the school-holiday adventures of childre ...

(1907, published his ''

Bohemia in London ''Bohemia in London'' (1907) was Arthur Ransome's seventh published book, and his first success. The book is about literary and artistic London in the 1900s, and the area of London covered is Chelsea, Soho, and Hampstead. He had moved to London i ...

'') *Vincent Scuro (1974–1986) *

(1911–1954) *

Anthony Trollope Anthony Trollope ( ; 24 April 1815 – 6 December 1882) was an English novelist and civil servant of the Victorian era. Among the best-known of his 47 novels are two series of six novels each collectively known as the ''Chronicles of Barsetshire ...

* Bettina Riddle von Hutten

Book series

* Ajax Series * American Political Leaders * Astor Library * Ebony LibraryEbony Library
seriesofseries.com. Retrieved November 19, 2019. * Great Illustrated Classics * International Classics * Modern American Writers * Quill Library * Red Badge Detective

Notes

References

External links

Dodd, Mead mss., 1855–1992, Finding Aid

Lilly Library The Lilly Library, located on the campus of Indiana University in Bloomington, Indiana, is an important rare book and manuscript library in the United States. At its dedication on October 3, 1960, the library contained a collection of 20,000 bo ...

Indiana University Indiana University (IU) is a state university system, system of Public university, public universities in the U.S. state of Indiana. The system has two core campuses, five regional campuses, and two regional centers under the administration o ...

Dodd, Mead & Company Archive 1896–1974 Finding Aid

University of Delaware The University of Delaware (colloquially known as UD, UDel, or Delaware) is a Statutory college#Delaware, privately governed, state-assisted Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Newark, Delaware, United States. UD offers f ...

Library Special Collections
Dodd, Mead & Company Records
a
New-York Historical Society Library
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dodd, Mead and Co. Publishing companies established in 1839 Publishing companies disestablished in 1990 Defunct companies based in New York (state) Defunct book publishing companies of the United States 1839 establishments in New York (state) 1990 disestablishments in New York (state)

History

Origins

Growth and prominence

Acquisition and end

Authors

Book series

See also

Notes

References

Further reading

External links