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Charles Scribner's Sons, or simply Scribner's or Scribner, is an American publisher based in New York City that has published several notable American authors, including
Henry James Henry James ( – ) was an American-British author. He is regarded as a key transitional figure between literary realism and literary modernism, and is considered by many to be among the greatest novelists in the English language. He was the ...
,
Ernest Hemingway Ernest Miller Hemingway ( ; July 21, 1899 – July 2, 1961) was an American novelist, short-story writer and journalist. Known for an economical, understated style that influenced later 20th-century writers, he has been romanticized fo ...
,
F. Scott Fitzgerald Francis Scott Key Fitzgerald (September 24, 1896 – December 21, 1940), widely known simply as Scott Fitzgerald, was an American novelist, essayist, and short story writer. He is best known for his novels depicting the flamboyance and exces ...
,
Kurt Vonnegut Kurt Vonnegut ( ; November 11, 1922 – April 11, 2007) was an American author known for his Satire, satirical and darkly humorous novels. His published work includes fourteen novels, three short-story collections, five plays, and five nonfict ...
,
Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings (August 8, 1896 – December 14, 1953)
ac ...
,
Stephen King Stephen Edwin King (born September 21, 1947) is an American author. Dubbed the "King of Horror", he is widely known for his horror novels and has also explored other genres, among them Thriller (genre), suspense, crime fiction, crime, scienc ...
,
Robert A. Heinlein Robert Anson Heinlein ( ; July 7, 1907 – May 8, 1988) was an American science fiction author, aeronautical engineer, and naval officer. Sometimes called the "dean of science fiction writers", he was among the first to emphasize scientific acc ...
,
Thomas Wolfe Thomas Clayton Wolfe (October 3, 1900 – September 15, 1938) was an American novelist and short story writer. He is known largely for his first novel, '' Look Homeward, Angel'' (1929), and for the short fiction that appeared during the last ye ...
,
George Santayana George Santayana (born Jorge Agustín Nicolás Ruiz de Santayana y Borrás, December 16, 1863 – September 26, 1952) was a Spanish-American philosopher, essayist, poet, and novelist. Born in Spain, Santayana was raised and educated in the Un ...
, John Clellon Holmes,
Don DeLillo Donald Richard DeLillo (born November 20, 1936) is an American novelist, short story writer, playwright, screenwriter, and essayist. His works have covered subjects as diverse as consumerism, nuclear war, the complexities of language, art, televi ...
, and
Edith Wharton Edith Newbold Wharton (; ; January 24, 1862 – August 11, 1937) was an American writer and designer. Wharton drew upon her insider's knowledge of the upper-class New York "aristocracy" to portray, realistically, the lives and morals of the Gil ...
. The firm published ''
Scribner's Magazine ''Scribner's Magazine'' was an American periodical published by the publishing house of Charles Scribner's Sons from January 1887 to May 1939. ''Scribner's Magazine'' was the second magazine out of the Scribner's firm, after the publication of ...
'' for many years. More recently, several Scribner titles and authors have garnered
Pulitzer Prizes The Pulitzer Prizes () are 23 annual awards given by Columbia University in New York City for achievements in the United States in "journalism, arts and letters". They were established in 1917 by the will of Joseph Pulitzer, who had made his fo ...
,
National Book Awards The National Book Awards (NBA) 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. ...
and other merits. In 1978, the company merged with Atheneum and became The Scribner Book Companies. It merged into Macmillan in 1984.
Simon & Schuster Simon & Schuster LLC (, ) is an American publishing house owned by Kohlberg Kravis Roberts since 2023. It was founded in New York City in 1924, by Richard L. Simon and M. Lincoln Schuster. Along with Penguin Random House, Hachette Book Group US ...
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 trade division, now simply "Scribner", was retained by Simon & Schuster, while the reference division and the trademarks have been owned by
Gale A gale is a strong wind; the word is typically used as a descriptor in nautical contexts. The U.S. National Weather Service defines a gale as sustained surface wind moving at a speed between .
since 1999 and Simon & Schuster licensed the Scribner trademark for trade publishing from Gale. , Scribner is a division of Simon & Schuster under the title Scribner Publishing Group, including 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 Charles Scribner I (February 21, 1821 – August 26, 1871) was an American publisher who, with Isaac D. Baker (1819–1850),DA1906 founded a
and Isaac D. Baker 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 first ventured 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 ''Scribner's Monthly: An Illustrated Magazine for the People'' was an illustrated American literary periodical published from 1870 until 1881. Following a change in ownership in 1881 of the company that had produced it, the magazine was relaunc ...
''. After the death of Charles Scribner I in 1871, his son
John Blair Scribner John Blair Scribner (June 4, 1850 – January 21, 1879) was the president of Charles Scribner's Sons from 1871 to 1879. Early life Scribner was born on June 4, 1850 in New York City. He was the eldest son of Charles Scribner I and Emma Elizabeth ...
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– ...
and
Arthur Hawley Scribner Arthur Hawley Scribner (March 15, 1859 – July 3, 1932) was president of Charles Scribner's Sons. Early life and education He was born on March 15, 1859, in Manhattan. He was a son of Emma Elizabeth ( Blair) Scribner (1827–1869) and Charles ...
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'' was a popular monthly American children's magazine, founded by Scribner's in 1873 and named after the Christian saint. The first editor was Mary Mapes Dodge, who continued her association with the magazine until her death in 1 ...
'' in 1873 with
Mary Mapes Dodge Mary Elizabeth Mapes Dodge (January 26, 1831 – August 21, 1905) was an American children's author and editor, best known for her novel '' Hans Brinker''. She was the recognized leader in juvenile literature for almost a third of the nineteen ...
as editor and Frank R. Stockton 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 Century Magazine'' was an illustrated monthly magazine first published in the United States in 1881 by The Century Company of New York City, which had been bought in that year by Roswell Smith and renamed by him after the Century Associat ...
.'' The Scribner brothers were enjoined from publishing any magazine for a period. In 1886, at the expiration of this term, they launched ''
Scribner's Magazine ''Scribner's Magazine'' was an American periodical published by the publishing house of Charles Scribner's Sons from January 1887 to May 1939. ''Scribner's Magazine'' was the second magazine out of the Scribner's firm, after the publication of ...
.'' 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 ...
, 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 s ...
, on Fifth Avenue in midtown. Both buildings were designed by
Ernest Flagg Ernest Flagg (February 6, 1857 – April 10, 1947) was an American architect in the Beaux-Arts style. He was also an advocate for urban reform and architecture's social responsibility. Early life and education Flagg was born in Brooklyn, New ...
in a Beaux Arts style. The children's book division was established in 1934 under the leadership of
Alice Dalgliesh Alice Dalgliesh (October 7, 1893 – June 11, 1979) was a naturalized American writer and publisher who wrote more than 40 fiction and non-fiction books, mainly for children. She has been called "a pioneer in the field of children's historical fi ...
. 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 a student of Howard Pyle and became one of America's most well-known illustrators. Wyeth created more than 3,000 ...
,
Robert A. Heinlein Robert Anson Heinlein ( ; July 7, 1907 – May 8, 1988) was an American science fiction author, aeronautical engineer, and naval officer. Sometimes called the "dean of science fiction writers", he was among the first to emphasize scientific acc ...
,
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 won three annual Caldecott Medals from the American Library Association, six Caldecott Medal honors as an illustrato ...
, Will James,
Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings (August 8, 1896 – December 14, 1953)
ac ...
, 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 into Macmillan Inc. in 1984. In 1994, Macmillan was bought by
Simon & Schuster Simon & Schuster LLC (, ) is an American publishing house owned by Kohlberg Kravis Roberts since 2023. It was founded in New York City in 1924, by Richard L. Simon and M. Lincoln Schuster. Along with Penguin Random House, Hachette Book Group US ...
. The reference division along with Charles Scribner's Sons and Scribner trademarks were sold as part of Simon & Schuster's Macmillan Library Reference (MLR) to
Pearson Pearson may refer to: Organizations Education * Lester B. Pearson College, Victoria, British Columbia, Canada * Pearson College (UK), London, owned by Pearson PLC *Lester B. Pearson High School (disambiguation) Companies * Pearson plc, a UK-based ...
in 1998, Pearson resold MLR to
Thomson Corporation Thomson Corporation was one of the world's largest information companies. It was established in 1989 following a merger between International Thomson Organization and Thomson Newspapers. In 2008, it purchased Reuters Group to form Thomson Reut ...
a year later. Thomson Corporation placed the acquired MLR divisions into Gale. Thomson Learning including Gale became
Cengage Group Cengage Group is an American educational content, technology, and services company for higher education, K–12, professional, and library markets. It operates in more than 20 countries around the world.(June 27, 2014Global Publishing Leaders 20 ...
in 2007, Simon & Schuster licensed the Scribner trademarks for trade publishing from Gale. 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 Atria Publishing Group is a general interest publisher and a division of Simon & Schuster. The publishing group launched as Atria Books in 2002. The Atria Publishing Group was later created internally at Simon & Schuster to house a number of im ...
,
Simon & Schuster Simon & Schuster LLC (, ) is an American publishing house owned by Kohlberg Kravis Roberts since 2023. It was founded in New York City in 1924, by Richard L. Simon and M. Lincoln Schuster. Along with Penguin Random House, Hachette Book Group US ...
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. ...
. Susan Moldow would lead the new Scribner division as president. , the reference division and the trademarks are owned by Cengage Group and the trade division is owned by
Kohlberg Kravis Roberts KKR & Co. Inc., also known as Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co., is an American global private-equity and investment company. , the firm had completed private-equity investments in portfolio companies with approximately $710 billion of total ...
.


Presidents

*
Charles Scribner I Charles Scribner I (February 21, 1821 – August 26, 1871) was an American publisher who, with Isaac D. Baker (1819–1850),DA1906 founded a
(1821–1871), 1846 to 1871 *
John Blair Scribner John Blair Scribner (June 4, 1850 – January 21, 1879) was the president of Charles Scribner's Sons from 1871 to 1879. Early life Scribner was born on June 4, 1850 in New York City. He was the eldest son of Charles Scribner I and Emma Elizabeth ...
(1850–1879), 1871 to 1879 *
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– ...
(1854–1930), 1879 to 1930 *
Arthur Hawley Scribner Arthur Hawley Scribner (March 15, 1859 – July 3, 1932) was president of Charles Scribner's Sons. Early life and education He was born on March 15, 1859, in Manhattan. He was a son of Emma Elizabeth ( Blair) Scribner (1827–1869) and Charles ...
(1859–1932), 1930 to 1932 *
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. Early life He was born on January 26, 1890, in New York City. He was ...
(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, living on the Upper East Sid ...
(1921–1995), 1952 to 1984


Notable authors


Notable authors under Charles Scribner II

*
Edith Wharton Edith Newbold Wharton (; ; January 24, 1862 – August 11, 1937) was an American writer and designer. Wharton drew upon her insider's knowledge of the upper-class New York "aristocracy" to portray, realistically, the lives and morals of the Gil ...
*
Henry James Henry James ( – ) was an American-British author. He is regarded as a key transitional figure between literary realism and literary modernism, and is considered by many to be among the greatest novelists in the English language. He was the ...


Notable authors under Charles Scribner's Sons

*
Kenneth Grahame Kenneth Grahame ( ; 8 March 1859 – 6 July 1932) was a British writer. He is best remembered for the classic of children's literature ''The Wind in the Willows'' (1908). Born in Scotland, he spent most of his childhood with his grandmother in ...
*
Ernest Hemingway Ernest Miller Hemingway ( ; July 21, 1899 – July 2, 1961) was an American novelist, short-story writer and journalist. Known for an economical, understated style that influenced later 20th-century writers, he has been romanticized fo ...
*
Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings (August 8, 1896 – December 14, 1953)
ac ...
*
Ring Lardner Ringgold Wilmer Lardner (March 6, 1885 – September 25, 1933) was an American sports columnist and short story writer best known for his satirical writings on sports, marriage, and the theatre. His contemporaries—Ernest Hemingway, Virginia W ...
*
Thomas Wolfe Thomas Clayton Wolfe (October 3, 1900 – September 15, 1938) was an American novelist and short story writer. He is known largely for his first novel, '' Look Homeward, Angel'' (1929), and for the short fiction that appeared during the last ye ...
*
Reinhold Niebuhr Karl Paul Reinhold Niebuhr (June 21, 1892 – June 1, 1971) was an American Reformed theologian, ethicist, commentator on politics and public affairs, and professor at Union Theological Seminary for more than 30 years. Niebuhr was one of Ameri ...
*
Susanne Langer Susanne Katherina Langer (; Knauth; December 20, 1895 – July 17, 1985) was an American philosopher, writer, and educator known for her theories on the influences of art on the mind. She was one of the earliest American women to achieve an acad ...


Notable authors under Maxwell Perkins and John Hall Wheelock

*
F. Scott Fitzgerald Francis Scott Key Fitzgerald (September 24, 1896 – December 21, 1940), widely known simply as Scott Fitzgerald, was an American novelist, essayist, and short story writer. He is best known for his novels depicting the flamboyance and exces ...
*
Thomas Wolfe Thomas Clayton Wolfe (October 3, 1900 – September 15, 1938) was an American novelist and short story writer. He is known largely for his first novel, '' Look Homeward, Angel'' (1929), and for the short fiction that appeared during the last ye ...
*
Ernest Hemingway Ernest Miller Hemingway ( ; July 21, 1899 – July 2, 1961) was an American novelist, short-story writer and journalist. Known for an economical, understated style that influenced later 20th-century writers, he has been romanticized fo ...
*
Ring Lardner Ringgold Wilmer Lardner (March 6, 1885 – September 25, 1933) was an American sports columnist and short story writer best known for his satirical writings on sports, marriage, and the theatre. His contemporaries—Ernest Hemingway, Virginia W ...
*
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'' (19 ...
* S. S. Van Dine * James Jones *
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'' (1948), '' Too Late the Phalarope'' (1953), and the short story ''The Wa ...


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 Edna Ann Proulx ( ; born August 22, 1935) is an American novelist, short story writer, and journalist. She has written most frequently as Annie Proulx but has also used the names E. Annie Proulx and E.A. Proulx. She won the PEN/Faulkner Award f ...
*
Andrew Solomon Andrew Solomon (born October 30, 1963) is an American writer on politics, culture and psychology, who lives in New York City and London. He has written for ''The New York Times'', ''The New Yorker'', ''Artforum'', '' Travel and Leisure'', and oth ...
*
Anthony Doerr Anthony Doerr is an American author of novels and short stories. He gained widespread recognition for his 2014 novel '' All the Light We Cannot See'', which won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction. Early life and education Doerr grew up in Cleveland ...
*
Don DeLillo Donald Richard DeLillo (born November 20, 1936) is an American novelist, short story writer, playwright, screenwriter, and essayist. His works have covered subjects as diverse as consumerism, nuclear war, the complexities of language, art, televi ...
* Frank McCourt *
Stephen King Stephen Edwin King (born September 21, 1947) is an American author. Dubbed the "King of Horror", he is widely known for his horror novels and has also explored other genres, among them Thriller (genre), suspense, crime fiction, crime, scienc ...
(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,'' name retained for the reference division, now part of Gale * ''Scribner''


Bookstores

The Scribner Bookstores are now owned by
Barnes & Noble Barnes & Noble Booksellers is an American bookseller with the largest number of retail outlets in the United States. The company operates approximately 600 retail stores across the United States. Barnes & Noble operates mainly through its B ...
.


See also

*
Charles Scribner I Charles Scribner I (February 21, 1821 – August 26, 1871) was an American publisher who, with Isaac D. Baker (1819–1850),DA1906 founded a
*
Scribner's Monthly ''Scribner's Monthly: An Illustrated Magazine for the People'' was an illustrated American literary periodical published from 1870 until 1881. Following a change in ownership in 1881 of the company that had produced it, the magazine was relaunc ...
*
Scribner's Magazine ''Scribner's Magazine'' was an American periodical published by the publishing house of Charles Scribner's Sons from January 1887 to May 1939. ''Scribner's Magazine'' was the second magazine out of the Scribner's firm, after the publication of ...
*
Simon & Schuster Simon & Schuster LLC (, ) is an American publishing house owned by Kohlberg Kravis Roberts since 2023. It was founded in New York City in 1924, by Richard L. Simon and M. Lincoln Schuster. Along with Penguin Random House, Hachette Book Group US ...
*
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 ...


References


Further reading

* Jim Best, ''Scribner Illustrated Classics: A Collector's Price Guide'', Akron, OH: The Bookseller, Inc., 1983. * Roger Burlingame,
Of Making Many Books: A Hundred Years of Reading, Writing and Publishing
', New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1946; Penn State University Press, 1996 (Penn State Series in the History of the Book). * Robert Trogdon, ''The Lousy Racket: Hemingway, Scribners, and the Business of Literature'', Kent State University Press, 2007.


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
''Q&A'' interview with Charles Scribner III on ''Scribners: Five Generations in Publishing'', February 11, 2024
C-SPAN Cable-Satellite Public Affairs Network (C-SPAN ) is an American Cable television in the United States, cable and Satellite television in the United States, satellite television network, created in 1979 by the cable television industry as a Non ...
{{Authority control 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