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Charles Scribner's Sons

From Alfawiki
Charles Scribner's Sons
Company typeDivision
IndustryPublishing
PredecessorBaker & Scribner, Charles Scribner Company
Founded1846; 180 years ago (1846)
FounderCharles Scribner I, Isaac D. Baker
FateMerged with Atheneum (1978), merged into Macmillan (1984), acquired by Simon & Schuster (1994)
SuccessorScribner Publishing Group (division of Simon & Schuster)
Headquarters
New York City
,
United States
Area served
United States
Key people
Susan Moldow (president since 2017), Nan Graham (publisher)
ProductsBooks, magazines
OwnerKohlberg Kravis Roberts (trade division), Cengage Group (reference division)
ParentSimon & Schuster (trade division)
Websitewww.simonandschusterpublishing.com/scribner/

Charles Scribner's Sons, often referred to simply as Scribner, is an American publishing house headquartered in New York City. It is renowned for representing distinguished writers such as Henry James, Ernest Hemingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Kurt Vonnegut, and Stephen King.

The publisher was responsible for Scribner's Magazine and has received numerous accolades, including Pulitzer Prizes and National Book Awards. In 1978, Scribner combined forces with Atheneum to create The Scribner Book Companies, which subsequently merged into Macmillan in 1984.

In 1994, Simon & Schuster took over Macmillan. Following this acquisition, Scribner’s trade and reference sectors preserved the Scribner name. The adult titles from Macmillan and Atheneum were consolidated into Scribner’s trade division, while the children’s catalog merged with Atheneum’s offerings. Today, the trade division operates under Simon & Schuster as Scribner, whereas Gale holds ownership of the reference division and trademarks, licensing the Scribner brand for trade publishing since 1999.

As of 2012, Scribner functions as a division within Simon & Schuster called the Scribner Publishing Group, which also includes the Touchstone Books imprint. Susan Moldow has held the position of president since 2017, with Nan Graham serving as the current publisher.

History

The company originated in 1846 when Charles Scribner I partnered with Isaac D. Baker to form "Baker & Scribner." After Baker passed away, Scribner became sole proprietor and rebranded the firm as the "Charles Scribner Company." The enterprise ventured into magazine publishing in 1865 with Hours at Home.

In 1870, the Scribner family established Scribner and Company to produce Scribner's Monthly. Upon Charles Scribner I’s death in 1871, his son John Blair Scribner assumed the presidency. His siblings, Charles Scribner II and Arthur Hawley Scribner, joined the business in 1875 and 1884 respectively; both later served as presidents. When other partners divested their shares, the firm was renamed Charles Scribner's Sons.

In 1873, they introduced St. Nicholas Magazine, a prominent children’s periodical edited by Mary Mapes Dodge. After divesting their magazine interests to external investors in 1881, Scribner's Monthly was rebranded as Century Magazine, which led to a temporary prohibition on the family publishing magazines.

Despite this limitation, they launched Scribner's Magazine in 1886. The company’s headquarters were located in the Scribner Building (1893) on lower Fifth Avenue and later moved to the Charles Scribner's Sons Building in midtown Manhattan; both structures were designed by Ernest Flagg featuring Beaux Arts architecture.

The children’s book division was established in 1934 under the leadership of Alice Dalgliesh, publishing works from notable authors and illustrators including N.C. Wyeth, Robert A. Heinlein, and Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings.

Scribner merged with Atheneum in 1978 before becoming part of Macmillan Inc. in 1984. Macmillan was acquired by Simon & Schuster in 1994. The reference division along with Scribner trademarks were sold to Pearson plc in 1998, then transferred to Thomson Corporation in 1999, which incorporated them into Gale. Thomson Learning—including Gale—was rebranded as Cengage Group in 2007. Meanwhile, Simon & Schuster licensed the Scribner trademarks from Gale for trade publishing purposes.

In 2012, Simon & Schuster restructured its adult imprints into four divisions; among them, Scribner became known as the Scribner Publishing Group and expanded by including Touchstone Books (previously part of Free Press). Other divisions created during this process were Atria Publishing Group, Simon & Schuster Publishing Group, and the Gallery Publishing Group. Susan Moldow was named president of this newly formed Scribner division.

Currently, Cengage Group retains ownership of the reference division and associated trademarks, while Kohlberg Kravis Roberts controls the trade division.

Presidents

During Charles Scribner II's leadership

Under the banner of Charles Scribner's Sons

In the era of Maxwell Perkins and John Hall Wheelock

Following integration with Simon & Schuster

Since joining Simon & Schuster, Scribner has published a range of prominent writers, such as:

Other historical names associated with the firm include:

  • Baker & Scribner, until Baker's passing in 1850
  • Charles Scribner Company
  • Charles Scribner's Sons, which remains the name for the reference division now incorporated into Gale
  • Scribner

Bookstores

Ownership of the Scribner Bookstores currently rests with Barnes & Noble.

See also

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.
  • Robert Trogdon, The Lousy Racket: Hemingway, Scribners, and the Business of Literature, Kent State University Press, 2007.

External links

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