The Heritage Press
| Company type | Imprint |
|---|---|
| Industry | Publishing |
| Founded | 1937 |
| Founder | George Macy Companies, Ltd. |
| Defunct | 1982 |
| Fate | Acquired by Easton Press |
| Products | Reprints of classic literary works |
The Heritage Press serves as a trade name adopted by multiple publishers, most prominently recognized as an imprint under George Macy Companies, Ltd. from 1937 until 1982. This imprint specialized in reissuing classic works that were initially released by the more exclusive Limited Editions Club.
The Original "Heritage Press"
In 1929, George Macy launched the Limited Editions Club, which produced illustrated books in limited quantities—usually around 1,500 copies—exclusively for subscribers. By 1935, Macy introduced the Heritage Club and Heritage Press to offer more economical, unlimited reprints of titles that had first appeared through the Limited Editions Club.
Macy himself was responsible for designing numerous Heritage Press editions, such as The Grapes of Wrath, The Decameron, Hans Christian Andersen's Fairy Tales, and A Shropshire Lad. Additionally, he wrote The Collected Verses of George Jester and edited wartime anthologies like A Sailor's Reader and A Soldier's Reader (1943), which provided literary material for members of the U.S. military.
In 1936, Macy took on the role of managing director at London's Nonesuch Press, broadening his impact within the limited edition publishing sector.
The Macy family divested their publishing interests in 1970; subsequently, Heritage Press was acquired by Easton Press.
A comprehensive archive of Limited Editions Club and Heritage Press publications is preserved at the Harry Ransom Center, which also houses 6,731 original artworks created by more than 100 artists featured in these editions.
California-Based "Heritage Press"
After Easton Press acquired the original "Heritage Press" in 1970, an unrelated "Heritage Press" was founded in 1973 in Signal Hill, California. This smaller enterprise primarily operates as an on-demand commercial printer, concentrating on security and commercial printing services such as stock certificates, prescription pads, promotional materials, as well as booklets, postcards, and business forms.
In the late 1990s, this company merged with two local printing firms—Masters Printing and Fast Print—and now caters to clients throughout Southern California and ten additional communities across the United States.
Michigan "Heritage Press"
Established in 1984 by the Tuscola County Advertiser newspaper based in Caro, Michigan, this commercial printing division named "The Heritage Press" has expanded its operations to include locations in Seneca, South Carolina and Riverton, Wyoming.
British (Islamic) "Heritage Press"
Formed in June 2013 within the United Kingdom, this iteration of "Heritage Press" is dedicated to publishing English translations of Islamic literature. Its goal is to foster the resurgence of traditional Islamic scholarship by distributing authentic classical and modern works authored by scholars aligned with mainstream Sunni orthodoxy.
Publications
The catalog of Heritage Press encompasses a wide array of Western literary classics, featuring editions such as Bulfinch's Age of Fable, London's The Call of the Wild, Spenser's The Faerie Queene, Stevenson's The Beach of Falesá, Verne's Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Seas, and Les Miserables. Among their notable productions is an elaborately designed edition containing complete librettos of all Gilbert and Sullivan operas accompanied by facsimile memorabilia.
Works by aviation historian John W. Underwood have been published both prior to the sale of the original press and by the Signal Hill-based company, with some releases credited to Glendale, California.
- Volume 17 (1940) – Washington Irving's Diedrich Knickerbocker's History of New York, illustrated by Don Freeman