Charles Scribner's Sons

{{Infobox publisher

| image = File:Scribner-building.jpg

| parent = Simon & Schuster (trade), Gale (reference)

| status =

| founded = {{Start date and age|1846}}

| founder = {{ubl|Charles Scribner I|Isaac D. Baker}}

| successor =

| country = United States

| headquarters = 153–157 Fifth Avenue, New York City, U.S.

| distribution = Worldwide

| keypeople =

| publications = Books

| topics =

| genre = American literature

| imprints = Marysue Rucci

| revenue =

| owner = {{ubl|Kohlberg Kravis Roberts (trade)|Cengage Group (reference and trademark)}}

| numemployees =

| nasdaq =

}}

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, Ernest Hemingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Kurt Vonnegut, Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings, Stephen King, Robert A. Heinlein, Thomas Wolfe, George Santayana, John Clellon Holmes, Don DeLillo, and Edith Wharton.

The firm published Scribner's Magazine for many years. More recently, several Scribner titles and authors have garnered Pulitzer Prizes, National Book Awards and other merits. In 1978, the company merged with Atheneum and became The Scribner Book Companies. It merged into Macmillan in 1984.{{Cite news| issn = 0362-4331| last = Mitgang| first = Herbert| title = MACMILLAN ACQUIRES SCRIBNER| work = The New York Times| access-date = March 22, 2016| date = April 26, 1984| url = https://www.nytimes.com/1984/04/26/books/macmillan-acquires-scribner.html}}

Simon & Schuster bought Macmillan in 1994.{{Cite news| issn = 0362-4331| last = Fabrikant| first = Geraldine| title = Paramount To Acquire Macmillan| work = The New York Times| access-date = March 22, 2016| date = November 11, 1993| url = https://www.nytimes.com/1993/11/11/business/paramount-to-acquire-macmillan.html}} 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.{{Cite news| issn = 0362-4331| last = Lyall| first = Sarah| title = THE MEDIA BUSINESS; Paramount Publishing to Cut Jobs and Books| work = The New York Times| access-date = December 23, 2019| date = January 24, 1994| url = https://www.nytimes.com/1994/01/24/business/the-media-business-paramount-publishing-to-cut-jobs-and-books.html}}{{Cite web| last = Dunleavey| first = M. P.| title = Anatomy of a merger| work = Publishers Weekly| access-date = December 23, 2019| date = June 13, 1994| url = http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A16028302/LitRC?sid=lms}} The trade division, now simply "Scribner", was retained by Simon & Schuster, while the reference division and the trademarks have been owned by Gale since 1999 and Simon & Schuster licensed the Scribner trademark for trade publishing from Gale.{{Cite web |title=SCRIBNER Trademark of GALE GROUP, INC., THE - Registration Number 2134666 - Serial Number 75282891 :: Justia Trademarks |url=https://trademarks.justia.com/752/82/scribner-75282891.html |access-date=2024-11-19 |website=trademarks.justia.com |language=en}} {{as of|2012}}, Scribner is a division of Simon & Schuster under the title Scribner Publishing Group, including the Touchstone Books imprint.{{Cite news |title=S&S Reorganizes Adult Group; Levin to Leave Free Press |newspaper=Publishers Weekly |url=http://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/industry-news/publisher-news/article/54477-s-s-reorganizes-adult-group-levin-to-leave-free-press.html |access-date=January 16, 2017}}

The president of Scribner {{as of|2017|lc=y}} is Susan Moldow (who also held the position of publisher from 1994 to 2012), and the current publisher is Nan Graham.{{Cite web|url=http://www.simonandschusterpublishing.com/scribner/meet-the-team.html|title=Scribner {{!}} Meet the Team {{!}} From Simon & Schuster|website=www.simonandschusterpublishing.com|access-date=January 16, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170118031516/http://www.simonandschusterpublishing.com/scribner/meet-the-team.html|archive-date=January 18, 2017|url-status=dead}}

History

The firm was founded in 1846 by Charles Scribner I 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{{clarify|date=August 2015|reason=The family or the company?}} organized a new firm, Scribner and Company, to publish a magazine entitled Scribner's Monthly. After the death of Charles Scribner I in 1871, his son John Blair Scribner took over as president of the company. His other sons Charles Scribner II and Arthur Hawley Scribner 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 in 1873 with Mary Mapes Dodge 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 Scribner brothers were enjoined from publishing any magazine for a period.

In 1886, at the expiration of this term, they launched Scribner's Magazine. The firm's headquarters were in the Scribner Building, built in 1893, on lower Fifth Avenue at 21st Street, and later in the Charles Scribner's Sons Building, on Fifth Avenue in midtown. Both buildings were designed by Ernest Flagg in a Beaux Arts style.

The children's book division was established in 1934 under the leadership of Alice Dalgliesh. It published works by distinguished authors and illustrators including N.C. Wyeth, Robert A. Heinlein, Marcia Brown, Will James, Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings, and Leo Politi.

Scribner merged with Atheneum in 1978 and into Macmillan Inc. in 1984. In 1994, Macmillan was bought by Simon & Schuster. 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 in 1998, Pearson resold MLR to Thomson Corporation a year later. Thomson Corporation placed the acquired MLR divisions into Gale.{{Cite web |title=Charles Scribner's Sons Lamp Logo - Trademark of GALE GROUP, INC., THE - Registration Number 1212411 - Serial Number 73335981 :: Justia Trademarks |url=http://trademarks.justia.com/733/35/n-73335981.html |access-date=2023-11-02 |website=trademarks.justia.com |language=en}}{{cite web |date=28 June 1999 |title=Macmillan Library Units to Join Gale |url=https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/print/19990628/34076-macmillan-library-units-to-join-gale.html |access-date=15 October 2019 |work=PublishersWeekly.com}}

Thomson Learning including Gale became Cengage Group 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.{{Cite news |last=Sisario |first=Ben |date=October 23, 2012 |title=After Consolidation at Simon & Schuster, Top Two at Free Press Are Leaving |newspaper=Media Decoder Blog |url=https://mediadecoder.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/10/23/after-consolidation-at-simon-schuster-top-two-at-free-press-are-leaving/ |access-date=January 16, 2017}} The other divisions are Atria Publishing Group, Simon & Schuster Publishing Group, and the Gallery Publishing Group. Susan Moldow would lead the new Scribner division as president.

{{as of|2023}}, the reference division and the trademarks are owned by Cengage Group and the trade division is owned by Kohlberg Kravis Roberts.{{Cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2023/10/30/books/kkr-simon-schuster-sale.html|title=KKR Closes Deal to Buy Simon & Schuster|first1=Elizabeth|last1=Harris|date=October 30, 2023|access-date=October 30, 2023|work=The New York Times}}

Presidents

Charles Scribner I (1821–1871), 1846 to 1871{{cite news |title=Charles Scribner |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1871/08/28/90538036.pdf|work=The New York Times |date=August 28, 1871 |access-date=July 24, 2008 }}
John Blair Scribner (1850–1879), 1871 to 1879
Charles Scribner II (1854–1930), 1879 to 1930{{cite news |title=Charles Scribner Dies suddenly at 76. Publisher Succumbs to Heart Disease at Home Here. Was at Desk Thursday. Entered Firm as Youth. Directed Business His Father Founded. Fostered Work of American Authors. Firm Founded in 1846. Received Honorary Degree. |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1930/04/20/archives/charles-scribner-dies-suddenly-at-76-publisher-succumbs-to-heart.html |work=The New York Times |date=April 20, 1930 |access-date=July 24, 2008 }}
Arthur Hawley Scribner (1859–1932), 1930 to 1932
Charles Scribner III (1890–1952), 1932 to 1952
Charles Scribner IV (1921–1995), 1952 to 1984{{cite news |first= Eric|last= Pace|title=Charles Scribner Jr., Who Headed Publishing Company, Dies at 74 |url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9F03E4DB1539F930A25752C1A963958260&sec=&spon= |work=The New York Times |date=November 13, 1995 |access-date=July 24, 2008 }}{{cite journal |title=Charles Scribner, Jr. (13 July 1921 – 11 November 1995) | last=Bailey | first=Herbert S. Jr. |journal=Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society |volume=141 |issue=2 |pages=233–237 |year=1997 |publisher=Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society, Vol. 141, No. 2 |jstor=987306}}

= Notable authors =

== Notable authors under Charles Scribner II ==

== Notable authors under Charles Scribner's Sons ==

== Notable authors under Maxwell Perkins and John Hall Wheelock ==

== 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
Andrew Solomon
Anthony Doerr
Don DeLillo
Frank McCourt
Stephen King (1998–present for new releases; 2016–present for re-releases in US/Canada){{cite web |url=https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/newsbrief/index.html?record=451 |title = Scribner/Simon & Schuster Acquires Majority of Stephen King's Body of Work}}
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.

References

External links

[https://web.archive.org/web/20081212123648/http://www.sc.edu/fitzgerald/scribner.html The House of Scribner]
[https://web.archive.org/web/20060810065209/http://www.gale.com/scribners/about.htm Charles Scribner's Sons at Thomson Gale]
[http://findingaids.princeton.edu/collections/C0101 Archives of Charles Scribner's Sons at the Princeton University Library, Manuscript Division]
[http://www.aaa.si.edu/collections/charles-scribners-sons-art-reference-dept-records-5715 Charles Scribner's Sons Art Reference Department records at the Smithsonian Archives of American Art]
[http://library.princeton.edu/libraries/firestone/rbsc/aids/scribner/ Charles Scribner's Sons: An Illustrated Chronology] Princeton Library
[https://www.c-span.org/video/?532540-1/qa-charles-scribner Q&A interview with Charles Scribner III on Scribners: Five Generations in Publishing, February 11, 2024], C-SPAN