G. P. Putnam's Sons

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G. P. Putnam's Sons
Parent company
Penguin Group
Founded1838; 186 years ago (1838)
Founder
Country of originUnited States
Headquarters locationNew York City
Publication typesBooks
ImprintsAmy Einhorn, Marian Wood, Coward-McCann
Official websitepenguin.com/putnam

G. P. Putnam's Sons is an American

book publisher based in New York City, New York. Since 1996, it has been an imprint of the Penguin Group.[1]

History

The company began as Wiley & Putnam with the 1838 partnership between George Palmer Putnam and John Wiley, whose father had founded his own company in 1807.[citation needed]

In 1841, Putnam went to

John Wiley and Sons
), which is still an independent publisher to the present day.

George Palmer Putnam, pictured, partnered with John Wiley in 1838 to form Wiley & Putnam

In 1853, G. P. Putnam & Co. started Putnam's Magazine with Charles Frederick Briggs as its editor.

On George Palmer Putnam's death in 1872, his sons George H., John and Irving inherited the business and the firm's name was changed to G. P. Putnam's Sons.[3] Son George H. Putnam became president of the firm, a position he held for the next fifty-two years.

In 1874, the company established its own book

Knickerbocker Press Building, built specifically for the press in New Rochelle, New York.[5]

Publisher's imprint

On the death of George H. Putnam in 1930, the various Putnam heirs voted to merge the firm with Minton, Balch & Co., who became the majority stockholders. George Palmer Putnam's grandson,

John Geoghegan its long-time chairman),[6]
and ran it as an imprint into the 1980s. Upon Melville Minton's death, his son Walter J. Minton took control of the company.

In 1965, G. P. Putnam's Sons acquired Berkley Books, a mass market paperback publishing house.

MCA bought Putnam Publishing Group and Berkley Publishing Group in 1975.[7] Phyllis E. Grann who was running Pocket Books for Simon & Schuster was brought on board in 1976 as editor-in-chief.[8] Grann worked with MCA executive Stanley Newman on a financial model to make Putnam profitable.[8] This model emphasized publishing key authors annually and took Putnam from $10 million in revenue to over $100 million by 1983.[8] While keeping the list at 75 titles a year, Putnam focused on winners like Tom Clancy whose book Red Storm Rising sold nearly a million copies in 1986.[8] Putnam along with other publishers in the 1980s moved to a heavy discount hardcover model to keep up with demand and sales through bookstore chains and price clubs.[8] Phyllis Grann was promoted to CEO of Putnam in 1987 becoming the first woman to be CEO of a major publishing house.[8] By 1993, the publisher was making $200 million in revenue.[8]

In 1982, Putnam acquired the respected children's book publisher,

Playboy Enterprises, which included Seaview Books.[9][10]

In the 1990s ownership of Putnam changed a number of times. MCA was bought by

the Seagram Company acquired 80% of MCA from Matsushita and then shortly thereafter Seagram changed the name of the company to Universal Studios, Inc.[12][13] The new owners had no interest in publishing, but Phyllis Grann stepped in and was able to broker the deal for Putnam to be merged with Penguin Group in 1996, a division of British publishing conglomerate, Pearson PLC[8] Putnam and the Penguin Group formed Penguin Putnam Inc. In 2001, Grann abruptly left after speculation over tensions with Pearson CEO Marjorie Scardino.[8]

In 2013, Penguin merged with Bertelsmann's Random House, forming Penguin Random House.[1]

Authors

Former book series

  • Arabesque Series
  • Ariel Booklets
  • Capricorn Giants[14]
  • English Life Series
  • Everyday Life Series[15]
  • Golden Hind Series
  • Here is Your Hobby
  • Heroes of the Nations
  • Lives to Remember
  • New Perspectives on Black America[16]
  • Putnam Documentary History Series[17]

Former imprints

  • Capricorn Books, G.P. Putnam's Sons[18]

See also

References

  1. ^
    University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
    . Retrieved 2024-04-11.
  2. ^ "Bedford Street and Chandos Place Area: Bedford Street Pages 253-263 Survey of London: Volume 36, Covent Garden". British History Online. LCC 1970. Retrieved 2023-04-07.
  3. ^ Putnam (2001), p. 60.
  4. ^ Putnam (2001), pp. 61–62.
  5. ^ Putnam (2001), p. 62.
  6. ^ McDowell, Edwin (30 December 1999). "John Geoghegan, 82, Publisher; Acquired le Carre Best Seller". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 2018-06-23. Retrieved 2018-03-22.
  7. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived
    from the original on 2018-05-24. Retrieved 2016-11-08.
  8. ^ a b c d e f g h i Maneker, Marion (21 January 2002). "Now for the Grann Finale". New York Magazine. Retrieved 2018-05-23.
  9. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived
    from the original on 2015-05-24. Retrieved 2018-12-29.
  10. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived
    from the original on 2010-07-22. Retrieved 2024-04-11.
  11. ISSN 0458-3035
    . Retrieved 2018-05-23.
  12. ^ Fabrikant, Geraldine (7 April 1995). "Seagram heads for Hollywood; Seagram will buy 80% of big studio from Matsushita". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 2013-10-17. Retrieved 2018-05-23.
  13. ^ "MCA changes name to Universal Studios Inc". www.bizjournals.com. Retrieved 2018-05-23.
  14. ^ Capricorn Books - Giant Series - Book Series List, publishinghistory.com. Retrieved 21 March 2023.
  15. ^ "Everyday Life Series" + Putnam's, worldcat.org. Retrieved 21 March 2023.
  16. ^ se:New Perspectives on Black America, worldcat.org. Retrieved 21 March 2023.
  17. ^ Putnam Documentary History Series, worldcat.org. Retrieved 21 March 2023.
  18. ^ Capricorn Books, G.P. Putnam's Sons, worldcat.org. Retrieved 21 March 2023.

Bibliography

External links

Wikisource has original works published by or about: G.P. Putnam's Sons
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