The Very First Books Published by Some of Your Favorite Publishing Houses
One of the most interesting things about book publishing, as an industry, is the way imprints and publishing houses develop over time—shifting focus to keep up with public interest, taking on personalities along with personnel, changing hands ad nauseam and merging like no one’s watching. Recently, I became curious about where some of the most well-known houses and imprints began their histories, and began digging around to find out the first books that they ever published. The resulting list is limited to information that was publicly available (and discoverable by me), but I’d welcome additions and amendments in the comments.
Akashic Books, founded 1997:
Arthur Nersesian, The Fuck Up (1997)
Alfred A. Knopf, founded 1915:
Émile Augier, tr. Barrett Clark, Four Plays (1915)
Grove Press, founded 1947:
The Verse in English of Richard Crashaw (1949)
Herman Melville, The Confidence Man (1949)
The Selected Writings of the Ingenious Mrs. Aphra Behn (1950)
Grove Press, after being rescued by Barney Rosset in 1951:
Henry James, The Golden Bowl (1952)
Graywolf Press, founded 1974:
Tess Gallagher, Instructions to the Double (1976)
Farrar, Straus & Giroux, founded 1945:
Yank: The G.I. Story of the War, ed. Deb Myers, Jonathan Kilbourn, Richard Harrity (1947)
FSG Originals, founded 2011:
Frank Bill, Crimes in Southern Indiana (2011)
Joshua David and Robert Hammond, High Line (2011)
John Jeremiah Sullivan, Pulphead (2011)
New Directions, founded 1936:
New Directions in Poetry and Prose, ed. James Laughlin (1936)
Orbit US, founded 2007:
Brian Ruckley, Winterbirth (2007)
Jeff Somers, The Electric Church (2007)
Lilith Saintcrow, The Dante Valentine Series (2007)
Karen Miller, The Kingmaker, Kingbreaker Duology (2007)
Penguin Books, founded 1935
André Maurois, Ariel (1935, first published 1924)
Ernest Hemingway, A Farewell to Arms (1935, first published 1929)
Eric Linklater, Poet’s Pub (1935, first published 1930)
Susan Ertz, Madame Claire (1935, first published 1923)
Dorothy L. Sayers, The Unpleasantness at the Bellona Club (1935, first published 1928)
Agatha Christie, The Mysterious Affair at Styles (1935, first published 1920)
John Beverley Nichols, Twenty-Five (1935, first published 1926)
E. H. Young, William (1935, first published 1925)
Mary Webb, Gone to Earth (1935, first published 1917)
Compton Mackenzie, Carnival (1935, first published 1912)
Riverhead Books, founded 1994:
Chang-rae Lee, Native Speaker (1995)
Sarabande Books, founded 1996:
Jane Mead, The Lord and the General Din of the World (1996)
Seven Stories Press, founded 1995:
Vassilis Vassilikos, And Dreams Are Dreams . . . (1995)
Tin House Books, founded 2002:
A.J. Albany, Low Down: Junk, Jazz, and Other Fairy Tales from Childhood (2003)
Viking Press, founded 1925:
The Book of American Negro Spirituals, ed. James Weldon Johnson (among others, 1925)
