SCRIBNERS

Historical chronicle of a family enterprise in book publishing.

Describing himself as “a professional son,” Scribner, who joined his family’s firm in 1975, recounts the history of the esteemed publisher, which began in 1846 as a partnership between 25-year-old Princeton graduate Charles Scribner and merchant Isaac Baker, a friend of his father. Baker died in 1850, leaving Charles at the helm of a company he quickly renamed. A bestseller about Napoleon and loans from his wealthy father-in-law kept the firm going in its early days; the launch of a magazine, Scribner’s Monthly, in 1870, also helped. Charles’ 21-year-old son, John Blair, took over after his father’s death. In 1877, the firm became Charles Scribner’s Sons, to acknowledge the founder as well as John’s son Charles II, who also came on board. Nepotism, the author notes, was “a family business.” Through the years, the business expanded to include textbooks, children’s books, and reference books. Its illustrious author list included Robert Louis Stevenson, Henry James, Edith Wharton, J.M. Barrie, and George Santayana, among countless others who reaped awards and spurred sales. Its editors also were stars in their field—none more so than Maxwell Perkins, who was hired in 1914 and worked, notably, with F. Scott Fitzgerald and Thomas Wolfe. Fitzgerald and Hemingway, who had long relationships with the firm, are recalled with affection. In the 1920s, Scribner notes, the firm published “some memorable” nonfiction books. “The prize,” he writes, “surely goes to an Englishman of eloquent literary and oratorical powers that would eventually win a war: Winston Churchill.” Although the publisher was proud to maintain its identity as a family firm, it could not hold off mergers: first with Atheneum, and later with Macmillan, which was sold to Paramount, the parent company of Simon & Schuster, which was in turn acquired by Viacom—making Scribners “a branch of the Hollywood entertainment industry.”

A charming memoir of a life in books.