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| Founded | 1839 (1839) |
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| Defunct | 1989 |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Headquarters location | New York City |
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| Publication types | Books |
Dodd, Mead and Company was one of the pioneer publishing houses of the United States, based in New York City. Under several names, the firm operated from 1839 until 1990.
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In 1839,Moses Woodruff Dodd (1813–1899) and John S. Taylor, at that time a leading publisher in New York,[1] formed the company of Taylor and Dodd as a publisher of religious books.[2] In 1840, Dodd bought out Taylor and renamed the company as M.W. Dodd. Frank Howard Dodd (1844–1916) joined his father in business in 1859 and became increasingly involved in the publishing company's operation.
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With the retirement of founder Moses Dodd in 1870, control passed to his sonFrank Howard Dodd, who joined in partnership with his cousinEdward S. Mead (1847–1894), and the company was reorganized as Dodd and Mead.[3] In 1876, Bleecker Van Wagenen became a member of the firm and the name was changed to Dodd, Mead and Company.[4][3][1]
The company was well known for the quality of its publications, including many books on American history and contemporary literature.[5] As a bookseller, the firm was a dealer and leading authority in rare books.[1]
As head of Dodd, Mead and Company, Frank Dodd establishedThe Bookman in 1895, andTheNew International Encyclopedia in 1902. He was president of theAmerican Publishers Association for a number of years. The firm built the Dodd Mead Building (1910) at the corner of Fourth Avenue and Thirtieth Street, and the 11-story building was heralded as creating a new trade center in New York City.[6][7]
Dodd, Mead and Company published the work of new poets includingRobert W. Service,Bliss Carman andPaul Laurence Dunbar.
When Frank Dodd died in 1916, the partnership was dissolved and the business was incorporated. Dodd's only son, Edward H. Dodd, succeeded him as president.[8]
In 1922 Dodd, Mead and Company began a period of great expansion with the purchase of the American branch of John Lane Company, publisher ofAnatole France,William John Locke and many prominent poets. Other authors includedAubrey Beardsley,Max Beerbohm,Rupert Brooke,G. K. Chesterton,Agatha Christie,Theodore Dreiser, andStephen Leacock. In 1924 Dodd purchased Moffat, Yard & Co., adding books byWilliam James,Sigmund Freud, andCarl Jung to their list. Dodd, Mead'sNew International Encyclopedia was sold in 1931 toFunk & Wagnalls. In 1934, Dodd, Mead acquired Duffield and Green, publisher ofElinor Glyn,Emma Gelders Sterne, andGeneral Krasnov; and the Sears Publishing Company.[9][10] Dodd, Mead acquired the complete works ofGeorge Bernard Shaw.[11]
In December 1981, Dodd, Mead and Company became a subsidiary ofThomas Nelson Inc. One of the last family-owned publishers in the United States, it was purchased for $4 million.[12] The company was sold again in 1986 to Gamut Publishing Company, a partnership founded by Jon B. Harden and Lynne A. Lumsden for the purpose of acquiring book publishing companies, for $4.7 million. To retire some of its debt, the owners of the 149-year-old publishing house sold its greatest assets – the U.S. rights to books byAgatha Christie andMax Brand — to thePutnam Berkley Group in 1988.[13]
The business operations of Dodd, Mead and Company were suspended in March 1989 pending the outcome of arbitration with its fulfillment house, Metro Services, Inc.[14] By the end of 1990 the company ceased publications.
Authors' names are followed by their known dates of association with Dodd, Mead and Company.
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