Farrar & Rinehart (1929–1946) was a United States book publishing company founded in New York. Farrar & Rinehart enjoyed success with both non-fiction and novels, notably, the landmark Rivers of America Series and the first ten books in the Nero Wolfe corpus of Rex Stout. In 1943 the company was recognized with the first Carey-Thomas Award for creative publishing presented by Publishers Weekly.
History
[edit]Clarence P. Hornung designed the colophon that appears on the copyright page of every first edition, issued by Farrar & Rinehart
Farrar & Rinehart was founded in June 1929 by John C. Farrar (vice president) and Stanley M. Rinehart, Jr. (president), in partnership with Frederick R. Rinehart. In forming the company, Farrar and the Rineharts left the massive Doubleday, Doran publishing house, the result of a merger between their mutual employer, the George H. Doran Company, with Doubleday, Page & Company in 1927. Both Stanley and Fredrick were the sons of the famous playwright and author, Mary Roberts Rinehart. Mary Roberts Rinehart supported her sons and their company by leaving Doubleday, Doran; her bestselling mysteries became a mainstay of the new imprint.
"We will never grow so large that all members of the firm cannot read and be interested in any book we publish," Farrar said. "While we believe in applying journalistic methods to publishing we feel that ... there is a need for literature that is written in quiet places and that is brought to the public with dignity."[1]
During the early summer of 1929, Farrar and Rinehart designed and distributed its first promotional piece, the first cannon in what they hoped to be a successful advertising campaign for the book Speculation: The Wall Street Gamebook.[2] Published in October, the month of the stock-market crash, it was a complete failure.[3]
In 1931, Farrar & Rinehart acquired the Cosmopolitan Book Corporation from Hearst.[4] Farrar & Rinehart became one of the most successful publishing houses of its era. Its bestsellers included Hervey Allen's Anthony Adverse (1933), which sold more than two million hardcover copies.[5]
In February 1943, Farrar & Rinehart received the first Carey-Thomas Award for creative publishing from Publishers Weekly. Named for U.S. publishers Mathew Carey and Isaiah Thomas, the award recognized good publishing — "the creative idea, cooperation with the writer, careful production and imagination and successful marketing." The Manhattan publisher won the award for seven volumes of the Rivers of America Series, which was found to be "the best example of creative publishing in the year 1942."[6]
^Milestones (obituary of John C. Farrar); Time, November 18, 1974
^"Publisher's Oscar", Time, February 15, 1943. A 65-volume opus produced over 37 years by Farrar & Rinehart and its corporate successors, the Rivers of America Series was celebrated by the Library of Congress on its 60th anniversary (Information Bulletin, June 9, 1997).
