The Dial Press is a publishing house founded in 1923 by Lincoln MacVeagh.

Dial Press
Parent companyPenguin Random House
Founded1923
FounderLincoln MacVeagh
Country of originUnited States
Headquarters locationNew York City
ImprintsDial Books for Young Readers
Official websitethedialpress.com (adult)
penguin.com (children)

The Dial Press shared a building with The Dial and Scofield Thayer worked with both. The first imprint was issued in 1924.[1]

Authors included Elizabeth Bowen, W. R. Burnett and Glenway Wescott, Frank Yerby, James Baldwin, Roy Campbell, Susan Berman, Herbert Gold, Thomas Berger, Vance Bourjaily, Judith Rossner, and Norman Mailer.

In 1963, Dell Publishing Company acquired 60 percent of the Dial Press stock but the Press remained an independent subsidiary. It was jointly owned by Richard Baron (1923–2021)[2] and Dell Publishing; E. L. Doctorow was editor-in-chief. In 1969 the Dial Press became wholly owned by Dell Publishing Company. In 1976 Doubleday bought Dell Publishing and the children's division of Dial Press (Dial Books for Young Readers) was sold to E. P. Dutton. The children's division of Dial Press published books under the Pied Piper imprint. Dutton was bought by New American Library, which in turn became a part of the Penguin Group, a division of Pearson PLC. When the Penguin Group obtained the rights to children's books published by the Dial Press, some were published in paperback under the imprint Puffin Pied Piper (because Puffin has been the longtime children's imprint for the Penguin Group). Doubleday dissolved Dial Press in 1985. The adult imprint was revived by Carole Baron, the publisher of Dell, at the time part of Bantam/Doubleday/Dell, under the leadership of Susan Kamil. It went on to gain awards and bestsellers. It was bought when BDD was sold to Random House. Penguin and Random House merged in 2013, forming Penguin Random House, with the main division part of Random House and the Young Readers division part of Penguin.

Notable books published by The Dial Press

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Book series

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  • The Bourbon Classics[3]
  • The Dial Detective Library
  • The Dial Standard Library
  • Fireside Library
  • The Golden Dragon Library[4]
  • Library of Living Classics[5]
  • Permanent Library
  • The Rogue's Library

See also

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  • Atha Tehon, Art Director of Dial Books for Young Readers

Notes

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  1. ^ Yale University Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library--Dial Press Records Hdl.handle.net
  2. ^ Roberts, Sam (June 14, 2021). "Richard Baron, Who Published Baldwin and Mailer, Dies at 98". The New York Times.
  3. ^ Bourbon Classics, seriesofseries.com. Retrieved 26 October 2020.
  4. ^ Golden Dragon Library, seriesofseries.com. Retrieved 26 October 2020.
  5. ^ Library of Living Classics, seriesofseries.com. Retrieved 26 October 2020.
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