Grosset & Dunlap, Publishers, 518-526 W. 26th St. (2002)

Grosset & Dunlap, publishers, moved to this building in 1910, moved their editorial offices to 1140 Broadway in 1916, but continued to maintain shipping and warehouse facilities here until 1948.

This advertisement appeared among the end papers of a Grosset & Dunlap publication of Anne of Green Gables, by Lucy Maud Montgomery, when Grosset & Dunlap were located at 526 W. 26th St.

Alexander Grosset (1870-1934) and George Terry Dunlap (1864-1956) first met as employees of John W. Lovell's United States Book Co. in 1891 (Grosset in the stockroom and Dunlap as a salesman). The U.S. Book Co. was a distributor of low-priced editions of popular books by standard authors. They stayed with Lovell in a succession of publishing houses until 1898 when the last of these, American Publishers Corp., went bankrupt. Grosset and Dunlap then started their own business from stock they managed to buy from the failed American Publishers.

In 1899 Dunlap left to work for Rand, McNally as a salesman, but returned in only 4 months to join again with Grosset. Alexander Grosset & Co. was founded in 1899, located at 11 E. 16th St. The name was changed to Grosset & Dunlap in 1900.

Initially, Grosset & Dunlap functioned as literary pirates, reprinting published works without paying royalties. Eventually the firm found ways to legitimize their operations, buying paper books and rebinding them in cloth covers, and entering into agreements with publishers to buy remaining copies after initial sales slowed. They also bought original plates from publishers and published their own editions. (A more detailed history of Grosset & Dunlap can be found at Hyde Park Books).

Today Grosset & Dunlap is best known as a publisher of books for children and young adults. Among these were the Rover Boys, Tom Swift, Bobbsey Twins, Nancy Drew and Hardy Boys series.

Also located in this building were several other publishers: Knopf, Viking, and the publisher/printer/bookbinder H. Wolff Book Mfg. Co. "H. Wolff / Book / Manufacturer" is just barely visible in this photo on the left beneath the Grosset & Dunlap "Publishers" (click for detail).

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