James and John were in their early twenties when they went to their father asking for a loan. As apprentices in the printing industry, they had a vision to create a new publishing firm in New York City that would work directly with booksellers and give title page credit to those booksellers. The young men’s marketing idea paid off, and the firm grew rapidly.
Before long, they brought their younger brothers into the business. The forward-thinking young men worked well together, becoming one of the first publishers to run their printing presses with the power of steam.
The brothers enjoyed a long history of publishing award-winning books and classics by such authors as Charles Dickens, Henry James, and Zora Neale Hurston. Today, their legacy continues with authors like Amy Tan, Neil Gaiman, and Barbara Kingsolver.
It all started with James and John Harper’s vision 200 years ago, a vision that is now HarperCollins, the 13th-largest book publisher in the world.
Happy 200th, HarperCollins!
That is interesting. It is good to know about the publishing industry also. It takes all of us to get our story to the world.