American publisher
Not to be confused with
Dell
.
Dell Publishing Company, Inc.
is an American publisher of
books
,
magazines
and
comic books
, that was founded in 1921 by
George T. Delacorte Jr.
with $10,000 (approx. $145,000 in 2021), two employees and one magazine title,
I Confess
, and soon began turning out dozens of
pulp magazines
, which included penny-a-word
detective stories
, articles about films, and
romance
books (or "smoochies" as they were known in the slang of the day).
During the 1920s, 1930s and 1940s, Dell was one of the largest publishers of magazines, including
pulp magazines
. Their line of humor magazines included
1000 Jokes
, launched in 1938. From 1929 to 1974, they published comics under the
Dell Comics
line, the bulk of which (1938?62) was done in partnership with
Western Publishing
. In 1943, Dell entered into
paperback
book publishing with
Dell Paperbacks
. They also used the book
imprints
of
Dial Press
,
Delacorte Books
,
Delacorte Press
,
Yearling Books
, and
Laurel Leaf Library
.
Dell was acquired by
Doubleday
in 1976, which was itself acquired by
Bertelsmann
in 1986. Bertelsmann later consolidated Dell with other imprints into
Random House
.
Paperbacks
[
edit
]
Dell's earliest venture into paperback publishing began because of its close association with
Western Publishing
. William Lyles wrote, "Dell needed paper, which Western had in 1942, and because Western by this time needed printing work, which Dell could supply in the form of its new paperback line. So Dell Books
[1]
was born, created by Delacorte of Dell and Lloyd E. Smith of Western."
[2]
Dell began publishing paperbacks in 1942 at a time when mass-market paperbacks were a relatively new idea for the United States market?its principal competitor,
Pocket Books
, had only been publishing since 1939. An examination
[
whose?
]
of paperback books available at this time shows no consensus on standardization of any feature; each early company was attempting to distinguish itself from its competitors. Lyles commented, "Dell achieved more variety than any of its early competitors. It did so, at first, with an instantly identifiable format of vibrant airbrushed covers for its predominantly genre fiction, varying 'eye-in-keyhole' logos,
maps
on the back covers, lists of the books' characters, and 'tantalizer-pages'. The design was merchandising genius; it successfully attracted buyers, it sold books."
[2]
The first four books did not feature maps on the back cover; this began with Dell #5,
Four Frightened Women
by
George Harmon Coxe
. (A later re-issue of Dell #4,
The American Gun Mystery
by
Ellery Queen
, added a map.) The map was meant as an aid to the reader, to show the location of the principal activity of the novel. Some were incredibly detailed; others somewhat stylized and abstract. The books were almost immediately known as "
mapbacks
", and that nomenclature has lasted among collectors to this day.
[3]
The maps were "delicate and detailed".
[4]
The novels in the mapback series were primarily mysteries/detective fiction but ran the gamut from romances (
Self-Made Woman
by
Faith Baldwin
, #163) to science fiction (
The First Men in the Moon
by
H. G. Wells
, #201), war books (
I Was a Nazi Flyer
by Gottfried Leske, #21 and
Eisenhower Was My Boss
by
Kay Summersby
, #286), many Westerns (
Gunsmoke and Trail Dust
by Bliss Lomax, #271), joke books (
Liberty Laughs
, Cavanah & Weir, #38) and even crossword puzzles (
Second Dell Book of Crossword Puzzles
, ed. Kathleen Rafferty, #278, one of the rarest titles today). There were a few movie tie-in editions (
The Harvey Girls
by
Samuel Hopkins Adams
, #130, and
Rope
as by
Alfred Hitchcock
, #262) and the occasional attempt at more artistic non-genre fiction (
To a God Unknown
by
John Steinbeck
, #407). Novels which are today long forgotten, by largely unknown authors (
Death Wears a White Gardenia
, by
Zelda Popkin
, #13) are in the same series as valuable original paperback editions of famous authors (
A Man Called Spade
, by
Dashiell Hammett
, #90). "The back cover map was very popular with readers and remains popular with collectors... the Dell 'mapbacks' are among the most well-known vintage paperbacks."
[3]
In the early 1950s, as series numbering reached the 400s, Dell began updating the appearance of its books. In 1951, the back cover maps began to be gradually replaced with conventional text and "blurb" covers.
[3]
Some later, more stylized maps were the product of
Milton Glaser
and
Push Pin Studios
. These innovations were brought in by editor-in-chief Frank Taylor. He introduced classics in paperback form under the umbrella imprint "Laurel Editions"
[5]
which included the Laurel
Henry James
series and the Laurel Poetry Series, the latter edited by the distinguished poet
Richard Wilbur
. In the early 1960s the Dell Purse Book series of pocket-sized information books on a wide range of topics was launched.
[6]
Dell was also the publisher of the paperback novel series
Twilight: Where Darkness Begins
between 1982 and 1987.
Dell Ten Cent Books
[
edit
]
At about this time, Dell launched two short-lived experiments which are also considered very collectible, Dell First Editions and Dell Ten Cent Books. The Ten Cent Books, 36 in all, were thin, paperback-sized editions containing a single short story told in only 64 pages (advertised as "too short for popular reprint at a higher price"), such as
Robert A. Heinlein
's
Universe
(1951).
Dell First Editions included novels by
John D. MacDonald
,
Fredric Brown
,
Jim Thompson
,
Elmore Leonard
and
Charles Williams
.
Comic strip reprints
[
edit
]
In 1947, Dell published two unnumbered paperbacks based on newspaper
comic strips
,
Blondie
and Dagwood in Footlight Folly
and
Dick Tracy
and the Woo Woo Sisters
. Both are popular with collectors today.
[3]
Dell today
[
edit
]
Dell Publishing no longer exists as an independent entity. Dell was acquired by
Doubleday
in 1976.
[7]
Doubleday was acquired by
Bertelsmann
in 1986, who formed
Bantam
Doubleday Dell as its US subsidiary.
[8]
Bertelsmann acquired
Random House
in 1998 and renamed its US business after the acquisition.
[9]
After the merger, Bantam was merged with Dell Publishing.
[10]
In 2001, Random House purchased Golden Books' book publishing properties
[11]
effectively reuniting the remnants of Dell and
Western Publishing
. Bantam Dell became part of the Random House publishing group in 2008.
[12]
Ballantine Books
was merged with Bantam Dell in 2010.
[13]
In 2013, Random House merged with Penguin to form
Penguin Random House
.
[14]
Dell Magazines
was sold in 1996 to
Penny Publications
,
[15]
and it still exists as a major publisher of puzzle magazines, also publishing science fiction, mystery and horoscope magazines.
Imprints
[
edit
]
Notable publications
[
edit
]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
Dell Books (Dell Publishing Company, Inc.) - Book Series List
, publishinghistory.com. Retrieved 2 October 2021.
- ^
a
b
Putting Dell on the Map
, William H. Lyles,
Greenwood Press
, 1983,
ISBN
0-313-23667-4
- ^
a
b
c
d
Collectable Paperback Books
, ed. Jeff Canja, Glenmoor Publishing, 2002,
ISBN
0-967363-95-0
- ^
Hancer's Price Guide to Paperback Books, Third Edition
, ed. Kevin Hancer, Wallace-Homestead, 1990,
ISBN
0-87069-536-3
- ^
Dell Laurel series (Dell Publishing Co., Inc.) - Book Series List
, publishinghistory.com. Retrieved 2 October 2021.
- ^
Other Dell Series
, bookscans.com. Retrieved 2 October 2021.
- ^
Krebs, Albin (1976-04-30).
"It's Official: Doubleday Acquires Dell"
.
The New York Times
.
ISSN
0362-4331
. Retrieved
2019-10-14
.
- ^
Tagliabue, John (1984-07-23).
"German Publisher Widens U.s. Role"
.
The New York Times
.
ISSN
0362-4331
. Retrieved
2019-01-20
.
- ^
Random House Company History, from
Fundinguniverse.com
Archived
4 March 2012 at the
Wayback Machine
. Accessed April 13, 2008.
- ^
Carvajal, Doreen (1999-05-28).
"Bertelsmann Is Reorganizing Random House"
.
The New York Times
.
ISSN
0362-4331
. Retrieved
2019-01-20
.
- ^
"
'Poky Little' $84M deal"
.
CNN
.
Reuters
. August 16, 2001.
Archived
from the original on October 7, 2012
. Retrieved
July 3,
2014
.
- ^
"Massive Reorganization at Random House: Steve Rubin, Irwyn Applebaum Step Down; Doubleday and Bantam Divisions Dismantled"
.
Observer
. 2008-12-03
. Retrieved
2019-10-14
.
- ^
"Ballantine and Bantam Dell Come Together Under McGuire"
.
Publishers Lunch
. 2010-04-13
. Retrieved
2019-01-20
.
- ^
Bosman, Julie (2013-07-01).
"Penguin and Random House Merge, Saying Change Will Come Slowly"
.
The New York Times
.
ISSN
0362-4331
. Retrieved
2016-04-04
.
- ^
"Dell Is Selling Magazine Unit"
.
The New York Times
. Associated Press. 1996-03-12.
ISSN
0362-4331
. Retrieved
2023-11-01
.
- ^
"Book Ends"
.
The New York Times
. 15 February 1976.
External links
[
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]
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Leonine Holding
,
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,
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and
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.
- ^
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b
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