The Heritage Press is a trade name which has been used by multiple printers and publishers. Most notably, "The Heritage Press" was an imprint of George Macy Companies, Ltd., from 1937 to 1982. The Heritage Press reprinted classic volumes previously published by the more exclusive Limited Editions Club.

History

Original "Heritage Press"

In 1929,

George Macy George Macy (1900–1956) was an American publisher. Career George Macy was born in New York City in 1900. In 1926, he founded Macy-Masius, which was sold to the Vanguard Press in 1928. In 1929, he founded the Limited Editions Club, publis ...

founded the Limited Editions Club and began publishing illustrated books in limited numbers (usually 1500 copies) for subscription members. In 1935 Macy founded the Heritage Club, which together with the Heritage Press, created and distributed more affordable and unlimited reprints of the great books previously published by The Limited Editions Club. Macy was involved personally in the work of the Press, designing many of its publications, including ''

The Grapes of Wrath ''The Grapes of Wrath'' is an American realist novel written by John Steinbeck and published in 1939. The book won the National Book Award and Pulitzer Prize for fiction, and it was cited prominently when Steinbeck was awarded the Nobel Priz ...

'', ''

The Decameron ''The Decameron'' (; it, label= Italian, Decameron or ''Decamerone'' ), subtitled ''Prince Galehaut'' (Old it, Prencipe Galeotto, links=no ) and sometimes nicknamed ''l'Umana commedia'' ("the Human comedy", as it was Boccaccio that dubbed Da ...

'', Hans Christian Andersen's ''Fairy Tales'', and '' A Shropshire Lad''. He also authored ''The Collected Verses of George Jester'' (distributed in a limited number as a Macy family holiday greeting) and edited Heritage's ''A Sailor's Reader'' and ''A Soldier's Reader'', which were wartime volumes, published in August 1943, of "four hundred thousand words of literary entertainment" for members of the American armed services. Macy also acquired and operated another press publishing limited editions. In 1936, he became managing director of the

Nonesuch Press Nonesuch Press was a private press founded in 1922 in London by Francis Meynell, his second wife Vera Mendel, and their mutual friend David Garnett,Miranda Knorr"The Nonesuch Press: A Product of Determination" An Exhibit of Rare Books at the O ...

of London, founded by

Francis Meynell Sir Francis Meredith Wilfrid Meynell (12 May 1891 – 10 July 1975) was a British poet and printer at The Nonesuch Press. Early career He was the son of the journalist and publisher Wilfrid Meynell and the poet Alice Meynell, a suffragist a ...

. The Macy family sold their companies in 1970; Heritage Press was later sold to

Easton Press Easton Press, a division of MBI, Inc., based in Norwalk, Connecticut, is a publisher specializing in premium leather-bound books. In addition to canonical classics, religion, poetry and art books, they publish a selection of science fiction ...

California "Heritage Press"

In 1973 (following the 1970 acquisition of the original "Heritage Press", by Easton Press), another "Heritage Press" emerged in

Signal Hill, California Signal Hill is a city in area in Los Angeles County, California. Located high on a hill, the city is an enclave completely surrounded by the city of Long Beach. Signal Hill was incorporated on April 22, 1924, roughly three years after oil wa ...

-- a comparatively minor publisher, compared to the original, and operating primarily as an on-demand "full service commercial printer," providing "commercial and security printing," and specializing in "stock certificates, prescription pads, and hit promotional products," though also printing "booklets,... postcards," and various business documents."HOME" page
Heritage Press, Signal Hill, California, retrieved September 30, 2022
Heritage Press, Signal Hill, California, retrieved September 30, 2022 During the late-1990's the business merged with two other local printing companies, Masters Printing and Fast Print. The business reports that it has serviced printing customers in several cities in and around

Southern California Southern California (commonly shortened to SoCal) is a geographic and cultural region that generally comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. It includes the Los Angeles metropolitan area, the second most populous urban a ...

, and customers in ten communities in other states.

Michigan "Heritage Press"

The '' Tuscola County Advertiser'' newspaper (

Caro, Michigan Caro is a city in and the county seat of Tuscola County, Michigan, United States. The population was 4,328 at the 2020 census and 4,145 at the 2000 census (an increase of 4.4%). Caro is located northeast of Flint and east of Saginaw in Michi ...

) has operated a small commercial print shop since its founding 1868. In 1984, it separated its print shop as a separate division, naming it "The Heritage Press.""About Us,"
The Heritage Press, Caro, Michigan, retrieved September 30, 2022 It subsequently added branches in

Seneca, South Carolina Seneca is a city in Oconee County, South Carolina, United States. The population was 8,102 at the 2010 census. It is the principal city of the Seneca Micropolitan Statistical Area (population 74,273 at the 2010 census), an (MSA) that includes ...

and

Riverton, Wyoming Riverton is a city in Fremont County, Wyoming, United States. The city's population was 10,682 at the 2020 census, making it the largest city in the county. History The city, founded in 1906, is an incorporated entity of the state of Wyoming. ...

."Contact,"
The Heritage Press, Caro, Michigan, retrieved September 30, 2022

British (Islamic) "Heritage Press"

In June 2013, in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

, another "Heritage Press" was founded as a publishing house. Its stated objective is to support "revival of the traditional Islamic sciences" and to distribute English-language "authentic, classical and contemporary texts ranslatedinto... English..." by "scholars... past and present" who have studied "mainstream Sunni orthodoxy.""About Us,"
The Heritage Press,

, September 30, 2022

Publications

Publications of the Heritage Press covered a broad range of topics, primarily within the

Western canon The Western canon is the body of high culture literature, music, philosophy, and works of art that are highly valued in the West; works that have achieved the status of classics. However, not all these works originate in the Western world, ...

. Examples included editions of Bulfinch's ''Age of Fable'',

Jack London John Griffith Chaney (January 12, 1876 – November 22, 1916), better known as Jack London, was an American novelist, journalist and activist. A pioneer of commercial fiction and American magazines, he was one of the first American authors to ...

’s ''

The Call of the Wild ''The Call of the Wild'' is a short adventure novel by Jack London, published in 1903 and set in Yukon, Canada, during the 1890s Klondike Gold Rush, when strong sled dogs were in high demand. The central character of the novel is a dog named ...

'', Spenser's ''

The Faerie Queene ''The Faerie Queene'' is an English epic poem by Edmund Spenser. Books IIII were first published in 1590, then republished in 1596 together with books IVVI. ''The Faerie Queene'' is notable for its form: at over 36,000 lines and over 4,000 sta ...

'',

Robert Louis Stevenson Robert Louis Stevenson (born Robert Lewis Balfour Stevenson; 13 November 1850 – 3 December 1894) was a Scottish novelist, essayist, poet and travel writer. He is best known for works such as ''Treasure Island'', ''Strange Case of Dr Jekyll a ...

's full

The Beach of Falesá "The Beach of Falesá" is a novella by Scottish author Robert Louis Stevenson. It was first published in the ''Illustrated London News'' in 1892, and later published in book form in the short-story collection '' Island Nights' Entertainments'' (189 ...

, Jules Verne's ''

20,000 Leagues Under the Sea ''Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Seas'' (french: Vingt mille lieues sous les mers) is a classic science fiction adventure novel by French writer Jules Verne. The novel was originally serialized from March 1869 through June 1870 in Pierre-J ...

'' and '' Les Miserables''. A particularly large and ornate edition includes the complete scripts to all of Gilbert and Sullivan's

opera Opera is a form of theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically a collaboration between a composer and a libr ...

s, with an accompanying envelope containing facsimile memorabilia. Aviation historian John W. Underwood has been among those whose books have been published by "Heritage Press" -- both before the sale of the original "Heritage Press" and after the appearance of the Signal Hill-based "Heritage Press," with those books noted as being from another Southern California city: " Glendale, California."

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Heritage Press Defunct book publishing companies of the United States Publishing companies established in 1937 American companies established in 1937 Publishing companies disestablished in 1982 1982 disestablishments in the United States