E. P. Dutton was an American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 book publishing company founded as a book retailer in Boston, Massachusetts in 1852 by Edward Payson Dutton

Edward Payson Dutton

Edward Payson Dutton was a prominent American book publisher.In 1852, Edward Dutton founded the E. P. Dutton book-selling company in Boston, Massachusetts...

. In 1986, the company was acquired by Penguin Group and split into two imprint

Imprint

In the publishing industry, an imprint can mean several different things:* As a piece of bibliographic information about a book, it refers to the name and address of the book's publisher and its date of publication as given at the foot or on the verso of its title page.* It can mean a trade name...

s: Dutton Penguin

Dutton Penguin

Dutton Penguin is an American book publisher, established in 1986 when its precursor E.P. Dutton was split by its owner the Penguin Group into Dutton Penguin and Dutton Children's Books.-Overview:...

 and Dutton Children's Books.

History

Edward Payson Dutton

Edward Payson Dutton

Edward Payson Dutton was a prominent American book publisher.In 1852, Edward Dutton founded the E. P. Dutton book-selling company in Boston, Massachusetts...

 founded a book-selling firm in Boston

Boston

Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...

, in 1852 the eponymous E. P. Dutton, but it wasn't until 1864 when a branch office was set up in New York

New York

New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...

, that the company began to publish books. Its original focus was on religious titles, and the first bestseller was the two-volume Life of Christ

Life of Christ

The Life of Christ as a narrative cycle in Christian art comprises a number of different subjects, which were often grouped in series or cycles of works in a variety of media, narrating the life of Jesus on earth, as distinguished from the many other subjects in art showing the eternal life of...

 by Frederic Farrar, published in 1874.

1885, John Macrae began working at Dutton as an office boy; he would spend fifty-nine years with the company rising in the ranks. He became President in 1923, and in 1928 he bought the publishing house and shared it with his two sons. During his tenure, E. P. Dutton published notable books such as The Proper Bostonians by Cleveland Amory

Cleveland Amory

Cleveland Amory was an American author who devoted his life to promoting animal rights. He was perhaps best known for his books about his cat, named Polar Bear, whom he saved from the Manhattan streets on Christmas Eve 1977...

, Marchette Chute's Shakespeare of London, Pipiolo and the Roof Dogs

Pipiolo and the Roof Dogs

Pipiolo and the Roof Dogs is an illustrated children's fiction book written by Brian Meunier and painted/illustrated by Perky Edgerton. The story takes place in the rural Mexican village of San Pablo Etla. It focuses on a dog, Pipiolo and his attempts to rescue the guard dogs trapped on the roofs....

 by Brian Meunier, The Conquest of Everest

The Conquest of Everest

The Conquest of Everest is a 1953 British documentary film directed by George Lowe about various expeditions to the summit of Mount Everest. It was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature....

 by John Hunt

John Hunt, Baron Hunt

Brigadier Henry Cecil John Hunt, Baron Hunt KG, PC, CBE, DSO, was a British army officer who is best known as the leader of the successful 1953 British Expedition to Mount Everest.-Early life and career:...

, Bonjour Tristesse

Bonjour Tristesse

Bonjour Tristesse is a novel by Françoise Sagan. Published in 1954, when the author was only 18, it was an overnight sensation...

 by Francoise Sagan

Françoise Sagan

Françoise Sagan – real name Françoise Quoirez – was a French playwright, novelist, and screenwriter. Hailed as "a charming little monster" by François Mauriac on the front page of Le Figaro, Sagan was known for works with strong romantic themes involving wealthy and disillusioned bourgeois...

, as well as works by Lawrence Durrell

Lawrence Durrell

Lawrence George Durrell was an expatriate British novelist, poet, dramatist, and travel writer, though he resisted affiliation with Britain and preferred to be considered cosmopolitan...

, Milton Glaser

Milton Glaser

Milton Glaser is a graphic designer, best known for the I Love New York logo, his "Bob Dylan" poster, the "DC bullet" logo used by DC Comics from 1977 to 2005, and the "Brooklyn Brewery" logo. He also founded New York Magazine with Clay Felker in 1968.-Biography:Glaser was born into a Hungarian...

, and Luigi Pirandello

Luigi Pirandello

Luigi Pirandello was an Italian dramatist, novelist, and short story writer awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1934, for his "bold and brilliant renovation of the drama and the stage." Pirandello's works include novels, hundreds of short stories, and about 40 plays, some of which are written...

. The company also went on to publish books by John Irving

John Irving

John Winslow Irving is an American novelist and Academy Award-winning screenwriter.Irving achieved critical and popular acclaim after the international success of The World According to Garp in 1978...

 (The World According to Garp

The World According to Garp

The World According to Garp is John Irving's fourth novel. Published in 1978, the book was a bestseller for several years.A movie adaptation of the novel starring Robin Williams was released in 1982, with a screenplay written by Steve Tesich....

), Peter Matthiessen

Peter Matthiessen

Peter Matthiessen is a two-time National Book Award-winning American novelist and non-fiction writer, as well as an environmental activist...

, Jorge Luis Borges

Jorge Luis Borges

Jorge Francisco Isidoro Luis Borges Acevedo , known as Jorge Luis Borges , was an Argentine writer, essayist, poet and translator born in Buenos Aires. In 1914 his family moved to Switzerland where he attended school, receiving his baccalauréat from the Collège de Genève in 1918. The family...

, Gavin Maxwell

Gavin Maxwell

Gavin Maxwell FRSL, FIAL, FZS , FRGS was a Scottish naturalist and author, best known for his work with otters. He wrote the book Ring of Bright Water about how he brought an otter back from Iraq and raised it in Scotland...

, Joyce Carol Oates

Joyce Carol Oates

Joyce Carol Oates is an American author. Oates published her first book in 1963 and has since published over fifty novels, as well as many volumes of short stories, poetry, and nonfiction...

, Gail Sheehy

Gail Sheehy

Gail Sheehy is an American writer and lecturer, most notable for her books on life and the life cycle. She is also a contributor to Vanity Fair magazine....

 (Passages

Passages

Passages is a musical album in the style of chamber music co-composed by Ravi Shankar and Philip Glass and released in 1990 by RCA Victor. The album's content is a hybrid of Ravi Shankar's signature sitar playing and Hindustani classical music and Philip Glass's distinct American minimalist...

), and Mickey Spillane

Mickey Spillane

Frank Morrison Spillane , better known as Mickey Spillane, was an American author of crime novels, many featuring his signature detective character, Mike Hammer. More than 225 million copies of his books have sold internationally...

.

E.F. Dutton ceased to be in 1986, becoming Dutton Penguin

Dutton Penguin

Dutton Penguin is an American book publisher, established in 1986 when its precursor E.P. Dutton was split by its owner the Penguin Group into Dutton Penguin and Dutton Children's Books.-Overview:...

since.