Atheneum

About Atheneum

Atheneum is a New York publisher founded in 1959 by Alfred A. Knopf Jr., Simon Michael Bessie and Hiram Haydn, now best known through its Simon & Schuster children's imprint, Atheneum Books for Young Readers.

Knopf Jr. left his parents' firm, Alfred A. Knopf, to start the house with Bessie (from Harper) and Haydn (from Random House). In 1961 he recruited the editor Jean E. Karl to set up a children's department, which she led until 1985. Her list included E. L. Konigsburg's early novels, Ursula K. Le Guin's second to fourth Earthsea books (The Farthest Shore won a National Book Award), Patricia A. McKillip's The Forgotten Beasts of Eld, winner of the first World Fantasy Award for best novel, and Anne McCaffrey's Dragonsong. Books she oversaw won Newbery and Caldecott Medals.

The adult list published Pulitzer winners including Edward Albee, James Merrill and Theodore H. White, Robert K. Massie's Nicholas and Alexandra (1967) and Ernest Gaines's first book, Catherine Carmier (1964).

Atheneum merged with Charles Scribner's Sons in 1978 to form The Scribner Book Company, which Macmillan acquired in 1984. Simon & Schuster bought Macmillan in 1994 and has owned the Atheneum names since; the adult list was absorbed into Scribner, while the children's line continues as Atheneum Books for Young Readers.

How to spot a Atheneum first edition