Basic Books
Basic Books is a New York non-fiction publisher founded by Arthur Rosenthal in 1950, publisher of Godel, Escher, Bach and now a Hachette Book Group imprint.
- Editions tracked
- 117
- First editions
- 87
- Books
- 116
- Years
- 1956 to 2022
About Basic Books
Basic Books is a New York non-fiction publisher founded in 1950 by Arthur Rosenthal. It is known for serious books on psychology, science, economics, politics and history, and is now an imprint of Hachette Book Group.
Rosenthal began by taking over a small Greenwich Village book club for psychoanalysts. He then commissioned original books, mostly in the behavioural sciences. Early titles included Ernest Jones's biography The Life and Work of Sigmund Freud, along with works by Claude Levi-Strauss, Jean Piaget and Erik Erikson. Irving Kristol joined in 1960 and helped widen the list into the social sciences.
Harper & Row bought Basic in 1969. In 1997 HarperCollins announced it would merge Basic into its trade list, but the same year the imprint was sold to Perseus Books Group. Hachette Book Group bought Perseus's publishing business in 2016, and Seal Press became a Basic imprint in 2018.
Notable books from Basic include Douglas Hofstadter's Godel, Escher, Bach, Steven Weinberg's The First Three Minutes, Richard Dawkins's River Out of Eden, Steven Pinker's Words and Rules and Sherry Turkle's Alone Together. Its authors have also included Richard Feynman, Isaac Asimov, Thomas Sowell, Jonathan Haidt, Judith Herman and Irvin Yalom.
How to spot a Basic Books first edition
We have not yet written the guide to Basic Books's first-edition conventions. Until we do, check each book's own page: we list its points where we know them. Know how Basic Books marked its firsts? Tell us.
AuthorsThomas Sowell (7)Douglas Hofstadter (5)Irvin Yalom (4)Richard Feynman (3)Alice Miller (3)John Bowlby (2)Daniel Dennett (2)Howard Gardner (2)Claude Lévi-Strauss (2)Donald Norman (2)
Published by Basic Books
Frequently asked questions
How do I identify a Basic Books first edition?
Check the title page and the copyright page: a Basic Books first edition gives the first date of publication with no later impression or edition stated. Each book's page here lists its own points.
How many Basic Books books does MyVolumes track?
We track 117 editions published by Basic Books, 87 of them first editions, across 116 books.
Where these facts come from
- Basic Books, Wikipedia (en.wikipedia.org)
- Basic Books, Hachette Book Group (hachettebookgroup.com)
- Perseus Books Group, Wikipedia (en.wikipedia.org)
Every fact on this page was checked against the sources listed. Checked 17 October 2026.