Two firms share this name: the Century Company of New York (1881 to 1933) and the London house Century, founded in the early 1980s and part of Random House, now Penguin Random House UK, since 1989.
Century is a publisher active from 1982. We track 178 editions it published between 1982 and 2022, 52 of them first editions across 175 books. How Century marked its first editions is set out below, with a checker for the year on your title page.
About Century
Two unrelated firms have used this name. Books with a New York imprint dated before 1933 come from the Century Company; books from the mid-1980s onwards come from the London house Century.
The Century Company began in 1870 as Scribner and Company, an offshoot of Charles Scribner's Sons. Roswell Smith bought it in 1881 and named it after the Century Association. It ran the Century Illustrated Monthly Magazine and St. Nicholas Magazine as well as a book list, and in 1933 joined D. Appleton & Company to become Appleton-Century.
The London Century Publishing was started by Anthony Cheetham, with Gail Rebuck, Peter Roche and Rosie de Courcy; Rebuck became a founder director in 1982. Century merged with Hutchinson in 1985 to form Century Hutchinson, and Random House bought the business in 1989, folding it into its British group, briefly named Random Century from 1990 to 1992. Cheetham went on to co-found Orion in 1991, while Rebuck was chair and chief executive of Random House UK from 1991 to 2013. Century became an imprint of the group's Cornerstone division and is now part of Penguin Random House UK. Its list has included the British edition of Michael Crichton's Jurassic Park in 1991.
Holding a copy? The first edition checker shows Century's practice for the year on your title page.
Identification
How to identify Century first editions
What to look for
Before 1920
These are Century Company books from New York.
1920s to 1933
1980s to 1990s
These are books from the London house, Century Hutchinson from 1985 and part of Random House's British group from 1989.
- Many Century novels are British editions of American books. Michael Crichton's Jurassic Park came out in the United States on 20 November 1990 and from Century in London in 1991, so the American printing is the true first and the Century copy is the first UK edition.
- On a number line the lowest number present gives the printing, so a first printing keeps the 1.
From 2000
Century is now an imprint of Penguin Random House UK.
Book club copies usually have no price on the jacket and may carry a small blind stamp in the lower right corner of the back cover; they are sometimes smaller and on cheaper paper than the trade edition.
Before 1920 These are Century Company books from New York. 1920s to 1933 1980s to 1990s These are books from the London house, Century Hutchinson from 1985 and part of Random House's British group from 1989. - Many Century novels are British editions of American books. Michael Crichton's Jurassic Park came out in the United States on 20 November 1990 and from Century in London in 1991, so the Amer
How many Century books does MyVolumes track?
We track 178 editions published by Century, 52 of them first editions, across 175 books.
