Dodd, Mead
Dodd, Mead was a New York publisher active from 1839 to 1990, best known to collectors as Agatha Christie's American publisher from 1922 to 1976.
- Editions tracked
- 89
- First editions
- 61
- Books
- 88
- Years
- 1881 to 1987
About Dodd, Mead
Dodd, Mead and Company was one of the pioneer New York publishing houses, trading under several names from 1839 until 1990.
It began in 1839 as Taylor and Dodd, a religious publisher formed by Moses Woodruff Dodd and John S. Taylor; Dodd bought out his partner in 1840. When Moses Dodd retired in 1870 his son Frank Howard Dodd went into partnership with his cousin Edward S. Mead as Dodd and Mead, and the name Dodd, Mead and Company followed in 1876. Frank Dodd founded The Bookman in 1895 and The New International Encyclopedia in 1902.
The firm published poets such as Robert W. Service, Bliss Carman and Paul Laurence Dunbar. In 1922 it bought the American branch of John Lane. Its authors also included G. K. Chesterton, Max Beerbohm and Stephen Leacock, and it was Agatha Christie's American publisher from 1922 to 1976. It later acquired the complete works of George Bernard Shaw.
One of the last family-owned American publishers, Dodd, Mead became a subsidiary of Thomas Nelson in 1981 and was sold to Gamut Publishing in 1986. In 1988 it sold the American rights to Christie and Max Brand to the Putnam Berkley Group, operations were suspended in 1989, and it ceased publishing by the end of 1990.
How to spot a Dodd, Mead first edition
- Before 1976 Dodd, Mead did not state first editions. A reprint usually carries a copyright-page note giving the dates of the first and later printings, so a copy without one is usually a first, but guides warn that later printings were not always marked.
- From 1976 most titles carry a number row on the copyright page.
- A number row counts printings: the lowest number left in the row gives the printing, so a row that still includes "1" points to a first printing.
- Book club copies (a general tell for US trade houses; no mark specific to this house was found): a jacket flap with no printed price is the commonest sign, though a printed price does not on its own rule out a club copy. Also look for a small blind stamp, such as a dot or square, pressed into the rear board, and for a book that is smaller and more cheaply made than the trade edition.
AuthorsAgatha Christie (45)Barbara Michaels (10)Velda Johnston (4)Beverly Butler (2)Leo Tolstoy (2)Robert W. Bly (1)Christianna Brand (1)Jan Brett (1)Oswald Chambers (1)Edmund Crispin (1)
Seriescanon of Hercule PoirotMiss MarpleThe Vinegar Works: Three Volumes of Moral Instruction
Published by Dodd, Mead
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Frequently asked questions
How do I identify a Dodd, Mead first edition?
- Before 1976 Dodd, Mead did not state first editions. A reprint usually carries a copyright-page note giving the dates of the first and later printings, so a copy without one is usually a first, but guides warn that later printings were not always marked. - From 1976 most titles carry a number row on the copyright page. - A number row counts printings: the lowest number left in the row gives the
How many Dodd, Mead books does MyVolumes track?
We track 89 editions published by Dodd, Mead, 61 of them first editions, across 88 books.
Where these facts come from
- First-Edition - Identification by Publisher (Allen and Patricia Ahearn), ILAB, 2010 (ilab.org)
- First Edition Information by Publisher, Evening Land Books (eveninglandbooks.com)
- Identifying First Editions, A Primer: The Publishers, IOBA (ioba.org)
- Dodd, Mead and Company, Wikipedia (en.wikipedia.org)
- Identifying Book Club Editions, IOBA (ioba.org)
- Identifying Book Club Editions, bookfever.com (bookfever.com)
Every fact on this page was checked against the sources listed. Checked 17 October 2026.