- This covers Henry Holt and Company and, from 1960 to 1985, Holt, Rinehart and Winston, the name used after the merger with Rinehart & Company and the John C. Winston Company.
- Up to the mid 1940s Holt did not usually state first editions: a first printing is identified by the lack of any later-printing note on the copyright page.
- From about 1945 Holt usually printed a first-edition statement on the copyright page. One guide dates the change to 1924 and says it was applied unevenly, so check books of 1924 to 1945 for reprint notes too.
- Holt, Rinehart and Winston books of the 1960s mostly state the first edition, except copies made outside the United States, which carry no statement.
- From the 1970s Holt, Rinehart and Winston used a first-edition statement with a number row, and Henry Holt has done the same since 1985.
- 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.
Publisher · founded 1866 · New York City
Henry Holt
Henry Holt and Company is a New York trade publisher founded in 1866, once Holt, Rinehart and Winston, home to Robert Frost and now part of Macmillan.
- Editions tracked
- 105
- First editions
- 68
- Books
- 105
- Years
- 1923 to 2024
About Henry Holt
Henry Holt and Company is one of the oldest American trade publishers, founded in New York in 1866 by Henry Holt and Frederick Leypoldt.
Its list covers fiction, biography, history, politics, science, psychology and children's books, and its authors have included Robert Frost, Hermann Hesse, Norman Mailer, Thomas Pynchon, Paul Auster, Erich Fromm and Noam Chomsky. From 1951 to 1985 it also published the magazine Field & Stream.
In 1960 Holt merged with Rinehart & Company of New York and the John C. Winston Company of Philadelphia, trading as Holt, Rinehart and Winston. CBS bought the company in 1967. In 1985 the group was split: the educational arm kept the Holt, Rinehart and Winston name and went to Harcourt, while the trade arm and the Holt name were sold to the Stuttgart-based Georg von Holtzbrinck group, which kept it publishing under its original name.
Holt now publishes within Macmillan in the United States, with imprints including Metropolitan Books (founded 1995) and Times Books (launched 2001).
Holding a copy? The first edition checker shows Henry Holt's practice for the year on your title page.
Identification
How to identify Henry Holt first editions
Authors
Books
Published by Henry Holt
Frequently asked questions
How do I identify a Henry Holt first edition?
- This covers Henry Holt and Company and, from 1960 to 1985, Holt, Rinehart and Winston, the name used after the merger with Rinehart & Company and the John C. Winston Company. - Up to the mid 1940s Holt did not usually state first editions: a first printing is identified by the lack of any later-printing note on the copyright page. - From about 1945 Holt usually printed a first-edition statement
How many Henry Holt books does MyVolumes track?
We track 105 editions published by Henry Holt, 68 of them first editions, across 105 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)
- Henry Holt 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. Reviewed by Harriet Ellis; read how we check facts.