Applewood Books

Applewood Books
Founded1976
FounderPhil Zuckerman
Country of originUnited States
Headquarters locationCarlisle, Massachusetts
DistributionIngram Publisher Services
Official websitewww.awb.com

Applewood Books is a publishing company which specializes in reissuing original versions of historical books, founded by Phil Zuckerman in 1976.

Its popular reprints include a hardcover edition of the Constitution of the United States;[1] Robert L. May's Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer;[2] What Mrs. Fisher Knows About Old Southern Cooking, a 1881 cookbook by a former African-American slave;[3] and the first three Nancy Drew and Hardy Boys original editions, aimed at adult fans who grew up reading the originals and disliked the modernised versions.[4]

In November 1998, Applewood began offering yearlong subscriptions to reprinted editions of Harper's Weekly sent in digital or physical format, targeted at "Civil War buffs" and readers interested in following history in the present tense. The subscriptions began with the 1860 presidential election edition, and were planned to continue at least until the 1865 editions.[3]

Around October 2009, Applewood Books began distributing for Commonwealth Editions, another publisher from Massachusetts, which typically published adult and children's non-fiction with historical themes. Applewood acquired the company in August 2010; Zuckerman said Commonwealth would endure as a "separate imprint".[5] Applewood sold Commonwealth Editions to Arcadia Publishing in 2021.[6]

In April 2023, it was announced that Arcadia Publishing had purchased Applewood Books.[7]

  1. ^ King, Hope (2 August 2016). "Sales of U.S. Constitution spike after Democratic National Convention". CNN Business. Retrieved 21 August 2020.
  2. ^ Ogintz, Eileen (13 December 1990). "Afterglow". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 21 August 2020.
  3. ^ a b Ringle, Ken (7 December 1998). "Subscribe then! 19th century news, delivered to your door for just $98". The Washington Post. Retrieved 21 August 2020.
  4. ^ Gable, Mona (16 August 1991). "The Way They Were : Publisher Hopes to Recapture Audience With Original Nancy Drew Books". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 21 August 2020.
  5. ^ Rosen, Judith (16 August 2010). "Applewood Books Buys Commonwealth Editions". Publishers Weekly. Retrieved 21 August 2020.
  6. ^ "Arcadia Acquires Commonwealth Editions from Applewood Books — BOOK ADVISORS LLC". bookadvisorsllc.com. 2021-08-05. Archived from the original on 2023-02-20.
  7. ^ "Arcadia Buys Applewood Books". Shelf Awareness. Retrieved 2024-04-05.