# Julian Messner

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Former American publishing house

Julian Messner, Inc. Parent company Simon & Schuster (1966–1998) Status Defunct (1999) Founded 1933 (1933) Founder Julian and Kathryn Messner Successor Pearson Education Country of origin United States Headquarters location New York City

**Julian Messner, Inc.** was an American publishing house founded in 1933. Its best-selling books included 1956's *[Peyton Place](/source/Peyton_Place_(novel))*. In the 1960s it became a division of [Simon & Schuster](/source/Simon_%26_Schuster), and continued as a children's imprint into the 1990s.

## History

Julian Messner, previously an executive with [Boni & Liveright](/source/Boni_%26_Liveright), and his wife Kathryn founded the firm in 1933, opening an office on West 40th Street in [Manhattan](/source/Manhattan), and planning to publish juvenile books along with a small offering of adult books.[1] They published four books in their first year, including *Senator Marlowe's Daughter* by [Frances Parkinson Keyes](/source/Frances_Parkinson_Keyes).[1]

When Julian Messner died in 1948, Kathryn (they divorced in 1944) became president. At first the idea of a woman president caused concern, and the board appointed a vice-president in charge of the president, an anomaly which soon became clear was not needed. She served as president until her death in August 1964; [2][3] the company was sold by the end of the year to [Pocket Books](/source/Pocket_Books).[4] Pocket was then acquired by [Simon & Schuster](/source/Simon_%26_Schuster) in 1966, during the 1960s wave of consolidation in the publishing industry.[5]

"Julian Messner" continued as a children's imprint under Simon & Schuster (S&S). The imprint later fell under [Macmillan Library Reference](/source/Macmillan_Publishers_(United_States)) (S&S had acquired Macmillan, Inc., in 1994, and [Pearson](/source/Pearson_Education) acquired the educational, professional, and reference businesses of S&S in 1998), and shut down six children's imprints including Julian Messner in 1999.[6][7]

In 1958, the company published a fictionalized biography of baseball player [Warren Spahn](/source/Warren_Spahn) for young readers, which was full of incorrect information and even positive false claims (such as claiming that Spahn had won a [Bronze Star](/source/Bronze_Star), which was untrue). Spahn prevailed in a lawsuit against Messner, which is a leading case in the concept of [false light](/source/False_light), a claim related to [defamation](/source/Defamation).[8][9]

## References

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-inside_1-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-inside_1-1) Toth, Emily. [*Inside Peyton Place: The Life of Grace Metalious*](https://books.google.com/books?id=XVdI6PQsZaUC&pg=PA101) (1980), p. 101.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-kathobit_2-0)** ["Mrs. Kathryn G. Messner, 61, Chief of Publishing House, Dies"](https://www.nytimes.com/1964/08/05/mrs-kathryn-g-messner-61-chief-of-publishing-house-dies.html), *[The New York Times](/source/The_New_York_Times)*, August 5, 1964.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-julianobit_3-0)** ["Julian Messner, Publisher, Dead; Founder in 1933 and President of Book Firm Offered Award for Tolerance Volume"](https://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=9903E4D71530E23ABC4153DFB4668383659EDE), *The New York Times*, February 9, 1948.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-messner1_4-0)** ["Messner Bought by Pocket Books"](https://www.nytimes.com/1964/12/31/messner-bought-by-pocket-books.html), *The New York Times*, December 31, 1964.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-consoli_5-0)** Brier, Evan. [*A Novel Marketplace: Mass Culture, the Book Trade, and Postwar American Fiction*](https://books.google.com/books?id=Ygke3pOSL8gC&pg=PA123), p. 123 (2010).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-acquires_6-0)** Hane, Paula J. (June 21, 1999). ["Thomson’s Gale Group Acquires MacMillan Library Reference USA"](http://newsbreaks.infotoday.com/NewsBreaks/Thomsons-Gale-Group-Acquires-MacMillan-Library-Reference-USA-17944.asp), *NewsBreaks*.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-pw1999_7-0)** Milliot, Jim (31 May 1999). ["Six Macmillan Library Kids Imprints Closed"](http://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/print/19990531/40646-six-macmillan-library-kids-imprints-closed.html), *[Publishers Weekly](/source/Publishers_Weekly)*.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-spahn1_8-0)** Mathewson, Joe. [*Law and Ethics for Today's Journalist: A Concise Guide*](https://books.google.com/books?id=wEffBQAAQBAJ&pg=PA81) (2014), p. 81.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-false2_9-0)** Yasser, Ray. ["Warren Spahn's Legal Legacy: The Right to Be Free from False Praise"](http://digitalcommons.law.utulsa.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1155&context=fac_pub), 18 Seton Hall. J. Sports & Enter L. 49 (2008).

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Authority control databases International VIAF National United States Other Yale LUX

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Julian Messner](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Julian_Messner) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Julian_Messner?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.