Winston-Seabury Press Sold To Harper & Row
Episcopal News Service. February 27, 1986 [86039]
NEW YORK (DPS, Feb. 27) -- Seabury Press, which began as a venture of Episcopal Church has been purchased by Harper & Row two years after it was taken over by Winston Press.
The Seabury Press publishing house was established in 1951 by the Executive Council of the Episcopal Church to provide religious education materials for church use. Over the years, Seabury expanded that base to include religious trade books and later added a children's book line -- which has since been sold -- and an academic program.
Seabury has published works by such Christian authors as the Rev. Andrew Greeley, Madeleine L'Engle, James Cone, Jacques Ellul, Martin E. Marty and Alan Paton. It shut its doors at the beginning of 1984, after the Episcopal Church's Executive Council decided that its annual deficit of $250,000 was too large for the church to carry. In April of that year, it became part of Winston Press, a Minneapolis publishing house which has produced general and religious books and educational programs for over 50 years.
Winston and its parent corporation, CBS, acquired Seabury's principal assets. Now Harper & Row has acquired the assets for Winston-Seabury Press from CBS, as of Feb. 10, and will add the firm's professional and trade titles to its San Francisco office, which handles Harper's religion titles.
Brooks Thomas, president of Harper & Row, commented that "Winston-Seabury's professional and trade titles will accelerate the already rapid expansion of Harper & Row San Francisco's professional and religious publishing, and enhance our ability to maintain our leadership position in these important and growing markets."