The firm of Brentano's was founded by August Brentano, who in 1856 began in business selling newspapers outside the New York hotel. The business grew and acquired bookselling premises on Broadway and on Fifth Avenue. In 1877 August was bought out by his nephews August, Arthur and Simon; descendants of these brothers led the company until the 1960s.
Brentano's began publishing in 1895, and published a diverse range of titles. After 1918 publishing activities were managed by Lowell Brentano, who had an interest in theatre and drama. The company published a number of drama series, including Harvard Plays, Modern English Dramatists and British Drama League Plays, and were publishers for George Bernard Shaw in America. It also published foreign language classics in translation.
Brentano's was severely affected by the stock market crash in 1929 and the Depression, and in 1933 the publishing business was sold to Coward-McCann. The bookselling business survived and flourished once again. Although no longer owned by the Brentano family, Brentano's Fifth Avenue bookshop continues to be an institution in New York, and there are many Brentano's bookshops across the United States. Brentano's bookshop in Paris, founded in 1895, is still trading, although no longer part of the American firm.
