Alexander Grosset and George T. Dunlap were New York booksellers who began publishing pirated editions of Rudyard Kipling's books in 1900. Grosset and Dunlap originated the idea of 'rebinds', when it put hard covers on other publishers' paperbacks. It also reprinted paperbacks in hard covers, and was at one time America's leading reprint company. The firm purchased the juvenile publishing company Chatterton and Peck and commenced publishing a long children's list which included best-sellers such as The Bobbsey Twins, The Hardy Boys, and Nancy Drew.
In 1944 the firm was sold to a consortium of publishers that placed it under the management of Random House, where it retained a separate identity. In 1945 Grosset and Dunlap joined a cooperative venture to found paperback publisher Bantam Books, which from 1964 it wholly owned. It developed other paperback lines, such as the Universal Library, and Tempo Books for teenaged readers.
Grosset and Dunlap was purchased by National General Corporation in 1968. When it was sold to Filmways, Incorporated in 1974, Bantam Books was sold separately to IFI International. In 1982 Grosset and Dunlap was purchased by the Putnam Publishing Group.
