G.P. Putnam & Sons

G. P. Putnam & Sons began as bookseller Wiley & Putnam in 1838 but soon expanded into publishing. In 1848 Wiley left and Putnam continued the company under his own name, publishing notable authors such as William Cullen Bryant, Nathaniel Hawthorne, James Fenimore Cooper, and Edgar Allan Poe. After the Civil War Putnam's son Major George Haven Putnam joined the business, soon followed by his brothers John Bishop Putnam and Irving Putnam. Today known as Putnam's Sons, the company's roster of best-selling fiction and non-fiction uthors includes Tom Clancy, Clive Cussler, William Gibson, J. D. Robb, Amy Tan, Kurt Vonnegut, Lance Armstrong, and Maureen Dowd.