Arcadia Publishing has acquired Applewood Books of Carlisle, Mass. Founded in 1976 by Phil Zuckerman, Applewood has a backlist of about 2,500 titles largely built on reissues of original versions of historical books. With the acquisition, the Applewood staff, including Zuckerman, will join Arcadia, with Zuckerman continuing as Applewood publisher.
The purchase follows the August 2021 acquisition of Applewood’s regional publishing imprint, Commonwealth Editions. That purchase, which included a mix of adult and children’s titles, added more than 300 titles to Arcadia's list.
Applewood’s catalog includes The American Frugal Housewife by Lydia Maria Child, George Washington’s Rules of Civility and Decent Behavior by George Washington, and a hardcover edition of the U.S. Constitution. Its imprints include Grab a Pencil Press, Benna Books, and CurlyQ Press. In building the list, Zuckerman has partnered with various organizations that offer primary resource material, such as Preservation Society of Newport County, L.L. Bean, Apple, John F. Kennedy Presidential Library, Harriet Beecher Stowe House, Octavia Books, Winterthur Museum, and Disney.
“Applewood’s extraordinary catalog will enhance Arcadia’s ability to deliver on our mission: to connect people with their past, with their communities, and with one another,” Arcadia CEO Brittain Phillips said in a statement. “Across decades Phil Zuckerman and his team have taken a thoughtful and innovative approach to building the Applewood list, and the result is a beloved, vibrant brand. At Arcadia we strive to be a destination for publishers like Applewood, and we’re eager to continue its long tradition.”
Arcadia’s purchase of Applewood continues the company’s policy of acquiring titles that feature nonfiction books of local interest as well as books of regional history. In addition to the 2021 purchase of Commonwealth Editions, other acquisitions made by Arcadia in recent years include Pelican Publishing and the Wildsam Feld Guides series. The publisher has a backlist of 17,000 titles.
