Vanguard Press
Introduction


The **Vanguard Press** was a United States publishing house established with a $100,000 grant from the [left\-wing](/wiki/Left-wing "Left-wing") American Fund for Public Service, better known as the [Garland Fund](/wiki/Garland_Fund "Garland Fund"). Throughout the 1920s, Vanguard Press issued an array of books on radical topics, including studies of the Soviet Union, [socialist](/wiki/Socialist "Socialist") theory, and politically oriented fiction by a range of writers. The press ultimately received a total of $155,000 from the Garland Fund, which separated itself and turned the press over to its publisher, James Henle. Henle became sole owner in February 1932\."Book Notes," *[The New York Times](/wiki/The_New_York_Times "The New York Times")*, February 16, 1932

Eschewing radical politics after 1929, the Vanguard Press operated as a respected independent literary house for 62 years. Its catalog of fiction, poetry, non\-fiction and children's literature included the first books of [Nelson Algren](/wiki/Nelson_Algren "Nelson Algren"), [Saul Bellow](/wiki/Saul_Bellow "Saul Bellow"), [Marshall McLuhan](/wiki/Marshall_McLuhan "Marshall McLuhan"), [Joyce Carol Oates](/wiki/Joyce_Carol_Oates "Joyce Carol Oates") and [Dr. Seuss](/wiki/Dr._Seuss "Dr. Seuss"). With a valuable [backlist](/wiki/Backlist "Backlist") of 500 titles, the company was sold to [Random House](/wiki/Random_House "Random House") in October 1988\.McDowell, Edwin, ["Vanguard Will Merge with Random House"](https://www.nytimes.com/1988/10/25/business/the-media-business-vanguard-will-merge-with-random-house.html); *[The New York Times](/wiki/The_New_York_Times "The New York Times")*, October 25, 1988

In his history of book publishing, *Between Covers* (1987\), [John Tebbel](/wiki/John_Tebbel "John Tebbel") wrote: "Vanguard never became a large and important house, but it continued to publish quality books year after year."Tebbel, John, *Between Covers: The Rise and Transformation of Book Publishing in America*. New York, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1987, p. 269\.


When did James Henle become sole owner of Vanguard Press?