HarperCollins | American Classics

Books That Define a Nation

On Sale 5/5/26

In 1817, in a modest New York City printing shop run by John and James Harper, an American legacy was born. Soon the firm settled on an emblem—a torch, symbolizing the flame of knowledge—that the company still bears under its name, HarperCollins Publishers. Since its founding, no American publisher has been so entwined in the history of American letters: from Moby Dick to Their Eyes Were Watching God, from The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn to To Kill a Mockingbird, from Walden to Silent Spring, from Martin Luther King, Jr. to Howard Zinn, HarperCollins has enriched, challenged, and defined the American spirit. Still headquartered only a stone’s throw from J. & J. Harper’s original Manhattan offices, HarperCollins is proud to present this library of American literature drawn from our storied catalog in celebration of the 250th anniversary of the United States. See the list at the HarperCollins web site.