Little, Brown and Company

Little, Brown and Company is the publisher associated with the first edition and 2001 republication of The Power of the Dog. Its role spans the novel’s difficult path to publication and its recovery decades later: the book drew strong critical notice in 1967 but apparently sold few copies, and a later republication brought the neglected work back before readers.

Publication of the Novel

The Power of the Dog was published by Little, Brown and Company in Boston in 1967. This followed a disagreement with an editor at Random House, who had asked Thomas Savage to make changes that Savage refused. The account establishes the sequence but does not specify the requested revisions or explain the terms on which Little, Brown and Company took on the book.

The novel’s initial reception contrasted sharply with its commercial reach. It received highly favorable reviews and remained on The New York Times’ “New and Recommended” list for nearly two months, yet sold few copies. Little, Brown and Company’s surviving sales records did not extend back to 1967, so the exact sales figure was unavailable; Emily Salkin, who later drove the republication, estimated that the hardcover edition may not have sold more than 1,000 copies.

Republication and Recovery

In 2001, Emily Salkin of Little, Brown and Company was the force behind the novel’s republication. That effort gave a largely neglected book another opportunity to find readers, despite the uncertainty surrounding its original sales. The republication thus marked a significant second phase in the company’s relationship with the novel: after bringing it out in 1967, the publisher helped restore it to circulation decades later.

Reception and Significance

The novel’s history with Little, Brown and Company illustrates the gap between critical recognition and commercial visibility. Reviewers praised it as a powerful tragedy and as an outstanding work about the modern West, but those notices did not translate into broad sales. By supporting its 2001 return, the company helped make a book described as virtually unknown to the general reading public available to a new readership. Its significance here rests not only on the first edition, but also on the later act of recovery that gave the novel a second chance.