Tuttle Publishing

History

Publisher and book dealer Charles E. Tuttle (1915–1993) founded the company in 1948 in Tokyo, Japan, with the aim of publishing "books to span the East and West." It was the 31st corporation approved by the occupying Allied administration. In its first year of operation, the company imported and distributed U.S. paperback publications to the occupying forces, and the next year, it released its first publication. From 1951, it published many books on the Japanese language, arts, and culture, as well as translations of Japanese works into the English language.

In 1953, part of the company was separated to form a new, partially owned company, Yohan, which took on responsibility for distributing U.S. paperback books and magazines. The Charles E. Tuttle Company retained responsibility for distributing UK publications. In 1991, under chief executive Peter Ackroyd,[a] a planned acquisition of the Atlantic Monthly Press failed to eventuate. According to executives, "Tuttle, which specializes in Japanese and other Asian books, came to feel that it was putting its existing business at risk by acquiring Atlantic." In 1996, the company changed its name to Tuttle Publishing.

Since its founding, Tuttle has published more than 6,000 books and today maintains an active backlist of around 2,000 titles. The company now produces 150 new titles each year, most of which still focus on the areas of Asian interest that Tuttle has long been known for—everything from Asian literature and language learning to cooking, art, crafts, and design.

Some of the company’s books state that it was founded in 1832 in Rutland, Vermont. George Albert Tuttle (1816-1885), a direct ancestor of Charles E. Tuttle, founded Tuttle Co. in 1832 in Rutland as a printing company that printed newspapers, later including the Rutland Herald. The multigenerational family printing business did not have a particular focus on Asian material. It thus remains open to debate whether 1832 represents the original founding of Tuttle Publishing, or whether the enterprise is, in the words of one author, the business of Charles E. Tuttle, "whose family had been in the book trade since 1832."

Founder

The company's founder, Charles Egbert Tuttle, Jr., was a graduate of Phillips Exeter Academy and Harvard University. He enlisted in the U.S. military and was stationed in Japan immediately after World War II, working on General Douglas MacArthur’s staff. His job, among other things, was to help revive the Japanese publishing industry after the war. After his military service was completed, he decided to stay on in Japan and set up his own business importing English-language books and magazines and exporting rare Japanese antiquarian books to U.S. libraries.

Tuttle came from a distinguished New England publishing family. His father, Charles E. Tuttle Sr., ran Tuttle Antiquarian Books—one of several Tuttle companies in Rutland, Vermont, that had been involved with printing and publishing since the 1830s. At university, he studied American history and literature. After graduating in 1937, he worked in the library of Columbia University for a year, then joined the family business. His interest in publishing 'quality' books about Japan and Asia, and his keen eye for design and editorial matters as a publisher, grew out of an appreciation for the valuable antiquarian books that he dealt with as a youth.