Salinger backlist relaunched in the UK

The Hamish Hamilton imprint of Penguin in the U.K. will this spring relaunch the backlist of J.D. Salinger with new jackets approved by the author before his death in January. The relaunch had been planned for June, but now has been moved forward.

“Although none of us ever met him and he had not published a book since 1965, his presence was very strongly felt in the Hamish Hamilton office,” said Simon Prosser, the publishing director at Hamish Hamilton in London. “Even at two removes, via his U.K. and U.S. agents, the words ‘JDS says’ in an email had a special magic. And it is very sad to think that we will have no such communication again.”

The Salinger works to be relaunched with new jackets are The Catcher in the Rye, Franny and Zooey, Raise High the Roof Beam, Carpenters / Seymour – An Introduction, and For Esme – With Love and Squalor.