Which publisher released The Catcher in the Rye in 1951?

Little, Brown and Company released The Catcher in the Rye in 1951. The first American edition was published in New York on July 16 of that year.

The Boston-based firm was one of the major American publishing houses of the period and had already built a substantial literary list. Its publication of Salinger's novel brought Holden Caulfield's story to readers as a new work of adult fiction, even though its teenage narrator soon made it especially popular with younger readers.

The publisher is sometimes confused with later houses associated with the novel's international editions, paperback reprints, or adaptations. Harper & Brothers, Viking Press, and Random House were important American publishers, but none released the original 1951 American edition. Little, Brown remained associated with the book through later editions and is now part of Hachette Book Group.

The first edition's publication details also help distinguish the original novel from subsequent translations, book-club issues, and paperback versions. Its release established Salinger's reputation almost immediately, and the book has remained in print for decades.