DORLING KINDERSLEY is founded by Peter Kindersley and Christopher Dorling in Autumn 1974. The company, set up with £10,000 capital, is initially established as a book packager producing books for other publishers.
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1974 - A fire at the Dutch repro house where DK's first three books
had been sent threatens to bring the whole venture to a premature
end, but the small, driven team manages to salvage
the situation and deliver all three books within their deadlines.
1975-1978 - DK moves to new offices in London's Covent Garden, home for the next 26 years, and produces the first eight titles, three of which go on to become million sellers. One of those, The Book of Photography by John Hedgecoe, was an instant success. It was re-published by DK in 2003 in a new and updated format.
1978 - DK win a major packaging contract with the Reader's Digest.
This is the first time that outsiders have been commissioned
to produce a book for The Reader's Digest. The resulting title Success With Houseplants appeared in 1979. The US print
run exceeds 2 million copies. This initial contract is the
start of a successful relationship between DK and the Reader's
Digest, which lasts for several years.
1982 - DK becomes a publisher in
the UK. DK triumphantly negotiates a contract to edit, design
and produce a brand new first aid manual for the three voluntary
aid societies: the Red Cross and its sister associations -
the St John's Ambulance and the St Andrew's Ambulance. It
is the first book to appear under the DK name, and is the
only first aid title to be endorsed by all three associations.
The use of photography and clarity of style is instantly
appealing and popular.
1987 - Christopher Dorling retires and the Reader's Digest buys 50% of
the shares. DK launches the first children's list with the Windows on the World series. 1987 also sees Peter Kindersley
asking himself a question that starts a revolution in children's
non-fiction publishing: "Where are all the exciting books
for kids?"
The Way Things Work
1989 - DK publishes The
RHS Encyclopedia of Plants and Flowers. This publication
begins another long standing and highly successful partnership.
Since then, DK and the RHS, the world's leading horticultural
organisation, have created a large and varied range of encyclopedias
and guides on every aspect of plants and gardening techniques.
With this first title, and the subsequent ones, DK sets an
unprecendented standard in gardening publishing.
1991 - After successfully packaging books in the US, DK Inc is founded to publish DK's first titles in the US market. DK set up a number of new businesses: DK Multimedia; DK Vision in the area of broadcast and video which brings DK products directly into homes and schools ensuring the DK brand reaches as many different social groups as possible.
DK prints 450,000 copies of Save the Earth in 17 languages for simultaneous publication at noon on 17th September 1991 across the world. This is conjunction with the United Nations Conference on Environmental Development in Rio de Janiero, Brazil.
1992 - DK is floated on the London Stock Exchange. It is one of the year's most successful floatations.
1993 - The DK Eyewitness Travel Guides are launched. The guides are a reinvention of the conventional travel guide. Full of colour, they are unrivalled in quality, illustration and practicality. The initial four titles began a series that will have grown to 95 titles by 2005 with over 15 million sold worldwide. DK is voted Publisher of the Year at the British Book Awards.
1994 - DK Multimedia is launched as a publisher. Its first list of multimedia titles included David Macaulay's The Way Things Work. The DK Eyewitness Travel Guide series wins the Thomas Cook Guide Book Award.
1995 - DK acquires Henderson Publishing taking over the hugely popular Funfax series.
1996 - DK acquires the 112 year old Hugo Language Books Ltd adding useful titles to DK's reference publishing. Phrase books and dictionaries add a further dimension to the bestselling DK Eyewitness Travel Guide series. DK's natural history series: Eyewitness, produced by DK Vision, is nominated for 2 categories in the 1996 Emmy Awards.
1997 - DK acquires Acacia (UK publisher of curriculum based Educational CD-ROMs) and this focus on education results in DK Multimedia being renamed DK Interactive.
1998 - Another successful partnership results in the first printing of 350,000 copies of the prestigious DK Illustrated Oxford Dictionary. This title sells especially well on the international market.
1999 - DK Eyewitness Travel Guides win The Daily Telegraph Readers' Travel Awards Best Guide Books.
2000 - Pearson, the media group who own Penguin Books, acquire DK.
- DK and Penguin move to the Strand, London WC2 and DK undergoes a certain amount of restructure. DK Vision continues to concentrate on its successful Eyewitness Guides series and takes over the sales and distribution of some of the most well-loved children's animation including Spot, Peter Rabbit and Mr Benn. DK Vision works closely with Pearson Broadband Education Television creating interactive broadband content for the world market.
GSP (Global Software Publishing) gain the rights to publish, market, sell and distribute the English version of a range of former DK CD and DVD ROM titles; Macron software gain the rights to do the same for translated editions on a global basis.
Andrew Welham is appointed Global Managing Director, tasked to bring the various DK business around the world back into a coherent, dynamic, and profitable world business.
2001 - Bolstered by vigorous support
from Penguin sales and marketing, DK is back in the business
of delivering premium quality information books for all ages
and interests. With the publication of Animal Dorling Kindersley
firmly re-establishes itself as the pre-eminent publisher
of family reference. On the children’s list The Ultimate
Robot Kit is also highly successful, making learning about
science interactive and fun for children.
2002 - An exciting year for DK with the publication of author-led titles such as Bill Wyman’s Rolling With The Stones, Supersex by Tracey Cox, and Matt Roberts’ Fitness For Life Manual. The children’s title A Life Like Mine is published in association with UNICEF, and the DK website is redesigned and relaunched to wide acclaim.
2003 - A year of big names, big
brands, and big campaigns. Judith Miller follows the success
of her Antiques Price Guide with the Collectables Price Guide – also all in colour. The illustrious Monty Don joins
the gardening list with The Complete Gardener, and DK Eyewitness
Travel Guides celebrate 10 years of great publishing. For
children DK launches the first in a groundbreaking series
of reference titles, the e.enyclopedia.
2004 - A strong list of home reference titles corresponds with DK’s 30th anniversary, illustrating a commitment to grow and renew publishing lines where DK has a strong market presence. Another anniversary is heralded with the publication of the bicentennial edition of the RHS Encyclopedia of Gardening, celebrating 200 years of the Royal Horticultural Society.
2005 - The publisher of Dorling Kindersley, Christopher Davis, who joined the original team at DK in 1974, retires. Gary June, an experienced publisher with strengths in sales, marketing and new business creation joins DK as CEO in July. Also, DK titles win various awards including the DK Eyewitness Travel Guides, which wins the Observer/Guardian Travel Guide of the Year Award, for the second year running.
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