Applewood Books

Traveling the Backroads of American Culture

Welcome, Cultural Travelers!

With an eye for timeless stories of the diverse American experience and a passion to bring together the past and present using modern book-making technology and craftsmanship, Applewood Books enriches lives with a curated and ever-expanding Americana-focused catalog, making us your partner for wherever the journey for an authentic, thoughtful discovery of America’s past leads. 

Our Story

It was 1976. Boston was Snow Bound and a Heart Grew Fonder...

But on that day in ‘76, snowed in, press stored in his brother’s basement and lots of time to dream, Phil grabbed a printing block and carved an image of a wooden apple—apple (the fruit of knowledge and his mother’s maiden name) and wood (a material for building). That weekend, he named the company Apple-wood Press.

Phil hand printed and hand bound Apple-wood Press’s first book, a 100-copy limited edition of four courtly love poems from the 13th century. His girlfriend-now-wife, Disty, was traveling in China for the year, and he dedicated this first book of Middle English poems of separation to her: "My lefe ys foren in a lond./Allas, why ys she so?"

On July 4, 1976, he finished binding those first books. It was the day of America’s 200th anniversary, and not fully aware of the journey he was about to take, Phil went to the Esplanade in Boston to celebrate the nation’s founding.

It took seven years of experimenting with different kinds of content and formats, a "hyphen-ectomy" (Apple-wood Press became Applewood Books) and partnering with Ned Perkins, Phil’s college friend, before Applewood Books settled on its mission: telling stories about the lives of Americans who came before us. 

By this time and having published a book about writer’s homes, we realized the power of telling the stories of historic places. So, we began simply reissuing, without changing a word, a few timeless and overlooked copyright-free primary sources, The American Frugal Housewife by Lydia Maria Child and The Way to Wealth by Benjamin Franklin.

These books still are two of our best-selling works. Each subsequent year we have expanded the geography, chronology, and subjects of the books we publish and distribute, all the while building a strong backlist and "building a picture of America." 

The printing press Phil brought from Denver sits in the entry of our headquarters in Carlisle, Massachusetts as a reminder of the importance of building knowledge (apple-wood) with your own hands and making publishing a personal endeavor.