Publisher
Centurion, 1899–1936
Born 8 December 1858 in London, England
Died 19 September 1936 in Fairfield, Connecticut
Buried Oak Lawn Cemetery
, Fairfield, Connecticut
Proposed by Russell Sturgis and Hamilton W. Mabie
Elected 1 April 1899 at age forty
Archivist’s Note: Father of George Platt Brett Jr.
Seconder of:
Century Memorial
It may be hoped that the favorable judgment of the American reading public, as expressed by George Platt Brett a decade ago—that it was becoming much better cultivated and was calling for books of finer quality—is destined to be justified. Active American manager for Macmillan’s during thirty-five years, he had ample opportunity for knowing. Brett, an Englishman by birth, made himself a part of the American literary community. His contacts with authors or prospective authors comprised Winston Churchill, Jack London, Marion Crawford, Owen Wister, Ida Tarbell, Zona Gale, Gertrude Atherton, Jacob Riis and Ernest Poole. To all he was helpful adviser and trusted friend. Although his publishing house was a foreign organization, he carried out the honorable American tradition of promoting the best in American literature which our native publishers of the past half-century established.
Alexander Dana Noyes
1937 Century Association Yearbook