The publishing firm Chatto and Windus commenced when Andrew Chatto purchased the London publishing house founded in 1855 by John Camden Hotten following Hotten's death in 1873. W. E. Windus joined Chatto as a partner, and the firm established itself as a highly ethical and reputable publisher of quality fiction and literature. Among the many leading British and American authors published by Chatto and Windus were Charles Swinburne, Samuel Clements, Arnold Bennett, Aldous Huxley, H. G. Wells, William Faulkner and Iris Murdoch.
The Hogarth Press merged with Chatto and Windus in 1946, adding to the firm's reputation as a publisher of new authors and experimental writing. An extensive reprint program was undertaken in the 1960s, when the Zodiac Library and Landmark Library were introduced, to publish reprints of British and American novels. The firm purchased a children's list from Oliver and Boyd in 1968.
In 1969 Chatto and Windus and the publisher Jonathan Cape merged under a holding company, Chatto and Jonathan Cape, each house keeping a separate identity. The company became Cape, Chatto and Bodley Head following the purchase of The Bodley Head in 1973. For the period 1982 to 1987 Virago was also part of this group.
Random House purchased Chatto and Windus when it bought the publishing group, including Jonathan Cape and The Bodley Head, in 1987. Chatto and Windus continued as an imprint of Random House.
