Short answers, pulled from the story.
The American Book Company was an educational book publisher in the United States that specialized in elementary, secondary, and college-level textbooks. It was formed in 1890 through the consolidation of four publishers: Van Antwerp, Bragg and Co., A.S. Barnes and Co., D. Appleton and Co., and Ivison, Blakeman and Co.
The American Book Company is best known for publishing the McGuffey Readers, a series that sold 120 million copies between 1836 and 1960. The readers were one of the most widely distributed schoolbook series in American history.
Litton Industries acquired the American Book Company in 1967. The company then operated as a division of Litton Educational Publishing, Inc. until it was sold to the International Thomson Organization in 1981.
The International Thomson Organization sold the American Book Company's K-12 assets to D.C. Heath and Company in 1981. Houghton Mifflin then acquired D.C. Heath and Company in 1995, so any remaining K-12 assets are now owned by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.
The American Writers Series was a 23-volume collection published by the American Book Company beginning in 1934 and continuing into the 1940s. Harry H. Clark served as general editor, and each volume featured representative selections with introductions, bibliographies, and notes.
Many of the college-level textbook rights held by American Book Company and Litton were sold to Van Nostrand Reinhold. Some titles remained under the Wadsworth imprint at Thomson, which is now Cengage Learning.