Appleton-Century-Crofts, Inc. was a division of the Meredith Publishing Company. It was a result of the merger of Appleton-Century Company with F.S. Crofts Co. in 1948. Prior to that The Century Company had merged with D. Appleton & Company in 1933. The Century Company and its subsequent incarnations published the New Century Dictionary. Eventually Meredith sold the majority of the company and the Appleton name to Prentice-Hall in 1973. Part of the company became part of Hawthorn Books and New Win Publishing. Source: Wikipedia (en)