The beautiful books of D&M Publishers will find new life on the shelves, with the announcement late yesterday that B.C.-based Harbour Publishing will buy the bankrupt publisher's flagship imprint.

"I have been admiring Douglas & McIntyre since we started publishing books together 40 years ago," said Howard White, who owns Harbour with his partner Mary, in a statement. "I just felt if there was a role for Harbour to play in keeping that great program going, we had to do it."

Last week, D&M's Greystone Books was sold to Heritage House, which means the publisher's two major imprints up for sale will stay in the province.

Scott McIntyre, one of D&M's cofounders, said in a statement he was pleased that both imprints found local new homes.

"It is a bonus that both will remain blessed by superior national sales and distribution support. In perilous times for independent publishers everywhere, this is very good news for our writers, for their books, for the legacy of D&M's forty-year publishing record, and for Canada," he said.

Douglas & McIntyre's roster includes about 500 titles by authors such as Douglas Coupland, Will Ferguson, and Wayson Choy.

In their statement, the Whites said they intended to run Douglas & McIntyre as a separate company with its own editorial vision. HarperCollins will continue as the imprint's distributor.

It's still unclear whether the new owners will pay out outstanding royalties owed to some of the imprint's authors.

"That's the $64,000 question. We're going to do everything we can for them, but it will have to be worked out through negotiation, on a case-by-case basis," White told the Globe and Mail in an interview.

D&M Publishers filed for bankruptcy protection in October. Its subsidiary New Society Publishers was not affected by the filing.

Robyn Smith reports for The Tyee.