The company was established in 1967 by Phelps Dewey, an executive with Chronicle Publishing Company, then-publisher of the San Francisco Chronicle. In 1999 it was bought by Nion McEvoy, great-grandson of M. H. de Young, founder of the Chronicle, from other family members who were selling off the company's assets. At the time Chronicle Books had a staff of 130 and published 300 books per year, with a catalog of more than 1,000 books. In 2000, McEvoy set up the McEvoy Group as a holding company. In 2008, Chronicle acquired Handprint Books.