Curated category
Book publishing companies of the United Kingdom
- RoutledgeGeorge Routledge published an unsuccessful guidebook titled The Beauties of Gilsland in 1836. He worked alongside his brother-in-law W. H.
- Hodder & StoughtonMatthew Hodder was fourteen years old when he began working for Messrs Jackson and Walford in the 1840s. This firm served as the official publisher for the…
- The Bodley HeadIn 1887, booksellers Elkin Mathews and John Lane opened a shop in London to trade in rare antiquarian volumes. The partners chose the name Bodley Head from a…
- HarperCollinsJames Harper and his brother John opened a small printing shop in New York City on the 1st of January 1817. They operated under the name J & J Harper before…
- Palgrave MacmillanThe year 2000 marked a pivotal moment in British publishing history. St. Martin's Press from the United States joined forces with Macmillan Publishers based…
- Penguin BooksAllen Lane stood at Exeter St Davids station in 1934 and saw a display of cheap, poorly printed paperbacks. He realized that high-quality literature was…
- Hamish HamiltonJamie Hamilton opened a book publishing house in 1931. He chose the name Hamish for his firm. This choice reflected his own mixed heritage as half-Scot and…
- Taylor & FrancisRichard Taylor opened his first publishing house in 1798. He focused on scientific and technical subjects like agriculture, chemistry, and engineering.
- Serpent's TailPete Ayrton established Serpent's Tail in London during 1986. The new firm focused immediately on translated European crime fiction.
- Cambridge University PressKing Henry VIII granted letters patent to the University of Cambridge in 1534. This document established what is now known as Cambridge University Press.
- Thames & HudsonWalter Neurath stood in a London office in 1949 and declared his goal to build a museum without walls. He had fled Vienna in 1938 after the Nazi annexation…
- Manchester University PressJames Tait established the Manchester University Press in 1904 as a Publications Committee of the Victoria University of Manchester.
- BBC BooksBBC Books began its life in the 1980s as a division of the British Broadcasting Corporation. For decades, it operated under names like BBC Consumer…
- Continuum International Publishing GroupThe year 1999 marked the birth of Continuum International Publishing Group. This new entity emerged from a merger between Cassell and the Continuum…
- Smith, Elder & Co.George Smith and Alexander Elder opened their doors in 1826. The year marked the start of a partnership that would shape British publishing for decades.
- Ashgate PublishingAshgate Publishing opened its doors in 1967 within the quiet town of Farnham, Surrey. The company began as a small operation focused on social sciences and…
- Everyman's LibraryLondon publisher Joseph Malaby Dent conceived Everyman's Library in 1905 with a singular ambition. He wanted to build a library of one thousand volumes that…
- Penguin GroupThe year 1935 marked the birth of Penguin Books in England. A man named Allen Lane launched a new kind of book with a simple goal.
- Macmillan PublishersDaniel and Alexander Macmillan opened their doors in London during 1843. The two brothers arrived from the Isle of Arran in Scotland to build a business that…
- Osprey PublishingIn 1968, a small subsidiary company called Osprey emerged from the Brooke Bond Tea Company. This British firm began by including military aircraft cards with…
- Berghahn BooksMarion Berghahn established a new publishing house in 1994. The company began operations with a clear mission to serve the humanities and social sciences.
- Casemate PublishersThe year 2001 marked a turning point for military history publishing in North America. Combined Publishing sold its US operations to the Perseus Books Group…
- Virgin BooksRichard Branson established Virgin Books in the late 1970s as a new division of his record company. The venture began quietly before expanding into book…
- Hogarth PressIn 1917, Leonard Woolf and Virginia Woolf purchased a handpress for £19. They set up the machine in their dining room at Hogarth House in Richmond.
- Allen & UnwinSir Stanley Unwin purchased a controlling interest in George Allen & Co. on the 4th of August 1914. This transaction merged two firms into what became known…
- Pen and Sword BooksThe Barnsley Chronicle newspaper published a weekly series of articles about crash sites in the Dark Peak area of the Peak District National Park.
- Liverpool University PressThe year 1899 marked the birth of Liverpool University Press. It stands as the third oldest university press in England, following only Oxford and Cambridge.