Stanley Unwin (publisher)

• 1. A Plaque in Lewisham

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  A blue plaque at 13 Handen Road in Lee, Lewisham marks the birthplace of Sir Stanley Unwin, born there on the 19th of December 1884. The plaque was placed after his death in October 1968. Between those two dates, he built George Allen & Unwin into one of Britain's most consequential publishing houses. The firm brought philosophers, political thinkers, scientists, and fantasy writers to British readers. How did a man from a printing family come to hold such influence? And what drove him, time and again, to bet on writers that others might have passed over?

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• 2. The Unwin Name

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  Jacob Unwin founded the printing firm Unwin Brothers, placing books and printing at the center of the family's identity. Jacob's son Edward Unwin was born in 1840 and worked as a printer. Edward lived until 1933, long enough to see his son Stanley become one of the most significant publishers in Britain. Stanley's mother was Elizabeth, born a Spicer. His step-uncle Thomas Fisher Unwin ran his own publishing firm. Thomas was the youngest stepbrother of Stanley's father Edward. It was at Thomas Fisher Unwin's firm that Stanley started his career in publishing. Stanley's niece, the children's author Ursula Moray Williams, would extend the family's connection to literature into a further generation. In 1914, Unwin stepped beyond his step-uncle's firm, purchasing a controlling stake in George Allen and Sons and establishing George Allen & Unwin.

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• 3. A Consequential List

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  Bertrand Russell found a home at Allen & Unwin, as did Sidney Webb, R. H. Tawney, and Mahatma Gandhi. The company found success publishing this group of authors. In the 1930s, Lancelot Hogben placed two books with the firm that both became bestsellers: Mathematics for the Million and Science for the Citizen. In 1950, Thor Heyerdahl's The Kon-Tiki Expedition also became a bestseller on the Allen & Unwin list. When a manuscript arrived that did not resemble any of these titles, Unwin reached for an unusual method to assess its worth.

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• 4. A Shilling for The Hobbit

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  J. R. R. Tolkien submitted The Hobbit to Stanley Unwin in 1936. Unwin's response was unusual for the publishing world. He gave the manuscript to his ten-year-old son Rayner and paid him a shilling to write a reader's report. Rayner's verdict was favorable. That response convinced Unwin to publish the book, and The Hobbit became a success. Unwin then approached Tolkien for a sequel. What followed was The Lord of the Rings, a work that became a bestseller in its own right. Tolkien had also wanted to publish The Silmarillion with Allen & Unwin. The firm turned it down for being 'too Celtic.' It was finally published after Tolkien's death by Allen & Unwin in 1977. Beyond his editorial decisions, Unwin held personal convictions that ran deep. They had led him, years before The Hobbit arrived on his desk, to take an unusual position during the First World War.

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• 5. War, Conscience, and Trade

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  When the First World War came, Unwin chose not to fight. As a conscientious objector, he joined the Voluntary Aid Detachment. His pacifism was not a wartime stance but a conviction he held for the whole of his life. Throughout his career, he was active in the Publishers Association, the International Publishers Association, and the British Council. These were organizations at the center of the book trade. He received the KCMG, the honor that made him Sir Stanley Unwin. He died on the 13th of October 1968. His working life had extended beyond individual manuscripts to the organizations that governed how books moved through the world.

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