| Status | Defunct |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1880 |
| Founder | Sir John Benn |
| Defunct | 1987  |
| Successor | Extel |
| Country of origin | United Kingdom |
| Publication types | Books, magazines |
Ernest Benn Limited was a British publishing house.
| Status | Defunct |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1880 |
| Founder | Sir John Benn |
| Defunct | 1987 |
| Successor | Extel |
| Country of origin | United Kingdom |
| Publication types | Books, magazines |
Ernest Benn Limited was a British publishing house.
Founded by Sir John Benn as Benn Brothers in 1880, it started as the publisher of the trade journal, The Cabinet Maker. [1]
After Sir John was elected to Parliament in 1892, he passed control of the firm to his eldest son Ernest, who became managing director and started publishing more trade journals, such as Gas World, the Fruit Grower and the Electrician, as well as "technical books for each specialized public". [2] In 1923, Ernest changed the name of the firm to Ernest Benn Limited. [1] However, the name 'Benn Brothers' was subsequently revived with the formation of Benn Brothers plc. [3]
Benn hired Victor Gollancz in 1921. [4] Gollancz published a very successful series of art books. He later recruited the writers Edith Nesbit, Robert W. Service and H. G. Wells.[ citation needed ]
Thanks to Gollancz's gifts as a publisher, the company's turnover increased 100-fold in seven years. But Benn was unwilling to cede control of the company to him. Moreover, Benn had moved to the political right and Gollancz to the left. Gollancz left the firm in 1927 to form his own firm, Victor Gollancz Limited. [5]
The firm published a number of books for children and young people, including The Story of the Amulet (1927) by E. Nesbit, Moominsummer Madness (1955) by Tove Jansson, Donkey Days (1977) by Helen Cresswell, and Sybil and the Blue Rabbit (1979) by Jane Johnson. [6]
In addition to individual books, Ernest Benn Limited was known for a number of series:
Ernest Benn Ltd, along with Benn Brothers plc and the other members of the Benn Group of Companies, was taken over by the Extel Group in June 1983. [50] [51] Extel was taken over by United Newspapers in 1987. [50] [52]
Beacon Press is an American left-wing non-profit book publisher. Founded in 1854 by the American Unitarian Association, it is currently a department of the Unitarian Universalist Association. It is known for publishing authors such as James Baldwin, Mary Oliver, Martin Luther King Jr., and Viktor Frankl, as well as The Pentagon Papers.
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Ernest Benn Limited’s Sixpenny Library is a complete series of reference books published in the late 1920s and early 1930s. The library included over one hundred and eighty volumes. The series was edited by William Rose, who solicited current authorities in such areas as history, literature, religion, psychology, science, and economics. Some contributing authors were Hilaire Belloc, Maurice Baring, J.B. Priestley, Sir Robert Baden-Powell, Sir Oliver Lodge, S.V. Keeling and Sir Ernest Benn himself. The Spectator, in November 1927, after announcing some of the latest additions to "Messrs Benn's excellent Sixpenny Library" devoted a further paragraph to his contribution on Trade. Partial lists of the books published in the series can be found here and here.
New Mermaids is a series of critical editions of important English plays. They were published from the early 1960s by Ernest Benn Limited and later by A & C Black. They feature lengthy introductions and annotated texts in modern spellings. Most New Mermaids editions are of English Renaissance plays, but the series also includes some Restoration drama and plays by Oscar Wilde.
Frederick Abbott Stokes was an American publisher, founder and long-time head of the eponymous Frederick A. Stokes Company.
John Leofric Stocks DSO was a British philosopher and was briefly Vice Chancellor of the University of Liverpool in 1937.
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Studio Vista was a British publishing company founded in 1961 that specialised in leisure and design topics. In the 1960s, the firm published works by a number of authors who went on to be noted designers.
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George Newnes Ltd is a British publisher. The company was founded in 1891 by George Newnes (1851–1910), considered a founding father of popular journalism. Newnes published such magazines and periodicals as Tit-Bits, The Wide World Magazine, The Captain, The Strand Magazine, The Grand Magazine, John O'London's Weekly, Sunny Stories for Little Folk, Woman's Own, and the "Practical" line of magazines overseen by editor Frederick J. Camm. Long after the founder's death, Newnes was known for publishing ground-breaking consumer magazines such as Nova.
Sun Books was an Australian publisher of paperback books, founded in Melbourne in 1965 by Geoffrey Dutton, Max Harris and Brian Stonier. Sun's three founders were all former employees of Penguin Australia who, having grown frustrated by the latter's tepid interest in home-grown content, had resigned in order to establish the imprint, envisioned as a publisher of “quality paperbacks for the sophisticated Australian reader”, and a platform for local literary talent. Prior to its acquisition by Macmillan in 1981, Sun had published over 330 titles, of which 187 were first editions.
Watts & Co. was a British publishing house which aimed to promote rationalism and secular education and "publish free thought books at affordable prices". The firm had a close relationship with the Rationalist Press Association and many of books it published were imprinted "Issued for the Rationalist Press Association Limited".
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