Literary Businesses: the British Publishing Industry and Its
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Literary Businesses Literary Businesses: The British Publishing Industry and its Business Practices 1843–1900 Marrisa Dominique Joseph Submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements of the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy 1 Literary Businesses Statement of Originality I, Marrisa Dominique Joseph, confirm that the research included within this thesis is my own work or that where it has been carried out in collaboration with, or supported by others, that this is duly acknowledged below and my contribution indicated. Previously published material is also acknowledged below. I attest that I have exercised reasonable care to ensure that the work is original, and does not to the best of my knowledge break any UK law, infringe any third party’s copyright or other Intellectual Property Right, or contain any confidential material. I accept that the College has the right to use plagiarism detection software to check the electronic version of the thesis. I confirm that this thesis has not been previously submitted for the award of a degree by this or any other university. The copyright of this thesis rests with the author and no quotation from it or information derived from it may be published without the prior written consent of the author. Signature: M Joseph Date: 10th March 2016 2 Literary Businesses Abstract The Victorian publishing industry has been frequently analysed, debated and discussed within the fields of book history, publishing history, media studies and literary studies, yet there is a gap within academic business research on the publishing industry from the approach of organisational studies, in particular from the perspective of new institutionalism. This research examines how the business practices of organisations in the British publishing industry – which I refer to as literary businesses – developed in the Victorian era, by exploring the formation of these practices in relation to wider societal influences. My research analyses how authors, publishers and literary agents instigated and reproduced business practices in the industry, examining why these practices became accepted and legitimised. This historically oriented research is constructed around primary and archival sources, in particular trade periodicals, personal letters and business documents. 3 Literary Businesses Table of Contents Acknowledgements…………………………………………………………………… 6 Introduction..................................................................................................................... 7 Victorian Publishing…………………………………………………………….. 8 Institutional Routines and the Publishing Industry…………………………. 11 Definitions………………………………………………………………………... 14 Structure of Thesis………………………………………………………………. 17 Chapter 1 Literature Review……………………………………………………………………... 19 Literary Culture…………………………………………………………………. 20 Book History: A Discipline from a Different Perspective…………………… 28 The New Institutionalist Perspective on Organisation Studies……………. 34 Professionalisation in Victorian Britain……………………………………….. 44 Conclusion……………………………………………………………………….. 51 Chapter 2 Narrative Conversations in Print: A Methodology………………………………. 53 Social Constructionist Approach to Organisation Studies…………………. 53 History & Historical Sources…………………………………………………… 57 Exploring the Sources…………………………………………………………… 61 Source Criticism…………………………………………………………………. 67 Why These Literary Businesses? ........................................................................ 72 Limitations……………………………………………………………………….. 74 Conclusion………………………………………………………………………... 77 Chapter 3 Authorship: The Development and Legitimation of a Literary Profession 79 From Patronage to Professionals: The Rise of the Victorian Author……….. 80 Payments & Profit: Copyright and the Effects on Professional Authorship……………………………………………………………………….. 84 Gentlemanly Business: Authors and Gentlemen’s Clubs…………………… 95 First Person Anonymous: the Victorian Woman Author……………………. 103 Conclusion………………………………………………………………………... 116 Chapter 4 Commercialising on Copyrights: The Emergence of the Victorian Literary Agent……………………………………………………………………………………. 118 Origins of a Literary Middle Man……………………………………………… 119 Why Did the Literary Agent Emerge? ………………………………………... 125 A. P. Watt: The Most Notable Victorian Agent…………………………….... 128 Professionalisation of the Literary Agency…………………………………… 137 4 Literary Businesses Narratives on the Literary Agent………………………………………………. 148 Conclusion………………………………………………………………………... 156 Chapter 5 Publishing Power Houses: Publishers and the Mass Marketplace…………….. 159 Trade Transformations: From Booksellers to Publishers……………………. 160 Supplying Literature to the Masses: Mudie and the Circulating Library….. 172 Railways and Reprints: The Beginnings of the Paperback………………. 182 Conclusion………………………………………………………………………... 193 Chapter 6 The Macmillans: A Leviathan House………………………………………………. 195 The Origins of a Victorian Academic House………………………………..... 196 The Tobacco Parliaments: Strategic Friendships and The Macmillan’s Magazine…………………………………………………………………………... 207 Club Dinners: The Macmillans and The Garrick…………………………… 214 Conclusion……………………………………………………………………….. 221 Chapter 7 Protecting the Future: Professional Associations and the Net Book Agreements…………………………………………………………………………….. 223 The Professional Association…………………………………………………… 224 The Fight For Authors Rights: The Origin of the Society of Authors……… 225 Retail Price Maintenance: The Origins of the Net Book Agreement………. 237 Rallying Together: The Origins of the Publishers’ Association……………. 252 Conclusion……………………………………………………………………….. 258 Conclusion……………………………………………………………………………... 260 Overview of the Thesis…………………………………………………………. 260 Contributions……………………………………………………………………. 267 Limitations Within the Thesis…………………………………………………. 271 Directions for Future Research………………………………………………… 272 References……………………………………………………………………………… 276 Archives…………………………………………………………………………... 276 Sources……………………………………………………………………………. 277 Appendix A - Facsimile of Menu Card 9th December 1880……………………… 294 Side 1……………………………………………………………………………… 294 Side 2…………………………………………………………………………….. 295 Appendix B - Facsimile of Menu Card as published in Philip Gilbert Hamerton: An Autobiography…………………………………….. 296 5 Literary Businesses Acknowledgements I would like to thank Queen Mary, University of London for their financial assistance which has given me the opportunity to undertake a doctorate. I have been fortunate to receive a scholarship from the university, alongside a grant from the Queen Mary Postgraduate Fund to do this research. I would also like to thank the staff in the Business School at Queen Mary, in particular my supervisors Professor Michael Rowlinson and Professor Sean McCartney, who have been instrumental in guiding, shaping and supporting me in writing this thesis. Doing this research has been a rewarding, challenging, sometimes frustrating yet illuminating experience. I have been blessed in having the love and support of my friends and family every step of the way and I am very grateful for their care and dedication. In particular I thank my parents who have always supported me in my education and have helped me to realise my aspirations. I especially thank my mum for being an ear for my ideas, proofreader, editor and shoulder to cry on; all your help has been much appreciated! And to David, thank you for your patience, kindness and love, which has always kept, and will continue to keep, me going; I love you all very much. 6 Literary Businesses Introduction This thesis explores the business practices of the British publishing industry, examining the period 1843–1900, the year the Macmillan publishing house was founded to the establishment (and now defunct) Net Book Agreement (NBA). My research focuses on how some business practices became accepted, and why they were legitimised during this period, from a new institutionalist perspective to organisational studies. The publishing industry at this time went through dynamic changes, which have been discussed in studies on the history of the publishing industry. However, this thesis argues that a deeper exploration of how business practices formed in this industry is needed, as there is little dialogue that explores why certain practices were accepted as an important aspect of the history of this industry, as some of these practices can be seen in the industry today. Recently, researchers in this field have commented that there is an over reliance to use the approach of new institutionalism to focus on large scale inter- organisational and societal transformations, somewhat disregarding the experience of social actors and the connection between their lived experiences and how this structures institutional behaviour.1 There is an increasing dialogue regarding the influence of institutionalism in organisation studies, most noticeably by Paul DiMaggio, Walter Powell, Roy Suddaby and Thomas Lawrence. There has been a 1 W. Richard Scott, "Approaching Adulthood: the Maturing of Institutional Theory," Theory and Society 37, no. 5 (2008), 428; Thomas Lawrence, Roy Suddaby, and Bernard Leca, "Institutional Work: Refocusing Institutional Studies of Organization," Journal of Management Inquiry 20, no. 1 (2011), 52; Thomas B. Lawrence, Bernard Leca, and Tammar B. Zilber, "Institutional Work: Current Research, New Directions and Overlooked Issues," Organization Studies 34, no. 8 (2013), 1024 7 Literary Businesses call from these researchers to explore how cultural and societal norms are reflected in organisational fields and what conditions gave rise to rationalised