George Bell and Sons (London: 1873-1910) George Bell (London: 1839-1856) Bell and Daldy (London: 1856-1873) George Bell and Sons Ltd. (London: 1910-1977) Bell and Hyman Ltd. (London: 1977-1989)

In 1839 George Bell founded a publishing ence. There he might have stayed had he not firm that endured, in its modest way, for a cen­ been exposed to wider horizons at the local gram­ tury and a half. In his memoir of his father, mar school. The Reverend James Tate, the head­ George Bell Publisher (1924), Edward Bell re­ master, was a classics scholar of wide reputation marked that the family firm was of "moderate who tutored Bell's literary tastes. When Bell left size, of no great antiquity, and with no preten­ school at age sixteen, he cherished scholarly aspi­ sions to any phenomenal successes in the book­ rations and an ambition to do more than run the world." Yet, at George Bell's death in 1890, the Ath­ local bookshop. After a couple of years assisting enaeum referred to him as "one of the most his father, Bell left Richmond to test his mettle successful publishers of the latter half of this cen­ in the London publishing world. tury." Bell specialized in the educational book As an assistant at the wholesale booksellers trade and his sons carried on the tradition. The Whittaker and Company of Ave Maria Lane, Bell firm was not glamorous or innovative, although made some of the connections that would deter­ on occasion it became entwined with some of the mine the course of his own career as an indepen­ more sensational characters in the London pub­ dent bookseller/publisher. Whittaker specialized lishing world. Bell's inclinations tended toward in the schoolbook trade; during the six years Bell the more solid side of the literary marketplace: spent with the firm he learned a great deal about school and university textbooks, theological the educational book market and decided to base works, and reprints of European classics. By fol­ his future on his contemporaries' passion for for­ lowing his instincts Bell established the founda­ mal and informal education. Bell's first ventures tion that would ensure the firm's longevity. into publishing took the form of writing shilling Born in 1814, Bell was the eldest son of Mat­ guides to subjects such as chess, cricket, angling, thew Bell, a bookseller, stationer, bookbinder, and architecture. They appeared under the im­ and printer who now and then published manu­ print either of his employer's firm or that of scripts that came his way in the Yorkshire town Simpkin, another wholesale book dealer. of Richmond. It was in his father's shop that In 1839, having made a little profit on his George Bell gained his first professional experi- handbooks and having some prosperous relatives 22 DLB 106 George Bell and Sons

who were willing to finance his first enterprise, Wood's creditors, who took all the capital Wood he set up shop at 1 Bouverie Street as an educa­ had brought in, plus a share of the profit and in­ tional book supplier. Armed with a letter of recom­ terest-£895 all told. mendation from Tate, who by then was canon of More satisfactory was Bell's friendship with St. Paul's, Bell canvassed the academic publishers the brothers Alexander and Daniel Macmillan, of England's two major university towns. He per­ who launched their bookselling business in Lon­ suaded the firms of Deighton, Grant, Hall, Steven­ don just as Bell began his. Bell published Alexan­ son, and Johnson of Cambridge and Parker, Vin­ der Macmillan's anonymous biography of Percy cent, and Slatter of Oxford to use him as their Bysshe Shelley, which included a selection of Shel­ London agent. In his first catalogue in 1840 Bell ley's poems; Macmillan bore part of the expense announced that his premises would henceforth of publication. Through Macmillan, Bell made be the London depot for supplying university his first connections with the Scottish educational books to serious readers in the general public. milieu, resulting in a series of six schoolbooks by In establishing a secure source of income Scottish schoolmasters. After the Macmillan broth­ from the retail trade as he took his first steps ers moved to Cambridge in 1843, the close rela­ into the more turbulent world of publishing, Bell tionship between the firms persisted. Bell became followed a practice widespread among his peers. Macmillan's representative in London, and the His first independent publications, which ap­ firms jointly published a theological book by peared in 1840, also displayed his cautious inclina­ Hugh Miller in 1844. Alexander Macmillan sig­ tions. An edition of Cicero's De Senectute with ex­ naled the depth of his regard when he invited planatory notes and translations and a gardening Bell to accompany the family at Daniel handbook were the first to carry the imprint Macmillan's funeral in 1857. In the next genera­ "George Bell, I Bouverie Street." Classical texts tion, Edward Bell and Daniel Macmillan's eldest and practical guidebooks were to dominate the son, Frederick, were friends. Bell lists in years to come. Bell also had a keen Another early friend whose association wid­ eye for up-and-corning public enthusiasms: in ened Bell's list was Henry Cole. A man of diverse 1840, for instance, he published a series of rail­ interests, Cole was the savior of Britain's official way guides to take advantage of the first burst of documents, which he organized in the first Pub­ railway tourism. His "Railway Companions" com­ lic Record Office. He was also a founder of the bined practical information about timetables and South Kensington Museum and an adviser on cul­ fares with descriptions of towns and historic sites tural matters to Prince Albert. Cole's interest in along the route. the practical application of art led him to project Within his first year as a bookseller and pub­ a series of illustrated handbooks intended to di­ lisher Bell outgrew his original premises and rect attention to Britain's architectural heritage. rented more expansive quarters at 186 Fleet He chose the pseudonym "Felix Surnrnerly" for Street. He had a personal reason for moving as his works, the first of which was a guide to the well: he wanted to secure suitable accommoda­ art treasures and grounds of Hampton Court, tions for his bride, Hannah Simpson Bell, a neigh­ published by Hugh Cunningham in 1841. It was bor from his hometown whom he married in a great success, and the second edition carne out 1840. His son Edward, who was to lead the firm in 1843 under the George Bell imprint. Bell also into the twentieth century, was born in 1844 and published Cole's A Handbook for Holidays (1842) spent the first five years of his life in the Fleet and The National Gallery (1843), illustrated hand­ Street house. somely by artists such as J. B. Pyne and David During the 1840s Bell's literary circle wid­ Cox and, for the more modest pictures, by Cole ened and his business connections became more himself. Cole cultivated another of his pet proj­ complex. After a heartening success with Mrs. ects, his interest in skilled trades for women, in Jane Loudon's The First Book of Botany (1841), these productions: the illustrations were en­ which sold nearly nine hundred copies, Bell went graved by a group of women he had encouraged into partnership with Henry Wood, another neigh­ to learn woodcutting. Through his friendship bor from the Richmond days, in 1842. Wood had with Cole, Bell began to gain a reputation for a talent for writing humorous handbooks on card books on art, architecture, and archaeology­ games; he also had a penchant for playing those particularly those he produced in collaboration games, and frequently lost. The partnership with joseph Cundall, another of Cole's proteges, lasted only a few months; Bell was left to face who was among the first to use photography in 23 George Bell and Sons DLB 106 published books. Examples of Ornament, which Cundall produced for Bell in 1855, was illus­ trated by twenty-four plates depicting ornaments from the Crystal Palace and museums in Lon­ don. (Later Cundall applied his interest in photo­ graphic reproduction to The Great Works of Raph­ ael Sanzio of Urbino, which Bell and Daldy pub­ lished in 1866.) All the time he was expanding the publish­ ing side of his business, Bell was still carrying on the retail side from his Fleet Street premises. He was a member of the Booksellers' Association, which aimed to limit the business to licensed book­ sellers who would agree to sell books at the pub­ lished prices; the publishers would in turn pro­ tect the licensed booksellers by boycotting unli­ censed ones. Their efforts to mitigate the precari­ ousness of the publishing and bookselling busi­ ness led to a collision with the champions of free trade in literature. At a time when liberalism was ascendant and laissez-faire the watchword of eco­ nomic orthodoxy, any attempt to regulate the mar­ ketplace was bound to set up a public outcry. George Bell, age thirty-seven The question of free access to literature and knowledge became an emotional issue, and was in­ flamed by the well-publicized and spirited objec­ Bell to persist with his scheme. To advance the tions of authors and intellectuals such as Charles pace of publication he sought out his old employ­ Dickens, John Stuart Mill, and Thomas Carlyle. ers, Whittaker and Company, to join him in the The opposition overcame the ability of the Book­ venture. The Grammar School Classics appeared sellers' Association to enforce its licensing regula­ in rapid succession throughout the 1850s. His am­ tions, and the society disbanded in 1852. Four de­ bition and confidence increasing, Bell expanded cades later, Edward Bell was to lead a similar, his project to include more sophisticated classics and more successful, effort with the Net Book texts for university and upper-form students, the Agreement. Biblioteca Classica. Both series were edited by Although Bell was dabbling in many issues A. J. Macleane and George Long. The sales and a variety of publishing enterprises, educa­ from the most popular books in the series, tional books for schools or private self-im­ F. A. Paley's edition of the works of Aeschylus provement were his main interest. Beginning (1855) and J. Conington's edition of the works of with his friendship with his old schoolmaster, Virgil (1866), fully justified Bell's enthusiasm. Tate, and Tate's son James, who had succeeded Two periodicals reinforced the educational his father as headmaster of Bell's old school in character of the firm. Bell published the journal Richmond, Bell cultivated a wide network of head­ of Education for professional teachers from 184 7 masters and solicited their advice about gaps in until 1854, when it became independent. In­ the textbook supply. An early and ultimately prof­ tended for laymen, Notes and Queries was initially itable project was a series of school classics that edited in 1850 by W. J. Thoms, librarian to the would have sufficient English notes to explain ref­ House of Lords. Its weekly issues sold well, and erences yet not do the pupil's translation work there was great demand for the half-yearly vol­ for him. Schoolmasters welcomed the idea, but umes as well. In 1863 it expanded into its own the difficulty of finding well-established scholars quarters. who had sufficient leisure to do the work delayed Through his classics series and periodicals the series. When the first volume, an edition of Bell formed lasting friendships with some of the Xenophon's Anabasis by the Reverend J. F. Mac­ most important scholars and educators of the Michael, came out in 1847, its eager reception in time, and his reputation as a publisher of reputa­ almost all the schools teaching Greek encouraged ble educational works solidified. Bell's ideas for 24 DLB 106 George Bell and Sons

textbook innovation endeared him to many of graphically as well. In 1850 he had opened a book­ the generation of reforming headmasters, such shop for Brighton College, chiefly to provide an as William Haig Brown of Charterhouse, B. H. occupation for his brother, John; but it was not Kennedy of Shrewsbury, and E. W. Benson, fu­ profitable, and he had soon given it up. In 1854 ture archbishop of Canterbury. Through these the publishing firm of J. and J. J . Deighton of men and their clerical colleagues Bell expanded Cambridge came on the market. Bell had acted his catalogue of published sermons, which he as the London agent for Deighton since his earli­ had begun to publish in the mid 1840s. Among est days as an independent businessman. Acquir­ the most successful of her theological books were ing this old, established concern made Bell one those of the popular preacher W. Farquhar of the major educational publishers in Britain. Hook, dean of Chichester. One of the most often He made W. Wright Smith resident partner in reprinted of Hook's works, The Christian Taught by the Cambridge firm, which was renamed Deigh­ the Church Services (1847-1848), was actually writ­ ton, Bell and Company. Even so, Bell was ten by his wife and edited by the clergyman. obliged to make frequent journeys to Cambridge. The Reverend Alfred Gatty, vicar of Ec­ He was becoming personally overextended and clesfield, also offered his sermons for publication therefore entered into partnership with Freder­ by Bell in 1847. What recommended Bell's firm ick R. Daldy in 1856. Bell and Daldy cemented to the vicar was, once again, the Richmond connec­ their union with a new title-page symbol, the bell tion: Gatty's wife, Margaret, had been a child­ and anchor. The anchor derived from the an­ hood friend of Bell. Her father, the Reverend chor symbol used by the Venetian printer Aldus Dr. Alexander John Scott, was famous as the chap­ Manutius, whom Daldy fancied as an ancestor. lain who was present when Nelson died at Trafal­ Bell's acquisition in 1854 of the Aldine Edition of gar. Dr. Scott was also a bibliophile who had British Poets series from the firm of William Pick­ haunted William Bell's bookshop when George ering, which also used Aldus's symbol, further jus­ Bell was growing up. The association between tified the logic of Bell and Daldy's logo. As it the Bell and Gatty families, which was to extend began to republish the Aldine editions, poetry be­ over two more generations, brought Bell into the came another of Bell and Daldy's subspecialties. expanding realm of children's literature. Marga­ One of the most noteworthy volumes in the se­ ret Gatty proved to be a writer whose delicate fan­ ries was William Morris's early epic, The Defence cies enchanted children from the time Bell pub­ of Guenevere (1858). lished her first book, The Fairy Godmother, in In addition to the Aldine Poets series, Bell 1851. She was Bell's most prominent children's au­ and Daldy published the scholarly and humorous thor until her daughter, Juliana Horatia Ewing, verses of the academics C. S. Calverley and outshone her in this department. The series that established Gatty's reputa­ George Otto Trevelyan. In the late 1850s Bell tion was Parables from Nature, which began in and Daldy began to publish the popular didactic 1855. In these little stories she adorned her im­ lyrics of Adelaide Anne Procter, a protegee of pressive knowledge of botany with imaginative em­ Dickens. Her first two volumes of poetry sold broidery and infused the whole with the Chris­ very well: Legends and Lyrics (1858-1861) was still tian spirit that was never absent from her work. being republished by the firm in 1913. Even so, be­ Mrs. Gatty illustrated the first few volumes, but cause of his professional and personal connec­ for subsequent volumes and later editions Bell tions to theologians and his own fervent commit­ commissioned illustrations from Holman Hunt, ment to the Church of England, Bell refused to Edward Burne-Jones, and John Millais. Parables publish the verses that reflected Procter's conver­ from Nature was a perennially popular series into sion to Roman Catholicism just before her death the 1920s. It was translated into French, Italian, in 1864. An even more popular poet of the domes­ German, Russian, Danish, and Swedish. Fittingly, tic virtues, Coventry Patmore, entrusted his work since Mrs. Gatty took her first inspiration from to Bell and Daldy, though by his own choice he Hans Christian Andersen, the Danes were particu­ published it at his own expense. Two other popu­ larly enthusiastic about her "parables." lar Victorian poets whose work Bell and Daldy With children's literature, art, and architec­ published from time to time were Andrew Lang ture added to his basic interest in educational and the future poet laureate Robert Bridges. Gift­ and theological publishing, Bell's business was di­ book anthologies usually brought sure sales: Bell versifying. By the mid 1850s it was expanding geo- and Daldy reaped large profits from its poetry 25 George Bell and Sons DLB 106

books for children, which soon saturated the ele­ Though prospering, Bell and Daldy were in­ mentary school market. debted to their stationers Spalding and Hodge. In­ Bell and David Bogue had formed an agree­ debted to the same firm, but on a much greater ment in their early days to act as each other's exec­ scale, was the flamboyant impresario of publish­ utors, and when Bogue died in 1860 Bell was ing, Alexander Strahan. Perhaps because Spal­ able to acquire the British rights to Webster's Dictio­ ding had a stake in the prosperity of both firms, nary from Bogue's estate. Henceforth, English he persuaded Bell and Daldy to make Strahan and foreign-language dictionaries would become their retail distributor after they gave up the prominent features of Bell and Daldy's cata­ Fleet Street outlet. The result was to add Bell logues. and Daldy to Strahan's string of nervous credi­ Bell and his partner Daldy were casting tors. In addition to what he owed Spalding and about for further investment opportunities when Hodge, Strahan began to accrue debts to Bell the extensive properties of Henry Bohn came on and Daldy as he sold their books but failed to the market in 1864. Bohn's "Libraries" of more pass on the profits. Because they relied on than six hundred works, including copyrights, Strahan to sell their books, Bell and Daldy · had plates, and stock, represented a more ambitious to keep on supplying him with them; their expansion than the partners had originally envis­ chances of recovering the money he already aged. Daldy was apparently more sanguine about owed them hinged on Strahan's future success. investing than was the cautious Bell. In this case, This predicament came to a head in 1869, at a Daldy's flair for financial juggling proved itself as time when George Bell was ill and frequently ab­ he persuaded the Clowes printing company and sent from the office. Without the cautious Bell to the stationers Spalding and Hodge to lend part act as a brake on his impetuousness, Daldy of the thirty-five thousand pounds the acquisi­ bound the firm's financial future even more tions entailed. Soon Bell and Daldy presided tightly to that of Strahan: anxious to disentan­ over a much larger company with an expanded gle themselves from Strahan's financial snare, staff, which included Spalding's son, Howard, as Spalding and Hodge persuaded Daldy to take an apprentice. To accommodate their expanding over the management of much of Strahan's em­ business Bell and Daldy took over Bohn's two pire and to underwrite ten thousand pounds of houses in York Street, Covent Garden, plus a Strahan's debt to themselves. Bell and Daldy pur­ third house in the neighborhood. Bohn, how­ chased eight thousand pounds worth of Strahan ever, was reluctant to accept the fact of his retire­ stock and copyrights and took over some of ment: although he had sold his business, he still Strahan's most popular productions, including occupied the main office in York Street until, exas­ the Contemporary Review and the Sunday Magazine. perated, Bell broke into the office one morning For another six thousand pounds they were to in 1867 and took possession of the desk. Bohn have rights to the much vaunted "pocket" Tenny­ then retired with reasonably good grace. With son series that Strahan had scheduled to come sales of the Bohn Libraries standing at over one out in 1870. When Alfred Tennyson objected to hundred thousand volumes a year, Bell and a change of publisher the Strahan imprint re­ Daldy no longer needed the retail side of the busi­ mained, but Bell and Daldy published the series ness. In 1867 they abandoned the Fleet Street ad­ and was supposed to profit from the sale. The dress and henceforth concentrated on publishing whole gambit was designed to simplify the net­ from York Street. work of debts connecting the three firms and to The year 1867 also brought Edward Bell's steady Strahan's course by reducing his responsi­ graduation from Cambridge and entry into the bility within his firm. In reality Strahan's debts con­ family firm. During his first few years in the pub­ tinued to outdistance the profits his creditors lishing business Edward indulged his literary pen­ were able to glean from his publications. When chants, spending most of his time developing the Edward Bell reflected on this episode in George Bohn Libraries and the Aldine Poets series and Bell Publisher, he described Strahan's ideals of pub­ reading in the British Museum. These congenial lishing in charitable terms as "laudable, even pursuits ended abruptly when the death of the grand, but not tempered with prudence"; but, he cashier obliged Edward to take a more practical in­ ruefully admitted, Bell and Daldy's connection volvement in the firm's affairs. His initiation into with Strahan was "a rash adventure." the financial side of the business coincided with The Strahan affair overshadowed all other one of the most perilous episodes of its history. concerns at Bell and Daldy for the three years 26 DLB 106 George Bell and Sons the two firms' fates were entwined. It was during Field and Gospel, for the Society for the Propaga­ this period, 1869 to 1872, that George Bell de­ tion of the Gospel in Foreign Parts, Aunt Judy's cided to end his partnership with Daldy. The pres­ Magazine represented his only venture into secu­ ence of his sons, Edward and Arthur, in the fam­ lar children's magazine publishing. He did not ily business was his ostensible reason for not have as much experience as Strahan did with mag­ renewing the partnership, but the Strahan affair azine advertising, and he was reluctant to employ undoubtedly strained the relationship. In the the huckstering techniques necessary to secure spring of 1872 Strahan was obliged to withdraw popularity. He was also less generous than from his company; an ally of Spalding's, James Strahan in his terms with his editors and authors. Virtue, managed the firm so as to retrieve some Mrs. Gatty received ten pounds per month for eleven thousand pounds to put toward the Bell every ten thousand readers, which was approxi­ and Daldy I Spalding and Hodge debt. But the mately the average circulation of Aunt judy's Maga­ final resolution derived from a high-minded ges­ zine. In contrast, Strahan paid MacDonald six hun­ ture by Thomas Spalding, who took back the dred pounds per year. Bell's rather low rates of Strahan copyrights and stocks and relieved Bell pay for authors also limited Gatty's ability to at­ and Daldy of the debt. Spalding then endowed tract popular names. Ten shillings a page was too his son Howard with the Strahan line and en­ little for the rising young humorist W. S. Gilbert, gaged him to work with Virtue. It was to this who demanded two guineas for his contribution. firm that Daldy retreated with his share of the Gatty did manage to lure submissions from Lewis Bell and Daldy assets and goodwill. In 1873 the Carroll and Ascott R. Hope; she also offered trans­ new firm Virtue, Spalding and Daldy took up lations of Hans Christian Andersen stories to her headquarters in Ivy Lane; Bell's firm was re­ young subscribers. But the mainstay of the maga­ named George Bell and Sons. zine came from the pen of her daughter, Juliana It was ironic that while Bell was grappling Horatia Ewing. Ewing's enduringly popular sto­ with the Strahan labyrinth he was being pres­ ries, such as "A Flat Iron for a Farthing" and sured by his friends, the Gatty family, to wage a "Six to Sixteen," were first published in Aunt more vigorous war against the Strahan competi­ judy's Magazine for the meager return of seven shil­ tion. The Gattys' concern centered on their inter­ lings, sixpence a page. It was galling to the Gatty est in children's periodicals. In 1866 Bell and family when a critic suggested that Ewing would Daldy had introduced a high-quality children's reach a larger audience if she contributed to magazine which Margaret Gatty edited and Good Words for the Young. Even John Ruskin, a named Aunt Judy's Magazine after her most popu­ loyal patron of Aunt judy's Magazine, urged Ewing lar book, Aunt judy's Tales. A year later Strahan to seek a wider public and to join him in a revolt launched Good Words for the Young, a junior ver­ against publishers. Out of loyalty to Bell, she de­ sion of his popular Good Words. With Norman Mc­ clined. Leod and then the fairy-tale writer George Mac­ Moreover, Ewing paid a tribute to Bell's gen­ Donald as editors and a string of well-known erosity in other spheres when she modeled a char­ writers, Strahan aimed to capture the juvenile mar­ acter in the serialized novel "The Miller's ket. He advertised his magazine flamboyantly. Thumb," which appeared in Aunt judy's Magazine Both Good Words for the Young and Aunt judy's Maga­ in 1873, after Bell and his philanthropic efforts zine were aiming at the same comparatively small on behalf of homeless boys. In Ewing's novel, the readership of well-to-do and well-educated boys hapless Jan is rescued from life in the street by a and girls. Competition between them was keen, robustly Christian businessman who takes him to and the Gatty family was eager to expand the mar­ a cheerful home where boys learn practical ket share of Aunt judy's Magazine. The Reverend trades. She describes in some detail the workings Alfred Gatty repeatedly goaded George and of an institution very much like the Regent's Park Edward Bell to "cram a little powder and shot" Boys' Home which Bell and other Broad Church­ into their promotion of Aunt judy's Magazine and men such as F. D. Maurice, Thomas Hughes, edge out Strahan's magazine. His nagging was in and William and George Spottiswoode founded vain: George Bell was not in the frame of mind in 1858. to light fireworks, especially given his intimate "The Miller's Thumb" was published in and sobering knowledge of how Strahan's pyro­ book form by George Bell and Sons as jan of the technics really worked. Moreover, although Bell Windmill in 1876. Although Ewing's last books had published two religious periodicals, Mission were published by the Society for the Promotion 27 George Bell and Sons DLB 106 of Christian Knowledge, she left most of her popu­ Another temporary expansion of George lar books in the hands of Bell. She might well Bell and Sons derived from George Bell's contin­ have found more fame and fortune with a more ued association with the employer of his youth, adventurous publisher, but she preferred to stay Whittaker and Company. Whittaker had cooper­ with the family friend. Her books remained on ated with him in the early classics series, and the lists of George Bell and Sons well into the twen­ Bell's part in these two series had remained sepa­ tieth century. rate from the Bell and Daldy lists. The series con­ The Gatty family's loyalty to and admiration tinued to sell well, but by the 1880s Whittaker for the Bells were reciprocated. George Bell con­ and Company was not as prosperous as it had tinued to publish Aunt judy's Magazine even been. In April 1884 Bell eventually acquired the though it turned a profit in only one year of its firm that had taught him his first lessons in pub­ twenty-year run. In 1881 Bell reluctantly decided lishing. He was motivated in part by benevolence that the Aunt judy's connection had to end, de­ and paid an annuity to its last owner, William spite the pleas of Ewing's sister, Horatia Gatty, Hood, who died a few years later. Hoping to sell that she would continue to edit the magazine for most of the business to a young German, Bell only three pounds per issue if only it could sur­ nursed the firm along until the new owner was vive. The magazine went through three more pub­ ready to assume responsibility. But just as the lishers and a one-hundred-pound subsidy from transfer was completed, the German drowned. Ruskin before it finally ended in 1885,·the year Edward Bell was then diverted for several years of Ewing's death. to straightening out the financial and editorial The last two decades of the nineteenth cen­ commitments that Whittaker and Company had in­ tury were years of consolidation and modest ex­ curred. Ultimately, Henry Rayment, who had pansion for the Bell firm. Unencumbered by part­ been helping Edward Bell with the work, pur­ ners, Bell followed his own shrewd and cautious chased the firm. That Rayment was the son of instincts and prospered. Among fellow publish­ the first master and matron of the Regent's Park Boys' Home made the resolution of this affair dou­ ers he acquired a reputation as an assessor of pub­ bly satisfying to George Bell. lication stock and copyright and was frequently By this time Edward was at the helm of called on to evaluate assets. For instance, George George Bell and Sons. In 1888 Bell settled the Smith, during a financial dispute with Ruskin, firm on his sons Edward and Ernest, and cited Bell's expertise on the value of copyright. charged them with compensating the other four The Bohn Libraries continued to sell so well that surviving children. Arthur had left the firm and Bell was encouraged to expand the series with established himself as an artist. But George Bell new editions of well-known classics of English, never retired, continuing to come into the York American, and European authors. American read­ Street office until he died of bronchitis in Novem­ ers were especially enthusiastic about the series: ber 1890. in New York the firm of Scribner and Welford Edward Bell shared his father's academic as­ acted as Bell's agents until Edward Bell shifted pirations and, as a graduate of Trinity College, the business to Macmillan in 1871. Cambridge, had had a greater opportunity to de­ Bell's extension into art and architectural velop his aptitude for scholarship than his father, publications because of his early friendship with who had left school at sixteen. The publishing Henry Cole had led him into a close association business gave Edward further chance to pursue with the Chiswick Press. The press had a reputa­ his interests, which were impressively broad. His tion for meticulous work and old-style type. It list of publications includes editions of works by Jo­ was at the Chiswick Press that William Morris con­ hann Wolfgang von Goethe, Miguel de Cervan­ ducted his first experiments in reviving the old ty­ tes, and Thomas Chatterton and other English pography, experiments he later elaborated at his poets. He wrote biographical essays about Ed­ own Kelmscott Press. When the Chiswick Press mund Burke, Demosthenes, and Goethe, and came on the market in 1880 Bell bought it to pro­ works on classical and English historical architec­ vide a berth for his brother John, who managed ture. the press until his death in 1885. The Chiswick For all his scholarly pursuits, Edward Bell Press continued to be associated with the Bell did not neglect the firm's business affairs. firm until 1919 and enhanced the company's pres­ George Bell and Sons continued to expand tige in art and architectural publications. under his leadership. One of its more lucrative ac- 28 DLB 106 George Bell and Sons

Advertisement in the 1884 North British Railway Tourist Guide. Twenty years earlier Bell and Daldy had purchased the stock of Bohn's Libraries, a venture that allowed the firm to abandon retail bookselling. quisitions was the English rights to the works of Even though the publishing industry was rel­ the American author Ralph Waldo Trine, whose atively buoyant in this period, both publishers In Tune with the Infinite ( 1900) was a best-seller on and booksellers felt themselves to be continu­ both sides of the Atlantic. George Bell and Sons ously plagued by the unscrupulous "undersell­ further indulged the contemporary interest in ers." In the 1890s Frederick Macmillan led other philosophical and spiritual speculation when it publishers resolved to set limits on the damage un­ published the work of Henry Salt, whose humani­ dersellers could do to the stability and prosperity tarian socialism gained him many prominent con­ of the trade. The Publishers' Association of verts. Salt's book Animals' Rights (1892) was a far Great Britain and Ireland was formed in 1896. more penetrating critique of the treatment of ani­ In 1899 the publishers put into practice a plan mals than anything else undertaken to that date. Macmillan had first proposed in 1890: the Net During this period George Bell and Sons' Book Agreement, which would secure the publish­ ers' price of some books, called "net books," and overseas connections expanded through its Colo­ leave the free trade system open for others. But nial Libraries. The firm bought unbound edi­ just as the publishers were beginning to feel se­ tions of British novels whose publishers did not cure about their achievement, the Times, anxious want to be bothered with distribution to the do­ to boost circulation, launched a book club in minions. George Bell and Sons would then have 1905. The club ostensibly offered subscribers priv­ them bound plainly and sell them overseas. Ironi­ ileges in an elaborate lending library organized cally, because George Bell and Sons was able to ac­ by the newspaper. But since the Times Book quire the originals for a low price, these Colonial Club also promised members attractive prices for Libraries editions made popular British novels books that had only to be borrowed once or cheaper in the colonies than they were for British twice to render them "second hand," the Times readers. The profit margin was slight, but the was to all intents and purposes entering the sales volume was sufficiently vast that George bookselling business. The operators of the book Bell and Sons and its rival in this field, Thomas club, however, refused to cooperate with the Net Fisher Unwin, engaged in spirited competition Book Agreement or to recognize any limitations for new titles. on how they might dispose of the books in their 29 George Bell and Sons DLB 106 possession. Thus, the Times Book Club under­ eluding George Bernard Shaw, came out against mined the net book system and set off the "book the Society of Authors and the Publishers' Associa­ war" which ravaged the trade from 1906 to 1908. tion. The book war wound down in 1908 when As president of the Publishers' Association in this the original proprietors of the Times parted com­ period, Edward Bell was responsible for uphold­ pany, mainly as a result of dwindling dividends ing the Net Book Agreement, which he prized as which the expenses of waging the book war only much as his friend Macmillan. exacerbated. Ownership of the Times passed to In his account of the opening shots of the Lord Northcliffe, whose views on the book war book war, Edward Bell charged Moberly Bell, were rather different from those of Moberly business manager of the Times, and Horace E. Bell. Northcliffe decided that the book club Hooper, the American speculator who initiated should continue but that it must come to an agree­ the Times Book Club, with deviousness and ment with the Publishers' Association. The press ungentlemanly behavior which he attributed ob­ baron was anxious that no side pronounce itself liquely to their un-English origins (Moberly Bell the winner; thus, to allow the Times Book Club seems to have been born in Egypt). The way they to save face, the publishers agreed to modify the presented their case to the public showed, accord­ Net Book agreement slightly. Privately, Edward ing to Bell, an unscrupulous disregard for the civil­ Bell and his allies judged that the publishers had ized discussions which had taken place between won the day. Edward Bell and his adversary, the Publishers' Association and the Times. In his Moberly Bell, signed the concord on 18 Septem­ opinion, the behavior of Moberly Bell and Hoo­ ber 1908. per made inevitable a war that might otherwise A concrete manifestation of the permanent have easily been averted. The Times was a formida­ stature of the company George Bell had founded ble foe, with far easier access to the public ear more than half a century before came with the than the Publishers' Association could muster. In erection of its own building, York House in Portu­ sensational advertisements for its book club, the gal Street, in 1910. George Bell and Sons became newspaper tried to prove that publishers were a limited liability company that same year. making exorbitant profits on books that cost Bell's participation in the book war was them a pittance to produce and were attempting the last sensational episode in the firm's history. to establish a monopoly. The Publishers' Associa­ Quiet prosperity was in keeping with Edward tion responded by resolving not to supply any Bell's scholarly and literary tastes. More adventur­ net books at wholesale prices to the Times Book ous was the career of his only son, Arthur, who Club until the Times signed the Net Book Agree­ fought in the Boer War and World War I and ment. The Times found its access to books for its served in India and Ireland before he retired in subscribers substantially reduced and resorted to 1928 as Colonel Bell, D.S.O., O.B.E. Edward Bell bribery of booksellers' employees to get around had died in 1926; his son was the last Bell to the boycott. The Times Book Club also orga­ serve in the family firm. Arthur Bell was chair­ nized its own proscription campaign: Times Liter­ man of George Bell and Sons Ltd. until his own ary Supplement reviews in this period commonly death in 1968. But management of the company ended with a plea to readers not to purchase the had long since fallen to men more experienced books reviewed until the dispute with the publish­ in publishing-such as Guy Bickers, who took an ers was resolved. Arthur Walters, the chief propri­ active part in the Publishers' Association. During etor of the Times, sent out a missive to subscrib­ World War II Bickers, acting under the auspices ers urging them to avoid all the publications of of the Publishers' Association, negotiated an agree­ five firms; his list included George Bell and ment with the government to enable publishers Sons. to produce the greatest number of books possi­ The Evening News willingly voiced the Pub­ ble given the stringencies of paper rationing. His lishers' Association side of the dispute, and, in­ achievement was considered a triumph for the in­ deed, almost the whole press world allied itself dustry though some felt that the poor quality of with the publishers against the mighty Times. the books produced in such circumstances handi­ Moreover, in contrast to the earlier attempt by capped British products in overseas markets. George Bell and other publisher/booksellers to After the war George Bell and Sons Ltd. special­ regulate their trade in 1852, this time writers, rep­ ized in educational books. The firm became Bell resented by the Society of Authors, sided with and Hyman Limited when R. P. Hyman became the Publishers' Association; a few renegades, in- chairman and managing director in 1977. It 30 DLB 106 William Bemrose moved out of the Portugal Street headquarters to Sir Frederick Macmillan, The Net Book Agreement Denmark House, Queen Elizabeth Street, where 1899 and The Book War 1906-1908: Two Chap­ it remained until the firm went out of business in ters in the History of the Book Tratk, including a 1989. Narrative of the Dispute between The Times Book Club and The Publishers' Association by Edward Bell, M .A., President of the Association 1906- References: 1908 (Glasgow: Privately printed by Robert James]. Barnes, Free Tratk in Books: A Study of the Madehose and Co. University Press, 1924); London Book Tratk since 1800 (Oxford: Clar­ Patricia Srebrnik, Alexander Strahan, Victorian endon Press, 1964); Publisher (Ann Arbor: University of Michi­ Edward Bell, George Bell Publisher: A Brief Memoir gan Press, 1986). (London: Privately printed at the Chiswick Press, 1924); -Marjory Lang

William Bemrose (Wirksworth; Derby; Derby and London: 1826-1858) Bemrose and Sons (Derby: 1858-1978) Bemrose UK Limited (Derby: 1978- )

William Bemrose began in business in Octo­ scribed as a publisher with a regular, planned pro­ ber 1826 as a bookseller, printer, and book­ gram. Throughout the firm's history printing has binder when he bought the bookshop in which been the most important aspect of the business, al­ he was employed as manager. This was the foun­ though there have been periods when publishing dation of a company which still exists as the has made a significant contribution. Bemrose Corporation and which was important The fortunes of the firm were indirectly se­ as a provincial publisher in the second half of the cured in 1839 when the railway arrived in Derby. nineteenth century and as a publisher of bibliogra­ The town soon became an important railway junc­ phies and scholarly facsimiles in the twentieth cen­ tion, and in 1841 Bemrose began to print train tury. timetables and railway stationery. Printing for Brit­ Bemrose's shop was in the small town of ish Rail and the London Undergroum~ remains a Wirksworth; the following year he moved about profitable part of the business today. The rail­ thirteen miles to the southeast to Derby, a more ways also influenced Bemrose publications; in prosperous town with much greater business po­ July 1847 the first issue of Bemrose's Traveller's tential. He formed two short-lived partnerships Guide appeared, followed by several similar in the early years, but from 1830 he was on his items, such as Midland Railway: Scenery, Industries, own. The business seems to have been quite typi­ History (1902). cal for a British provincial town at that time in Bemrose's sons, Henry and William Junior, that printing was the mainstay with only second­ entered the business in the 1840s, and in 1858 ary support from bookselling and bookbinding. their father allowed them to take control. From Publishing was of even less importance. If the op­ this time publishing was organized on much portunity arose, Bemrose would issue a publica­ dearer lines. Although the publications were at tion of local interest, but he could not be de- first still strongly influenced by local considera- 31 William Bemrose DLB 106

William Bemrose tions, other patterns of interest began to emerge. Thomas Bateman's Ten Years' Diggings in Celtic An important early success was The Derbyshire Red and Saxon Grave Hills in the Counties of Derby, Staf­ Book (1862-1915), an annual almanac of local in­ ford and York (1861); in theology, Arthur E. B. formation. Lawrence's The Holy Communion: Its Institution, Pur­ The brothers themselves became authors. pose and Privilege (1905). The most common theo­ Henry, who was something of a musician, edited logical publications were sermons and collections The Chorale Book (1862), which contained about of hymns. two hundred psalm and hymn tunes, many of William Senior was not always in agreement which he composed himself. William Junior was with his sons about the publications; in particular more prolific. He wrote A Manual of Wood­ he objected to a satirical political periodical, the Carving (1862; twenty-third edition, 1906), Fret­ Derby Ram, which ran from 1865 to 1868. Letters Cutting and Perforated Carving (1868; fourteenth to his sons survive in which he claims that the pub­ edition, 1891), Manual of Buhlwork and Marquetry lications are not making a profit. This divergence (1872; third edition, 1891), Paper Rosette Work of views within the firm about the advisability of (1873), Mosaicon; or Paper Mosaic and How to Make engaging in publishing was often lurking under It (1875), Bow, Chelsea and Derby Porcelain (1898), the surface. The Life and Works ofJoseph Wright, ARA, Commonly Despite William Senior's misgivings, publish­ Called 'Wright of Derby" (1885), and Longton Hall ing was successful under his sons. In 1865 an of­ Porcelain (1906). In addition to the applied art fice was opened in London at 21 Paternoster books represented by William Junior's works, Row, in the heart of the publishing district. In archaeology and theology became the firm's 1875 the office moved to Paternoster Buildings. principal subject areas. In archaeology there was William Senior died in 1880. In 1881 the firm 32 "George Bell and Sons." British Literary Publishing Houses, 1820-1880. Ed. Patricia Anderson and Jonathan Rose. Vol. 106. Detroit: Gale, 1991. 22-31. Dictionary of Literary Biography Vol. 106. Dictionary of Literary Biography Complete Online. Web. 3 June 2018. URL http://0-link.galegroup.com.dewey2.library.denison.edu/apps/doc/HADQWW096473378/DLBC?u= owu&sid=DLBC&xid=3d74bdf1