Jane~ Adopt A Publisher
What do Jane Austen, Lord Byron, Charles Darwin, Sir Walter Scott, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Sir John Betjeman and Alexander Starritt have in common .............
They were all acknowledged and published by John Murray. A Publishing House of such quality and insight that today they are respected as a guardian of the written English language.
The story began in 1737 with the birth of the first John McMurray in Edinburgh. A man of foresight who in 1768 with £700 of his wife's money opened a Bookshop in London's Fleet Street. Following the success of Byron's Childe Harold he moved to premises in Albermarle Street off Piccadilly from where he sold early Cantos of Byron's Don Juan from his window.
There have been seven John Murrays the first having changed his name by dropping the 'Mc' which on advice from friends was considered a wild highland name not appropriate in London. The family publishing house thrived from 1768 to 2002 when it was sold to Hodder Headline thus ending the ownership of the oldest independent family run publishing house in the World. Books are still published with that little JM on the spine. A proud herald of quality, often ground breaking, literature.
As a Bookseller in London I periodically visited John Murray in his office in Albermarle Street. His bookshelves filled with the nostalgia of old manuscripts and publications. In 2006 these documents were rehoused in The National Library of Scotland. The 253 year journey of publishing history had travelled the full circle.
Recently a series of travel writings have been republished by JM. The series has beautiful, distinctively designed jackets by Istanbul based designer Laris Alara Kilimci at LARS Studios. A reassurance that even under new ownership JM continues to break rules.
One title in this series is Freya Stark's classic The Valley of the Assassins. Stark's trek into the wilderness of western Iran in an attempt to locate the long fabled Assassins of Alumut, an ancient Persian sect. Bluffing her way, often draped in native clothing, she goes where no other European woman in the 1930's would venture. With wit and humanity she chronicles her journey.
Alongside Freya Stark, Patrick Leigh Fermor's classic A Time of Gifts is also published in this series. In 1933 he set out alone with just a small rucksack and an allowance of a pound a week to walk from London to Istanbul. Three decades later he put pen to paper to pass on his personal cultural awakening. How to describe Fermor's classic English writing style is perhaps to say he morphs colour into language.
Now at Books on the Hill I await John Murray publications as eagerly as generations of Booksellers before me. A rather special thought.
Many publishers have a particular personality be it poetry, sci-fi or translated writing. As a reader I think it's rather special to adopt a publisher whose works you know are just right for your literary needs.
Request a copy here.