Persephone Books

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Persephone Books is an independent book publisher founded in Bloomsbury , London, in 1999 by the author Nicola Beauman . The publishing house specializes in reprinting formerly popular but now forgotten works by women authors from the mid- 20th century . The published works include novels, short stories, poetry, diaries, memoirs, cookbooks and non-fiction books.

Publishing concept

Beauman's concept was to publish a handful of “lost” books out of print each year , most of them interwar novels by women, and sell them by mail order.

Each book has a gray cover. There is also an individual header and a bookmark with a design from the year the book was first published. Beauman chose the name Persephone as a symbol of female creativity.

history

The first book was William - An Englishman by Cicely Hamilton . Other publishers were skeptical, and the first 5000 copies of their books were not selling well. But the 21st book published by Persephone Books, Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day by Winifred Watson, became a surprise hit through word of mouth with over 100,000 copies sold. The story was then filmed in 2008 with Amy Adams and Frances McDormand . Thanks to this success, Persephone Books had both the financial resources and the notoriety to open and expand the Bloomsbury store . The business in the USA is led by Francesca Beauman, the daughter of Nicola Beauman.

The designs used by Persephone Books were used in a 2016 leather shoe collection by British shoe brand Grenson Shoes .

The books are mainly sold through the website, but also through a shop on Lamb's Conduit Street in London.

Authors

Some of the authors published by Persephone Books are:

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d e Rachel Cooke: One shade of gray: how Nicola Beauman made an unlikely success of Persephone Books. The Guardian , November 25, 2012, accessed January 8, 2017 .
  2. ↑ Katy Waldman: How a Homespun Book Publisher Built a Cult Following. Slate (magazine) , June 24, 2015, accessed January 8, 2017 .
  3. ^ A 150-Year-Old British Footwear Factory, Through the Lens of Martin Parr. The New York Times , November 22, 2016, accessed January 8, 2017 .
  4. ↑ London's Most Fabulous Literary Bookshops. Londonist, December 14, 2016, accessed January 8, 2017 .
  5. ↑ James Morrison: Persephone Books. Bookslut, July 1, 2005, accessed January 8, 2017 .