Smith, Elder & Co.

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Smith, Elder & Co. was a London- based English publisher known for publishing the works of many Victorian poets and for issuing the first edition of the Dictionary of National Biography .

Smith, Elder & Co. was founded in 1816 by the Scots George Smith (1789–1846) and Alexander Elder (1790–1876), who initially worked as booksellers and stationers. From 1819 they dealt with the publication of books and magazines.

In 1838 George Smith's son of the same name, George Smith (1824–1901), took over the management of the department responsible for the publication and after the death of his father his position in the publishing company. Under his leadership the company developed very successfully and opened a branch in Bombay as well as agencies on the island of Java and the west coast of Africa. These dealt with banking and the export of books.

Among many other authors, the publisher gave the works of Matthew Arnold , Robert Browning , Elizabeth Barrett Browning , Charlotte Brontë , Wilkie Collins , Charles Darwin , George Eliot , Elizabeth Gaskell , Harriet Martineau , James Payn (1830–1898), John Ruskin , William Makepeace Thackeray and Anthony Trollope out.

From 1860 the publisher published the Cornhill Magazine and founded the Pall Mall Gazette in 1865 . In 1882 Smith, Elder & Co. planned to publish a universal dictionary with biographies of world history. The 63 volumes of the Dictionary of National Biography appeared from 1885 to 1901.

In 1916 the company was taken over by the John Murray publishing house .

literature

  • Leonard Huxley: The House of Smith Elder . London 1923 online

proof

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