A Hundred Years of Allen & Unwin 1914-2014

9 M M C M Y K - R E V E R S E M AT T L A M I N AT I O N

a hundred

years of

Allen & Unwin 19142014

A

19142014

First published in 2014 Copyright Allen & Unwin 2014 All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or by any information storage and retrieval system, without prior permission in writing from the publisher. The Australian Copyright Act 1968 (the Act) allows a maximum of one chapter or 10 per cent of this book, whichever is the greater, to be photocopied by any educational institution for its educational purposes provided that the educational institution (or body that administers it) has given a remuneration notice to the Copyright Agency (Australia) under the Act. Allen & Unwin 83 Alexander Street Crows Nest NSW 2065 Australia Phone: (61 2) 8425 0100 Email: [email protected] Web: www.allenandunwin.com Cataloguing-in-Publication details are available from the National Library of Australia www.trove.nla.gov.au ISBN 978 1 76011 251 6 Typeset and designed by Alissa Dinallo Printed and bound by McPhersons Printing Group 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

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1I Whats in a name?

On 4 August 1914, England declared war on

Germany and a new book publisher by the

name of George Allen & Unwin Ltd opened

for business in London with one Stanley Unwin

at its head. As a young man, Stanley had learnt

the ropes of publishing while working with his

uncle T. Fisher Unwin at his eponymous firm.

After eight years there and then a year travelling

around the globe, Stanley returned to London

determined to set himself up as an independent

book publisher. He bought an ailing publishing

company called George Allen & Company and

shrewdly added his name at the end, knowing

2A HUNDRED YEARS of ALLEN & UNWIN

that most booksellers in those days paid their

monthly accounts alphabetically. It would

therefore be advantageous to have Allen up

front, while Unwin loitered not so humbly at

the rear.

So came together the two names that one

hundred years later make up todays Sydney-

based and wholly Australian-owned Allen &

Unwin, with offices in Melbourne, Auckland

and indeed London. And so too was born

the fine publishing tradition upon which the

Australian company was established as an

outpost of the London head office in 1976

and then, on 10 July 1990, as an Australian

independent company that continues to proudly

bear the name Allen & Unwin today.

But lets go back to the very beginning


(well almost)to forty years before the guns

of August 1914 and Stanleys publishing

intervention, to the very conception of the

publishing tradition upon which George Allen

& Unwin Ltd and eventually Allen & Unwin

Pty Ltd would be built.

George Allen was a pupil and friend of the great

English art critic, writer and polemicist John

Ruskin. He knew nothing of the book business

when he set up George Allen Ltd in the middle

of a country field in Kent in 1871, in accordance

with Ruskins Arcadian beliefs, to hand-print

and publish Ruskins books and tracts. Business

was good and eventually a London warehouse


was opened at 8 Bell Yard, Temple Bar. By 1893,

Allen had acquired a considerable list of books,

and as long as Ruskin was alive the demand for

his books was sufficient to sustain the firm. With

Ruskins death in 1900, Allen had to further

diversify when, as Stanley Unwin writes in his

autobiography, profits proved elusive. Some

titles of note from this period include illustrated

editions of Pride and Prejudice and The Faerie

Queene. The latter was illustrated by Walter

Crane, who also designed the firms colophon

of St George slaying the Dragon. Maurice

Maeterlincks The Life of The Bee (1901),

Hilaire Bellocs The Path to Rome (1902), The

Muirhead Library of Philosophy (with authors

such as Bertrand Russell and G.W.F. Hegel)

and Gilbert Murrays distinguished series of

The original George Allen & Unwin Ltd colophon, designed by Walter Crane


translations of classic Greek plays all featured

in this fin de sicle period.

On George Allens death in 1907, his two

sons and daughter inherited an ailing firm,

by then known as George Allen & Sons Ltd.

They tried to shore it up by buying the assets

of the London publishing business Bemrose

in 1909 and amalgamating in 1911 with Swan

Sonnenschein & Co., which had been founded

in 1878 and was the first English language

publisher of Karl Marxs Capital (1887). The

firm was now known as George Allen & Com-

pany, but by the time young Stanley Unwin

came along it was well and truly in crisis.

Stanley Unwin was a son of Edward

Unwin of the printing business Unwin Brothers.

Born in 1884 with printers ink in his veins,


he did his publishing apprenticeship in his

uncles firm, where he mastered every branch of

the business. He then took a year to travel the

world and meet the international trade in the

best tradition of know your markets (recounted

in his memoir Two Young Men See the World),

before returning to the United Kingdom in

December 1913. On 4 August 1914, George

Allen & Unwin Ltd was opened for business.

During his travels Stanley had met a fine

old Australian bookseller, George Robertson,

and it was Robertson who wrote to Stanley not

long after he established the company: It is a

great thing to bear your yoke in your youth.

If you can stand a knockout blow on the day

you start you will take whatever comes to you

in life with perfect equanimity. Under Stanley,

Stanley Unwin, 1915


the company not only survived World War I

but flourished, and for the next fifty years or so

Stanley, later Sir Stanley, went on as governing

director, proudly heading one of the most

successful independent publishing houses in

the United Kingdom. On his death in 1968, his

son Rayner became chairman.

Stanley Unwin had not known George Allen.

In fact, it is doubtful he even knew any of

the Allen children who succeeded George.

Stanleys dealings were only with the receiver

and the debenture holders. Yet the marriage

of the two names brought about a fiercely

independent publishing house that Stanley

would successfully manage for more than half

11

A HUNDRED YEARS of ALLEN & UNWIN

a century. Books that matter was the proud

catchphrase later printed along the bottom of

the dust jacket of books published by George

Allen & Unwin Ltd, and matter many of them

surely did. Each year the catalogue of new books

was strong in general non-fiction, reference and

academic books, so who could have predicted

that the companys most famous author would

be an academic turning his mind to what would

become a fantasy world for children and adults?

In 1935 Stanley gave the ten-year-old Rayner

a manuscript to read. Rayner recommended

publication of The Hobbit and was paid a shilling

for his effort. Ruskin might have been more

talked about than read, but J.R.R. Tolkiens

sales increased year upon year.

The name George Allen & Unwin Ltd

12


continued as the proud masthead of a house to

be reckoned with for most of the seventy-plus

years that followed its establishment, until its

eventual merger in 1986 with the house Bell &

Hyman (George Bell was the original publisher

of Samuel Pepys in 1893), when it became

Unwin Hyman Ltd. During these seven

decades many thousands of books were brought

to market. Each years list was dominated by

serious non-fiction and academic works, but also

included fiction and childrens books, adventure

and fantasy. Among the many famous authors

associated with George Allen & Unwin Ltd

were Oswald Spengler (The Decline of the West),

Arthur Waley (Chinese Poems, The Tale of Genji

trans.), Harold Laski (A Grammar of Politics),

Albert Schweitzer (Memoirs of Childhood and

One of two colophons designed in 1948 by Joan Hassall

14


Youth), J.R.R. Tolkien (The Hobbit, The Lord

of the Rings), Thor Heyerdahl (The Kon-Tiki

Expedition, The Ra Expeditions), Roald Dahl

(Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, James and

the Giant Peach), James Pope-Hennessy (Queen

Mary), Richard Burton (The Kama Sutra of

Vatsyayana trans.), Erich Fromm (The Art of

Loving), Adelle Davis (Lets Get Well ) and many,

many others.

On 10 July 1990, the United Kingdom

firmhaving found no magic bullet for future

prosperity over four dark years as Unwin

Hyman Ltdwas bought by HarperCollins

and ceased to exist as a company, or even as an

imprint, in the United Kingdom. The list was

simply folded into the new owners list, and

quite soon parts were sold to other publishers.

15

II A new beginning

All was not lost, however. On 18 January 1976,

an English publisher arrived in Sydney with

the parting words of his UK managing director

ringing in his ears: Now then, young Gallagher,

dont you go native! Patrick Gallagher had been

transported Down Under to start an Australian

branch of the company, and for two years Allen

& Unwin (Australia) was a one-man band,

building an Australian list in the offices of the

Australasian Publishing Company, Allen &

Unwins Sydney-based distributor.

In 1978 Allen & Unwin expanded to take

on its own sales and promotion activities, and

16


Patrick was joined by Paul Donovan (sales

and marketing), Roger Ward (academic) and

Rhonda Black (production and editorial). Early

sales were spearheaded by the parent companys

new release The Silmarillion and other bestsellers

by J.R.R. Tolkien. The Australian list also grew

rapidly, first through academic publishing and

then increasingly through mainstream trade

titles such as David Marrs Barwick, Peter

Corriss crime fiction and the novels resulting

from the Australian/Vogel Award, which was

set up in 1981.

John Iremongers arrival from Hale &

Iremonger saw his and Patricks output dominate

social science publishing, with ground-breaking

books by Richard White, Henry Reynolds, Max

Neutze, Rosemary Pringle, Richard Broome,

18


Edna Carew, Ann Curthoys, Milton Osborne

and many other leading scholars.

The 1980s saw continuing growth across

the list. Fiction flourished, with books by Tim

Winton and Tom Flood winning the first of

Allen & Unwins five Miles Franklin Awards.

Further breadth came to the local publishing

program in the form of Rosalind Prices Little

Ark list for children and the Rathdowne Books

commercial imprint in Melbourne. A good

balance of overseas lists was provided by Allen

& Unwin (UK) and the newly founded and

fast-growing Bloomsbury. Further breadth came

from the publishing arm of the ABC, and Allen

& Unwin also began publishing in New Zealand.

While Allen & Unwin was flourishing in

Australia, things were not so bright for the

19


company in Maggie Thatchers Britain. In

an attempt to arrest the decline in the UK

companys fortunes, a merger was put together

between Allen & Unwin and the predominantly

schoolbook publisher Bell & Hyman. The new

company was to be run by Robin Hyman and

named Unwin Hyman, but pressure to take the

Unwin Hyman name was firmly resisted by the

typically independent Australians. And just

as well, because the merger failed and Unwin

Hyman was purchased by HarperCollins in

1990. In Australia, however, directors Patrick

Gallagher, Paul Donovan, Peter Eichhorn

and Rhonda Black seized the opportunity to

make independence a reality. With the help of

the Unwin family, who had become minority

owners and forced sellers of the parent company,

20


a management buyout was engineered and, on

10 July 1990, Allen & Unwin became Australias

largest independent book publisher.

This was not an auspicious time to

launch a new companya major recession

was loomingand the first few years of

independence were challenging. The loss of the

UK companys turnover had to be replaced, and

one of Paul Donovans urgent tasks was to sign

new agencies, notably the fast-growing Orion

Group and Fourth Estate. The book trade

showed its appreciation of the newly formed

company by voting it the inaugural Publisher of

the Year in 1992.

By 1995, Allen & Unwins annual turnover

had more than doubled, from $10 million to

$23 million. Over two hundred new titles a year

The f irst Allen & Unwin colophon, deisgned by Michael Fitzjames

The second Allen & Unwin colophon, deisgned by Nada Backovic

22


were published, ranging from biography, and

illustrated and narrative non-fiction to literary

and crime fiction, childrens books, Australian

history, politics, military studies, contemporary

issues and gender studies. The 100,000-copy

hardback bestseller Maggie set new records for

autobiography, and the childrens list regularly

scooped the pool in annual awards. As the

company grew, so did its international scope,

with authors such as Minette Walters, David

Suzuki, Michael Connelly and Jodi Picoult

being brought into the list. The overseas

companies represented by Allen & Unwin also

produced their share of bestsellers, with titles

such as The Shipping News, Sophies World,

A Suitable Boy and Snow Falling on Cedars.

The sale of foreign rights became increas-

23


ingly important, as did overseas distribution of

Australian titles, with long-term distribution

arrangements being set up in the UK, USA

and Southeast Asia. Allen & Unwin had

also developed an exceptional reputation

for its distribution service to the book trade

in Australia, and this led in 1999 to the

establishment of a joint distribution venture

with Hodder Headline, Alliance Distribution

Services (ADS). Headed by Peter Eichhorn,

from the start ADS became the benchmark

for distribution quality in Australia and New

Zealand.

In July 2000, Allen & Unwin threw a party

at Sydney Town Hall for seven hundred or so

close friends from Australia, New Zealand

and the UK to celebrate its first ten years as an

24


independent company. Speeches from authors,

booksellers, agents and staff testified to a decade

of successful publishing. Rayner Unwin made his

final, emotional appearance before retiring the

Unwin familys financial stake in the company,

following that of the investment bank the year

before, thus leaving the companys ownership

100 per cent in Australian hands. Also in 2000,

the company purchased 83 Alexander Street,

Crows Nest, and added The Terrace, which

has been the venue over the years for numerous

functions, both for Allen & Unwin and the

wider book trade.

In 2000, the fourth book in Bloomsburys

Harry Potter series, Harry Potter and the Goblet

of Fire, became the fastest-selling book of all

time on its release and, together with the next

25


three in the series, went on to sell over a million

copies. This was a triumph for the sales effort,

but also a monumental logistical achievement

for both Allen & Unwin and ADS, with

simultaneous publication at 9.01 a.m. in every

bookshop in Australia and New Zealand.

The Harry Potter phenomenon extended

the companys reach still more widely into

all sectors of the market, and both local and

overseas titles made regular appearances on the

bestseller lists. When Patrick Gallagher was

kicked upstairs to become chairman and Paul

Donovan took over as managing director in

2005, he declared his aim to increase turnover

from Australian titles by 50 per cent in four

years, only to achieve this in three. The list

of independent UK houses now represented

26


included Bloomsbury, Granta, Faber, Profile and

latterly Atlantic, Canongate and Nosy Crow.

At the twentieth anniversary celebrations

in 2010with another seven hundred close

friendsCEO Robert Gorman, who had first

joined Allen & Unwin as a college rep, was able

to point to a company with one of the leading

and longest-standing publishing programs in

the country, and certainly the widest-ranging.

Bestsellers and prize winners featured regularly

from authors such as Alex Miller, Thomas

Keneally, Andrew McGahan, Michelle de

Kretser, Christos Tsiolkas, Kate Morton, Ron

Brooks, Alison Lester, Shaun Tan . . . the list

goes on. And Allen & Unwin continued to take

out the Publisher of the Year Award, winning it

another eleven times.

27


The third decade of the companys

independent existence has seen developments

that are changing the publishing landscape

dramatically, and publishers are having to move

with these changes. Allen & Unwin now has

several thousand ebook titles available, making

up over 20 per cent of its total sales. Publishers

now need to be international in their thinking

and activities, so in addition to its busy export

and foreign rights sales, Allen & Unwin has

begun publishing out of its London office, and

is now the majority owner of Atlantic Books

in the UK. International markets also feature

highly in the sales of Murdoch Books, the

Australian publisher of high-quality cookbook

and lifestyle titles acquired by Allen & Unwin

in 2012.

28


In a hundred years, much has changed. Much,

however, has remained the same, notably the

fiercely independent spirit nurtured in London

by George Allen, and Stanley and Rayner

Unwin, and maintained in Australia by Patrick

Gallagher, Paul Donovan and Robert Gorman.

And while the company has grown from a one-

man band to employing over 150 people across

three countries, the belief in the words carried

on the jackets of the early company also remains

the same: Books certainly do matter.

9 M M C M Y K - R E V E R S E M AT T L A M I N AT I O N

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A Hundred Years of Allen & Unwin 1914-2014