A. H. Wheeler & Co. Pvt. Ltd., commonly known as A. H. Wheeler or simply Wheeler, is an

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

bookstore chain This is a list of bookstore chains with brick-and-mortar locations. In the United Kingdom and many parts of the English speaking world, they are known as "Bookshops" and "newsagents". In American English, they are called "bookstores", or sometim ...

. Co-founded by Émile Moreau, a French businessman in

Prayagraj Prayagraj (, ; ISO 15919, ISO: ), formerly and colloquially known as Allahabad, is a metropolis in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh.The other five cities were: Agra, Kanpur, Kanpur (Cawnpore), Lucknow, Meerut, and Varanasi, Varanasi (Benar ...

in 1877, it mainly operates from railway stations. A. H. Wheeler borrowed its name from the then-successful

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

bookstore and its owner, "Arthur Henry Wheelers", who was also a friend of Emile Moreau and helped him financially.

History

After its foundation in 1877, the company grew to have stores at railway stations all over India, especially in the north. The first store was opened at

railway station in 1877. In 1888 the company began publishing a series of booklets known as the Indian Railway Library. The Banerjees took over the company in 1950 and it was registered with the

Registrar of Companies A company register is a register of business organizations such as companies in the jurisdiction they operate under. Registration is normally mandated by the government of that jurisdiction. A company register serves a purpose of protection, acco ...

on 31 October 1953. In 2004 it had bookstores at 258 railway stations all over India. It contributed to about 80% of the revenue earned by the

Indian Railways Indian Railways is a state-owned enterprise that is organised as a departmental undertaking of the Ministry of Railways (India), Ministry of Railways of the Government of India and operates India's national railway system. , it manages the fou ...

from book sales. Up to 2004, it had a monopoly on selling books at railway stations. it is headquartered in

and the distribution network is also managed from there. A 2004 Indian Railways circular stated: "At present M/s. A.H. Wheeler & Co. is enjoying sole selling rights for running bookstalls at platforms on which this company had been running the same till 01.01.1976. It has now been decided that M/s. A.H. Wheeler & Co. shall not have any sole selling rights henceforth and their rights are brought at par with others. The number of bookstalls held by M/s. A.H. Wheeler & Co. and M/s. Higginbothams Ltd. are at present frozen. Since, the sole selling rights of M/s.A.H. Wheeler & Co. have been withdrawn and their rights have been brought at par with others, the freezing on the holding of stalls by M/s. A.H. Wheeler & Co. and M/s. Higginbothams Ltd. is also removed. In view of the need for decongesting the platform, any fresh allotment of any new bookstall to any category at the stations where

railways Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport using wheeled vehicles running in tracks, which usually consist of two parallel steel rails. Rail transport is one of the two primary means of land transport, next to roa ...

had frozen the holding of M/s. A.H. Wheeler & Co. and M/s. Higginbothams Ltd. should have to be amply justified before any such decision is taken. The allotment at such stations should be done only with the personal approval of General Manager, irrespective of the type of station." According to ''The Financial Express'' this loss of

monopoly A monopoly (from Greek language, Greek and ) is a market in which one person or company is the only supplier of a particular good or service. A monopoly is characterized by a lack of economic Competition (economics), competition to produce ...

was a result of a "New Book policy" being implemented by the

. It also carries Wheeler's claims that it was the first Indian company to be granted "total rights of any business" by the British, which it gained in 1937. The following restrictions have been introduced by the Indian Railways on the nature of books sold on its platforms: "Sale of all types of obscene, scurrilous, smutty, pornographic, offensive or objectionable publications including pirated books is prohibited at all bookstalls. Zonal railways should exercise strict supervision and in case any licensee is found indulging in sale of such literature serious view should be taken including termination of licence."

Notable publications

Plain Tales from the Hills ''Plain Tales from the Hills'' (published 1888) is the first collection of short stories by Rudyard Kipling. Out of its 40 stories, "eight-and-twenty", according to Kipling's ''Preface'', were initially published in the ''Civil and Military Ga ...

'' written by

Rudyard Kipling Joseph Rudyard Kipling ( ; 30 December 1865 – 18 January 1936)''The Times'', (London) 18 January 1936, p. 12. was an English journalist, novelist, poet, and short-story writer. He was born in British Raj, British India, which inspired much ...

were issued as the "Indian Railway Library Series" by Wheeler. These were the first publications of Kipling's collection of stories. These books were sold on railway stations. They cost ''One rupee'', then ''fifteenth part of a pound''. Richard Jaffa considers them "amongst the early paperbacks".

References

A city isn’t a city without a bookstore: An ode to A.H. Wheelers
''Data Driven Investor''. {{Authority control Publishing companies of India Retail companies established in 1877 Bookstores of India Book publishing companies of India Transport culture of India Railway culture 1877 establishments in India Companies based in Prayagraj Companies established in 1877 Indian companies established in 1876 Indian companies established in 1953