A & C Black is a British book publishing company, owned since 2002 by Bloomsbury Publishing. The company is noted for publishing '' Who's Who'' since 1849. It also published popular travel guides and novels.

History

The firm was founded in 1807 by Charles and

Adam Black Adam Black (20 February 178424 January 1874) was a Scottish publisher and politician. He founded the A & C Black publishing company, and published the 7th, 8th and 9th editions of the ''Encyclopædia Britannica''. Life Black was born in Ch ...

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian on the southern shore of t ...

. In 1851, the company purchased the copyrights to

Sir Walter Scott Sir Walter Scott, 1st Baronet (15 August 1771 – 21 September 1832), was a Scottish novelist, poet, playwright and historian. Many of his works remain classics of European and Scottish literature, notably the novels '' Ivanhoe'', '' Rob Roy' ...

's ''Waverly'' novels for £27,000. The company moved to the

Soho Soho is an area of the City of Westminster, part of the West End of London. Originally a fashionable district for the aristocracy, it has been one of the main entertainment districts in the capital since the 19th century. The area was develo ...

district of

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

in 1889. During the years 1827–1903 the firm published the seventh, eighth and ninth editions of the ''

Encyclopædia Britannica The (Latin for "British Encyclopædia") is a general knowledge English-language encyclopaedia. It is published by Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.; the company has existed since the 18th century, although it has changed ownership various t ...

''. This was purchased from

Archibald Constable Archibald David Constable (24 February 1774 – 21 July 1827) was a Scottish publisher, bookseller and stationer. Life Constable was born at Carnbee, Fife, son of the land steward to the Earl of Kellie. In 1788 Archibald was apprenticed to P ...

after his company's failure to publish the seventh edition of the encyclopedia. Adam Black retired in 1870 due to his disapproval of his sons' extravagant plans for its ninth edition. This edition, however, would sell half a million sets and was released in 24 volumes from 1875 to 1889. Beginning in 1839, the firm published a series of travel guides known as ''

Black's Guides ''Black's Guides'' were travel guide books published by the Adam and Charles Black A & C Black is a British book publishing company, owned since 2002 by Bloomsbury Publishing. The company is noted for publishing ''Who's Who'' since 1849. It a ...

''. The company was the publisher of the annual '' Who's Who'' (since 1849) and also, since 2002, the ''

Whitaker's Almanack ''Whitaker's'' is a reference book, published annually in the United Kingdom. The book was originally published by J Whitaker & Sons from 1868 to 1997, then by The Stationery Office until 2003, and then by A & C Black which became a wholly owned ...

''. Other notable works include '' Black's Medical Dictionary'' and the ''Know The Game'' series of sports rules and laws reference books. The firm also published the ''A. & C. Black Colour Books: Twenty Shilling Series'' (1901–21), a "range of high-quality colour collectable picture books" which are still collected by bibliophiles. In 1902 they published

P. G. Wodehouse Sir Pelham Grenville Wodehouse, ( ; 15 October 188114 February 1975) was an English author and one of the most widely read humorists of the 20th century. His creations include the feather-brained Bertie Wooster and his sagacious valet, Jeeve ...

's first book, ''

The Pothunters ''The Pothunters'' is a novel by P. G. Wodehouse published on 18 September 1902 by Adam & Charles Black. It was Wodehouse's first published novel, and the first of several school stories, this one set at the fictional public school of St. Aus ...

'', and went on to produce many of his early works. In 1989 A & C Black purchased both Christopher Helm Publishers and later the Pica Press, publishers of the

Helm Identification Guides The ''Helm Identification Guides'' are a series of books that identify groups of birds. The series include two types of guides, those that are: * Taxonomic, dealing with a particular family of birds on a worldwide scale—most early Helm Guides ...

, from

Christopher Helm Christopher Alexander Roger Helm (born Dundee, 1 February 1937 – 20 January 2007) was a Scottish book publisher, notably of ornithology related titles, including the '' Helm Identification Guides''. Born in Dundee, he was raised in Forfar ...

. In 2000 A & C Black was purchased by

Bloomsbury Publishing Plc Bloomsbury Publishing plc is a British worldwide publishing house of fiction and non-fiction. It is a constituent of the FTSE SmallCap Index. Bloomsbury's head office is located in Bloomsbury, an area of the London Borough of Camden. It has a ...

, which continued producing the former's range of

reference work A reference work is a work, such as a paper, book or periodical (or their electronic equivalents), to which one can refer for information. The information is intended to be found quickly when needed. Such works are usually ''referred'' to ...

s. In June 2002, T. & A. D. Poyser and their back-list of around 70

ornithology Ornithology is a branch of zoology that concerns the "methodological study and consequent knowledge of birds with all that relates to them." Several aspects of ornithology differ from related disciplines, due partly to the high visibility and th ...

titles were acquired from

Elsevier Science Elsevier () is a Dutch academic publishing company specializing in scientific, technical, and medical content. Its products include journals such as ''The Lancet'', ''Cell'', the ScienceDirect collection of electronic journals, '' Trends'', the ...

. A & C Black purchased Methuen Drama from Methuen Publishing in 2006, and acquired

Arden Shakespeare The Arden Shakespeare is a long-running series of scholarly editions of the works of William Shakespeare. It presents fully edited modern-spelling editions of the plays and poems, with lengthy introductions and full commentaries. There have been t ...

from Cengage Learning in 2008. In 2016, A & C Black Music list moved to Collins Learning, a division of HarperCollins Publishers Ltd.

Notable books

*'' Black's Medical Dictionary'' *''

'' *'' Who's Who'' *''

Wisden Cricketers' Almanack ''Wisden Cricketers' Almanack'', or simply ''Wisden'', colloquially the Bible of Cricket, is a cricket reference book published annually in the United Kingdom. The description "bible of cricket" was first used in the 1930s by Alec Waugh in a ...

'' *''

Writers' & Artists' Yearbook The ''Writers' & Artists' Yearbook'' is an annual directory for writers and illustrators which offers creative and practical advice on how to give your work the best chance at success. It is published in the UK each July, alongside the Children's Wr ...

Book series

* Artist's Sketch Book Series * Ballet Pocket Series (Newman Wolsey; then: A. & C. Black) * Black's Guides * Black's Junior Reference Books * Black's Novel Library * Black's Popular Series of Colour Books * Black's School History * Black's "Water-colour" series * Colour Books: The 7s. 6d. Net Series * Colour Books: The 6s. Net Series * Colour Books: The 10s. Net Series * Colour Books: The 20s. Net Series * Dancers of To-day * Ecclesiastical History of England (General Editor: J. C. Dickinson) * The Fascination of London * Guild Text-books * Know the Game * The Making of the NationsThe Making of the Nations (A. & C. Black) - Book Series List
publishinghistory.com. Retrieved 31 January 2020. * Peeps at Ancient Civilisations * Peeps at Great Cities * Peeps at Great Explorers * Peeps at Great Men * Peeps at Great Railways * Peeps at History * Peeps at Industries * Peeps at Many Lands * Peeps at Nature * Peeps at Nature for Little Children * Peeps for Little People * The Peeps Series (sometimes called: Miscellaneous Peeps series) * Social Life in England

Imprints

Adlard Coles Nautical Adlard Coles Nautical is a nautical publisher, with over 300 books in print. The company publishes books on topics of interest to sailors and motorboaters and also ‘landlubbers’ with an interest in the sea. Their list includes almanacs, cruis ...

* Andrew Brodie Publications * Featherstone * Methuen Drama * T. & A. D. Poyser * Reeds Almanac *

John Wisden & Co ''Wisden Cricketers' Almanack'', or simply ''Wisden'', colloquially the Bible of Cricket, is a cricket reference book published annually in the United Kingdom. The description "bible of cricket" was first used in the 1930s by Alec Waugh in a ...

References

External links

A&C Black
- archive.org copy of the site as it was on 15 January 2010.
History of A&C Black
acblack.com (archive.org copy).

Whitaker's Almanack

Records of A. & C. Black Publishers Ltd

University of Reading The University of Reading is a public university in Reading, Berkshire, England. It was founded in 1892 as University College, Reading, a University of Oxford extension college. The institution received the power to grant its own degrees in 192 ...