Henry George Bohn (4 January 179622 August 1884) was a
British publisher. He is principally remembered for the ''Bohn's Libraries'' which he inaugurated. These were begun in 1846, targeted the mass market, and comprised editions of standard works and translations, dealing with
history,
science,
classics
Classics or classical studies is the study of classical antiquity. In the Western world, classics traditionally refers to the study of Classical Greek and Roman literature and their related original languages, Ancient Greek and Latin. Classics ...
,
theology and
archaeology.
Biography
Bohn was born in
London. He was the son of a
German
German(s) may refer to:
* Germany (of or related to)
**Germania (historical use)
* Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language
** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law
**Ger ...
bookbinder who had settled in
England. In 1831 he began his career as a dealer in rare books and
remainders. In 1841 he issued his ''"Guinea" Catalogue'' of books, a monumental work containing 23,208 items. Bohn was noted for his book auction sales: one held in 1848 lasted four days, the catalogue comprising twenty
folio pages. Printed on this catalogue was the information: "Dinner at 2 o'clock, dessert at 4, tea at 5, and supper at 10."
In 1846, he also started publishing ''The British florist : or lady's journal of horticulture'', which had 6 volumes with illustrations and plates (coloured).
The name of Bohn is principally remembered by the important ''Bohn's Libraries'' which he inaugurated: these were begun in 1846 and comprised editions of standard works and translations, dealing with
history,
science,
classics
Classics or classical studies is the study of classical antiquity. In the Western world, classics traditionally refers to the study of Classical Greek and Roman literature and their related original languages, Ancient Greek and Latin. Classics ...
,
theology and
archaeology, consisting in all of 766 volumes. His authors included
Julia Corner
Julia Corner (1798–1875), also known as Miss Corner, was a British children's educational writer who created ''Miss Corner's Historical Library''.
Life
Corner was born in London in 1798. Her father, John Corner, was an engraver. She initiall ...
who created educational books about India and China for him in the 1850s.
The reasons for the success of ''Bohn's Libraries'' may have included their marketing to a general mass readership with volumes selling at low prices, their "lack of literary pretensions", and their "policy of a widespread, but restrained expurgation".
One of Bohn's most useful and laborious undertakings was his revision (6 vols. 1864) of ''The Bibliographer's Manual of English Literature'' (1834) of
W. T. Lowndes. The plan includes bibliographical and critical notices, particulars of prices, etc., and a considerable addition to the original work.
It had been one of Bohn's ambitions to found a great publishing house, but, finding that his sons had no taste for the trade, he sold his ''Bohn's Libraries'' in 1864 to Messrs. Bell and Daldy, afterwards
G. Bell & Sons. At that time the ''Bohn's Libraries'' included more than 600 titles. In subsequent years, he disposed of all his copyrights and business properties, finally realizing £73,000 overall.
[David B. Mock, "H. G. Bohn (London: 1831–1864)", in: Patricia Anderson and Jonathan Rose, eds., ''British Literary Publishing Houses 1820-1880'' (''Dictionary of Literary Biography'', vol. 106). Detroit, MI: Gale Research, 1991, p. 60.]
Bohn was a man of wide culture and many interests. He himself made considerable contributions to his ''Libraries'', he collected pictures, china and ivories, and was a famous rose-grower.
He died at
Twickenham and was buried at
West Norwood Cemetery.
Works
Among his own works were:
* ''The Origin and Progress of Printing'' (1857)
* ''Biography and Bibliography of Shakespeare'' (1863)
* ''Dictionary of Quotations'' (1867)
* ''Handbook of Proverbs''
* ''Handbook of Games''
* ''Guide to the Knowledge of Pottery and Porcelain''
Besides his edition of
Lowndes' ''Bibliographer's Manual'', he developed an edition of
Addison's works.
References
Sources
*
*This article incorporates text from a publication now in the
public domain:
Further reading
* Anderson, Patricia, Rose, Jonathan (eds.) (1991) ''British Literary Publishing Houses 1820-1880'' (''Dictionary of Literary Biography'': vol. 106). Detroit, MI: Gale Research.
* Feather, John (2005). ''A History of British Publishing''. London: Routledge.
* O'Sullivan, Carol, "Translation within the margin: The Libraries of Henry Bohn," in Milton, John, Bandia, Paul (eds.) (2009). ''Agents of Translation''. Amsterdam: John Benjamins Publishing Company.
External links
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*
*
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* Derek Jones. . Retrieved on 7 September 2011.
Bohn's Libraries Full list of publications as at September 1879.
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Bohn, Henry George
1796 births
1884 deaths
Burials at West Norwood Cemetery
English bibliographers
Publishers (people) from London
English male writers
19th-century English businesspeople