Jonathan Cape is a London publishing firm founded in 1921 by Herbert Jonathan Cape, who was head of the firm until his death in 1960. Cape and his business partner

Wren Howard Wren Howard (24 March 1893 – 30 July 1968), full name George Wren Howard, was a British publisher. He was a co-founder with Cape of the publishing house of Jonathan Cape in 1921, and took over as chairman when Cape died in 1960. According to P ...

set up the publishing house in 1921. They established a reputation for high quality design and production and a fine list of English-language authors, fostered by the firm's editor and

reader A reader is a person who reads. It may also refer to: Computing and technology * Adobe Reader (now Adobe Acrobat), a PDF reader * Bible Reader for Palm, a discontinued PDA application * A card reader, for extracting data from various forms of ...

Edward Garnett Edward William Garnett (5 January 1868 – 19 February 1937) was an English writer, critic and literary editor, who was instrumental in the publication of D. H. Lawrence's ''Sons and Lovers''. Early life and family Edward Garnett was born i ...

. Cape's list of writers ranged from poets including

Robert Frost Robert Lee Frost (March26, 1874January29, 1963) was an American poet. His work was initially published in England before it was published in the United States. Known for his realistic depictions of rural life and his command of American colloq ...

and

C. Day Lewis Cecil Day-Lewis (or Day Lewis; 27 April 1904 – 22 May 1972), often written as C. Day-Lewis, was an Irish-born British poet and Poet Laureate from 1968 until his death in 1972. He also wrote mystery stories under the pseudonym of Nicholas Bla ...

, to children's authors such as

Hugh Lofting Hugh John Lofting (14 January 1886 – 26 September 1947) was an English American writer trained as a civil engineer, who created the classic children's literature character Doctor Dolittle. The fictional physician to talking animals, based in a ...

and

Arthur Ransome Arthur Michell Ransome (18 January 1884 – 3 June 1967) was an English author and journalist. He is best known for writing and illustrating the ''Swallows and Amazons'' series of children's books about the school-holiday adventures of childre ...

, to

James Bond The ''James Bond'' series focuses on a fictional British Secret Service agent created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels and two short-story collections. Since Fleming's death in 1964, eight other authors have ...

novels by

Ian Fleming Ian Lancaster Fleming (28 May 1908 – 12 August 1964) was a British writer who is best known for his postwar ''James Bond'' series of spy novels. Fleming came from a wealthy family connected to the merchant bank Robert Fleming & Co., a ...

, to heavyweight fiction by

James Joyce James Augustine Aloysius Joyce (2 February 1882 – 13 January 1941) was an Irish novelist, poet, and literary critic. He contributed to the modernist avant-garde movement and is regarded as one of the most influential and important writers of ...

and

T. E. Lawrence Thomas Edward Lawrence (16 August 1888 – 19 May 1935) was a British archaeologist, army officer, diplomat, and writer who became renowned for his role in the Arab Revolt (1916–1918) and the Sinai and Palestine Campaign (1915–1918 ...

. After Cape's death, the firm later merged successively with three other London publishing houses. In 1987 it was taken over by

Random House Random House is an American book publisher and the largest general-interest paperback publisher in the world. The company has several independently managed subsidiaries around the world. It is part of Penguin Random House, which is owned by Germ ...

. Its name continues as one of Random House's British

imprint Imprint or imprinting may refer to: Entertainment * ''Imprint'' (TV series), Canadian television series * "Imprint" (''Masters of Horror''), episode of TV show ''Masters of Horror'' * ''Imprint'' (film), a 2007 independent drama/thriller film ...

Cape – biography

Early years

Herbert Jonathan Cape was born in London on 15 November 1879, the youngest of the seven children of Jonathan Cape, a clerk from Ireby in what is now

Cumbria Cumbria ( ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in North West England, bordering Scotland. The county and Cumbria County Council, its local government, came into existence in 1974 after the passage of the Local Government Act 1972. Cumb ...

, and his wife Caroline, ''née'' Page."Mr Jonathan Cape", ''The Times'', 11 February 1960, p. 15.Hart-Davis, Rupert
"Cape, (Herbert) Jonathan (1879–1960)"
rev. Jonathan Rose, ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', Oxford University Press, 2004, accessed 24 April 2013 He received a basic schooling and in his early teens he was taken on by

Hatchards Hatchards claims to be the oldest bookshop in the United Kingdom, founded on Piccadilly in 1797 by John Hatchard. After one move, it has been at the same location on Piccadilly next to Fortnum & Mason since 1801, and the two stores are also neig ...

bookshop in

Piccadilly Piccadilly () is a road in the City of Westminster, London, to the south of Mayfair, between Hyde Park Corner in the west and Piccadilly Circus in the east. It is part of the A4 road that connects central London to Hammersmith, Earl's Court, ...

as an errand-boy. Four years later, in 1899, Cape joined the London office of the American publishers

Harper and Brothers Harper is an American publishing house, the flagship imprint of global publisher HarperCollins based in New York City. History J. & J. Harper (1817–1833) James Harper and his brother John, printers by training, started their book publishin ...

, where he worked, successively, as clerk, general utility man and travelling salesman, first in the provinces and later in London. In 1904 he joined the publishing house of Duckworth as London traveller, and from 1911 as manager. In 1914, on the outbreak of the Great War, he took over the sole charge of the business when the proprietor, Gerald Duckworth, was absent on war duties. In 1915 Duckworth returned. In December of that year Cape joined the army, serving for the rest of the war. Cape returned to Duckworth in 1918. In 1920 he was appointed manager of the

Medici Society The House of Medici ( , ) was an Italian banking family and political dynasty that first began to gather prominence under Cosimo de' Medici, in the Republic of Florence during the first half of the 15th century. The family originated in the Muge ...

, known mainly for publishing prints of paintings but with a small list of books. While in this post he met

George Wren Howard Wren Howard (24 March 1893 – 30 July 1968), full name George Wren Howard, was a British publisher. He was a co-founder with Cape of the publishing house of Jonathan Cape in 1921, and took over as chairman when Cape died in 1960. According to P ...

, 14 years his junior, who was learning the publishing trade at the Medici Society. Cape's biographer (and sometime junior partner) Rupert Hart-Davis writes:

Independent publisher

Howard was able to raise money from his family. Cape, with no such option, raised his share of the starting capital by selling cheap paperback reprints of novels by

Elinor Glyn Elinor Glyn ( Sutherland; 17 October 1864 – 23 September 1943) was a British novelist and scriptwriter who specialised in romantic fiction, which was considered scandalous for its time, although her works are relatively tame by modern stand ...

. Duckworth held the rights to her books, but did not wish to issue cut-price editions; Cape negotiated the rights in early 1920 and successfully issued the paperbacks under the imprint Page & Co. With just enough starting capital, the firm of Jonathan Cape began trading on 1 January 1921 at 11 Gower Street,

Bloomsbury Bloomsbury is a district in the West End of London. It is considered a fashionable residential area, and is the location of numerous cultural, intellectual, and educational institutions. Bloomsbury is home of the British Museum, the largest mus ...

. Cape and Howard recruited

as their editor and

. Garnett, described by ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper ''The Sunday Times'' (fou ...

'' as "the prince of publisher's readers," remained with the firm until his death in 1937. Each of the three principals brought his own contribution to the firm's success: Cape was experienced in publishing; Howard ensured high quality design and production; and Garnett was given the freedom to foster talent and build up a fine publishing list. Hart-Davis credits Garnett's literary judgment and Howard's production with gaining the firm an "outstanding reputation for quality during the next two decades". The firm's first publication was widely regarded as a gamble: Cape published a new two-volume edition, at the high price of nine guineas, of C. M. Doughty's ''

Travels in Arabia Deserta ''Travels in Arabia Deserta'' (1888) is a travel book by Charles Montagu Doughty (1843–1926), an English poet, writer, and traveller. Doughty had travelled in the Middle East and spent some time living with the Bedouins during the 1870s. Rory S ...

.'' The book, first published in 1888 with no success, had been out of print for 30 years. The Cape edition sold out and had to be reprinted several times. Among those who admired it was

, who became friendly with Cape, and wrote an introduction to the firm's 1926 single-volume edition of the book. Jonathan Cape Ltd became Lawrence's publishers, issuing ''

Revolt in the Desert ''Seven Pillars of Wisdom'' is the autobiographical account of the experiences of British Army Colonel T. E. Lawrence ("Lawrence of Arabia"), of serving as a military advisor to Bedouin forces during the Arab Revolt against the Ottoman Empire o ...

'' (1927), '' Seven Pillars of Wisdom'' (1935), and '' The Mint'' (1955). In 1922 Cape took over the small publishing house A. C. Fifield, acquiring the rights to works by such authors as

H. G. Wells Herbert George Wells"Wells, H. G."
Revised 18 May 2015. ''

W. H. Davies William Henry Davies (3 July 1871 – 26 September 1940) was a Welsh poet and writer, who spent much of his life as a tramp or hobo in the United Kingdom and the United States, yet became one of the most popular poets of his time. His themes inc ...

Sidney Webb Sidney James Webb, 1st Baron Passfield, (13 July 1859 – 13 October 1947) was a British socialist, economist and reformer, who co-founded the London School of Economics. He was an early member of the Fabian Society in 1884, joining, like Geo ...

and Samuel Butler. Cape was among the first British publishers to seek out American authors. Hart-Davis notes that the firm recruited three future

Nobel prize The Nobel Prizes ( ; sv, Nobelpriset ; no, Nobelprisen ) are five separate prizes that, according to Alfred Nobel's will of 1895, are awarded to "those who, during the preceding year, have conferred the greatest benefit to humankind." Alfr ...

-winners – Sinclair Lewis,

Ernest Hemingway Ernest Miller Hemingway (July 21, 1899 – July 2, 1961) was an American novelist, short-story writer, and journalist. His economical and understated style—which he termed the iceberg theory—had a strong influence on 20th-century fic ...

, and

Eugene O'Neill Eugene Gladstone O'Neill (October 16, 1888 – November 27, 1953) was an American playwright and Nobel laureate in literature. His poetically titled plays were among the first to introduce into the U.S. the drama techniques of realism, earlier ...

– as well as many other American writers including H. L. Mencken,

, and

Margaret Mead Margaret Mead (December 16, 1901 – November 15, 1978) was an American cultural anthropologist who featured frequently as an author and speaker in the mass media during the 1960s and the 1970s. She earned her bachelor's degree at Barnard Co ...

. British and other European authors published by Cape included

H. E. Bates Herbert Ernest Bates (16 May 1905 – 29 January 1974), better known as H. E. Bates, was an English writer. His best-known works include ''Love for Lydia'', '' The Darling Buds of May'', and '' My Uncle Silas''. Early life H.E. Bates was ...

, Peter Fleming,

Robert Graves Captain Robert von Ranke Graves (24 July 1895 – 7 December 1985) was a British poet, historical novelist and critic. His father was Alfred Perceval Graves, a celebrated Irish poet and figure in the Gaelic revival; they were both Celtic ...

Christopher Isherwood Christopher William Bradshaw Isherwood (26 August 1904 – 4 January 1986) was an Anglo-American novelist, playwright, screenwriter, autobiographer, and diarist. His best-known works include '' Goodbye to Berlin'' (1939), a semi-autobiographical ...

Malcolm Lowry Clarence Malcolm Lowry (; 28 July 1909 – 26 June 1957) was an English poet and novelist who is best known for his 1947 novel ''Under the Volcano'', which was voted No. 11 in the Modern Library 100 Best Novels list.

André Maurois André Maurois (; born Émile Salomon Wilhelm Herzog; 26 July 1885 – 9 October 1967) was a French author. Biography Maurois was born on 26 July 1885 in Elbeuf and educated at the Lycée Pierre Corneille in Rouen, both in Normandy. A member of ...

, Douglas Reed, and Henry Williamson. The firm's best-sellers included

's adventure books,

's Doctor Dolittle stories, and most profitable of all,

series. Cape opened an American publishing house in 1929, first in partnership with Harrison Smith and later with Robert Ballou. The firm was not successful and went bankrupt in 1932.

Marriage and family

Cape was three times married and three times widowed. In 1907 he married Edith Louisa Creak, with whom he had two daughters. Edith Cape died in 1919. In 1927 Cape married Olyve Vida James, with whom he had a son and a daughter; Olyve Cape died in 1931. In 1941 he married Kathleen Mary Webb, with whom he had a son; Kathleen Cape died in 1953. Cape suffered two strokes in 1954, which impaired his speech, but he fought his way back to health. He was still running the firm when he celebrated his 80th birthday in November 1959. He died suddenly at his London flat on 10 February 1960. He was buried at St Peter's Church, Petersham.

The firm after Cape

As the 1960s progressed, the firm successfully courted and published authors who were representative of the age, including the Beatle

John Lennon John Winston Ono Lennon (born John Winston Lennon; 9 October 19408 December 1980) was an English singer, songwriter, musician and peace activist who achieved worldwide fame as founder, co-songwriter, co-lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist of ...

, and the former "angry young man"

Kingsley Amis Sir Kingsley William Amis (16 April 1922 – 22 October 1995) was an English novelist, poet, critic, and teacher. He wrote more than 20 novels, six volumes of poetry, a memoir, short stories, radio and television scripts, and works of social an ...

. Cape also signed up

Len Deighton Leonard Cyril Deighton (; born 18 February 1929) is a British author. His publications have included cookery books, history and military history, but he is best known for his spy novels. After completing his national service in the Royal Air Fo ...

, whose series of spy novels was a gritty alternative to the far-fetched adventures of James Bond. In the 1970s, Cape published popular authors in many genres, including the novelists J. G. Ballard and

Salman Rushdie Sir Ahmed Salman Rushdie (; born 19 June 1947) is an Indian-born British-American novelist. His work often combines magic realism with historical fiction and primarily deals with connections, disruptions, and migrations between Eastern and Wes ...

, and the children's writer

Roald Dahl Roald Dahl (13 September 1916 – 23 November 1990) was a British novelist, short-story writer, poet, screenwriter, and wartime fighter ace of Norwegian descent. His books have sold more than 250 million copies worldwide. Dahl has be ...

. One of their freelance cover artists was

Bill Botten William "Bill" Botten (born 19 May 1935) is a British illustrator, designer and artist known for the design of over 250 book covers. Early life Botten was born in London, England, and was evacuated to the Buckinghamshire countryside for the du ...

. A defensive merger with

Chatto and Windus Chatto & Windus is an imprint of Penguin Random House that was formerly an independent book publishing company founded in London in 1855 by John Camden Hotten. Following Hotten's death, the firm would reorganize under the names of his business ...

was carried out in 1969; and The Bodley Head and

Virago Press Virago is a British publisher of women's writing and books on Feminism, feminist topics. Started and run by women in the 1970s and bolstered by the success of the Women's Liberation Movement (WLM), Virago has been credited as one of several Briti ...

were added to the group. In 1987 Cape was taken over and became an imprint of

. , Jonathan Cape is an imprint of Vintage Publishing UK.

Book series

* Academy Books *

Cape Editions The Cape Editions are a selection of short books, frequently in translation, issued by UK publisher Jonathan Cape from 1967 to 1971. The collection has been described as "the remarkable Cape Editions series of seminal modern texts: poetry, prose, ...

* Cape Paperbacks * Flexibles * Florin Books * Life and Letters Series * The New Library * Odyssey Library * Saint Giles Library * The Travellers' Guides * The Travellers' LibraryTravellers' Library
owu.edu. Retrieved 7 April 2020.

Notes

References

* *

External links

Jonathan Cape on Vintage Publishing UK website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cape, Jonathan Book publishing companies of the United Kingdom Random House Publishing companies established in 1921 1921 establishments in England 1879 births 1960 deaths Burials at St Peter's, Petersham