Cassell & Co is a British book publishing house, founded in 1848 by

John Cassell John Cassell (23 January 1817 – 2 April 1865) was an England, English publisher, printer, writer and editor, who founded the firm Cassell & Co, famous for its educational books and periodicals, and which pioneered the Serial (literature), seria ...

(1817–1865), which became in the 1890s an international publishing group company. In 1995, Cassell & Co acquired

Pinter Publishers Pinter Publishers was a British publishing company set up in 1973 by Frances Pinter, at the age of 23. It focused on the social sciences and is believed to be the first British publishing company owned by a woman. Pinter Publishers earned a rep ...

. In December 1998, Cassell & Co was bought by the

Orion Publishing Group Orion Publishing Group Ltd. is a UK-based book publisher. It was founded in 1991 and acquired Weidenfeld & Nicolson the following year. The group has published numerous bestselling books by notable authors including Ian Rankin, Michael Connelly, ...

. In January 2002, Cassell imprints, including the Cassell Reference and Cassell Military were joined with the Weidenfeld imprints to form a new division under the name of

Weidenfeld & Nicolson Weidenfeld & Nicolson Ltd (established 1949), often shortened to W&N or Weidenfeld, is a British publisher of fiction and reference books. It has been a division of the French-owned Orion Publishing Group since 1991. History George Weidenfeld a ...

Ltd. Cassell Illustrated survives as an imprint of the

Octopus Publishing Group An octopus ( : octopuses or octopodes, see below for variants) is a soft-bodied, eight- limbed mollusc of the order Octopoda (, ). The order consists of some 300 species and is grouped within the class Cephalopoda with squids, cuttlefis ...

History

(1817–1865), who was in turn a carpenter, temperance preacher, tea and coffee merchant, finally turned to publishing. His first publication was on 1 July 1848, a weekly newspaper called ''The Standard of Freedom'' advocating religious, political, and commercial freedom.The History of Cassell Publishing
/ref> '' The Working Man's Friend'' became another popular publication. In 1849 Cassell was dividing his time between his publishing and his grocery business. In 1851 his expanding interests led to his renting part of

La Belle Sauvage ''La Belle Sauvage'' is a fantasy novel by Philip Pullman published in 2017. It is the first volume of a planned trilogy titled ''The Book of Dust'' and is set twelve years before Pullman's ''His Dark Materials''. It presents events prior to the ...

, a London inn which had been a playhouse in Elizabethan times. The former inn was demolished in 1873 to make way for a railway viaduct, with the company building new premises behind. La Belle Sauvage was destroyed in 1941 by

WWII World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

bombing as well as many archives. Thomas Dixon Galpin who came from Dorchester in Dorset and George William Petter who was born in

Barnstaple Barnstaple ( or ) is a river-port town in North Devon, England, at the River Taw's lowest crossing point before the Bristol Channel. From the 14th century, it was licensed to export wool and won great wealth. Later it imported Irish wool, bu ...

in Devon were partners in a printing firm and on John Cassell's bankruptcy in June 1855 acquired the publishing company and Cassell's debts. Between 1855 and 1858 the printing firm operated as Petter and Galpin and their work was published by W. Kent & Co. John Cassell was relegated to being a junior partner after becoming insolvent in 1858, the firm being known as Cassell, Petter & Galpin. With the arrival of a new partner, Robert Turner, in 1878, it became Cassell, Petter, Galpin & Company. Galpin was the astute business manager.Galpin Family History
(Rootsweb). George Lock, the founder of

Ward Lock Ward, Lock & Co. was a publishing house in the United Kingdom that started as a partnership and developed until it was eventually absorbed into the publishing combine of Orion Publishing Group. History Ebenezer Ward and George Lock started a pu ...

, another publishing house, was Galpin's first cousin. Petter retired in 1883 and the company then became Cassell and Company, Ltd. "The company expanded well until 1888 when Petter died, Galpin retired from managing directorship, and Turner became chairman." One July 1887 newspaper advertisement for

Cassell's National Library ''Cassell's National Library'' was a weekly series issued by Cassell & Company of London, comprising English literature edited by Henry Morley. From 1886 to 1889 it issued 209 weekly volumes. These were sold for 3d. in paper covers and 6d. cloth-bo ...

, and other libraries, displays the footer "CASSELL & COMPANY, Limited, Ludgate-Hill, London, Paris, New York, and Melbourne." Sir Thomas Wemyss Reid was general manager until 1905 when Arthur Spurgeon took over and revitalized the firm. Mainly magazine publishers, Spurgeon concentrated on reviving the book business. In 1923 the company was floated on the Stock Exchange and a few years later the magazines owned by the company were sold to

Amalgamated Press The Amalgamated Press (AP) was a British newspaper and magazine publishing company founded by journalist and entrepreneur Alfred Harmsworth (1865–1922) in 1901, gathering his many publishing ventures together under one banner. At one point the ...

following many industrial disputes (1931–1933). In 1969, Cassell was acquired by the American company Crowell Collier & Macmillan (later renamed Macmillan Inc.). Macmillan had previously acquired the religious publisher

Geoffrey Chapman Geoffrey Chapman (5 April 1930 – 9 May 2010) was an Australian publisher Publishing is the activity of making information, literature, music, software and other content available to the public for sale or for free. Traditionally, the ter ...

. Macmillan sold Cassell, including Geoffrey Chapman, to

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...

in 1982. CBS sold Cassell in a buyout in 1986. In October 1992, Cassell & Co bought

Victor Gollancz Ltd Victor Gollancz Ltd () was a major British book publishing house of the twentieth century and continues to publish science fiction and fantasy titles as an imprint of Orion Publishing Group. Gollancz was founded in 1927 by Victor Gollancz, an ...

from

Houghton Mifflin The asterisk ( ), from Late Latin , from Ancient Greek , ''asteriskos'', "little star", is a typographical symbol. It is so called because it resembles a conventional image of a heraldic star. Computer scientists and mathematicians often voc ...

. In December 1998 the company was taken over by

. In 1999, Cassell's academic and religious lists were merged with the American company Continuum to form the

Continuum International Publishing Group Continuum International Publishing Group was an academic publisher of books with editorial offices in London and New York City. It was purchased by Nova Capital Management in 2005. In July 2011, it was taken over by Bloomsbury Publishing. , al ...

Cassell's former periodicals

Cartel del periódico ilustrado The Quiver, de Henry Ryland

* ''

Cassell's Magazine ''Cassell's Magazine'' is a British magazine that was published monthly from 1897 to 1912. It was the successor to ''Cassell's Illustrated Family Paper'', (1853–1867) becoming ''Cassell's Family Magazine'' in 1874, ''Cassell's Magazine'' in 1897 ...

'' (1864-73) * ''Cassell's household guide : being a complete encyclopaedia of domestic and social economy and forming a guide to every department of practical life'' 1869 * ''Cassell's Illustrated Travels'' fl.1872-3 * ''

Cassell's Family Magazine ''Cassell's Magazine'' is a British magazine that was published monthly from 1897 to 1912. It was the successor to ''Cassell's Illustrated Family Paper'', (1853–1867) becoming ''Cassell's Family Magazine'' in 1874, ''Cassell's Magazine'' in 1897 ...

'' (1874-97) * ''

'' (1897- * ''Cassell's Saturday Journal'' (1883–1921) * ''Cassell's Weekly'' (1923), then '' T.P.'s & Cassell's Weekly'' (1923–1927) * '' Chums'' (1892–1934) * '' The Echo'' (1868–1905) * ''The Lady's World'' (1886), then ''

The Woman's World ''The Woman's World'' was a Victorian women's magazine published by Cassell between 1886 and 1890, edited by Oscar Wilde between 1887 and 1889, and by Ella Hepworth Dixon from 1888. Foundation In the late nineteenth century, the market for per ...

'' (1887–1890), edited by

Oscar Wilde Oscar Fingal O'Flahertie Wills Wilde (16 October 185430 November 1900) was an Irish poet and playwright. After writing in different forms throughout the 1880s, he became one of the most popular playwrights in London in the early 1890s. He is ...

* ''Little Folks'' (1871–1933), edited by

Sam Hield Hamer Sam Hield Hamer (27 July 1869 – 6 February 1941) was an English writer and editor, mostly for children, but was also well-regarded as a travel writer. Born in Islington, a son of John Hamer, a Justice of the Peace, and Sarah Sharp Hamer (née ...

(1895–1907) * ''The Illustrated Magazine of Art'' (1853–54), then ''

The Magazine of Art ''The Magazine of Art'' was an illustrated monthly British journal devoted to the visual arts, published from May 1878 to July 1904 in London and New York City by Cassell, Petter, Galpin & Co. It included reviews of exhibitions, articles about art ...

'' (1878–1904) * ''The New Magazine'' (1909–1927) * ''The New Penny Magazine'' (1898–1902), then ''The Penny Magazine'' (1903–1925), and ''Cassell's Popular Magazine'' (1925) * ''

The Quiver ''The Quiver'' (18611956) was a weekly magazine published by Cassell's and was "designed for the defence and promotion of biblical truth and the advance of religion in the homes of the people." History John Cassell (18171865), the English publ ...

'' (1861–1956) * ''

The Story-Teller ''The Story-Teller'' was a monthly British pulp fiction magazine from 1907 to 1937. ''The Story-Teller'' is notable for having published some of the works of prominent authors, including G. K. Chesterton, William Hope Hodgson, Rudyard Kipli ...

'' (1907–1937) * ''Work'' (1889–1924)

References

External links

1848 establishments in England

Book publishing companies of the United Kingdom

British companies established in 1848

Publishing companies established in 1848

Lagardère Media

Publishing companies based in London

Tea houses of the United Kingdom

History

Cassell's former periodicals

See also

References

Further reading

External links