Edward William Cole, also known as "E. W. Cole of the Book Arcade", (4 January 183216 December 1918) was a bookseller and founder of the ''Cole's Book Arcade'',

Melbourne, Victoria Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung–Taungurung language, Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the St ...

, Australia.E. Cole Turnley
"Cole, Edward William (1832–1918)"
''Australian Dictionary of Biography'', Volume 3, Melbourne University Press, 1969, pp. 438–440. Retrieved 27 July 2022.

Early life

Cole was born at Woodchurch near Tenterden, Kent, England, to Harriet Cole, on January 4, 1832. Harriet's husband, Amos Cole, was on the hulks in Plymouth at the time of Edward's conception and therefore Amos could not be Edward's father, whose identity remains unknown.Tony Rudd
EW Cole’s Father in Name Only: Amos Besor Cole
Tony Rudd, n.d. Rerrieved 28 August 2021. Harriet herself was both illegitimate and illiterate. Cole received little formal education and he himself confirmed that "he had as a boy only six months' schooling." When Cole was 4, despite no record of a divorce, his mother Harriet married again to Thomas Watson, on 27 February 1836, just two months before Amos was transported to Van Diemen's Land on 24 April, 1836. Aged 18, Cole moved to London in 1850 with £20. On 14 April 1850, he migrated to the Cape Colony aboard the 'Dalhousie' and had some success as a farmer and enjoyed botanical explorations. On November 11, 1852 Cole arrived at Cole's Wharf (no relation) in the Yarra in Melbourne Victoria. He spent some time on the diggings at various jobs.

Bookseller

On 30 September 1865, Cole started a

bookshop Bookselling is the commercial trading of books which is the retail and distribution end of the publishing process. People who engage in bookselling are called booksellers, bookdealers, bookpeople, bookmen, or bookwomen. The founding of librar ...

at the Eastern market, Melbourne, with a stock of 600 volumes. His total takings at the end of October amounted to £15 12s., most of which was spent in buying fresh stock. He gradually prospered moving to bigger and better stalls. Though Cole had little education he read a great deal, and in 1867, under the pseudonym of "Edwic", he published ''The Real Place in History of Jesus and Paul'', which is largely a discussion on the validity of miracles. The last paragraph of the book stated that it had been written largely to show what Jesus was not, and that he hoped to publish another book showing "what he really was and Paul also, namely that they were two honest visionaries". No one in Melbourne or Sydney would publish it. With the pending redevelopment of the Eastern Market, in December 1873 Cole moved to a building a little further down Bourke Street, and opened a book shop grandly named "Coles Book Arcade", where his flair for publicity made it a success. Meanwhile, the new Eastern Market had opened in 1879, but it was not a success, most vendors finding better conditions and lower rents at the Queen Victoria Market. Cole offered to rent the ''whole'' of the market in 1881, to which the City of Melbourne agreed. He engaged a band, spent a comparatively large sum on advertising, and made the market a popular resort, rather than a place to buy fresh food, a model which proved a success. After one year, Council did not renew the lease, hoping to capitalise on Cole's initiative, but it was never again so popular. Cole then began negotiations for a building further down Bourke Street near the General Post Office.

Cole's Book Arcade

Cole's Book Arcade was opened in its new location on 27 January 1883 and grew into one of the great book businesses of Australia. It became known as "the prettiest sight in Melbourne". Such was its renown that Cole's Book Arcade was visited by writers Rudyard Kipling and

Mark Twain Samuel Langhorne Clemens (November 30, 1835 – April 21, 1910), known by his pen name Mark Twain, was an American writer, humorist, entrepreneur, publisher, and lecturer. He was praised as the "greatest humorist the United States has p ...

during their travels to Australia. The shop was a huge three story space, with new books on the ground floor, used books on the first, and knick-knacks on the top. Over the years it expanded in size and variety of offerings, such as a music department and cafe, and a small orchestra played on the first floor at lunchtimes. Eventually it ran right through to

Collins Street Collins Street or Collins St. may refer to: Structures Places of worship * Collins Street Baptist Church, a church in Melbourne, Australia * Collins Street Independent Church, a church in Melbourne, Australia Skyscrapers * 101 Collins Street, a sk ...

and incorporated buildings on either side. The statement that there was once a stock of two million books is manifestly absurd, but the arcade certainly had one of the largest stocks of books in the world. Members of the public were invited to walk through the arcade, and to spend as much time as they liked turning over the books or even reading them, with no pressure to purchase. The business continued to prosper and Cole eventually opened various new departments including one of printing.

''Funny Picture Books''

He compiled and published a large number of popular books, of which the '' Cole's Funny Picture Book'' series, which was launched with great publicity on Christmas Eve 1879, and ''Cole's Fun Doctor'' were most successful, their sales running into many hundreds of thousands. Another publication (early 1900s) was ''Cole's Treasury of Song, A Collection of the Most Popular Songs ld and New' containing about a thousand songs.

Other publishing activities

Under the "W. T. Cole" and "Cole's Book Arcade" imprints, Cole published books on many subjects from war and peace to spiritualism, from popular works of adventure and humour to volumes of sheet music and the great literary classics. He also published many book series, including the Federation of the World Library, the Cream of Human Thought Library, the Commonwealth Library, Cole's Commonwealth Music Books and Coles Useful Books. Authors published ranged from Henry Lawson to

W. T. Stead William Thomas Stead (5 July 184915 April 1912) was a British newspaper editor who, as a pioneer of investigative journalism, became a controversial figure of the Victorian era. Stead published a series of hugely influential campaigns whilst ed ...

Horticulture books

Cole also had great success publishing gardening and horticultural literature. ''Cole’s Penny Garden Guide'' was abridged from the ''Law Somner and Co. Handbook to the Garden'' (1880), a device much used by Cole. His biggest garden success was ''Cole’s Australasian Gardening and Domestic Floriculture'' (1897) by William Elliott. He also published Hamilton McEwin’s ''The Fruitgrower’s Handbook'', and reprinted others, such as John Lockley’s ''Rose Growing Made Easy'', under his imprint. Cole’s ''The Happifying Gardening Hobby'' (1918), an endearing anthology of words and pictures, embodied his altruistic wish for universal health and happiness. Historian Ken Duxbury describes this work as a "sort of horticultural version" of ''Cole’s Funny Picture Book''.Duxbury, K. (2003), "With Mirrors and Rainbows: Part 2", ''Australian Garden History'', 15 (1), pp. 14–19. Cole also edited a booklet entitled ''Cotton Growing: The Coming Leading Industry in Australia'' in 1905 and in 1913, the second edition of ''The Fruitgrower’s Handbook''. Over the next two years, he published two works by A. E. Cole (no relation) ''The Bouquet: Australian Flower Gardening'' and ''The Australian Floral Almanac''.

Current affairs

In the final years of his life Cole penned a number of pamphlets on social and political issues. These included ''A White Australia Impossible'' (1898) and ''The White Australia Question'' (1903), anti-racist tracts directed against the White Australia policy. His fervent opposition to the policy led to him making a six month visit to

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

with his wife and two daughters in 1902. During the First World War he also compiled booklets, such as ''War'' (1917), denouncing armed conflict.

Personal life and legacy

Cole married Eliza Frances Jordan in 1875; she predeceased him, dying on 15 March 1911. They lived in a flat above the arcade. Cole himself died in Melbourne on 16 December 1918 and was buried in Boroondara Cemetery. Two sons and three daughters outlived him. Cole's establishment had a considerable effect on the culture of Melbourne. Cole has been dubbed a "marketing genius", Richard Broinowski, ''Under the Rainbow: The Life and Times of E.W. Cole'', Melbourne University Publishing, 2020, page ix. with his Book Arcade being an integral part of "

Marvellous Melbourne ''Marvellous Melbourne: Queen City of the South'' is a 1910 documentary of Melbourne that takes the audience through the hotspots of its central business district and surrounding features. Published in 1910, the film stands as the oldest surviv ...

" and designed as a "carnival, a place to see and be seen", a "shop like no other, crammed with new and second-hand books and other wares, but with the atmosphere of a circus", and enticing customers of all ages in "with a menagerie and fernery, a band, a clockwork symphonion and other mechanical delights",Medal - E.W. Cole, Cole's Book Arcade, Victoria, Australia, 1918
worldcat.org. Retrieved 27 July 2022. while its main business remained the selling of books. Its proprietor, E. W. Cole, was moreover an "optimist and idealist, believing passionately in the power of education and envisaged a world without borders", views which he expounded through his books and pamphlets. The business was continued for about ten years after his death, when the executors decided to close it and sell the properties, which had now become very valuable. A member of his family bought the goodwill, and the shop was continued for another ten years in Swanston Street on a comparatively small scale.

References

External links

E. W. Cole
- website devoted to Cole with Publications, Tokens, Biographical and Chronology sections
The life and times of EW Cole
Richard Broinowski, author of ''Under the Rainbow: The Life and Times of E.W. Cole'' interviewed by Phillip Adams, ABC's Radio National, 3 September 2020 * * * *
War
' by E. W. Cole (1917) - digital edition at

State Library of New South Wales The State Library of New South Wales, part of which is known as the Mitchell Library, is a large heritage-listed special collections, reference and research library open to the public and is one of the oldest libraries in Australia. Establish ...

Photo of E. W. Cole (Electronic Encyclopedia of Gold in Australia)
from

State Library of Victoria State Library Victoria (SLV) is the state library of Victoria, Australia. Located in Melbourne, it was established in 1854 as the Melbourne Public Library, making it Australia's oldest public library and one of the first free libraries in the ...

's Pictures Collection
Photo of Mrs E. W. Cole in the Coles Book Arcade, c. 1901
at

E. W. Cole
at

AustLit AustLit: The Australian Literature Resource (also known as AustLit: Australian Literature Gateway; and AustLit: The Resource for Australian Literature), usually referred to simply as AustLit, is an internet-based, non-profit collaboration betwee ...

E. W. Cole
at www.whitehat.com.au
Collection of E.W. Cole ephemera, ca. 1883-ca. 1910
at

Cole's Book Arcade items in Museums Victoria collections

Medal - E.W. Cole, Cole's Book Arcade, Victoria, Australia, 1918
at Museum Victoria
The world's language, token from Cole's Book Arcade, Melbourne, ca. 1885
(realia) at National Library of Australia {{DEFAULTSORT:Cole, Edward William 1832 births 1918 deaths People from Woodchurch, Kent Businesspeople from Melbourne Culture of Melbourne English emigrants to Australia Australian booksellers Australian publishers (people) Australian bibliophiles Australian book and manuscript collectors 19th-century Australian businesspeople