George Allen & Unwin was a British publishing company formed in 1911 when Sir Stanley Unwin purchased a controlling interest in George Allen & Co. It went on to become one of the leading publishers of the twentieth century and to establish an Australian subsidiary in 1976. In 1990, Allen & Unwin was sold to HarperCollins and the Australian branch was the subject of a management buy-out.

George Allen & Unwin in the UK

George Allen & Sons was established in 1871 by George Allen, with the backing of John Ruskin, becoming George Allen & Co. Ltd. in 1911 and then George Allen & Unwin in 1914 as a result of Stanley Unwin's purchase of a controlling interest. Unwin's son Rayner S. Unwin and nephew Philip helped run the company, which published the works of Bertrand Russell, Arthur Waley,

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 ...

, Lancelot Hogben, and Thor Heyerdahl. It became well known as J. R. R. Tolkien's publisher, some time after publishing the popular children's fantasy novel '' The Hobbit'' in 1937, and its high fantasy sequel '' The Lord of the Rings'' novel in 1954–1955. Book series published by the firm in this period included the

Muirhead Library of Philosophy The Muirhead Library of Philosophy was an influential series which published some of the best writings of twentieth century philosophy. The original programme was drawn up by John Muirhead and published in Erdmann's ''History of Philosophy'' in 189 ...

and Unwin Books. Rayner Unwin retired at the end of 1985, and the firm was amalgamated in 1986 with Bell & Hyman to form Unwin Hyman Ltd.. Robin Hyman became chief executive of the combined Unwin Hyman. From this time Allen & Unwin was an Australia-based, child company of Unwin Hyman. Rayner Unwin returned for a while as part-time chairman of Unwin Hyman, retiring again at the end of 1988. It was over the objections of largest

shareholder A shareholder (in the United States often referred to as stockholder) of a corporation is an individual or legal entity (such as another corporation, a body politic, a trust or partnership) that is registered by the corporation as the legal own ...

Unwin that in 1990 Hyman sold the firm to HarperCollins. HarperCollins has since sold Unwin Hyman's academic book list to Routledge.

Allen & Unwin in Australia

Allen & Unwin Australia Pty Ltd became independent in July 1990 by means of a management buy-out when the UK firm was bought by HarperCollins. Now known simply as "Allen & Unwin" the company went on to become the most successful "independent" in Australia and currently publishes up to 250 new titles a year. Allen & Unwin publishes across a broad range of areas including literary and commercial fiction, popular and serious non-fiction — including biography, memoir, history, true crime, politics, current affairs, and travel — academic and professional, children's books and books for teenagers. Among the many authors published by Allen & Unwin are Alex Miller, Christos Tsiolkas, Garth Nix, Jodi Picoult, Kate Morton, Michael Connelly, Thomas Keneally, Peter Corris, Paul Keating,

Stephanie Dowrick Stephanie Dowrick (born 2 June 1947) is an Australian writer, Interfaith Minister and social activist. She is the author of more than 20 books of fiction and non-fiction, five of them best-sellers. She was a publisher in Australia and the UK, wh ...

, and Christopher Hitchens. Allen & Unwin is also co-sponsor and publisher of the annual Australian/Vogel Literary Award. The Allen & Unwin head office is in

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

and the company also publishes out of offices in Melbourne, Auckland, and London. Allen & Unwin also represents a number of leading independent British publishers in the Australian and New Zealand markets. These include

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 ...

, Faber & Faber, Profile Books and Serpent's Tail, Atlantic and Corvus, Granta and Portobello,

Canongate The Canongate is a street and associated district in central Edinburgh, the capital city of Scotland. The street forms the main eastern length of the Royal Mile while the district is the main eastern section of Edinburgh's Old Town. It began ...

, Nicholas Brealey, Icon, and Nosy Crow. Allen & Unwin distributes the

Harry Potter ''Harry Potter'' is a series of seven fantasy literature, fantasy novels written by British author J. K. Rowling. The novels chronicle the lives of a young Magician (fantasy), wizard, Harry Potter (character), Harry Potter, and his friends ...

series of books in Australia and New Zealand under the Bloomsbury imprint. Since the inaugural award in 1992, Allen & Unwin has been voted Publisher of the Year fourteen times including in 2020. The founder and chairman of Allen & Unwin is Patrick Gallagher, the CEO is Robert Gorman and the publishing director is Tom Gilliatt. In 2020, Allen & Unwin sold its textbooks and professional lists to Taylor & Francis.

The Australian/Vogel Literary Award

In 1979, Niels Stevns (of Stevns and Company Pty Ltd, which makes Vogel bread) created The Australian/Vogel Literary Award in collaboration with '' The Australian'' newspaper and Allen & Unwin. The award is for an unpublished manuscript by a writer under the age of 35. The award includes that the winning manuscript will be published by Allen & Unwin.

Legal case

In 2012, legal actions were initiated against Allen & Unwin regarding a book authored by Fairfax Media journalist Eamonn Duff. In the first case, the judge awarded $50,000 damages for breach of copyright in the unauthorised use of family photographs. Defamation cases followed, and in August 2014, two family members were awarded $325,000 in damages.

References and sources

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External links