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 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 set up the publishing house in 1921. They established a reputation ...

in 1921, and took over as chairman when Cape died in 1960. According to

Philip Ziegler Philip Sandeman Ziegler (born 24 December 1929) is a British biographer and historian. Background Born in Ringwood, Hampshire, Ziegler was educated at St Cyprian's School, Eastbourne, and went with the school when it merged with Summer Field ...

he was a "trim, spruce figure of military appearance .... He had a fine eye for design, and it was largely due to him that Cape’s books became highly esteemed for their good looks and high standards of production". His "cautious precision complemented Cape’s more swashbuckling approach while reinforcing his reluctance to part with more money than was absolutely necessary" and "he was even more cheese-paring than his chairman" (i.e. Cape). He "actively disliked" authors, and as Cape felt "little affection" for them, fraternisation was left to the junior partner

Rupert Hart-Davis Sir Rupert Charles Hart-Davis (28 August 1907 – 8 December 1999) was an English publisher and editor. He founded the publishing company Rupert Hart-Davis Ltd. As a biographer, he is remembered for his ''Hugh Walpole'' (1952), as an editor, f ...

. The son of Frank Geere Howard and his wife Feona, he was born in Hampstead, and resided there. He was educated at

Marlborough College Marlborough College is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school (English Independent school (United Kingdom), independent boarding school) for pupils aged 13 to 18 in Marlborough, Wiltshire, England. Founded in 1843 for the sons of Church ...

and

Trinity College, Cambridge Trinity College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1546 by Henry VIII, King Henry VIII, Trinity is one of the largest Cambridge colleges, with the largest financial endowment of any college at either Cambridge ...

. He was in the

King's Royal Rifle Corps The King's Royal Rifle Corps was an infantry rifle regiment of the British Army that was originally raised in British North America as the Royal American Regiment during the phase of the Seven Years' War in North America known in the United St ...

in World War I, and was awarded the

Military Cross The Military Cross (MC) is the third-level (second-level pre-1993) military decoration awarded to officers and (since 1993) other ranks of the British Armed Forces, and formerly awarded to officers of other Commonwealth countries. The MC i ...

. In 1915, he married Eileen, daughter of barrister John Castleman Swinburne-Hanham, of Manston House, Dorset; they had one son and one daughter. She died in 1950.

References

Sources

*''Obituary'' in ''The Times'', London of 30 July 1968 p8 * {{DEFAULTSORT:Howard, Wren 1893 births 1968 deaths Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge Publishers (people) from London People from Hampstead 20th-century English businesspeople