Grant Richards was a small British publishing house founded in 1897 by the writer Grant Richards. Significant publications from the company's first incorporation were

George Bernard Shaw George Bernard Shaw (26 July 1856 – 2 November 1950), known at his insistence simply as Bernard Shaw, was an Irish playwright, critic, polemicist and political activist. His influence on Western theatre, culture and politics extended from ...

's '' Plays Pleasant and Unpleasant'' and

A. E. Housman Alfred Edward Housman (; 26 March 1859 – 30 April 1936) was an English classical scholar and poet. After an initially poor performance while at university, he took employment as a clerk in London and established his academic reputation by pub ...

's '' A Shropshire Lad'', as well as books by G. K. Chesterton,

Saki Hector Hugh Munro (18 December 1870 – 14 November 1916), better known by the pen name Saki and also frequently as H. H. Munro, was a British writer whose witty, mischievous and sometimes macabre stories satirize Edwardian society and cultu ...

Arnold Bennett Enoch Arnold Bennett (27 May 1867 – 27 March 1931) was an English author, best known as a novelist. He wrote prolifically: between the 1890s and the 1930s he completed 34 novels, seven volumes of short stories, 13 plays (some in collaboratio ...

, Samuel Butler, and

Ernest Bramah Ernest Bramah (20 March 186827 June 1942), the pseudonym of Ernest Brammah Smith, who was an English author. He published 21 books and numerous short stories and features. His humorous works were often ranked with Jerome K. Jerome and W. W. Ja ...

. In 1897, the Grant Richards publishing house began publishing the

Dumpy Books for Children The Dumpy Books for Children were a series of small-format books selected by E. V. Lucas and published by British publisher Grant Richards between 1897 and 1904. Subsequent books were published by Chatto & Windus Chatto & Windus is an imprin ...

series of small format books for children. In 1901, the publishing house launched The World's Classics, a reprinted series of out of copyright literary classics. In 1905, the series was acquired by Henry Frowde of

Oxford University Press Oxford University Press (OUP) is the university press of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world, and its printing history dates back to the 1480s. Having been officially granted the legal right to print books ...

, which continues to publish the series as

Oxford World's Classics Oxford World's Classics is an imprint of Oxford University Press. First established in 1901 by Grant Richards (publisher), Grant Richards and purchased by OUP in 1906, this imprint publishes primarily dramatic and classic literature for student ...

. Richards declared bankruptcy in 1905. He reorganised and continued to run the firm, publishing first under the name of E. Grant Richards (which included the initial of his wife's first name) and then under the name of Grant Richards Ltd. In these years the firm published works by John Galsworthy, Royall Tyler,

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 ...

Robert Tressell Robert Noonan (17 April 1870 – 3 February 1911), born Robert Croker and best known by the pen name Robert Tressell, was an Irish writer best known for his novel ''The Ragged-Trousered Philanthropists''. Tressell spent his entire early adult w ...

John Masefield John Edward Masefield (; 1 June 1878 – 12 May 1967) was an English poet and writer, and Poet Laureate of the United Kingdom, Poet Laureate from 1930 until 1967. Among his best known works are the children's novels ''The Midnight Folk'' and ...

, and Jack Kahane. In 1926, when Richards declared bankruptcy a second time, the firm was renamed as the Richards Press. In 1937, the firm was bought by

Martin Secker Martin Secker (6 April 1882 – 6 April 1978), born Percy Martin Secker Klingender, was a London publisher who was responsible for producing the work of a distinguished group of literary authors, including D. H. Lawrence, Thomas Mann, Norman Doug ...

. It was subsequently bought by John Baker and finally by A & C Black.

Book series

* The Dumpy Books for Children * Ethics of the Surface Series * Grant Allen's Historical Guides * Omar Series *

World’s Classics
seriesofseries.owu.edu. Retrieved 17 June 2019. * The Russian Library * Smaller Classics Series * The Sylvan Series

References

Book publishing companies of the United Kingdom Publishing companies established in 1897 1897 establishments in the United Kingdom {{UK-publish-company-stub