Hilary Harold Rubinstein (26 April 1926 – 22 May 2012) was a British publisher and literary agent. He was described by Ion Trewin in an obituary published in ''The Guardian'' as "one of Britain's premier literary agents".
Early and private life
Rubinstein was born in London. His father Harold F. Rubinstein (1891–1975) was a solicitor with expertise in publishing matters; he acted on the defence of
Radclyffe Hall
Marguerite Antonia Radclyffe Hall (12 August 1880 – 7 October 1943) was an English poet and author, best known for the novel ''The Well of Loneliness'', a groundbreaking work in lesbian literature. In adulthood, Hall often went by the name Jo ...
's novel, ''
The Well of Loneliness
''The Well of Loneliness'' is a lesbian novel by British author Radclyffe Hall that was first published in 1928 by Jonathan Cape. It follows the life of Stephen Gordon, an Englishwoman from an upper-class family whose " sexual inversion" (hom ...
'' on obscenity charges in 1928. His mother, Lina Naomi Rubinstein, née Lowy (died 1939) was the sister of
Victor Gollancz
Sir Victor Gollancz (; 9 April 1893 – 8 February 1967) was a British publisher and humanitarian.
Gollancz was known as a supporter of left-wing causes. His loyalties shifted between liberalism and communism, but he defined himself as a Chris ...
's wife, Ruth. His father also wrote several plays, published by his brother-in-law
Victor Gollancz
Sir Victor Gollancz (; 9 April 1893 – 8 February 1967) was a British publisher and humanitarian.
Gollancz was known as a supporter of left-wing causes. His loyalties shifted between liberalism and communism, but he defined himself as a Chris ...
. His elder brother Michael Rubinstein (1920–2001) also became a lawyer in the family firm, Rubinstein, Nash & Co, and acted for
Penguin Books
Penguin Books is a British publishing house. It was co-founded in 1935 by Allen Lane with his brothers Richard and John, as a line of the publishers The Bodley Head, only becoming a separate company the following year.D. H. Lawrence
David Herbert Lawrence (11 September 1885 – 2 March 1930) was an English writer, novelist, poet and essayist. His works reflect on modernity, industrialization, sexuality, emotional health, vitality, spontaneity and instinct. His best-k ...
Cheltenham College
("Work Conquers All")
, established =
, closed =
, type = Public school Independent School Day and Boarding School
, religion = Church of England
, president =
, head_label = Head
, head = Nicola Hugget ...
marriage guidance counsellor
The Marriage Guidance Counsellor sketch is from the second ''Monty Python's Flying Circus'' episode, "Sex and Violence", first broadcast late on Sunday, 12 October 1969. Written by Eric Idle, it was also featured in the 1971 spinoff film '' An ...
, published several cookery books, and founded the Ben's Cookies biscuit chain (named after their youngest son). They were close friends of politician
Shirley Williams
Shirley Vivian Teresa Brittain Williams, Baroness Williams of Crosby, (' Catlin; 27 July 1930 – 12 April 2021) was a British politician and academic. Originally a Labour Party Member of Parliament (MP), she served in the Labour cabinet from ...
and her husband Bernard, living in the same house in West London together for a period.
He was survived by his wife, their three sons, and one daughter, the literary agent Felicity Rubinstein.
Career
After university, Rubinstein became an editor at Gollancz. He encouraged the firm to publish
Kingsley Amis
Sir Kingsley William Amis (16 April 1922 – 22 October 1995) was an English novelist, poet, critic, and teacher. He wrote more than 20 novels, six volumes of poetry, a memoir, short stories, radio and television scripts, and works of social a ...
's first novel ''
Lucky Jim
''Lucky Jim'' is a novel by Kingsley Amis, first published in 1954 by Victor Gollancz. It was Amis's first novel and won the 1955 Somerset Maugham Award for fiction. The novel follows the exploits of the eponymous James (Jim) Dixon, a reluctan ...
'' (Rubinstein and Amis had become acquainted at Oxford). He also expanded the firm's range of authors, adding science fiction written by
J. G. Ballard
James Graham Ballard (15 November 193019 April 2009) was an English novelist, short story writer, satirist, and essayist known for provocative works of fiction which explored the relations between human psychology, technology, sex, and mass med ...
,
Robert Silverberg
Robert Silverberg (born January 15, 1935) is an American author and editor, best known for writing science fiction. He is a multiple winner of both Hugo and Nebula Awards, a member of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Hall of Fame, and a Gr ...
and
Robert Heinlein
Robert Anson Heinlein (; July 7, 1907 – May 8, 1988) was an American science fiction author, aeronautical engineer, and naval officer. Sometimes called the "dean of science fiction writers", he was among the first to emphasize scientific accu ...
. He worked at Gollancz for 13 years, from 1950 to 1963, and became a director in 1952, effectively becoming Victor Gollancz's deputy in 1954 after Sheila Hodges left. Eventually, Victor Gollancz appointed his daughter Livia Gollancz to succeed him in running the business. Conflicts with Gollancz led him to leave his job after 13 years.
Rubinstein left to work at ''
The Observer
''The Observer'' is a British newspaper published on Sundays. It is a sister paper to ''The Guardian'' and '' The Guardian Weekly'', whose parent company Guardian Media Group Limited acquired it in 1993. First published in 1791, it is the ...
'' from 1963 until 1965, and served as the deputy editor of the newspaper's colour magazine when it launched in 1964. He then became a literary agent at the long-established firm A. P. Watt, where he represented many successful clients, including
Quentin Blake
Sir Quentin Saxby Blake, (born 16 December 1932) is an English cartoonist, caricaturist, illustrator and children's writer. He has illustrated over 300 books, including 18 written by Roald Dahl, which are among his most popular works. For his ...
Jan Morris
(Catharine) Jan MorrisJan Morris, Paul Clements, University of Wales Press, 2008, p. 7 (born James Humphry Morris; 2 October 192620 November 2020) was a Welsh historian, author and travel writer. She was known particularly for the ''Pax Brita ...
P. G. Wodehouse
Sir Pelham Grenville Wodehouse, ( ; 15 October 188114 February 1975) was an English author and one of the most widely read humorists of the 20th century. His creations include the feather-brained Bertie Wooster and his sagacious valet, Jeeve ...
Rudyard Kipling
Joseph Rudyard Kipling ( ; 30 December 1865 – 18 January 1936)''The Times'', (London) 18 January 1936, p. 12. was an English novelist, short-story writer, poet, and journalist. He was born in British India, which inspired much of his work.
...
,
Somerset Maugham
William Somerset Maugham ( ; 25 January 1874 – 16 December 1965) was an English writer, known for his plays, novels and short stories. Born in Paris, where he spent his first ten years, Maugham was schooled in England and went to a German un ...
W. B. Yeats
William Butler Yeats (13 June 186528 January 1939) was an Irish poet, dramatist, writer and one of the foremost figures of 20th-century literature. He was a driving force behind the Irish Literary Revival and became a pillar of the Irish liter ...
. For Michael Holroyd, he secured an advance of more than £600,000 from Chatto & Windus in 1987 for a four-volume biography of
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 ...
. He also acted as agent for John Colville, private secretary to Winston Churchill, who published his memoirs ''The Fringes of Power: Downing Street Diaries 1939-1955''.
He compiled an anthology, ''The Complete Insomniac'', which was published in 1974, and in 1978, he founded and compiled ''
The Good Hotel Guide
''The Good Hotel Guide'' is an annual book publication, founded in 1977, listing and describing what they profess to be the finest hotels in Great Britain and Ireland. It also publishes a Continental Europe edition and a combined Great Britain and ...
'', published by
Which?
''Which?'' is a United Kingdom brand name that promotes informed consumer choice in the purchase of goods and services by testing products, highlighting inferior products or services, raising awareness of consumer rights and offering independe ...
alongside ''
The Good Food Guide
''The Good Food Guide'' has been reviewing the best restaurants, pubs and cafés in Great Britain since 1951.
In October 2021, Adam Hyman purchased ''The Good Food Guide'' for an undisclosed sum from Waitrose & Partners. The ''Guide'' is being r ...
'' founded in 1951 by
Raymond Postgate
Raymond William Postgate (6 November 1896 – 29 March 1971) was an English socialist, writer, journalist and editor, social historian, mystery novelist, and gourmet who founded the '' Good Food Guide''. He was a member of the Postgate fa ...
.
Rubinstein retired from AP Watt in 1992, but continued to work as a literary agent independently, controversially acting for
Mary Bell
Mary Flora Bell (born 26 May 1957) is an English woman who, as a juvenile, murdered two preschool-age boys in Scotswood, an inner suburb of Newcastle upon Tyne in 1968. Bell committed her first murder when she was 10 years old. In both instan ...
, the 1960s child murderer, whose biography ''Cries Unheard'' written with Gitta Sereny was published in 1998.
He was a member of the council of the
Institute of Contemporary Arts
The Institute of Contemporary Arts (ICA) is an artistic and cultural centre on The Mall in London, just off Trafalgar Square. Located within Nash House, part of Carlton House Terrace, near the Duke of York Steps and Admiralty Arch, the ICA c ...