The ''Home University Library of Modern Knowledge'' was a series of popular non-fiction books from the first half of the twentieth century that ran to over 200 volumes. The authors were eminent scholars in their fields and included Isaiah Berlin, Harold J. Laski,

Hilaire Belloc Joseph Hilaire Pierre René Belloc (, ; 27 July 187016 July 1953) was a Franco-English writer and historian of the early twentieth century. Belloc was also an orator, poet, sailor, satirist, writer of letters, soldier, and political activist. H ...

Bertrand Russell Bertrand Arthur William Russell, 3rd Earl Russell, (18 May 1872 – 2 February 1970) was a British mathematician, philosopher, logician, and public intellectual. He had a considerable influence on mathematics, logic, set theory, linguistics, ...

and

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 ...

Origins

The first book in the series was ''Parliament: Its History, Constitution and Practice'' by Courtenay Ilbert, published in 1911 by

Williams and Norgate Williams and Norgate were publishers and book importers in London and Edinburgh. They specialized in both British and foreign scholarly and scientific literature. Williams & Norgate was founded in the winter of 1842 by Edmund Sydney Williams (18 ...

in London and Henry Holt and Company in New York. The general editors were H.A.L. Fisher and

Gilbert Murray George Gilbert Aimé Murray (2 January 1866 – 20 May 1957) was an Australian-born British classical scholar and public intellectual, with connections in many spheres. He was an outstanding scholar of the language and culture of Ancient Greece ...

. The idea for the series came from George Herbert Perris who was the assistant editor.

Bought by Oxford University Press

In 1928 the series was bought for £10,700 by Thornton Butterworth from Williams and Norgate.

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 ...

were the under-bidder. Oxford had another chance to buy the series when the offices of Thornton Butterworth were destroyed in

The Blitz The Blitz was a German bombing campaign against the United Kingdom in 1940 and 1941, during the Second World War. The term was first used by the British press and originated from the term , the German word meaning 'lightning war'. The Germa ...

in 1940.

Eyre & Spottiswoode Eyre & Spottiswoode was the London-based printing firm that was the King's Printer, and subsequently, a publisher prior to being incorporated; it once went by the name of Spottiswoode, Ballantyne & co. ltd. In April 1929, it was incorporated as E ...

took most of the Thornton Butterworth business but Oxford were able to acquire the Home University Library for only £4750. G.N Clark replaced H.A.L. Fisher as one of the editors. By 1940, the series was becoming a little stale. It was nearly 30 years old and a number of titles in the series were selling only 100s each year. Despite this, total sales of Home University Library volumes were one million volumes over 80 titles in the first two years following the acquisition by Oxford. The series helped the university reach a wider audience and as a non-fiction series was complementary to ''

The 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 ...

'' which reprinted great works of literary fiction.Flanders, Amy, "The press in London, 1896-1970" in

Later years

In 1966,Denniston, R.A., "Publishing and Bookselling" in the series was renamed OPUS (Oxford Paperback University Series). New titles continue to be published under that name by Oxford University Press.

References

External links

*http://www.publishinghistory.com/home-university-library.html {{Italic title Series of non-fiction books 1911 establishments in England Oxford University Press books

Origins

Bought by Oxford University Press

Later years

See also

References

External links