J. W. Arrowsmith Ltd was a book printer and publisher based in

Bristol Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. It became a limited company in 1911, having been an unincorporated company named Arrowsmith. It was closed in 2006. The company published the first edition of the novel ''

Three Men in a Boat ''Three Men in a Boat (To Say Nothing of the Dog)'',The Penguin edition punctuates the title differently: ''Three Men in a Boat: To Say Nothing of the Dog!'' published in 1889, is a humorous account by English writer Jerome K. Jerome of a tw ...

'' by

Jerome K. Jerome Jerome Klapka Jerome (2 May 1859 – 14 June 1927) was an English writer and humourist, best known for the comic travelogue ''Three Men in a Boat'' (1889). Other works include the essay collections '' Idle Thoughts of an Idle Fellow'' (1886) an ...

in 1889. Also published by J. W. Arrowsmith were: * '' Called Back'' by

Hugh Conway Hugh Conway, the pen name of Frederick John Fargus (26 December 1847 – 15 May 1885), was an English novelist born in Bristol, the son of an auctioneer. He had success with his fiction in the early 1880s. Life Fargus was intended for his father ...

(1883) * ''

Diary of a Pilgrimage ''Diary of a Pilgrimage'' is a novel by Jerome K. Jerome published in 1891. It tells of a trip undertaken by Jerome and his friend "B" to see the Oberammergau Passion Play in Germany. Itinerary They travel by train from London Victoria to Dover ...

'' by Jerome K. Jerome (1891) * ''

The Diary of a Nobody ''The Diary of a Nobody'' is an English comic novel written by the brothers George and Weedon Grossmith, with illustrations by the latter. It originated as an intermittent serial in ''Punch'' magazine in 1888–89 and first appeared in book for ...

'' by

George George may refer to: People * George (given name) * George (surname) * George (singer), American-Canadian singer George Nozuka, known by the mononym George * George Washington, First President of the United States * George W. Bush, 43rd Presiden ...

and

Weedon Grossmith Walter Weedon Grossmith (9 June 1854 – 14 June 1919), better known as Weedon Grossmith, was an English writer, painter, actor, and playwright best known as co-author of ''The Diary of a Nobody'' (1892) with his brother, music hall comedian ...

(1892) * ''

Rupert of Hentzau ''Rupert of Hentzau'' is a sequel by Anthony Hope to ''The Prisoner of Zenda'', written in 1895 but not published in book form until 1898. The novel was serialized in ''The Pall Mall Magazine'' and ''McClure's Magazine'' from December 1897 thr ...

'' by

Anthony Hope Sir Anthony Hope Hawkins, better known as Anthony Hope (9 February 1863 – 8 July 1933), was a British novelist and playwright. He was a prolific writer, especially of adventure novels but he is remembered predominantly for only two books: ''Th ...

(1898) * ''

Three Men on the Bummel ''Three Men on the Bummel'' (also known as ''Three Men on Wheels'') is a humorous novel by Jerome K. Jerome. It was published in 1900, eleven years after his most famous work, '' Three Men in a Boat (To Say Nothing of the Dog)''. The sequel bri ...

'' by Jerome K. Jerome (1900)

History

The business began in 1854 when Isaac Arrowsmith moved to Bristol from

Worcester Worcester may refer to: Places United Kingdom * Worcester, England, a city and the county town of Worcestershire in England ** Worcester (UK Parliament constituency), an area represented by a Member of Parliament * Worcester Park, London, Englan ...

. Isaac Arrowsmith was a founder member of the Worcester Typographical Society. Arrowsmith and Hugh Evans, a stationer on Clare Street, published a railway timetable for a penny, an original copy of which is held at the

British Museum The British Museum is a public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is among the largest and most comprehensive in existence. It docum ...

.’Arrowsmith Printers, 1854-1954’, 1955, JW Arrowsmith When Isaac died in 1871 his son, James Williams Arrowsmith, ventured into general publishing. Arrowsmith's first success came in 1883 with

's ‘ Called Back’ was reviewed positively by

Henry Labouchère Henry Du Pré Labouchère (9 November 1831 – 15 January 1912) was an English politician, writer, publisher and theatre owner in the Victorian era, Victorian and Edwardian eras. He is now most remembered for the Labouchere Amendment, Labouchè ...

in ’Truth’. James Arrowsmith was a friend of the famous Bristolian cricketer,

WG Grace William Gilbert Grace (18 July 1848 – 23 October 1915) was an English amateur cricketer who was important in the development of the sport and is widely considered one of its greatest players. He played first-class cricket First-class c ...

, and published Grace's book entitled 'Cricket'. Their surviving letters show the process was not a smooth one: :''Dear Arrowsmith,'' :''It is very annoying to think you won’t do the little book as I wish. If you do it at all, why not properly? The specimen you have sent is too common a style.'' :''Yours in haste,'' :''WG Grace'' In 1930 J W Arrowsmith printed the first of the

Bristol Record Society The Bristol Record Society is a text publication society which publishes scholarly editions of historical records and texts relating to the history of the City of Bristol. Founded in 1929, it is one of the oldest such societies devoted to the publi ...

's volumes, with transcriptions of historic records of Bristol, primarily material now held at

Bristol Archives Bristol Archives (formerly Bristol Record Office) was established in 1924. It was the first borough record office in the United Kingdom, since at that time there was only one other local authority record office (Bedfordshire) in existence. It ...

. During the

second world war World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

the Arrowsmith's factory hosted seven local competitors whose sites had been destroyed. In 1952 a 27,000 square foot factory on Winterstoke Road, Bristol, was begun, finally alleviating the company's need to expand from the small, inadequate factory on Quay Street. ''Arrowsmith'' remains a publishing

imprint Imprint or imprinting may refer to: Entertainment * ''Imprint'' (TV series), Canadian television series * "Imprint" (''Masters of Horror''), episode of TV show ''Masters of Horror'' * ''Imprint'' (film), a 2007 independent drama/thriller film ...

References

External links

Arrowsmith website
Companies based in Bristol Book publishing companies of the United Kingdom Book publishing company imprints {{publisher-stub