James Brand Pinker (1863 – February 8, 1922) was a literary agent who represented

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Joseph Conrad Joseph Conrad (born Józef Teodor Konrad Korzeniowski, ; 3 December 1857 – 3 August 1924) was a Poles in the United Kingdom#19th century, Polish-British novelist and short story writer. He is regarded as one of the greatest writers in t ...

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, Stephen Crane, and many of the other leading British and American writers of the age. He is considered to be one of the first literary agents in the modern sense and to have placed relations between authors and publishers on a more professional and fair basis.

engaged Pinker as his agent in August 1899. His novella ''Typhoon'', which was published in The Pall Mall Magazine was the first piece of writing by Conrad to be handled by Pinker. Conrad's engagement of an agent to represent him was seen as violating a gentlemanly code of conduct by

William Blackwood William Blackwood (20 November 177616 September 1834) was a Scottish publisher who founded the firm of William Blackwood and Sons. Life Blackwood was born in Edinburgh on 20 November 1776. At the age of 14 he was apprenticed to a firm of book ...

, publisher of ''

Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine ''Blackwood's Magazine'' was a British magazine and miscellany printed between 1817 and 1980. It was founded by the publisher William Blackwood and was originally called the ''Edinburgh Monthly Magazine''. The first number appeared in April 1817 ...

'', the periodical in which several of Conrad's important early works, including ''

Heart of Darkness ''Heart of Darkness'' (1899) is a novella by Polish-English novelist Joseph Conrad in which the sailor Charles Marlow tells his listeners the story of his assignment as steamer captain for a Belgian company in the African interior. The novel ...

'', had been published. Following J. B. Pinker's death, his sons Eric Seabrooke Pinker (1891–1973) and James Randolph Pinker (1900–1959) took over the literary agency, which they ran with less success than their father (the business failed in 1944).However, Eric married the widow of John Gold Watney (Margit V Dietrichson), then upon her death in 1927, he married the actress Adrienne Morrison, mother of the Bennett sisters. Eric's stepson John Basil Watney married theatre scene designer Antoinette Rose Pratt Barlow (1917-1981).

References

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Pinker, James 1863 births 1922 deaths Literary agents People from London