Rivington, or Rivington's, also called Rivington & Co., was a
London
London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
-based publishing company founded by
Charles Rivington (1688–1742), originally from
Derbyshire
Derbyshire ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands, England. It includes much of the Peak District National Park, the southern end of the Pennine range of hills and part of the National Forest. It borders Greater Manchester to the nor ...
, and continued by his sons and grandsons.
History
In 1736 Charles Rivington and a partner called Bettesworth founded a company of booksellers called "The New Conger", rivalling an older firm called "The Conger" that dated from about 1700. From selling books, Rivington moved on to the business of publishing books. In 1741 he published the first volume of
Samuel Richardson
Samuel Richardson (baptised 19 August 1689 – 4 July 1761) was an English writer and printer known for three epistolary novels: ''Pamela; or, Virtue Rewarded'' (1740), '' Clarissa: Or the History of a Young Lady'' (1748) and ''The History of ...
's novel ''
Pamela, or Virtue Rewarded
''Pamela; or, Virtue Rewarded'' is an epistolary novel first published in 1740 by English writer Samuel Richardson. Considered one of the first true English novels, it serves as Richardson's version of conduct literature about marriage. ''Pamel ...
''. Both men were from Derbyshire, and Rivington had persuaded Richardson to write a novel in the form of a correspondence.
[Septimus Rivington, ''The House of Rivington'' (1894)]
After his death in 1742, Charles Rivington was succeeded by his two sons, John (1720–1792) and
James Rivington
James Rivington (1724 – July 4, 1802) was an English-born American journalist who published a Loyalist newspaper in the American colonies called ''Rivington's Gazette''. He was driven out of New York by the Sons of Liberty, but was very like ...
(1724–1802). James emigrated to the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
, where he pursued his trade in
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
; John carried on the business on the lines marked out by his father and went on to become the great
Church of England
The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Britain ...
publisher of his day. In 1760, he was appointed publisher to the
Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge
The Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge (SPCK) is a UK-based Christian charity. Founded in 1698 by Thomas Bray, it has worked for over 300 years to increase awareness of the Christian faith in the UK and across the world.
The SPCK is th ...
, and the firm kept up this relationship for over seventy years. After admitting his sons Francis (1745–1822) and Charles (1754–1831) into partnership, Rivington took on for the "New Conger" Association the publication of standard editions of the works of
Shakespeare
William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...
,
Milton,
Locke, and other English classics. John Rivington died on 16 January 1792.
[
In 1797 Francis & Charles Rivington acquired the copyright of ]Hannah More
Hannah More (2 February 1745 – 7 September 1833) was an English religious writer, philanthropist, poet and playwright in the circle of Johnson, Reynolds and Garrick, who wrote on moral and religious subjects. Born in Bristol, she taught at a ...
's Cheap Repository Tracts in return for providing the Repository with half the profits from collected editions. The firm produced collected editions of the tracts in 1798, 1799, 1800 and at regular intervals thereafter. Following the death of Henry Thornton, the Treasurer of the Cheap Repository, Hannah More was upset when she discovered just how profitable these editions had been for the company.
In 1810, another John Rivington (1779–1841), the eldest son of Francis, was admitted a partner. In 1815 they published Robert Thorpe
The name Robert is an ancient Germanic given name, from Proto-Germanic "fame" and "bright" (''Hrōþiberhtaz''). Compare Old Dutch ''Robrecht'' and Old High German ''Hrodebert'' (a compound of ''Hrōþ, Hruod'' ( non, Hróðr) "fame, glory ...
's ''A Letter to William Wilberforce, Esq. M. P., Vice-President of the African Institution''".High Church
The term ''high church'' refers to beliefs and practices of Christian ecclesiology, liturgy, and theology that emphasize formality and resistance to modernisation. Although used in connection with various Christian traditions, the term originate ...
party by the publication from 1833 of ''Tracts for the Times
The Tracts for the Times were a series of 90 theological publications, varying in length from a few pages to book-length, produced by members of the English Oxford Movement, an Anglo-Catholic revival group, from 1833 to 1841. There were about a do ...
''. John Rivington died on 21 November 1841, after his son, another John Rivington (1812–1886) had been admitted a partner in 1836. George Rivington died in 1858; and in 1859 Francis Rivington retired, leaving the conduct of affairs in the hands of John Rivington and his own sons, Francis Hansard (born 1834) and Septimus (born 1846).[
Between 1829 and 1851 the firm published two series of the Cheap Repository Tracts with the imprints of J.G. & F. and J.G.F. & J. Rivington on behalf of the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge. These were printed by R. Gilbert (latterly Gilbert & Rivington), as both individual tracts and in collected editions. Twenty-nine titles are listed on the ]Copac
Copac (originally an acronym of Consortium of Online Public Access Catalogues) was a union catalogue which provided free access to the merged online catalogues of many major research libraries and specialist libraries in the United Kingdom and Ire ...
and WorldCat
WorldCat is a union catalog that itemizes the collections of tens of thousands of institutions (mostly libraries), in many countries, that are current or past members of the OCLC global cooperative. It is operated by OCLC, Inc. Many of the OCL ...
databases.
In 1887 Arthur John Butler
Arthur John Butler (21 June 1844 – 26 February 1910), was an English scholar, editor, and mountaineer, professor of Italian language and literature at University College London.
Apart from his work on Dante and other Italian poets, Butler trans ...
joined the firm as a partner. In 1890 the business was sold to Longmans
Longman, also known as Pearson Longman, is a publishing company founded in London, England, in 1724 and is owned by Pearson PLC.
Since 1968, Longman has been used primarily as an imprint by Pearson's Schools business. The Longman brand is also ...
, and Butler then moved to Cassell & Company as chief editor.[ A. T. Quiller-Couch, revised by Nilanjana Banerji, ' Butler, Arthur John (1844–1910)', in '']Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
The ''Dictionary of National Biography'' (''DNB'') is a standard work of reference on notable figures from British history, published since 1885. The updated ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' (''ODNB'') was published on 23 September ...
'' (OUP, 2007) Despite this merger, a business similar to Rivington's was carried on from 1889 to 1893 by Septimus Rivington and John Guthrie Percival, under the name of Percival & Co. This name was changed in 1893 to Rivington, Percival & Co.; and in 1897 the new firm returned to the earlier title of Rivington & Co., maintaining its reputation for educational works and its connection with the Moderate
Moderate is an ideological category which designates a rejection of radical or extreme views, especially in regard to politics and religion. A moderate is considered someone occupying any mainstream position avoiding extreme views. In American ...
and High Church Party.[
]
Gallery
The Lancashire Collier Girl.jpg, The Lancashire Collier Girl, 1838 edition
Family vault of Francis Rivington in Highgate Cemetery.jpg, Family vault of Francis Rivington (1805 - 1885) in Highgate Cemetery
Highgate Cemetery is a place of burial in north London, England. There are approximately 170,000 people buried in around 53,000 graves across the West and East Cemeteries. Highgate Cemetery is notable both for some of the people buried there as ...
(west side)
References
{{Reflist
*Stoker, David, "The later years of the Cheap Repository", ''Papers of the Bibliographical Society of America'', Vol. 111:3 (2017), pp. 317–44.
*Stott, Anne, Hannah More the first Victorian, (Oxford: O.U.P., 2003),*''The Publishers' Circular'' dated 15 January 1885, and 2 June 1890.
Book publishing companies of England
Rivington family