Samuel French (1821–1898) was an American entrepreneur who, together with British actor, playwright and theatrical manager
Thomas Hailes Lacy
Thomas Hailes Lacy (1809 – 1 August 1873) was a British actor, playwright, theatrical manager, bookseller, and theatrical publisher.
Life
Lacy made his West End stage debut in 1828 but soon turned manager, a position he held from 1841 at The ...
, pioneered in the field of
theatrical publishing
Publishing is the activity of making information, literature, music, software and other content available to the public for sale or for free. Traditionally, the term refers to the creation and distribution of printed works, such as books, newsp ...
and the
licensing of plays.
Biography
French founded his publishing business in New York City in 1854. In 1859, he visited London, where he met Lacy, who had given up the stage and been active as a theatrical bookseller since the mid-1840s. Lacy, who had removed his shop from Wellington Street,
Covent Garden
Covent Garden is a district in London, on the eastern fringes of the West End, between St Martin's Lane and Drury Lane. It is associated with the former fruit-and-vegetable market in the central square, now a popular shopping and tourist si ...
to 89
Strand in 1857, had also started publishing acting editions of dramas. ''Lacy's Acting Edition of Plays'', published between 1848 and 1873, would eventually run to 99 volumes containing 1,485 individual pieces.
French and Lacy became partners, each acting as the other's agent across the Atlantic. In 1872, French decided to take up permanent residence in London, leaving his son
Thomas Henry French in charge of the New York business. When Lacy retired in 1873, he sold out to French for £5,000. Lacy died in the same year, and French finally established his name as the most important theatrical publisher in England. At the time of his own death in 1898, almost all renowned English playwrights of the present and recent past had been represented by his company.
See also
*
Samuel French, Inc.
Samuel French, Inc. is an American company, founded by Samuel French and Thomas Hailes Lacy, who formed a partnership to combine their existing interests in London and New York City. It publishes plays, represents authors, and sells scripts fro ...
References
External links
SamuelFrench.comSamuel French Ltd London
{{DEFAULTSORT:French, Samuel
1821 births
1898 deaths
American publishers (people)
19th-century American businesspeople