Black Spring Press is an independent English
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 ...
house founded in the early 1980s.
The first Black Spring publication was a reprint of Anais Nin's ''D.H. Lawrence: An Unprofessional Study'', which on its first publication in 1932 had been only the second study of Lawrence's work to appear. This was followed by Patrick Kearney's ''The Paris Olympia Press: An Annotated Bibliography'', which carried a Foreword by Maurice Girodias.
Later publications included translations of early Soviet short stories and an epistolary first novel from the French; Nick Cave's
debut novel
A debut novel is the first novel a novelist publishes. Debut novels are often the author's first opportunity to make an impact on the publishing industry, and thus the success or failure of a debut novel can affect the ability of the author to p ...
, ''And the Ass Saw the Angel'', which had been commissioned five years previously; reprints of Leonard Cohen's novels together with new editions of his titles ''Book of Mercy'' and ''Death of a Lady's Man''; and the memoirs of Carolyn Cassady, ''
Off the Road: Twenty Years with Cassady, Kerouac and Ginsberg.''
In the early 1990s Black Spring revived the reputation of the black comedy thriller writer Kyril Bonfiglioli by gathering his three previously-published novels featuring art dealer and ''bon viveur'' Charlie Mortdecai and issuing them as ''The Mortdecai Trilogy''; this was followed by a reprint of Bonfiglioli's historical romp ''All the Tea in China'' and first publication of ''The Great Mortdecai Moustache Mystery'', left lacking its final chapter at the time of the author's death but now completed by Craig Brown.
In 2001 the company was acquired by Robert Hastings, under whose proprietorship it continued to publish original fiction and nonfiction, as well as successfully reviving work by
Patrick Hamilton, Alexander Baron and
Julian Maclaren-Ross.
Black Spring Press was acquired in 2018 by a new owner and now forms part of The Black Spring Press Group.
References
External links
Official website
Book publishing companies of the United Kingdom
Publishing companies established in 1985
1985 establishments in the United Kingdom
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