George Routledge (23 September 1812 – 13 December 1888) was a British book publisher and the founder of the publishing house

Routledge Routledge () is a British multinational publisher. It was founded in 1836 by George Routledge, and specialises in providing academic books, journals and online resources in the fields of the humanities, behavioural science, education, law ...

Early life

He was born in

Brampton Brampton ( or ) is a city in the Canadian province of Ontario. Brampton is a city in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) and is a lower-tier municipality within Peel Region. The city has a population of 656,480 as of the 2021 Census, making it t ...

Cumberland Cumberland ( ) is a historic counties of England, historic county in the far North West England. It covers part of the Lake District as well as the north Pennines and Solway Firth coast. Cumberland had an administrative function from the 12th c ...

on 23 September 1812.

Career

Routledge gained his early experience of business with Thurnam & Sons, booksellers, at

Carlisle Carlisle ( , ; from xcb, Caer Luel) is a city that lies within the Northern English county of Cumbria, south of the Scottish border at the confluence of the rivers Eden, Caldew and Petteril. It is the administrative centre of the City ...

. Moving to London in 1833, he started in business for himself as a bookseller in 1836, and as a publisher in 1843. He made his first serious success by reprinting the Biblical commentaries of an American writer, Albert Barnes. George Routledge & Sons Limited - Logo

Routledge's fame as a publisher, however, rests mainly on popular books. A series of

shilling The shilling is a historical coin, and the name of a unit of modern currencies formerly used in the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, other British Commonwealth countries and Ireland, where they were generally equivalent to 12 pence ...

volumes, the "Railway Library", was an immense success, including as it did

Harriet Beecher Stowe Harriet Elisabeth Beecher Stowe (; June 14, 1811 – July 1, 1896) was an American author and abolitionist. She came from the religious Beecher family and became best known for her novel '' Uncle Tom's Cabin'' (1852), which depicts the har ...

's '' Uncle Tom's Cabin'', and he also published in cheap form some of the writings of

Washington Irving Washington Irving (April 3, 1783 – November 28, 1859) was an American short-story writer, essayist, biographer, historian, and diplomat of the early 19th century. He is best known for his short stories "Rip Van Winkle" (1819) and " The Legen ...

, James Fenimore Cooper, Bulwer-Lytton and

Benjamin Disraeli Benjamin Disraeli, 1st Earl of Beaconsfield, (21 December 1804 – 19 April 1881) was a British statesman and Conservative politician who twice served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. He played a central role in the creation ...

. He also brought out a number of shilling books in "Routledge's Universal Library" (also known as "Morley's Universal Library", the series being edited by Henry Morley). Once styled Routledge, Warne & Routledge, his firm changed its name to that of

George Routledge & Sons Routledge () is a British multinational publisher. It was founded in 1836 by George Routledge, and specialises in providing academic books, journals and online resources in the fields of the humanities, behavioural science, education, law, and ...

in 1865. A branch of the business was established in New York in 1854. An illustrated children's book, ''Wide Awake Stories'', was published by George Routledge & Sons, Ltd.

Personal life

He married Maria Elizabeth Warne, who died on 25 March 1855, aged 40. He married, secondly, on 11 May 1858, Mary Grace Bell, the eldest daughter of Alderman Bell of Newcastle upon Tyne. There were children from each marriage. His son Robert Warne Routledge became a partner on 9 November 1858, and the firm became ''Routledge, Warne, & Routledge''. His son

Edmund Routledge Edmund Routledge (30 January 1843 – 25 August 1899), was a British publisher of boys' magazines and an author of books about sports. Early life Edmund Routledge was born in London on 30 January 1843, the second son of George Routledge (1812– ...

became a partner in July 1865, and the firm became ''George Routledge & Sons''. He died on 13 December 1888, at 50 Russell Square, London.

References

Citations

Sources

External links

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Works by George Routledge
at Toronto Public Library {{DEFAULTSORT:Routledge, George 1812 births 1888 deaths Book publishing companies of the United Kingdom English book publishers (people) People from Brampton, Carlisle 19th-century English businesspeople