John Murray is a British publisher, known for the authors it has published in its long history including,

Jane Austen Jane Austen (; 16 December 1775 – 18 July 1817) was an English novelist known primarily for her six major novels, which interpret, critique, and comment upon the British landed gentry at the end of the 18th century. Austen's plots of ...

Lord Byron George Gordon Byron, 6th Baron Byron (22 January 1788 – 19 April 1824), known simply as Lord Byron, was an English romantic poet and peer. He was one of the leading figures of the Romantic movement, and has been regarded as among the ...

, Charles Lyell,

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (28 August 1749 – 22 March 1832) was a German poet, playwright, novelist, scientist, statesman, theatre director, and critic. His works include plays, poetry, literature, and aesthetic criticism, as well as t ...

Herman Melville Herman Melville ( born Melvill; August 1, 1819 – September 28, 1891) was an American novelist, short story writer, and poet of the American Renaissance period. Among his best-known works are '' Moby-Dick'' (1851); '' Typee'' (1846), a ...

, Edward Whymper, Thomas Malthus,

David Ricardo David Ricardo (18 April 1772 – 11 September 1823) was a British political economist. He was one of the most influential of the classical economists along with Thomas Malthus, Adam Smith and James Mill. Ricardo was also a politician, and a ...

, and

Charles Darwin Charles Robert Darwin ( ; 12 February 1809 – 19 April 1882) was an English naturalist, geologist, and biologist, widely known for his contributions to evolutionary biology. His proposition that all species of life have descended ...

. Since 2004, it has been owned by conglomerate

Lagardère Lagardère may refer to: * Lagardère Group, a French media group * Jean-Luc Lagardère (1928–2003), French engineer and businessman and CEO of the Lagardère Group * Arnaud Lagardère (born 1961), French businessman and son of Jean-Luc Lagardèr ...

under the

Hachette UK Hachette () is a French publisher. Founded in 1826 by Louis Hachette as Brédif, the company later became L. Hachette et Compagnie, Librairie Hachette, Hachette SA and Hachette Livre in France. After acquiring an Australian publisher, Hachette ...

brand. Business publisher Nicholas Brealey became an imprint of John Murray in 2015.

History

The business was founded in London in 1768 by John Murray (1737–1793), an

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

-born Royal Marines officer, who built up a list of authors including Isaac D'Israeli and published the ''

English Review ''The English Review'' was an English-language literary magazine published in London from 1908 to 1937. At its peak, the journal published some of the leading writers of its day. History The magazine was started by 1908 by Ford Madox Hueffer (la ...

''. John Murray the elder was one of the founding sponsors of the London evening newspaper ''

The Star ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the ...

'' in 1788. He was succeeded by his son

John Murray II John Murray (27 November 1778 – 27 June 1843) was a Scotland, Scottish publisher and member of the John Murray (publishing house), John Murray publishing house. He published works by authors such as Walter Scott, Sir Walter Scott, Lord Byron ...

, who made the publishing house important and influential. He was a friend of many leading writers of the day and launched the '' Quarterly Review'' in 1809. He was the publisher of

, Sir

Walter Scott Sir Walter Scott, 1st Baronet (15 August 1771 – 21 September 1832), was a Scottish novelist, poet, playwright and historian. Many of his works remain classics of European and Scottish literature, notably the novels '' Ivanhoe'', '' Rob Roy ...

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 ...

George Crabbe George Crabbe ( ; 24 December 1754 – 3 February 1832) was an English poet, surgeon and clergyman. He is best known for his early use of the realistic narrative form and his descriptions of middle and working-class life and people. In the 177 ...

, Mary Somerville and many others. His home and office at 50

Albemarle Street Albemarle Street is a street in Mayfair in central London, off Piccadilly. It has historic associations with Lord Byron, whose publisher John Murray was based here, and Oscar Wilde, a member of the Albemarle Club, where an insult he received ...

Mayfair Mayfair is an affluent area in the West End of London towards the eastern edge of Hyde Park, in the City of Westminster, between Oxford Street, Regent Street, Piccadilly and Park Lane. It is one of the most expensive districts in the world ...

was the centre of a literary circle, fostered by Murray's tradition of "Four o'clock friends", afternoon tea with his writers. Murray's most notable author was

, who became a close friend and correspondent of his. Murray published many of his major works, paying him over £20,000 in rights. On 10 March 1812 Murray published Byron's second book, '' Childe Harold's Pilgrimage'', which sold out in five days, leading to Byron's observation "I awoke one morning and found myself famous". On 17 May 1824 Murray participated in one of the most notorious acts in the annals of literature. Byron had given him the manuscript of his personal memoirs to publish later on. Together with five of Byron's friends and executors, he decided to destroy Byron's manuscripts because he thought the scandalous details would damage Byron's reputation. With only Thomas Moore objecting, the two volumes of memoirs were dismembered and burnt in the fireplace at Murray's office. It remains unknown what they contained. John Murray III (1808–1892) continued the business and published Charles Eastlake's first English translation of Goethe's Theory of Colours (1840),

David Livingstone David Livingstone (; 19 March 1813 – 1 May 1873) was a Scottish physician, Congregationalist, and pioneer Christian missionary with the London Missionary Society, an explorer in Africa, and one of the most popular British heroes of t ...

's ''Missionary Travels'' (1857), and

's '' Origin of Species'' (1859). Murray III contracted with

to publish Melville's first two books, '' Typee'' (1846) and '' Omoo'' (1847) in England; both books were presented as nonfiction travel narratives in Murray's ''

Home and Colonial Library The ''Home and Colonial Library'' was a series of works published in London from 1843 to 1849, comprising 49 titles, by John Murray III. He founded it, as a series of cheap reprints, original works and translations, slanted towards travel literatur ...

'' series, alongside such works as the 1845 second edition of Darwin's '' Journal of Researches'' from his travels on . John Murray III also started the '' Murray Handbooks'' in 1836, a series of travel guides from which modern-day guides are directly descended. The rights to these guides were sold around 1900 and subsequently acquired in 1915 by the

Blue Guides The Blue Guides are a series of detailed and authoritative travel guidebooks focused on art, architecture, and (where relevant) archaeology along with the history and context necessary to understand them. A modicum of practical travel informa ...

. His successor Sir John Murray IV (1851–1928) was publisher to

Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 216 days was longer than that of any previ ...

. Among other works, he published Murray's Magazine from 1887 until 1891. From 1904 he published the Wisdom of the East book series. Competitor Smith, Elder & Co. was acquired in 1917. His son Sir John Murray V (1884–1967), grandson John Murray VI (John Arnaud Robin Grey Murray, known as Jock Murray; 1909–1993) and great-grandson John Murray VII (John Richmond Grey Murray; 1941–) continued the business until it was taken over. In 2002, John Murray was acquired by Hodder Headline, which was itself acquired in 2004 by the French conglomerate Lagardère Group. Since then, it has been an imprint under Lagardère brand

. In 2015, business publisher Nicholas Brealey became an imprint of John Murray.

John Murray archive

The John Murray Archive The John Murray Archive is a collection of 234 years' worth of manuscripts, private letters, and business papers from various notable, mostly British, authors including correspondence between Mary Shelley and Lord Byron, and letters of Jane Auste ...

was offered for sale to the nation by John Murray VII for £31 million and the National Library of Scotland has acquired it, including the manuscript of

's '' Origin of Species''. On 26 January 2005, it was announced that the National Library was to be given £17.7m by the Heritage Lottery Fund towards the £31.2m price offered by John Murray on condition the Library digitise the materials and make them available. The Scottish Government agreed to contribute £8.3m, with the Library setting a £6.5m fundraising target for the remainder.

John Murray timeline

* 1768 – John MacMurray, a former lieutenant of the Marines, buys a bookselling business at 32 Fleet Street. He changes his name to Murray and uses his naval contacts to build up a thriving business * 1806 – The first bestseller, '' A New System of Domestic Cookery, by A Lady'' (Maria Rundell), was published, with
second edition
two years later. * 1809 – The influential periodical the '' Quarterly Review'' founded * 1811 – '' Childe Harold's Pilgrimage'' by

published * 1812 – John Murray moved to 50

, its home for the next 191 years * 1815 –

decides she would like to move to Murray with '' Emma'', published in 1815 * 1816 –

Coleridge Samuel Taylor Coleridge (; 21 October 177225 July 1834) was an English poet, literary critic, philosopher, and theologian who, with his friend William Wordsworth, was a founder of the Romantic Movement in England and a member of the Lake ...

moved to John Murray for ''Christabel and Other Poems'', which included 'Kubla Khan' * 1830 – First part of the three volume '' Principles of Geology'' by Charles Lyell published () * 1836 – The first guide books, '' Murray's Handbooks'', published by John Murray III * 1849 – A groundbreaking observational study on the Sikh

people A person ( : people) is a being that has certain capacities or attributes such as reason, morality, consciousness or self-consciousness, and being a part of a culturally established form of social relations such as kinship, ownership of prope ...

is published. This comprehensive account arguably foreshadowed the

British Empire The British Empire was composed of the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates, and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom and its predecessor states. It began with the overseas possessions and trading posts e ...

's first large-scale attempt at using the scientific method to civilise populations; this methodological approach later became known as

Eugenics Eugenics ( ; ) is a fringe set of beliefs and practices that aim to improve the genetic quality of a human population. Historically, eugenicists have attempted to alter human gene pools by excluding people and groups judged to be inferior o ...

. * 1857 –

's ''Missionary Travels'', published – one of the many great 19th-century publications of exploration from John Murray * 1859 – ''

On the Origin of Species ''On the Origin of Species'' (or, more completely, ''On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, or the Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle for Life''),The book's full original title was ''On the Origin of Species by Me ...

'' by

published * 1859 – The first self-help book, ''Samuel Smiles's Self Help'', published * 1863 – Henry Walter Bates's '' The Naturalist on the River Amazons'' published * 1865 – ''Narrative of an Expedition to the Zambesi and its Tributaries; and of the Discovery of the Lakes Shirwa and Nyassa. 1858-1864'' by

David David (; , "beloved one") (traditional spelling), , ''Dāwūd''; grc-koi, Δαυΐδ, Dauíd; la, Davidus, David; gez , ዳዊት, ''Dawit''; xcl, Դաւիթ, ''Dawitʿ''; cu, Давíдъ, ''Davidŭ''; possibly meaning "beloved one". w ...

and

Charles Livingstone Charles is a masculine given name predominantly found in English language, English and French language, French speaking countries. It is from the French form ''Charles'' of the Proto-Germanic, Proto-Germanic name (in runic alphabet) or ''*k ...

published * 1871 – Edward Whymper ''Scrambles Amongst the Alps in the Years 1860-69'', The first ascent of the Matterhorn in 1865 * 1891 – Edward Whymper ''Travels Amongst the Great Andes of the Equator'', Two volumes recording ascents in the Ecuadorian Andes of Chimborazo, Cotopaxi, Cayambe (volcano), and other Andean Peaks * 1912 – June, Published ''Behind The Night Light'' by Nancy Price, which was reprinted in June 1912, September 1912 and January 1913. * 1921 – ''An Etymological Dictionary of Modern English'' by Ernest Weekley published * 1934 – Dr. Julius Kugy ''Alpine Pilgrimage'' (1st edition (English) 1934), Klugy's literary masterpiece on the

Julian Alps The Julian Alps ( sl, Julijske Alpe, it, Alpi Giulie, , ) are a mountain range of the Southern Limestone Alps that stretch from northeastern Italy to Slovenia, where they rise to 2,864 m at Mount Triglav, the highest peak in Slovenia. A large p ...

of Slovenia as translated by H. E. G. Tyndale (Henry Edmund Guise Tyndale) * 1938 – Daniele Varè's biography ''The Laughing Diplomat'' is published * 1958 – John Betjeman's ''Collected Poems'' published and has sold over 2 million copies to date * 1967 – Last issue of the '' Quarterly Review'' published * 1969 – The first TV tie-in, Kenneth Clark's ''Civilisation'', published * 1975 –

Ruth Prawer Jhabvala Ruth Prawer Jhabvala (; 7 May 19273 April 2013) was a British author and screenwriter. She is best known for her collaboration with Merchant Ivory Productions, made up of director James Ivory and producer Ismail Merchant. In 1951, Jhabvala ma ...

's ''Heat and Dust'' wins the Booker Prize * 1977 – The "greatest travel book of the twentieth century", ''A Time of Gifts'' by

Patrick Leigh Fermor Sir Patrick Michael Leigh Fermor (11 February 1915 – 10 June 2011) was an English writer, scholar, soldier and polyglot. He played a prominent role in the Cretan resistance during the Second World War, and was widely seen as Britain's great ...

published * 2002 – John Murray leaves family hands after seven generations * 2002 – ''Peacemakers'' by Margaret MacMillan wins the Samuel Johnson Prize, the Duff Cooper Prize and the

Hessell-Tiltman Prize The Hessell-Tiltman History Prize is awarded to the best work of non-fiction of historical content covering a period up to and including World War II, and published in the year of the award. The books are to be of high literary merit, but not pr ...

* 2003 – The first new acquisition since the company became part of Hodder Headline (now Hachette), ''A Million Little Pieces'' by James Frey, becomes a perennial and controversial bestseller * 2004 – Rebirth of the John Murray fiction list with

Neil Jordan Neil Patrick Jordan (born 25 February 1950) is an Irish film director, screenwriter, novelist and short-story writer. His first book, '' Night in Tunisia'', won a Somerset Maugham Award and the Guardian Fiction Prize in 1979. He won an Academ ...

's ''Shade'' * 2005 – ''Beasts of No Nation'' by Uzodinma Iweala wins

John Llewellyn Rhys Prize The John Llewellyn Rhys Prize was a literary prize awarded annually for the best work of literature (fiction, non-fiction, poetry, drama) by an author from the Commonwealth aged 35 or under, written in English and published in the United Kingdo ...

* 2007 – ''Mister Pip'' by

Lloyd Jones Lloyd Jones or Lloyd-Jones may refer to: People Sports * Lloyd Jones (athlete) (1884–1971), American athlete in the 1908 Summer Olympics *Lloyd Jones (figure skater) (born 1988), Welsh ice dancer * Lloyd Jones (English footballer) (born 1995), E ...

becomes a global bestseller, wins the

Commonwealth Writers' Prize Commonwealth Foundation presented a number of prizes between 1987 and 2011. The main award was called the Commonwealth Writers' Prize and was composed of two prizes: the Best Book Prize (overall and regional) was awarded from 1987 to 2011; the Best ...

and is shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize * 2008 –

Amitav Ghosh Amitav Ghosh (born 11 July 1956)Ghosh, Amitav
, ''

launches his epic Ibis trilogy with ''Sea of Poppies'', shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize * 2008 – ''Down River'' by John Hart wins

Edgar Award The Edgar Allan Poe Awards, popularly called the Edgars, are presented every year by the Mystery Writers of America, based in New York City. Named after American writer Edgar Allan Poe (1809–1849), a pioneer in the genre, the awards honor the bes ...

for Best Novel * 2008 – ''The Secret Life of Words'' by Henry Hitchings wins the

* 2009 – '' The Last Child'' by John Hart wins

CWA CWA or Cwa may refer to: Organisations * CWA Constructions, a Swiss manufacturer of gondolas and people mover cabins, a division of Doppelmayr Garaventa Group * Catch Wrestling Association, a former German professional wrestling promotion * Contin ...

Ian Fleming Steel Dagger The CWA Ian Fleming Steel Dagger is an annual award given by the British Crime Writers' Association for best thriller of the year. The award is sponsored by the estate of Ian Fleming. It is given to a title that fits the broadest definition of th ...

/ITV Thriller of the Year Award, and the

for Best Novel * 2009 – ''Martyr'' by Rory Clements, special mention in

Ellis Peters Historical Fiction Award * 2009 – '' Up in the Air'' by Walter Kirn turned into a

film A film also called a movie, motion picture, moving picture, picture, photoplay or (slang) flick is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, feelings, beauty, or atmospher ...

starring George Clooney * 2010 – ''Revenger'' by Rory Clements wins

Ellis Peters Historical Fiction Award * 2010 – Film '' Sarah's Key'', starring Kristin Scott Thomas, released, based on

Tatiana de Rosnay Tatiana de Rosnay (born 28 September 1961) is a French writer. Life and career Tatiana de Rosnay was born on 28 September 1961 in the suburbs of Paris. She is of English, French and Russians, Russian descent. Her father is French scientist Jo ...

's novel of the same name * 2010 – ''Wait For Me!'' by Deborah Devonshire shortlisted for the British Book Awards Biography of the Year * 2011 – ''Mistaken'' by

wins Irish Book of the Year Award * 2012 – ''Icelight'' by

Aly Monroe Aly Monroe is a British writer of historical thrillers set in the 1940s. She was brought up in Purley, England. She has spent a large part of her life in Spain, where she worked as a teacher, translator and voice-over artist. She is the aut ...

wins

Ellis Peters Historical Fiction Award * 2012 –

's '' Mister Pip'' adapted into a film starring Hugh Laurie * 2012 – ''

: An Adventure'' by

Artemis Cooper Artemis Cooper, Lady Beevor FRSL (born Alice Clare Antonia Opportune Cooper; 22 April 1953) is a British writer, primarily of biographies. She is married to historian Sir Antony Beevor. Family life She is the only daughter of The 2nd Viscoun ...

shortlisted for the Costa Biography Award, the Waterstone's Book of the Year Award and the National Book Awards Biography of the Year * 2020 – '' The Stonemason (book): A History of Building Britain'' by Andrew Ziminski.

Film adaptations of John Murray titles

* '' Up in the Air'' (2009) – based on the novel by Walter Kirn, starring George Clooney and

Anna Kendrick Anna Cooke Kendrick (born August 9, 1985) is an American actress. She has received various accolades, including a Satellite Award, five Teen Choice Awards, three MTV Movie Awards, and nominations for an Academy Award, a Primetime Emmy Award a ...

* '' Sarah's Key'' (2010) – based on the novel by

, starring Kristin Scott Thomas * ''Mister Pip'' (2012) – based on the novel by

, starring Hugh Laurie

References

External links

Official website
*
National Library of Scotland - John Murray archive
(accessed 20 October 2016) * *
Works by John Murray
at Hathi Trust
Darwin Project
a project to publish all of the correspondence of