Weidenfeld & Nicolson Ltd (established 1949), often shortened to W&N or Weidenfeld, is a British publisher of fiction and reference books. It has been a division of the French-owned Orion Publishing Group since 1991.

History

George Weidenfeld and

Nigel Nicolson Nigel Nicolson (19 January 1917 – 23 September 2004) was an English writer, publisher and politician. Early life and education Nicolson was the second son of writers Sir Harold Nicolson and Vita Sackville-West; he had an elder brother Ben ...

founded Weidenfeld & Nicolson in 1949 with a reception at

Brown's Hotel Brown's Hotel is a luxury hotel in Mayfair, London, established in 1837 and owned by Rocco Forte Hotels since 3 July 2003. It is considered one of London's oldest existing hotels. History Brown's Hotel was founded in 1837, by James and Sarah Br ...

, London. Among many other significant books, it published

Vladimir Nabokov Vladimir Vladimirovich Nabokov (russian: link=no, Владимир Владимирович Набоков ; 2 July 1977), also known by the pen name Vladimir Sirin (), was a Russian-American novelist, poet, translator, and entomologist. Bor ...

's '' Lolita'' (1959) and Nicolson's ''

Portrait of a Marriage ''Portrait of a Marriage: Vita Sackville-West and Harold Nicolson'' is the 1973 biography of writer and gardener Vita Sackville-West compiled by her son Nigel Nicolson from her journals and letters. Synopsis The book relates to Sackville-West ...

'' (1973), a frank biography of his mother

Vita Sackville-West Victoria Mary, Lady Nicolson, CH (née Sackville-West; 9 March 1892 – 2 June 1962), usually known as Vita Sackville-West, was an English author and garden designer. Sackville-West was a successful novelist, poet and journalist, as wel ...

and father Harold Nicolson. In its early years Weidenfeld also published nonfiction works by Isaiah Berlin,

Hugh Trevor-Roper Hugh Redwald Trevor-Roper, Baron Dacre of Glanton (15 January 1914 – 26 January 2003) was an English historian. He was Regius Professor of Modern History at the University of Oxford. Trevor-Roper was a polemicist and essayist on a range of ...

, and

Rose Macaulay Dame Emilie Rose Macaulay, (1 August 1881 – 30 October 1958) was an English writer, most noted for her award-winning novel '' The Towers of Trebizond'', about a small Anglo-Catholic group crossing Turkey by camel. The story is seen as a spiritu ...

, and novels by Mary McCarthy and

Saul Bellow Saul Bellow (born Solomon Bellows; 10 July 1915 – 5 April 2005) was a Canadian-born American writer. For his literary work, Bellow was awarded the Pulitzer Prize, the Nobel Prize for Literature, and the National Medal of Arts. He is the only w ...

. Later it published titles by world leaders and historians, along with contemporary fiction and glossy illustrated books. Weidenfeld & Nicolson acquired the publisher Arthur Baker Ltd in 1959, and ran it as an imprint into the 1990s. Weidenfeld was one of Orion's first acquisitions after the group's founding in 1991, and formed the core of its offerings. At that time Weidenfeld imprints included

Phoenix Phoenix most often refers to: * Phoenix (mythology), a legendary bird from ancient Greek folklore * Phoenix, Arizona, a city in the United States Phoenix may also refer to: Mythology Greek mythological figures * Phoenix (son of Amyntor), a ...

, its own much earlier establishment; and J. M. Dent, acquired in 1988 along with its Everyman series. Orion was acquired in turn by

Hachette Livre 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 ...

in 1998. The hardcover rights to

Everyman Library Everyman's Library is a series of reprints of classic literature, primarily from the Western canon. It is currently published in hardback by Random House. It was originally an imprint of J. M. Dent (itself later a division of Weidenfeld & N ...

were sold in 1991, and survive as a Random House property; paperbacks of Everyman Classics continued under Orion. Late in 2013, W&N published the British edition (and Hachette subsidiary

Little, Brown Little, Brown and Company is an American publishing company founded in 1837 by Charles Coffin Little and James Brown (publisher), James Brown in Boston. For close to two centuries it has published fiction and nonfiction by American authors. Ear ...

the American edition) of ''

I Am Malala ''I Am Malala: The Story of the Girl Who Stood Up for Education and was Shot by the Taliban'' is an autobiographical book by Malala Yousafzai, co-written with Christina Lamb. It was published on 8 October 2013, by Weidenfeld & Nicolson in the U ...

'', the memoir of Pakistani-born teenager

Malala Yousafzai Malala Yousafzai ( ur, , , pronunciation: ; born 12 July 1997), is a Pakistani female education activist and the 2014 Nobel Peace Prize laureate. Awarded when she was 17, she is the world's youngest Nobel Prize laureate, and the second P ...

with Christina Lamb. Yousafzai is a

female education Female education is a catch-all term of a complex set of issues and debates surrounding education (primary education, secondary education, tertiary education, and health education in particular) for girls and women. It is frequently called girl ...

activist, and the

Nobel Peace Prize The Nobel Peace Prize is one of the five Nobel Prizes established by the will of Swedish industrialist, inventor and armaments (military weapons and equipment) manufacturer Alfred Nobel, along with the prizes in Chemistry, Physics, Physiolog ...

winner in 2014.

Book series

* Illustrated Novel Library * Lives * Pleasures and Treasures * The Young Historian Books (Series Editor: Patrick Moore) * World University LibraryWorld University Library (Weidenfeld and Nicolson) - Book Series List
publishinghistory.com. Retrieved 10 April 2019.

References

External links

Weidenfeld & Nicolson blog

The Orion Publishing Group
*
Weidenfeld & Nicolson Publishing Archives
{{DEFAULTSORT:Weidenfeld and Nicolson Book publishing companies based in London British companies established in 1948 Publishing companies established in 1948 1948 establishments in England