Clarke, Irwin & Company was a Canadian publishing house based in

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

. Established in 1930, it was purchased by Thomas Nelson Publishing in 2002. The company published works by prominent Canadian authors, artists, and poets, including

Robertson Davies William Robertson Davies (28 August 1913 – 2 December 1995) was a Canadian novelist, playwright, critic, journalist, and professor. He was one of Canada's best known and most popular authors and one of its most distinguished " men of letters" ...

, Emily Carr, A.Y. Jackson, Adele Wiseman,

Timothy Findley Timothy Irving Frederick Findley, (October 30, 1930 – June 20, 2002) was a Canadian novelist and playwright.

, and

Alden Nowlan Alden Albert Nowlan (; January 25, 1933 – June 27, 1983) was a Canadian poet, novelist, and playwright. History Alden Nowlan was born into rural poverty in Stanley, Nova Scotia, adjacent to Mosherville, and close to the small town of Windso ...

. The company was also known as a producer of educational works and textbooks.

History

In 1930, William H. Clarke, formerly of Maclean-Hunter Publishing and the Macmillan Company of Canada, partnered with John C.W. Irwin, a Toronto bookseller, to start a new publishing house. They were joined by Irene Irwin Clarke, Clarke's wife and Irwin's sister. The company quickly established publishing arrangements with several British and American book companies, including the University of London Press, George G. Harrap & Co., Henry Holt & Co., and Rinehart & Co. The company started a lucrative trade in public school and university textbooks in the mid-1930s. William Clarke began a partnership with the

Oxford University Press Oxford University Press (OUP) is the publishing house of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world. Its first book was printed in Oxford in 1478, with the Press officially granted the legal right to print books ...

(OUP) in 1936. The Canadian division of the company had seen hard times during the

Great Depression The Great Depression was a severe global economic downturn from 1929 to 1939. The period was characterized by high rates of unemployment and poverty, drastic reductions in industrial production and international trade, and widespread bank and ...

, and, after the death of its director Samuel Gundy, William Clarke was able to take control of OUP. The two imprints operated from the same address for the next thirteen years. The partnership was responsible for the first

Bible The Bible is a collection of religious texts that are central to Christianity and Judaism, and esteemed in other Abrahamic religions such as Islam. The Bible is an anthology (a compilation of texts of a variety of forms) originally writt ...

completely printed and bound in Canada. The company saw commercial success with a Canadian writer with the publication of Emily Carr's '' Klee Wyck''. Although originally released by OUP, Clarke, Irwin published an abridged educational version used heavily in Canadian schools. The collection of memoirs won the 1941 Governor General's Award for Literary Merit. By the early 1940s, the relationship between William Clarke and John Irwin had frayed. Irwin, a graduate from the

University of Toronto The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public university, public research university whose main campus is located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park (Toronto), Queen's Park in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was founded by ...

's Faculty of Forestry, was an outspoken conservationist. Backlash from Irwin's many public speeches may have led to arguments between the two men. In 1943, Irwin left and started a rival company, the Book Society of Canada. After William Clarke died in 1955, Irene Irwin Clarke took over much of the managerial duties. By the 1960s, Clarke, Irwin had acquired publication rights from several more American and British publishing houses. A partnership with

Jonathan Cape Jonathan Cape is a British publishing firm headquartered in London and founded in 1921 by Herbert Jonathan Cape, who was head of the firm until his death. Cape and his business partner Wren Howard (1893–1968) set up the publishing house in ...

had popular spy novelists

Ian Fleming Ian Lancaster Fleming (28 May 1908 – 12 August 1964) was a British writer, best known for his postwar ''James Bond'' series of spy novels. Fleming came from a wealthy family connected to the merchant bank Robert Fleming & Co., and his ...

and

Len Deighton Leonard Cyril Deighton ( ; born 18 February 1929) is a British author. His publications have included cookery books and works on history, but he is best known for his spy novels. After completing his national service in the Royal Air Force, D ...

published under Clarke, Irwin in Canada. Through

Chatto & Windus Chatto & Windus is an imprint of Penguin Random House that was formerly an independent book publishing company founded in London in 1855 by John Camden Hotten. Following Hotten's death, the firm would reorganize under the names of his busines ...

, the company was able to print several

backlist A backlist is a list of older books available from a publisher. This is opposed to newly-published titles, which is sometimes known as the frontlist. Business Building a strong backlist has traditionally been considered the best method to produce ...

s, including authors such as

Fyodor Dostoevsky Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky. () was a Russian novelist, short story writer, essayist and journalist. He is regarded as one of the greatest novelists in both Russian and world literature, and many of his works are considered highly influent ...

and

Lawrence Durrell Lawrence George Durrell (; 27 February 1912 – 7 November 1990) was an expatriate British novelist, poet, dramatist, and travel writer. He was the eldest brother of naturalist and writer Gerald Durrell. Born in India to British colonial pa ...

. In 1972, Clarke, Irwin became the first Canadian publisher to have a children's book editor when they hired author Janet Lunn. The company did well with its textbook division until the late 1960s, when the acquisition policies of Canadian public schools changed, ending preferential treatment for the company. Clarke, Irwin, & Company went into decline in the 1970s, reducing its editorial staff from forty-two to nine. William and Irene Clarke's son, William (Bill) Clarke, became managing director in the 1980s. Government loans kept it afloat until 1983, when the company went into receivership. It was purchased by former partner John Irwin's Book Society of Canada, now run by John's son. The imprint would see a name change to Irwin Company. It was sold to General Publishing, parent of

Stoddart Publishing Stoddart Publishing was a Canadian book publisher and distributor, owned by Jack Stoddart, which ceased operations in 2002. History In 1967, General Publishing purchased the Musson imprint, based in Canada, from British publisher Hodder & Stough ...

, in 1988. It was purchased by Thomas Nelson Publishing in 2002, which saw the end of the name in the publishing business.

Notable publications

Apart from Carr's ''Klee Wyck'', Clarke, Irwin had success with several other art related books, including A.Y. Jackson's autobiography, ''A Painter's Country: The Autobiography of A.Y. Jackson'' (1958) as well as a popular collection of Jackson's sketches, ''A.Y.'s Canada: Pencil Drawings by A.Y. Jackson ''(1968).

' first works were published by the company, including educational books like ''Shakespeare for Young Players'' (1942) and novels including '' The Diary of Samuel Marchbanks'' (1947) and '' Tempest-Tost'' (1951) . Although not a major source of poetry, Clarke, Irwin had success with

's collection ''Bread, Wine and Salt'' in 1968. Quebec playwright Gratien Gélinas published several of his plays with the company.

Timothy Findley Timothy Irving Frederick Findley, (October 30, 1930 – June 20, 2002) was a Canadian novelist and playwright.

was a late acquisition in 1978, before the sale to the Book Society of Canada. The company published many non-fiction works, and its textbooks and readers were common in Canadian schools. The "Canadian Portraits Series" introduced younger readers to Canadian authors. William Kilbourn's biography of

William Lyon Mackenzie William Lyon Mackenzie (March12, 1795 August28, 1861) was a Scottish-born Canadian-American journalist and politician. He founded newspapers critical of the Family Compact, a term used to identify the establishment of Upper Canada. He represe ...

, ''The Firebrand'', was received well among critics. ''The Shape of Scandal'', by journalist and civil servant

Richard Gwyn Richard Gwyn (ca. 1537 – 15 October 1584), also known by his anglicized name, Richard White, was a Welsh teacher at illegal and underground schools and a bard who wrote both Christian and satirical poetry in the Welsh language. A Roman C ...

, was one of the company's best selling books of the 1960s. Bruce Hutchison's ''The Fraser'' (1950), a work on British Columbia's

Fraser River The Fraser River () is the longest river within British Columbia, Canada, rising at Fraser Pass near Blackrock Mountain (Canada), Blackrock Mountain in the Rocky Mountains and flowing for , into the Strait of Georgia just south of the City of V ...

, was part of Rinehart and Company's popular ''Rivers of America'' series. Hilda Neatby's ''So Little for the Mind'' caused public debate about Canada's education system upon its release in 1953.

History

Notable publications

Notes

References

Further reading