Allen & Unwin
Encyclopedia
Allen & Unwin, formerly a major British publishing house, is now an independent book publisher and distributor based in Australia
. The Australian directors have been the sole owners of the Allen & Unwin name since effecting a management buy out at the time the UK parent company, Unwin Hyman, was sold to HarperCollins
in 1990.
The initial firm of George Allen and Sons was established in 1871, becoming George Allen and Unwin in 1914 as a result of Sir Stanley Unwin
's purchase of a controlling interest. Unwin's son Rayner S. Unwin
and nephew Philip helped run the company. Its London
offices were long at 40 Museum Street. The company published the works of Thor Heyerdal and became well known for publishing the popular children's fantasy novel The Hobbit
written by philologist
and Oxford University professor J. R. R. Tolkien
in 1937 and for later publishing the original edition of Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings
trilogy of high fantasy
in 1954-1955.
Rayner Unwin had just retired at the end of 1985, Merlin and Corydon Unwin having taken over, when the firm was amalgamated in 1986 with Bell & Hyman to form Unwin Hyman Limited. Robin Hyman, who had first bought the older firm of Arthur Bell, became chairman and chief executive of both Allen & Unwin and Bell & Hyman, and chief executive of the combined Unwin Hyman. From this time onwards Allen & Unwin was an Australia-based, child company of Unwin Hyman. Rayner Unwin returned for a while as part-time chairman of Unwin Hyman, retiring again at the end of 1988. It was over the objections of largest shareholder
Unwin that Hyman sold the firm to HarperCollins
, the book-publishing arm of Rupert Murdoch
's media empire.
HarperCollins has since sold Unwin Hyman's academic book list to Routledge
. Routledge, in turn, was bought by Taylor & Francis.
In addition to operating as a publisher, Allen and Unwin acts as the Australia and New Zealand distributor for numerous overseas publishers, including the Orion Group, and is also a co-sponsor and publisher of the annual Australian/Vogel Literary Award.
Through its relationship with United Kingdom
publisher Bloomsbury Publishing, Allen & Unwin distributes the Harry Potter
series of books in Australia and New Zealand
under the Bloomsbury imprint.
Allen & Unwin offices are located in Crows Nest
in New South Wales
, in East Melbourne, Victoria
, and in Auckland
, New Zealand
.
As one of the largest UK publishers when Standard Book Numbering
was introduced, Allen & Unwin were allocated one of the English two-digit publisher codes, 0-04-. Uniquely among publishers, for many years the first three digits of each 6-digit title number they allocated were the main Dewey Decimal Classification
for the subject of the book.
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
. The Australian directors have been the sole owners of the Allen & Unwin name since effecting a management buy out at the time the UK parent company, Unwin Hyman, was sold to HarperCollins
HarperCollins
HarperCollins is a publishing company owned by News Corporation. It is the combination of the publishers William Collins, Sons and Co Ltd, a British company, and Harper & Row, an American company, itself the result of an earlier merger of Harper & Brothers and Row, Peterson & Company. The worldwide...
in 1990.
The initial firm of George Allen and Sons was established in 1871, becoming George Allen and Unwin in 1914 as a result of Sir Stanley Unwin
Stanley Unwin (publisher)
Sir Stanley Unwin was a British publisher, founder of the George Allen and Unwin house in 1914. This published serious and sometimes controversial authors like Bertrand Russell and Mahatma Gandhi....
's purchase of a controlling interest. Unwin's son Rayner S. Unwin
Rayner Unwin
Rayner Stephens Unwin was the son of publisher Sir Stanley Unwin of the publishing firm George Allen & Unwin....
and nephew Philip helped run the company. Its London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
offices were long at 40 Museum Street. The company published the works of Thor Heyerdal and became well known for publishing the popular children's fantasy novel The Hobbit
The Hobbit
The Hobbit, or There and Back Again, better known by its abbreviated title The Hobbit, is a fantasy novel and children's book by J. R. R. Tolkien. It was published on 21 September 1937 to wide critical acclaim, being nominated for the Carnegie Medal and awarded a prize from the New York Herald...
written by philologist
Philology
Philology is the study of language in written historical sources; it is a combination of literary studies, history and linguistics.Classical philology is the philology of Greek and Classical Latin...
and Oxford University professor J. R. R. Tolkien
J. R. R. Tolkien
John Ronald Reuel Tolkien, CBE was an English writer, poet, philologist, and university professor, best known as the author of the classic high fantasy works The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, and The Silmarillion.Tolkien was Rawlinson and Bosworth Professor of Anglo-Saxon at Pembroke College,...
in 1937 and for later publishing the original edition of Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings
The Lord of the Rings
The Lord of the Rings is a high fantasy epic written by English philologist and University of Oxford professor J. R. R. Tolkien. The story began as a sequel to Tolkien's earlier, less complex children's fantasy novel The Hobbit , but eventually developed into a much larger work. It was written in...
trilogy of high fantasy
High fantasy
High fantasy or epic fantasy is a subgenre of fantasy that is set in invented or parallel worlds. High fantasy was brought to fruition through the work of authors such as J. R. R. Tolkien and C. S. Lewis, whose major fantasy works were published in the 1950s...
in 1954-1955.
Rayner Unwin had just retired at the end of 1985, Merlin and Corydon Unwin having taken over, when the firm was amalgamated in 1986 with Bell & Hyman to form Unwin Hyman Limited. Robin Hyman, who had first bought the older firm of Arthur Bell, became chairman and chief executive of both Allen & Unwin and Bell & Hyman, and chief executive of the combined Unwin Hyman. From this time onwards Allen & Unwin was an Australia-based, child company of Unwin Hyman. Rayner Unwin returned for a while as part-time chairman of Unwin Hyman, retiring again at the end of 1988. It was over the objections of largest shareholder
Shareholder
A shareholder or stockholder is an individual or institution that legally owns one or more shares of stock in a public or private corporation. Shareholders own the stock, but not the corporation itself ....
Unwin that Hyman sold the firm to HarperCollins
HarperCollins
HarperCollins is a publishing company owned by News Corporation. It is the combination of the publishers William Collins, Sons and Co Ltd, a British company, and Harper & Row, an American company, itself the result of an earlier merger of Harper & Brothers and Row, Peterson & Company. The worldwide...
, the book-publishing arm of Rupert Murdoch
Rupert Murdoch
Keith Rupert Murdoch, AC, KSG is an Australian-American business magnate. He is the founder and Chairman and CEO of , the world's second-largest media conglomerate....
's media empire.
HarperCollins has since sold Unwin Hyman's academic book list to Routledge
Routledge
Routledge is a British publishing house which has operated under a succession of company names and latterly as an academic imprint. Its origins may be traced back to the 19th-century London bookseller George Routledge...
. Routledge, in turn, was bought by Taylor & Francis.
In addition to operating as a publisher, Allen and Unwin acts as the Australia and New Zealand distributor for numerous overseas publishers, including the Orion Group, and is also a co-sponsor and publisher of the annual Australian/Vogel Literary Award.
Through its relationship with United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
publisher Bloomsbury Publishing, Allen & Unwin distributes the Harry Potter
Harry Potter
Harry Potter is a series of seven fantasy novels written by the British author J. K. Rowling. The books chronicle the adventures of the adolescent wizard Harry Potter and his best friends Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger, all of whom are students at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry...
series of books in Australia and New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
under the Bloomsbury imprint.
Allen & Unwin offices are located in Crows Nest
Crows Nest, New South Wales
Crows Nest is a suburb on the lower North Shore of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Crows Nest is located 5 kilometres north of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of North Sydney Council.-History:...
in New South Wales
New South Wales
New South Wales is a state of :Australia, located in the east of the country. It is bordered by Queensland, Victoria and South Australia to the north, south and west respectively. To the east, the state is bordered by the Tasman Sea, which forms part of the Pacific Ocean. New South Wales...
, in East Melbourne, Victoria
East Melbourne, Victoria
East Melbourne is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, adjacent to Melbourne's central business district. Its Local Government Area is the City of Melbourne. At the 2006 Census, East Melbourne had a population of 4,330....
, and in Auckland
Auckland
The Auckland metropolitan area , in the North Island of New Zealand, is the largest and most populous urban area in the country with residents, percent of the country's population. Auckland also has the largest Polynesian population of any city in the world...
, New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
.
As one of the largest UK publishers when Standard Book Numbering
International Standard Book Number
The International Standard Book Number is a unique numeric commercial book identifier based upon the 9-digit Standard Book Numbering code created by Gordon Foster, Emeritus Professor of Statistics at Trinity College, Dublin, for the booksellers and stationers W.H...
was introduced, Allen & Unwin were allocated one of the English two-digit publisher codes, 0-04-. Uniquely among publishers, for many years the first three digits of each 6-digit title number they allocated were the main Dewey Decimal Classification
Dewey Decimal Classification
Dewey Decimal Classification, is a proprietary system of library classification developed by Melvil Dewey in 1876.It has been greatly modified and expanded through 23 major revisions, the most recent in 2011...
for the subject of the book.