Richard Bentley (publisher)
Encyclopedia
Richard Bentley was a 19th century English
publisher. From a family of publishers, Bentley started a firm with his brother in 1819. Ten years later, he went into partnership with the publisher Henry Colburn
. Although the business was often successful, publishing the famous "Standard Novels" series, the two men did not get along and ended their partnership three years later, with much acrimony. During the 1830s and early 1840s, Bentley successfully ran his own publishing firm, establishing the profitable and well-regarded Bentley's Miscellany
. However, he and its editor, Charles Dickens
, quarrelled and the periodical went into decline after Dickens left. After 1843, Bentley's business started to falter, as hard economic times set in. He was forced to sell many of the copyrights he had purchased as well as Bentley's Miscellany. It was not until 15 years later that his business recovered, and he began initiating projects again. In 1867, he was injured in an accident at a railway station and he suffered ill health after that until his death four years later.
, published the General Evening Post and Nichols published the Gentleman's Magazine. Richard Bentley was born in Fetter Lane
, Fleet St in London
in 1794. He attended St Paul's School. Richard and his brother, Samuel (1785–1868), both trained in publishing and in 1819 established their own firm in Dorset Street. The Bentley firm, according to the Dictionary of National Biography
entry on Bentley, "became arguably the finest printers in London". They were the first to prominently feature wood-engraved illustrations.
Bentley married in 1823, Charlotte Botten (1800-1871), daughter of Thomas Botten by his wife, Kezia Francis. They had 9 children, one of whom, their eldest surviving son, George Bentley (1828–1895), joined his father in the printing business.
. Colburn was in financial trouble and owed the Bentleys money. Rather than see him default, the two firms agreed to merge, with the agreement favouring Colburn. Over the course of a trial three-year period, Bentley was obliged to invest £2,500, find new manuscripts to publish and act as bookkeeper. He would, in return, receive two-fifths of the profits. Colburn, on the other hand, provided three-fifths of the capital and received three-fifths of the profits. The two would make publishing decisions together. If the partnership failed before three years had passed, Bentley would be obliged to buy out Colburn for £10,000 with Colburn agreeing to only publish what he had published before the agreement. The new firm, Henry Colburn and Richard Bentley, which lasted a little over three years, was located at 8 New Burlington Street.
The firm was generally successful, primarily because they "catered to public taste". They fed the market for silver fork novels, including Benjamin Disraeli's The Young Duke (1831) and works by Catherine Gore
. Furthermore, almost all of their novels were triple-deckers, the length preferred by circulating libraries. Another element behind their success was their advertising. They spent £27,000 in the three years of the firm's existence.
Not all of their ventures were successful, however. Among the notable failures were three series aimed at the increasing mass audiences: the National Library of General Knowledge, the Juvenile Library, and the Library of Modern Travels and Discoveries. Almost half of the 55,750 copies of the National Library had to be sold as remainder
s, at a lost of almost five shillings per volume. The Juvenile Library lost the firm £900 and only three volumes were published. The Travels and Discoveries was never published. The firm also rejected the manuscript of Sartor Resartus
, by the then-unknown Thomas Carlyle
.
and a half, novels were suddenly available to a much wider audience than they had previously been. Furthermore, the firm owned the copyright to the novels, making the profits of the enterprise entirely theirs. James Fenimore Cooper
's The Pilot was the first novel in the series. The two publishers solicited revisions from living authors, sometimes forcing them to shorten their works so that they would fit into a single volume. Colburn and Bentley published the first 19 volumes together. The series would eventually include 126 volumes and be published over 24 years. These included "the first inexpensive reprints of Jane Austen
's fiction" and many American titles. The series was extraordinarily successful. In its first year, it made the firm £1,160.
, but it brought him no business.
Bentley has several successes early in his solo firm. For example, he bought the copyright to Edward Bulwer-Lytton
's The Last Days of Pompeii
(1834), which sold well for over 20 years. He also published William Harrison Ainsworth
's Rookwood
in 1834, which was a bestseller and released in two more editions. Bentley published the works of well-known authors such as Leigh Hunt
, William Hazlitt
, Maria Edgeworth
and Frances Trollope
. Bentley's firm gained a "reputation for quality". He often published the same work in several formats. For example, Ainsworth's Jack Sheppard
was serialized in Bentley's Miscellany
from January 1839 to February 1840, published as a triple-decker book in October 1839, and reprinted in one volume and as a serialization in 1840.
Bentley also published important Continental writers, including Alphonse de Lamartine
, Chateaubriand, Louis-Adolphe Thiers, François Guizot
, Leopold von Ranke
and Theodor Mommsen
.
Bentley hosted dinners at his home during the 1830s and 1840s, at which important writers and critics gathered.
In October 1836, Bentley entered the periodical market. He founded Bentley's Miscellany
, which first appeared in January 1837, and selected Charles Dickens
, known for his Pickwick Papers at the time, as editor. Dickens also agreed to contribute a serialized novel to the periodical and to sell two novels to Bentley. The periodical was "an immediate success" – 11,000 copies were sold in 1837 – largely as a result of the serialization of Dickens's Oliver Twist
, illustrated by George Cruikshank
. Dickens became increasingly frustrated at the initial terms of his contract, which he felt paid him too little. He eventually negotiated to increase his editorial salary from £40 per month (£20 to edit and 20 guineas to write an article) to £1,000 per year, including additional payments for his novels. The two renegotiated the contract nine times. As Wallins explains, "through nearly four years of negotiations Bentley remained calm in public; privately, he railed against Dickens's constant complaints but then backed down, delayed deadlines, and provided his author with more money as it was demanded. Bentley recognized that an unhappy author was an unproductive author". In the end, Dickens paid Bentley £2,250 to buy out the rest of his contract and to purchase the copyright to Oliver Twist.
Ainsworth succeeded Dickens as editor. Under his guidance, the circulation of the periodical "decreased dramatically" and costs increased. The quality of the novels declined and the number of reviews rose. During the 1840s and 1850s, Bentley used the periodical primarily to puff his own publications. American literature was highlighted, including Edgar Allan Poe
's "The Fall of the House of Usher
" (1840).
, he was forced to sell Bentley's Miscellany to its editor, Ainsworth. By 1855, Bentley's finances were in such dire straits that his firm was in jeopardy of being declared bankrupt. In 1857 and 1857, Bentley auctioned off copyrights, plates, steel etchings and remainders in order to pay debts.
Changes in copyright
law also affected Bentley's firm. Decades earlier, he had bought the English copyright for many American novels and made steady profits from the publication of these works. However, in 1849, all rights to foreign copyrights were eliminated, and other firms began to publish cheap editions of the works Bentley had paid to publish. In 1851, the Lords' decision was reversed, but by then Bentley had lost approximately £17,000.
George Bentley joined his father's firm in 1845, but he did not became an active partner until the 1850s.
and the Quarterly Review
. As editors, he signed on John Douglas Cook, William Scott
and Robert Cecil. The first issue appeared in February, but it did not sell well, despite being well-received by critics. Only four issues were published. Patten describes Bentley as "slow and imitative of other publishers", with "a strong bourgeois streak that prompted him to stand upon his proprietorial and editorial dignity, even when he lost contributors through his stubbornness", and describes his launch of the review as an "overreaching" that is typical of him.
The firm slowly became successful again. From June 1859 to May 1860, Bentley published a series of "Tales from Bentley" that reprinted stories from Bentley's Miscellany, which was a success. The publication of Ellen Wood's East Lynne
(1861), which sold out four editions in six months, helped dramatically. After 20 years, the book had sold 110,250 copies.
In January 1866 Bentley purchased Temple Bar Magazine; his son, George, became the editor, a position which he held until 1895. Two years later, Ainsworth ran into financial trouble with Bentley's Miscellany and the Bentleys bought it back for £250. They merged it with Temple Bar, bringing together what Wallins calls "perhaps the finest roster of contributors to any periodical at the time", which included Anthony Trollope
, Wilkie Collins
, Arthur Conan Doyle
, George Gissing
and Robert Louis Stevenson
.
that left him "shaken and enfeebled" (he broke his leg after falling from the platform at the railway station). George took over the day-to-day business of the firm. Bentley died on 10 September 1871 at Ramsgate
, at which time his firm was renamed "Richard Bentley and Son". George was also named one of executor
s of Bentley's will, along with Frederick Bentley and Anne Kezia Bentley.. He was buried in the family vault in West Norwood Cemetery
, London on 18 September 1871.
According to the Dictionary of National Biography, "Bentley's major contributions to nineteenth-century publishing are the Standard Novels—freshly revised texts of major contemporary authors made affordable for the middle class; Bentley's Miscellany and Temple Bar; the quality of his author list and of his book manufacture; his introduction of high-calibre international writers to British readers; and his founding of a family publishing firm that lasted through two further generations."
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
publisher. From a family of publishers, Bentley started a firm with his brother in 1819. Ten years later, he went into partnership with the publisher Henry Colburn
Henry Colburn
Henry Colburn , British publisher, obtained his earliest experience of book-selling in London at the establishment of W...
. Although the business was often successful, publishing the famous "Standard Novels" series, the two men did not get along and ended their partnership three years later, with much acrimony. During the 1830s and early 1840s, Bentley successfully ran his own publishing firm, establishing the profitable and well-regarded Bentley's Miscellany
Bentley's Miscellany
Bentley's Miscellany was an English literary magazine started by Richard Bentley. It was published between 1836 and 1868.-Contributors:Already a successful publisher of novels, Bentley began the journal in 1836 and invited Charles Dickens to be its first editor...
. However, he and its editor, Charles Dickens
Charles Dickens
Charles John Huffam Dickens was an English novelist, generally considered the greatest of the Victorian period. Dickens enjoyed a wider popularity and fame than had any previous author during his lifetime, and he remains popular, having been responsible for some of English literature's most iconic...
, quarrelled and the periodical went into decline after Dickens left. After 1843, Bentley's business started to falter, as hard economic times set in. He was forced to sell many of the copyrights he had purchased as well as Bentley's Miscellany. It was not until 15 years later that his business recovered, and he began initiating projects again. In 1867, he was injured in an accident at a railway station and he suffered ill health after that until his death four years later.
Early life
Bentley came from a publishing family that stretched back three generations. His father, Edward Bentley, and his uncle, John NicholsJohn Nichols (printer)
John Nichols was an English printer, author and antiquary.-Early life and apprenticeship:He was born in Islington, London to Edward Nichols and Anne Wilmot. On 22 June 1766 he married Anne Cradock daughter of William Cradock...
, published the General Evening Post and Nichols published the Gentleman's Magazine. Richard Bentley was born in Fetter Lane
Fetter Lane
Fetter Lane is a street in the ward of Farringdon Without in London England. It runs from Fleet Street in the south to Holborn in the north.The earliest mention of the street is "faitereslane" in 1312. The name occurs with several spellings until it settles down about 1612. There is no agreement...
, Fleet St in 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...
in 1794. He attended St Paul's School. Richard and his brother, Samuel (1785–1868), both trained in publishing and in 1819 established their own firm in Dorset Street. The Bentley firm, according to the Dictionary of National Biography
Dictionary of National Biography
The Dictionary of National Biography is a standard work of reference on notable figures from British history, published from 1885...
entry on Bentley, "became arguably the finest printers in London". They were the first to prominently feature wood-engraved illustrations.
Bentley married in 1823, Charlotte Botten (1800-1871), daughter of Thomas Botten by his wife, Kezia Francis. They had 9 children, one of whom, their eldest surviving son, George Bentley (1828–1895), joined his father in the printing business.
"Richard Bentley and Henry Colburn"
On 3 June 1829, Bentley signed a partnership agreement with Henry ColburnHenry Colburn
Henry Colburn , British publisher, obtained his earliest experience of book-selling in London at the establishment of W...
. Colburn was in financial trouble and owed the Bentleys money. Rather than see him default, the two firms agreed to merge, with the agreement favouring Colburn. Over the course of a trial three-year period, Bentley was obliged to invest £2,500, find new manuscripts to publish and act as bookkeeper. He would, in return, receive two-fifths of the profits. Colburn, on the other hand, provided three-fifths of the capital and received three-fifths of the profits. The two would make publishing decisions together. If the partnership failed before three years had passed, Bentley would be obliged to buy out Colburn for £10,000 with Colburn agreeing to only publish what he had published before the agreement. The new firm, Henry Colburn and Richard Bentley, which lasted a little over three years, was located at 8 New Burlington Street.
The firm was generally successful, primarily because they "catered to public taste". They fed the market for silver fork novels, including Benjamin Disraeli's The Young Duke (1831) and works by Catherine Gore
Catherine Gore
Catherine Grace Frances Gore was a British novelist and dramatist, daughter of a wine merchant at Retford, where she was born. She is amongst the well-known of the silver fork writers - authors of the Victorian era depicting the gentility and etiquette of high society.-Biography:Gore was born in...
. Furthermore, almost all of their novels were triple-deckers, the length preferred by circulating libraries. Another element behind their success was their advertising. They spent £27,000 in the three years of the firm's existence.
Not all of their ventures were successful, however. Among the notable failures were three series aimed at the increasing mass audiences: the National Library of General Knowledge, the Juvenile Library, and the Library of Modern Travels and Discoveries. Almost half of the 55,750 copies of the National Library had to be sold as remainder
Remainder
In arithmetic, the remainder is the amount "left over" after the division of two integers which cannot be expressed with an integer quotient....
s, at a lost of almost five shillings per volume. The Juvenile Library lost the firm £900 and only three volumes were published. The Travels and Discoveries was never published. The firm also rejected the manuscript of Sartor Resartus
Sartor Resartus
Thomas Carlyle's major work, Sartor Resartus , first published as a serial in 1833-34, purported to be a commentary on the thought and early life of a German philosopher called Diogenes Teufelsdröckh , author of a tome entitled "Clothes: their Origin and Influence" , but was actually a poioumenon...
, by the then-unknown Thomas Carlyle
Thomas Carlyle
Thomas Carlyle was a Scottish satirical writer, essayist, historian and teacher during the Victorian era.He called economics "the dismal science", wrote articles for the Edinburgh Encyclopedia, and became a controversial social commentator.Coming from a strict Calvinist family, Carlyle was...
.
Standard Novels series
In February 1831 they also began publishing one-volume versions of novels that had previously only been available in triple-decker form. They published novels whose copyright they owned and bought up the copyright to other novels. Colburn and Bentley's "Standard Novels series" became "a landmark in nineteenth-century publishing". Because each volume was only six shillings instead of a guineaGuinea (British coin)
The guinea is a coin that was minted in the Kingdom of England and later in the Kingdom of Great Britain and the United Kingdom between 1663 and 1813...
and a half, novels were suddenly available to a much wider audience than they had previously been. Furthermore, the firm owned the copyright to the novels, making the profits of the enterprise entirely theirs. James Fenimore Cooper
James Fenimore Cooper
James Fenimore Cooper was a prolific and popular American writer of the early 19th century. He is best remembered as a novelist who wrote numerous sea-stories and the historical novels known as the Leatherstocking Tales, featuring frontiersman Natty Bumppo...
's The Pilot was the first novel in the series. The two publishers solicited revisions from living authors, sometimes forcing them to shorten their works so that they would fit into a single volume. Colburn and Bentley published the first 19 volumes together. The series would eventually include 126 volumes and be published over 24 years. These included "the first inexpensive reprints of Jane Austen
Jane Austen
Jane Austen was an English novelist whose works of romantic fiction, set among the landed gentry, earned her a place as one of the most widely read writers in English literature, her realism and biting social commentary cementing her historical importance among scholars and critics.Austen lived...
's fiction" and many American titles. The series was extraordinarily successful. In its first year, it made the firm £1,160.
End of partnership
By 1831, the partnership between Bentley and Colburn was fraying. The cost of buying copyrights was mounting and the firm was in financial chaos. By early 1832, Bentley and Colburn were no longer speaking to each other and their dispute had to be mediated by lawyers and clerks. On 1 September 1832, Bentley and Colburn signed a settlement in which Bentley agreed to buy the firm for £1,500, keep the office on New Burlington Street and rename the business "Richard Bentley". He paid Colburn £5,580 for materials and copyrights owned by the firm, including the Standard Novels series. Colburn agreed to a series of restrictions on his publications, which he violated almost immediately. The partnership was officially dissolved with effect from 31 August 1832."Richard Bentley"
Bentley and Colburn became bitter rivals in the years that followed the dissolution of their partnership, publishing similar series and trying to undersell each other. In 1833, Bentley was appointed Publisher in Ordinary to the kingWilliam IV of the United Kingdom
William IV was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and of Hanover from 26 June 1830 until his death...
, but it brought him no business.
Bentley has several successes early in his solo firm. For example, he bought the copyright to Edward Bulwer-Lytton
Edward Bulwer-Lytton, 1st Baron Lytton
Edward George Earle Lytton Bulwer-Lytton, 1st Baron Lytton PC , was an English politician, poet, playwright, and novelist. He was immensely popular with the reading public and wrote a stream of bestselling dime-novels which earned him a considerable fortune...
's The Last Days of Pompeii
The Last Days of Pompeii
The Last Days of Pompeii is a novel written by the baron Edward Bulwer-Lytton in 1834. Once a very widely read book and now relatively neglected, it culminates in the cataclysmic destruction of the city of Pompeii by the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in AD 79.The novel uses its characters to contrast...
(1834), which sold well for over 20 years. He also published William Harrison Ainsworth
William Harrison Ainsworth
William Harrison Ainsworth was an English historical novelist born in Manchester. He trained as a lawyer, but the legal profession held no attraction for him. While completing his legal studies in London he met the publisher John Ebers, at that time manager of the King's Theatre, Haymarket...
's Rookwood
Rookwood (novel)
Rookwood is a novel by William Harrison Ainsworth published in 1834. It is a historical and gothic romance that describes a dispute over the legitimate claim for the inheritance of Rookwood Place and the Rookwood family name.-Background:...
in 1834, which was a bestseller and released in two more editions. Bentley published the works of well-known authors such as Leigh Hunt
Leigh Hunt
James Henry Leigh Hunt , best known as Leigh Hunt, was an English critic, essayist, poet and writer.-Early life:Leigh Hunt was born at Southgate, London, where his parents had settled after leaving the USA...
, William Hazlitt
William Hazlitt
William Hazlitt was an English writer, remembered for his humanistic essays and literary criticism, and as a grammarian and philosopher. He is now considered one of the great critics and essayists of the English language, placed in the company of Samuel Johnson and George Orwell. Yet his work is...
, Maria Edgeworth
Maria Edgeworth
Maria Edgeworth was a prolific Anglo-Irish writer of adults' and children's literature. She was one of the first realist writers in children's literature and was a significant figure in the evolution of the novel in Europe...
and Frances Trollope
Frances Trollope
Frances Milton Trollope was an English novelist and writer who published as Mrs. Trollope or Mrs. Frances Trollope...
. Bentley's firm gained a "reputation for quality". He often published the same work in several formats. For example, Ainsworth's Jack Sheppard
Jack Sheppard (novel)
Jack Sheppard is a novel by William Harrison Ainsworth serially published in Bentley's Miscellany from 1839 to 1840, with illustrations by George Cruikshank...
was serialized in Bentley's Miscellany
Bentley's Miscellany
Bentley's Miscellany was an English literary magazine started by Richard Bentley. It was published between 1836 and 1868.-Contributors:Already a successful publisher of novels, Bentley began the journal in 1836 and invited Charles Dickens to be its first editor...
from January 1839 to February 1840, published as a triple-decker book in October 1839, and reprinted in one volume and as a serialization in 1840.
Bentley also published important Continental writers, including Alphonse de Lamartine
Alphonse de Lamartine
Alphonse Marie Louis de Prat de Lamartine was a French writer, poet and politician who was instrumental in the foundation of the Second Republic.-Career:...
, Chateaubriand, Louis-Adolphe Thiers, François Guizot
François Guizot
François Pierre Guillaume Guizot was a French historian, orator, and statesman. Guizot was a dominant figure in French politics prior to the Revolution of 1848, a conservative liberal who opposed the attempt by King Charles X to usurp legislative power, and worked to sustain a constitutional...
, Leopold von Ranke
Leopold von Ranke
Leopold von Ranke was a German historian, considered one of the founders of modern source-based history. Ranke set the standards for much of later historical writing, introducing such ideas as reliance on primary sources , an emphasis on narrative history and especially international politics .-...
and Theodor Mommsen
Theodor Mommsen
Christian Matthias Theodor Mommsen was a German classical scholar, historian, jurist, journalist, politician, archaeologist, and writer generally regarded as the greatest classicist of the 19th century. His work regarding Roman history is still of fundamental importance for contemporary research...
.
Bentley hosted dinners at his home during the 1830s and 1840s, at which important writers and critics gathered.
Bentley's Miscellany
Bentley's Miscellany
Bentley's Miscellany was an English literary magazine started by Richard Bentley. It was published between 1836 and 1868.-Contributors:Already a successful publisher of novels, Bentley began the journal in 1836 and invited Charles Dickens to be its first editor...
, which first appeared in January 1837, and selected Charles Dickens
Charles Dickens
Charles John Huffam Dickens was an English novelist, generally considered the greatest of the Victorian period. Dickens enjoyed a wider popularity and fame than had any previous author during his lifetime, and he remains popular, having been responsible for some of English literature's most iconic...
, known for his Pickwick Papers at the time, as editor. Dickens also agreed to contribute a serialized novel to the periodical and to sell two novels to Bentley. The periodical was "an immediate success" – 11,000 copies were sold in 1837 – largely as a result of the serialization of Dickens's Oliver Twist
Oliver Twist
Oliver Twist; or, The Parish Boy's Progress is the second novel by English author Charles Dickens, published by Richard Bentley in 1838. The story is about an orphan Oliver Twist, who endures a miserable existence in a workhouse and then is placed with an undertaker. He escapes and travels to...
, illustrated by George Cruikshank
George Cruikshank
George Cruikshank was a British caricaturist and book illustrator, praised as the "modern Hogarth" during his life. His book illustrations for his friend Charles Dickens, and many other authors, reached an international audience.-Early life:Cruikshank was born in London...
. Dickens became increasingly frustrated at the initial terms of his contract, which he felt paid him too little. He eventually negotiated to increase his editorial salary from £40 per month (£20 to edit and 20 guineas to write an article) to £1,000 per year, including additional payments for his novels. The two renegotiated the contract nine times. As Wallins explains, "through nearly four years of negotiations Bentley remained calm in public; privately, he railed against Dickens's constant complaints but then backed down, delayed deadlines, and provided his author with more money as it was demanded. Bentley recognized that an unhappy author was an unproductive author". In the end, Dickens paid Bentley £2,250 to buy out the rest of his contract and to purchase the copyright to Oliver Twist.
Ainsworth succeeded Dickens as editor. Under his guidance, the circulation of the periodical "decreased dramatically" and costs increased. The quality of the novels declined and the number of reviews rose. During the 1840s and 1850s, Bentley used the periodical primarily to puff his own publications. American literature was highlighted, including Edgar Allan Poe
Edgar Allan Poe
Edgar Allan Poe was an American author, poet, editor and literary critic, considered part of the American Romantic Movement. Best known for his tales of mystery and the macabre, Poe was one of the earliest American practitioners of the short story and is considered the inventor of the detective...
's "The Fall of the House of Usher
The Fall of the House of Usher
"The Fall of the House of Usher" is a short story by Edgar Allan Poe, first published in September 1839 in Burton's Gentleman's Magazine. It was slightly revised in 1840 for the collection Tales of the Grotesque and Arabesque...
" (1840).
Financial trouble
Around 1843, the book trade fell off significantly in England. For the next 20 years, Bentley struggled to keep his firm afloat amidst increasing competition, legal problems and poor business choices. For example, he started a sixpenny newspaper, Young England, that ended after fourteen issues. Other firms introduced series similar to, but cheaper than, the Standard Novels series. Bentley tried to compete by publishing two new, cheap series – Bentley's Shilling Series and the Parlour Bookcase – but these were not very successful. Neither had over 25 volumes whereas the competition had almost 300. In 1853, Bentley tried to reduce the price of some of his books in order to increase the number sold, but this tactic failed. Bentley finally resorted to selling copyrights and large numbers of remaindered books to pay his debts. In 1843, as the economy worsened as a result of the Crimean WarCrimean War
The Crimean War was a conflict fought between the Russian Empire and an alliance of the French Empire, the British Empire, the Ottoman Empire, and the Kingdom of Sardinia. The war was part of a long-running contest between the major European powers for influence over territories of the declining...
, he was forced to sell Bentley's Miscellany to its editor, Ainsworth. By 1855, Bentley's finances were in such dire straits that his firm was in jeopardy of being declared bankrupt. In 1857 and 1857, Bentley auctioned off copyrights, plates, steel etchings and remainders in order to pay debts.
Changes in copyright
Copyright
Copyright is a legal concept, enacted by most governments, giving the creator of an original work exclusive rights to it, usually for a limited time...
law also affected Bentley's firm. Decades earlier, he had bought the English copyright for many American novels and made steady profits from the publication of these works. However, in 1849, all rights to foreign copyrights were eliminated, and other firms began to publish cheap editions of the works Bentley had paid to publish. In 1851, the Lords' decision was reversed, but by then Bentley had lost approximately £17,000.
George Bentley joined his father's firm in 1845, but he did not became an active partner until the 1850s.
Recovery
As the firm became financially stable again, Bentley began more projects. In 1859, Bentley attempted to establish Bentley's Quarterly Review as a competitor to the Edinburgh ReviewEdinburgh Review
The Edinburgh Review, founded in 1802, was one of the most influential British magazines of the 19th century. It ceased publication in 1929. The magazine took its Latin motto judex damnatur ubi nocens absolvitur from Publilius Syrus.In 1984, the Scottish cultural magazine New Edinburgh Review,...
and the Quarterly Review
Quarterly Review
The Quarterly Review was a literary and political periodical founded in March 1809 by the well known London publishing house John Murray. It ceased publication in 1967.-Early years:...
. As editors, he signed on John Douglas Cook, William Scott
William Scott
William Scott may refer to:* William Scott , MP for Kent * William Scott, 1st Baron Stowell , English judge and jurist* William Scott , American silent film actor...
and Robert Cecil. The first issue appeared in February, but it did not sell well, despite being well-received by critics. Only four issues were published. Patten describes Bentley as "slow and imitative of other publishers", with "a strong bourgeois streak that prompted him to stand upon his proprietorial and editorial dignity, even when he lost contributors through his stubbornness", and describes his launch of the review as an "overreaching" that is typical of him.
The firm slowly became successful again. From June 1859 to May 1860, Bentley published a series of "Tales from Bentley" that reprinted stories from Bentley's Miscellany, which was a success. The publication of Ellen Wood's East Lynne
East Lynne
East Lynne is an English sensation novel of 1861 by Ellen Wood. East Lynne was a Victorian bestseller. It is remembered chiefly for its elaborate and implausible plot, centering on infidelity and double identities...
(1861), which sold out four editions in six months, helped dramatically. After 20 years, the book had sold 110,250 copies.
In January 1866 Bentley purchased Temple Bar Magazine; his son, George, became the editor, a position which he held until 1895. Two years later, Ainsworth ran into financial trouble with Bentley's Miscellany and the Bentleys bought it back for £250. They merged it with Temple Bar, bringing together what Wallins calls "perhaps the finest roster of contributors to any periodical at the time", which included Anthony Trollope
Anthony Trollope
Anthony Trollope was one of the most successful, prolific and respected English novelists of the Victorian era. Some of his best-loved works, collectively known as the Chronicles of Barsetshire, revolve around the imaginary county of Barsetshire...
, Wilkie Collins
Wilkie Collins
William Wilkie Collins was an English novelist, playwright, and author of short stories. He was very popular during the Victorian era and wrote 30 novels, more than 60 short stories, 14 plays, and over 100 non-fiction pieces...
, Arthur Conan Doyle
Arthur Conan Doyle
Sir Arthur Ignatius Conan Doyle DL was a Scottish physician and writer, most noted for his stories about the detective Sherlock Holmes, generally considered a milestone in the field of crime fiction, and for the adventures of Professor Challenger...
, George Gissing
George Gissing
George Robert Gissing was an English novelist who published twenty-three novels between 1880 and 1903. From his early naturalistic works, he developed into one of the most accomplished realists of the late-Victorian era.-Early life:...
and Robert Louis Stevenson
Robert Louis Stevenson
Robert Louis Balfour Stevenson was a Scottish novelist, poet, essayist and travel writer. His best-known books include Treasure Island, Kidnapped, and Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde....
.
Decline and death
In 1867, Bentley experienced a "severe accident" at Chepstow railway stationChepstow railway station
Chepstow railway station is a part of the British railway system owned by Network Rail and is operated by Arriva Trains Wales. Chepstow station is on the Gloucester to Newport Line. It is located within of the town centre, at Station Road, Chepstow...
that left him "shaken and enfeebled" (he broke his leg after falling from the platform at the railway station). George took over the day-to-day business of the firm. Bentley died on 10 September 1871 at Ramsgate
Ramsgate
Ramsgate is a seaside town in the district of Thanet in east Kent, England. It was one of the great English seaside towns of the 19th century and is a member of the ancient confederation of Cinque Ports. It has a population of around 40,000. Ramsgate's main attraction is its coastline and its main...
, at which time his firm was renamed "Richard Bentley and Son". George was also named one of executor
Executor
An executor, in the broadest sense, is one who carries something out .-Overview:...
s of Bentley's will, along with Frederick Bentley and Anne Kezia Bentley.. He was buried in the family vault in West Norwood Cemetery
West Norwood Cemetery
West Norwood Cemetery is a cemetery in West Norwood in London, England. It was also known as the South Metropolitan Cemetery.One of the first private landscaped cemeteries in London, it is one of the Magnificent Seven cemeteries of London, and is a site of major historical, architectural and...
, London on 18 September 1871.
According to the Dictionary of National Biography, "Bentley's major contributions to nineteenth-century publishing are the Standard Novels—freshly revised texts of major contemporary authors made affordable for the middle class; Bentley's Miscellany and Temple Bar; the quality of his author list and of his book manufacture; his introduction of high-calibre international writers to British readers; and his founding of a family publishing firm that lasted through two further generations."