Minerva Press
William Lane ( * 1745/6 probably in Whitechapel; ? † January 29, 1814 ) was an English publisher and founder of Minerva Press.
William Lane was known especially for the business practices of his publishing company, which he renamed in 1790 in Minerva Press, even if he had been there for the 1770 as a publisher and bookseller.
In the course of the growing popularity of the new genre novel Lane began to move entertainment novels built in rapid succession on the proven pattern. Lane was known with its Minerva Press for the scope of its publishing program and for ensuring its authors, mostly financially dependent, female professional writers, its time to pay worse than any other British publishers and produce best sellers of dubious literary quality. Even after the sale of its shares in the publishing and even long after his death was Minerva Press in England in the 19th century as the epitome of trashy literature.
Life
William Lane's birthplace and date are not well documented. It is certain that his father was John Lane poultry dealer, and William followed the first father in this profession. From about 1770 he began in his father's business to sell books before he moved into its own premises in 1773 and established itself as booksellers and book distributors. In the next few years he operated his business with some success. Among other things, he participated in 1788 with several business partners in the founding of the first daily evening newspaper at all, the Star and Evening Advertiser. In 1790 he named his publishing company into Minerva Press, and was known by this publisher names, especially as editor lowbrow entertainment novels.
At the beginning of the 19th century, Lane attracted more and more from the stores of his publishing back, took partner to the business and began to sell shares. In 1808 he sat down to rest completely and spent the last years of his life in Brighton. Lane has been married twice. When he died childless on 29 January 1814, he left his entire estate, estimated £ 17.500, second to his wife Phoebe.
Lane and lending libraries
Spillover effects had Lane especially with its program to extend the network of lending libraries, which should secure him a bigger market. No later than 1784, he advertised with the offer aspiring library operators on favorable terms with a basic stock of books from their own inventory supply. In addition, he published a pamphlet in which he was clarifying interested on issues related to equipment, organization and management of a lending library.
Lanes efforts were successful and were instrumental in ensuring that stretched a network of smaller book distributors all over England until the mid 19th century. Many bookstores, but also stationery shops, pharmacies, perfumeries and other commercial secured an additional revenue stream, by beginning books to lend especially popular novels or successful historical and scientific titles, before industry giants such as Mudie 's Select Library or WH Smith the smaller competitors gradually displaced from the business.
Minerva Press
The largest portion of its assets owed Lane especially the shallow entertainment novels in the 1790s constituted the main part of the production during his leadership of the Minerva Press. The misplaced literature he served various then prevalent fads and clichés. They imitated the novels of the then very popular -selling author Ann Radcliffe, which linked the sentimental romance novels in the tradition of Samuel Richardson's Pamela (1740 ) with motifs of gothic novels. The novels of the Minerva Press exaggerated the sensational and sentimental moments in order to achieve the greatest possible effect with the reader.
The publishing house was with his novels almost the epitome of the genre and thus was the focus of controversy that triggered this literature. The seven tracks that represents Jane Austen in the sixth chapter of her studded with ironic swipes at Radcliffe imitators novel Northanger Abbey (1818 ) Radcliffe's Mysteries of Udolpho Bestseller (1796 ) to include page, with one exception, the publishing program of the Minerva Press.
Most of the time so successful, mostly in the chord written and published novels are often anonymous, forgotten today, with their authors as Eliza Parsons and Regina Maria Roche. A certain aftereffect only had the bad reputation of entertainment novels to which they contributed.