Stanley Unwin (publisher)
Sir Stanley Unwin ( born December 19, 1884 in London, † October 13, 1968 ) was an English publisher and founder publisher.
Life
Unwin was born as the youngest of nine children of the printer Edward Unwin (1840-1933, son of Jacob Unwin ) and his wife Elizabeth (1840-1921, daughter of paper manufacturer James Spicer ) in London. He attended from 1897 to 1899 the " Abbotsholme School " in Derbyshire, and was educated at the " School for Sons of Missionaries " in Blackheath. He left them after two years, since the printing of his father in Chilworth burned down in Surrey and led to the financial ruin of the family.
Unwin worked as Laufbote in a ship and insurance broker office and went in 1903 for some time to Leipzig in Germany. During this time he gained his first experience as a publisher in the German book trade, which led to his later work good. In 1904 Unwin sought his uncle Thomas Fisher Unwin, the younger half-brother of his father on Paternoster Square in London. This was a successful publisher of the young Unwin learned the craft of publishing, specializing in contracts and the sale of foreign rights. Soon Unwin was so successful that after a world tour with his future brother- Severn Storr while pondering about to set up his own publishing house. Their common experiences are reflected in the Two young men see the world report.
Publisher creation and war years
In 1911, George Allen had merged his firm with Swan Sonnenschein, yet they could not avert the threat of bankruptcy and had to sell their company. So Unwin took over in 1914, the publishing house " George Allen & Co. " who published the works of John Ruskin, in essence, therefore, it was rather the share of sunshine, which led him to assume, among other things, works of Karl Marx, George Bernard Shaw, George Moore or Sigmund Freud moved. The August 4, 1914 was founded on the " George Allen & Unwin Ltd.. ", Was not a happy day, because it fell on the date on which his country officially entered the First World War.
As Unwin could not afford so soon after the founding publisher to make a soldier active service at the front, he teamed up in " London I" as a volunteer forth. He graduated example tests in first aid and home nursing, has been active during the air raids, participated in the recovery of a crashed zeppelin part or acted as porter at Charing Cross Hospital.
In addition to his pacifism Unwin fought against censorship in the publication of writings. Accordingly, he devoted himself to controversial authors to support the free exchange of ideas. His publications include books by and about conscientious objectors, which earned him open hostilities. Many booksellers refused, for example, to spread the I Appeal unto Caesar (1915 ) by Mrs. Henry Hobhouse. Who would want to purchase it had to come directly to the publisher, Unwin said that the book, which was dismissed by a decision of the Parliament, has sold thousands of times. This experience is, however, " a tough fight with the book trade was that he would never forget ." The publisher published, among other works of controversial writers such as Bertrand Russell ( The Principles of Social Reconstruction, 1916) or by Mahatma Gandhi.
In the 1930s, Unwin was aware of the growing threat posed by the Nazis deliberately and recognized the danger posed by the incipient persecution of the Jews. He urged his friend the publisher Bela Horovitz, owner of the publishing house Phaidon Press to leave Austria and him to sell the company in order to save them. The adoption of this famous art publisher enraged the German authorities. Unwin later learned that his name was listed on the infamous " black list " of the Gestapo.
Unwin was from 1936 to 1938 and from 1946 to 1954 and President since 1955 of the International Publishers' Union honorary president.
In 1936, JRR Tolkien handed him the manuscript of the book The Hobbit an with the request to move this story. Since the book was published successfully Unwin asked Tolkien for a sequel, which was eventually (1954 /55) also published the series of novels The Lord of the Rings in its publisher.
Honors
Family
On December 19, 1914 Unwin married (Alice ) Mary Storr ( 1883-1971, daughter of the auctioneer Rayner Storr ). They had four children.
- Elizabeth Spicer (* 1916)
- David Storr (* 1918), the children's book author was
- Ruth Severn (1920-1998)
- Rayner Unwin Stephens (1925-2000)
Unwin lived in Lee in south-east London. His niece was the children's author Ursula Moray Williams.
Writings (selection )
- The truth about publishing. George Allen & Unwin, London, 1926. ( 8th edition 1976, ISBN 0-046-55014-3 ).
- Franz Schnabel (translator ): The true face of the publishing trade. Poeschel, Stuttgart 1927, OCLC 64410566 ( German edition).
- The truth about a publisher; an autobiographical record. George Allen & Unwin, London 1960, OCLC 1,343,424th
- Hans Jürgen Hansen ( Translator ): A publisher told: autobiography. Ehrenwirth, Munich 1960, OCLC 64535217 ( German edition).
- With Severn Storr: Two young men see the world. George Allen & Unwin, London 1934 OCLC 3,020,984th