Michael Joseph (26 September 1897 – 15 March 1958) was a British publisher and writer.

Early life and career

Joseph was born in

Upper Clapton Clapton is a district of east London, England, in the London Borough of Hackney. Clapton is divided into Upper Clapton, in the north, and Lower Clapton to the south. Clapton railway station lies north-east of Charing Cross. Geography and orig ...

, London. During the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, he served as a captain in the Machine Gun Corps and was in the line near

Arras Arras ( , ; ; historical ) is the prefecture of the Pas-de-Calais department, which forms part of the region of Hauts-de-France; before the reorganization of 2014 it was in Nord-Pas-de-Calais. The historic centre of the Artois region, with a ...

. After the war, he embarked on a writing career, his first book being ''Short Story Writing for Profit'' (1923). In 1930, he lived near

Regent's Park Regent's Park (officially The Regent's Park) is one of the Royal Parks of London. It occupies in north-west Inner London, administratively split between the City of Westminster and the London Borough of Camden, Borough of Camden (and historical ...

, where he adopted a Siamese cat, Charles, who became the subject of Joseph's book ''Charles - The Story of a Friendship''. In the summer of 1935, Joseph moved to Acacia Road,

St John's Wood St John's Wood is a district in the London Borough of Camden, London Boroughs of Camden and the City of Westminster, London, England, about 2.5 miles (4 km) northwest of Charing Cross. Historically the northern part of the Civil Parish#An ...

, opposite composer Roger Quilter. At the outbreak of war in 1939, Joseph moved to Mayfield,

Sussex Sussex (Help:IPA/English, /ˈsʌsɪks/; from the Old English ''Sūþseaxe''; lit. 'South Saxons'; 'Sussex') is an area within South East England that was historically a kingdom of Sussex, kingdom and, later, a Historic counties of England, ...

.'Charles - The Story of a Friendship' (Joseph, 1943) After a period as a literary agent for Curtis Brown, Joseph founded his own publishing imprint as a subsidiary of

Victor Gollancz Ltd Victor Gollancz Ltd () was a major British book publishing house of the twentieth century and continues to publish science fiction and fantasy titles as an imprint of Orion Publishing Group. Gollancz was founded in 1927 by Victor Gollancz, an ...

. Gollancz invested £4000 in Michael Joseph Ltd, established 5 September 1935. Joseph and

Victor Gollancz Sir Victor Gollancz (; 9 April 1893 – 8 February 1967) was a British publisher and humanitarian. Gollancz was known as a supporter of left-wing politics. His loyalties shifted between liberalism and communism; he defined himself as a Christian ...

disagreed on many points and Michael Joseph bought out Gollancz Ltd in 1938, after Gollancz attempted to censor ''Across the Frontiers'' by Sir Philip Gibbs on political grounds. (Joseph published the first edition in 1938 and a revised edition the following May.) Joseph managed to build up an impressive list of authors, including H. E. Bates, C. S. Forester, Monica Dickens and Richard Llewellyn. He was a member of the Army Officers' Emergency Reserve, and in the summer of 1940 was called up and posted to a battalion of the Queen's Own Royal West Kent Regiment as Company commander, responsible for guarding the coast. Service included three months 'on the beach' and training in an armoured division before the battalion moved to Lambourn. In the spring of 1941, he retired from the army on medical grounds, and purchased Copyhold Farm near Newbury,

Berkshire Berkshire ( ; abbreviated ), officially the Royal County of Berkshire, is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Oxfordshire to the north, Buckinghamshire to the north-east, Greater London ...

, where he moved with his family.

Personal life

Joseph married actress Hermione Gingold in 1918, and they had two sons, Leslie and Stephen Joseph. (The Stephen Joseph Theatre in

Scarborough Scarborough or Scarboro may refer to: People * Scarborough (surname) * Earl of Scarbrough Places Australia * Scarborough, Western Australia, suburb of Perth * Scarborough, New South Wales, suburb of Wollongong * Scarborough, Queensland, sub ...

, established by the latter in 1955, was Britain's first theatre in the round.) The couple divorced in 1926, and Joseph promptly married Edna Victoria Nellie Frost, with whom he had a daughter, Shirley, and son, Richard. Richard established a successful career in printing, and then later running his own publishing company. (Richard and his wife, Elizabeth, had a son, Adam Joseph and daughter, Rachel Joseph). Edna died in 1949, and Joseph's third marriage the next year was to Anthea Esther Hodson, with whom he had a daughter, Charlotte, and son, Hugh. Anthea ran the publishing business after her husband's death.Victor Morrison
"Joseph , Anthea Esther (1924–1981)"
rev. ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', Oxford University Press, 2004. Retrieved 9 April 2017.

Death

Michael Joseph died of

septicaemia Sepsis is a potentially life-threatening condition that arises when the body's response to infection causes injury to its own tissues and organs. This initial stage of sepsis is followed by suppression of the immune system. Common signs and s ...

in 1958, after a delayed medical operation. He was 60.

Michael Joseph Ltd from 1958

After Joseph died, his widow Anthea Joseph rescued the publishing company Michael Joseph Ltd from the ensuing crisis. In 1985, Michael Joseph Ltd was acquired by

Penguin Books Penguin Books Limited is a Germany, German-owned English publishing, publishing house. It was co-founded in 1935 by Allen Lane with his brothers Richard and John, as a line of the publishers the Bodley Head, only becoming a separate company the ...

. Penguin turned its new property into one of its imprints, and in 2018, Penguin described Michael Joseph as " e leading commercial fiction and non-fiction imprint of Penguin Books", specialising in "women's fiction, crime, thrillers, cookery, memoirs and lifestyle books".

Books written by Michael Joseph

* ''Short Story Writing for Profit'' (London: Hutchinson & Co., 1923) * ''Journalism for Profit'' (1924) * ''The Commercial Side of Literature'' (Hutchinson, 1925) * ''How to Write a Short Story'' (Hutchinson, 1926) * ''How to Write Serial Fiction'' (Hutchinson, 1927); US edition, Holt, 1928, "by Michael Joseph and Marten Cumberland" * ''The Magazine Story: with ten examples analysed by Michael Joseph'' (Hutchinson, 1928) * ''The Autobiography of a Journalist'' (Hutchinson, 1929), ed. and introduced by Josep
The autobiography of a journalist
– uncertain role * ''Cat's Company'' (London: Geoffrey Bles, 1930), "illustrations ... are from drawings made by a celebrated German artist, B. F. Dolbin"; later illus. Clare Dawson (Chicago:

Ziff-Davis Ziff Davis, Inc. is an American digital media and internet company. Founded in 1927 by William Bernard Ziff Sr. and Bernard George Davis, the company primarily owns technology- and health-oriented media websites, online shopping-related servic ...

, 1947) * ''A Book of Cats, being twenty drawings by Foujita; poems in prose by Michael Joseph'' (New York: Covici-Friede, 1930), artwork by

Tsuguharu Foujita was a Japanese–French painter. After having studied Western-style painting in Japan, Foujita traveled to Paris, where he encountered the international modern art scene of the Montparnasse neighborhood and developed an eclectic style that borrow ...

* ''This Writing Business'' (

Faber & Faber Faber and Faber Limited, commonly known as Faber & Faber or simply Faber, is an independent publishing house in London. Published authors and poets include T. S. Eliot (an early Faber editor and director), W. H. Auden, C. S. Lewis, Margaret S ...

, 1931), 32 pp * ''Puss in Books: A Collection of Stories about Cats'' (New York: Dodd, Mead & Company, 1932), ed. Elizabeth Drew and Joseph, illus. A. R. Wheelan * ''Heads or Tails'' (1933), with Selwyn Johnson * ''Discovery, A Play in Three Acts'' (Gollancz, 1934) * ''Kittens and Cats'' (Racine: Whitman, 1938) * ''The Sword in the Scabbard'' (Joseph, 1942) * ''Charles: The Story of a Friendship'' (Joseph, 1943), 91 pp. * ''Complete Writing for Profit'' (London: Hutchinson & Co., 1938), 1097 pp. * ''The Adventure of Publishing'' (London: Allan Wingate, 1949) * ''Best Cat Stories'' (Faber, 1952), ed. Joseph, illus. Eileen Mayo

Authors and series published by Michael Joseph Ltd

Authors on Michael Joseph Ltd.’s list included H. E. Bates, Vicki Baum, Joyce Cary, Monica Dickens, C. S. Forester,

Paul Gallico Paul William Gallico (July 26, 1897 – July 15, 1976) was an American novelist and short story and sports writer.Ivins, Molly,, ''The New York Times'', July 17, 1976. Retrieved Oct. 25, 2020. Many of his works were adapted for motion pictures. ...

, Richard Gordon, Barry Hines, D. F. Karaka, Richard Llewellyn,

Bertrand Russell Bertrand Arthur William Russell, 3rd Earl Russell, (18 May 1872 – 2 February 1970) was a British philosopher, logician, mathematician, and public intellectual. He had influence on mathematics, logic, set theory, and various areas of analytic ...

, Vita Sackville-West and Derek Tangye. Book series published by the firm included the Cadet Edition, Carfax Editions, Mermaid Books, The Minack Chronicles, The Rosemary LibraryPublishers & Series List
seriesofseries.com. Retrieved 5 October 2022. and the 6/- Net Edition.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Joseph, Michael 1897 births 1958 deaths 20th-century English businesspeople 20th-century English memoirists Publishers (people) from London Writers from the London Borough of Hackney English self-help writers People from Upper Clapton Deaths from sepsis British Army personnel of World War I British book publishing company founders Businesspeople from the London Borough of Hackney