A. H. Wheeler & Co. Pvt. Ltd., commonly known as A. H. Wheeler or simply Wheeler, is an

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

n-owned company that owns a bookstore chain. Co-founded by Émile Moreau, a French businessman, T. K. Banerjee, an

Indian Indian or Indians may refer to: Peoples South Asia * Indian people, people of Indian nationality, or people who have an Indian ancestor ** Non-resident Indian, a citizen of India who has temporarily emigrated to another country * South Asia ...

businessman, and others, in

Prayagraj Allahabad (), officially known as Prayagraj, also known as Ilahabad, is a metropolis in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh.The other five cities were: Agra, Kanpur (Cawnpore), Lucknow, Meerut, and Varanasi (Benares). It is the administrat ...

in 1877, it mainly operates from railway stations. A. H. Wheeler borrowed its name from the then-successful

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

bookstore and its owner, "Arthur Henry Wheelers", who was also a friend of Emile Moreau and helped him financially.Atul Sethi
"Train of Thoughts"
''The Times of India'' Chennai, 4 September 2011. Retrieved 28 January 2017.

History

After its foundation in 1877, the company grew to have stores at railway stations all over India, especially in the north. The first store was opened at

railway station in 1877. In 1888 the company began publishing a series of booklets known as the Indian Railway Library. The Banerjees took over the company in 1950. In 2004 it had bookstores at 258 railway stations all over India. It contributed to about 80% of the revenue earned by the

Indian Railways Indian Railways (IR) is a statutory body under the ownership of Ministry of Railways, Government of India that operates India's national railway system. It manages the fourth largest national railway system in the world by size, with a tota ...

from book sales. Up to 2004, it had a monopoly on selling books at railway stations. it is headquartered in

and the distribution network is also managed from there. A 2004 Indian Railways circular stated: "At present M/s. A.H. Wheeler & Co. is enjoying sole selling rights for running bookstalls at platforms on which this company had been running the same till 01.01.1976. It has now been decided that M/s. A.H. Wheeler & Co. shall not have any sole selling rights henceforth and their rights are brought at par with others. The number of bookstalls held by M/s. A.H. Wheeler & Co. and M/s. Higginbothams Ltd. are at present frozen. Since, the sole selling rights of M/s.A.H. Wheeler & Co. have been withdrawn and their rights have been brought at par with others, the freezing on the holding of stalls by M/s. A.H. Wheeler & Co. and M/s. Higginbothams Ltd. is also removed. In view of the need for decongesting the platform, any fresh allotment of any new bookstall to any category at the stations where

railways Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a pre ...

had frozen the holding of M/s. A.H. Wheeler & Co. and M/s. Higginbothams Ltd. should have to be amply justified before any such decision is taken. The allotment at such stations should be done only with the personal approval of General Manager, irrespective of the type of station." According to ''The Financial Express'' this loss of

monopoly A monopoly (from Greek el, μόνος, mónos, single, alone, label=none and el, πωλεῖν, pōleîn, to sell, label=none), as described by Irving Fisher, is a market with the "absence of competition", creating a situation where a speci ...

was a result of a "New Book policy" being implemented by the

. It also carries Wheeler's claims that it was the first Indian company to be granted "total rights of any business" by the British, which it gained in 1937. The following restrictions have been introduced by the Indian Railways on the nature of books sold on its platforms: "Sale of all types of obscene, scurrilous, smutty, pornographic, offensive or objectionable publications including pirated books is prohibited at all bookstalls. Zonal railways should exercise strict supervision and in case any licensee is found indulging in sale of such literature serious view should be taken including termination of licence."

Notable publications

Plain Tales from the Hills ''Plain Tales from the Hills'' (published 1888) is the first collection of short stories by Rudyard Kipling. Out of its 40 stories, "eight-and-twenty", according to Kipling's ''Preface'', were initially published in the '' Civil and Military Ga ...

'' written by

Rudyard Kipling Joseph Rudyard Kipling ( ; 30 December 1865 – 18 January 1936)''The Times'', (London) 18 January 1936, p. 12. was an English novelist, short-story writer, poet, and journalist. He was born in British India, which inspired much of his work. ...

were issued as the "Indian Railway Library Series" by Wheeler. These were the first publications of Kipling's collection of stories. These books were sold on railway stations. They cost ''One rupee'', then ''fifteenth part of a pound''. Richard Jaffa considers them "amongst the early paperbacks".

References

14. ^ A city isn’t a city without a bookstore : A.H. Wheelers — Book Heaven in Prayagraj, India
/nowiki>] {{DEFAULTSORT:Wheeler, A. H., and Co Publishing companies of India Retail companies established in 1877 Bookstores of India Book publishing companies of India Transport culture of India Railway culture 1877 establishments in India