David Geoffrey Bles (1886–1957) was a British publisher, with a reputation for spotting new talent. He started his eponymous publishing firm in London in 1923 and published the first five books of C.S. Lewis' ''Narnia'' series.

Early life

Bles read Greats at

Merton College, Oxford Merton College (in full: The House or College of Scholars of Merton in the University of Oxford) is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. Its foundation can be traced back to the 1260s when Walter de Merton, ...

, followed by entry to the Indian Civil Service.Hooper, Walter. (2004) ''Collected Letters of C.S. Lewis, The: Books, Broadcasts and the War, 1931–1949''. London: Harper Collins, p. 554. During the First World War he was commissioned into the Indian Army Reserve of Officers in October 1917 and was attached to the 17th Cavalry,

Indian Army The Indian Army is the Land warfare, land-based branch and the largest component of the Indian Armed Forces. The President of India is the Commander-in-Chief, Supreme Commander of the Indian Army, and its professional head is the Chief of Arm ...

, in November 1917.''The Star and Crescent'' by Major F. C. C. Yeats-Brown He served in the Political Department in

Mesopotamia Mesopotamia ''Mesopotamíā''; ar, بِلَاد ٱلرَّافِدَيْن or ; syc, ܐܪܡ ܢܗܪ̈ܝܢ, or , ) is a historical region of Western Asia situated within the Tigris–Euphrates river system, in the northern part of the ...

in 1918 before demobilization in June 1919 and returning to the Indian Civil Service. On 3 January 1920, he married Evelyn Constance Halse.

Publishing career

Bles entered publishing in 1923. Geoffrey Bles Limited were general publishers, but with a specialism in religion and translated works. Among the authors Bles published were: C.S. Lewis, J.B. Phillips,

Cecil Street Cecil John Charles Street (3 May 1884 – 8 December 1964), who was known to his colleagues, family and friends as John Street, began his military career as an artillery officer in the British Army. During the course of World War I, he became ...

, Mabel Lethbridge,

Halliday Sutherland Halliday Gibson Sutherland (1882–1960) was a Scottish medical doctor, writer, opponent of eugenics and the producer of Britain's first public health education cinema film in 1911. Private life Halliday Sutherland was born in Glasgow, Scotla ...

, Vicki Baum,"Mr. Geoffrey Bles." Sir James Hutchinson, ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper '' The Sunday Times'' ( ...

'', 6 April 1957, p. 11. The Times Digital Archive. Retrieved 2 September 2014. and Maria von Trapp. Baum's ''Grand Hotel'' (1930), originally published in German, was a huge commercial success for Bles. Bles was introduced to C.S. Lewis through his employee Ashley Sampson (1900–1947) who owned the Centenary Press. Bles bought that company and merged it with his own, thus acquiring Lewis as an author. Lewis's key religious work, '' The Problem of Pain'', was published jointly by Bles and Centenary Press in 1940, as were his '' Beyond Personality: The Christian Idea of God'' (1944) and ''The Great Divorce: A Dream'' (1945). Bles published on his own Lewis' '' The Screwtape Letters'' (1942), '' The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe'' (1950), and the next four in the Narnia series up to '' The Horse and his Boy'' (1954). For the last two books in the series Lewis moved to Bodley Head.Scott, Jonathan. (2009) ''The Rare Book Price Guide 2010''. London: Diamond Publishing, p. 420. William Collins publishers bought the firm of Geoffrey Bles in 1953, and Bles retired within a year or two. Books continued to be published under the Bles imprint into the 1970s.Geoffrey Bles.
Aust Lit. Retrieved 2 September 2014. The Garnstone Press purchased the Geoffrey Bles name from Collins in 1971."Sir Ian Anstruther of that Ilk." Michael Balfour, ''The Times'', 11 August 2007, p. 60. The Times Digital Archive. Retrieved 2 September 2014. Following his death, correspondents commented in ''The Times'' on his personal suitability to the genteel world of literary publishing.

Outside publishing

Bles was a member of the board of Charing Cross Hospital for many years."Mr. Geoffrey Bles." J.G.L., ''The Times'', 8 April 1957, p. 14. The Times Digital Archive. Retrieved 2 September 2014. His great nephew is the writer William Mortimer Moore whose ''Free France's Lion: The Life of Philippe Leclerc, de Gaulle's Greatest General'' was published in 2011 and is dedicated to Bles.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bles, Geoffrey 1957 deaths 1886 births British publishers (people) Indian Civil Service (British India) officers Alumni of Merton College, Oxford Book publishing companies of the United Kingdom British Indian Army officers