Ernest Benn Limited was a British publishing house.

Sir John Benn

Founded by Sir John Benn as Benn Brothers in 1880, it started as the publisher of the

trade journal A trade magazine, also called a trade journal or trade paper (colloquially or disparagingly a trade rag), is a magazine or newspaper whose target audience is people who work in a particular trade or industry. The collective term for this a ...

, ''The Cabinet Maker''."John Benn", Spartacus Educational
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Ernest Benn

After Sir John was elected to Parliament in 1892, he passed control of the firm to his eldest son

Ernest Ernest is a given name derived from the Germanic languages, Germanic word ''ernst'', meaning "serious", often shortened to Ernie. Notable people and fictional characters with the name include: People *Archduke Ernest of Austria (1553–1595), ...

, who became managing director and started publishing more trade journals, such as ''Gas World'', the ''Fruit Grower'' and the ''Electrician'', as well as "technical books for each specialized public". In 1923, Ernest changed the name of the firm to Ernest Benn Limited. However, the name 'Benn Brothers' was subsequently revived with the formation of Benn Brothers plc. Benn hired

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 ...

in 1921. Gollancz published a very successful series of art books. He later recruited the writers

Edith Nesbit Edith Nesbit (married name Edith Bland; 15 August 1858 – 4 May 1924) was an English writer and poet, who published her books for children and others as E. Nesbit. She wrote or collaborated on more than 60 such books. She was also a political ...

Robert W. Service Robert William Service (16 January 1874 – 11 September 1958) was an English-born Canadian poet and writer, often called “The Poet of the Yukon" and "The Canadian Kipling". Born in Lancashire of Scottish descent, he was a bank clerk by trade ...

and

H. G. Wells Herbert George Wells (21 September 1866 – 13 August 1946) was an English writer, prolific in many genres. He wrote more than fifty novels and dozens of short stories. His non-fiction output included works of social commentary, politics, hist ...

. Thanks to Gollancz's gifts as a publisher, the company's turnover increased 100-fold in seven years. But Benn was unwilling to cede control of the company to him. Moreover, Benn had moved to the political right and Gollancz to the left. Gollancz left the firm in 1927 to form his own firm,

Victor Gollancz Limited 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 ...

. The firm published a number of books for children and young people, including ''

The Story of the Amulet ''The Story of the Amulet'' is a novel for children, written in 1906 by the English author Edith Nesbit. It is the final part of a trilogy of novels that also includes '' Five Children and It'' (1902) and ''The Phoenix and the Carpet'' (1904 ...

'' (1927) by E. Nesbit, ''

Moominsummer Madness ''Moominsummer Madness'' ( Swedish title ''Farlig midsommar'', or "Dangerous Midsummer") is the fifth in the series of Tove Jansson's Moomins books, published in 1954. The major theme of the novel is theatre, described as an infuriating but ultim ...

'' (1955) by

Tove Jansson Tove Marika Jansson (; 9 August 1914 – 27 June 2001) was a Swedish-speaking Finnish author, novelist, painter, illustrator and comic strip author. Brought up by artistic parents, Jansson studied art from 1930 to 1938 in Helsinki, Stockholm, ...

, ''Donkey Days'' (1977) by

Helen Cresswell Helen Cresswell (11 July 1934 – 26 September 2005) was an English television scriptwriter and author of more than 100 children's books, best known for comedy and supernatural fiction. Her most popular book series, ''Lizzie Dripping'' and ''The ...

, and ''Sybil and the Blue Rabbit'' (1979) by Jane Johnson.

Book series

In addition to individual books, Ernest Benn Limited was known for a number of series:

1980s

Ernest Benn Ltd, along with Benn Brothers plc and the other members of the Benn Group of Companies, was taken over by the

Extel The Exchange Telegraph Co. Ltd. (also known as Extel) was created in March 1872 specifically to distribute financial and business information from the London Stock Exchange and other commercial markets direct to subscribers. The company establish ...

Group in June 1983.Eric L Harvey, A Short History of Tolley, p 4

was taken over by

United Newspapers UBM plc was a British business-to-business (B2B) events organiser headquartered in London, England, before its acquisition by Informa in 2018. It had a long history as a multinational media company. Its main focus was on B2B events, but its pr ...

in 1987.

References

{{Authority control Book publishing companies of the United Kingdom Publishing companies established in 1880 1880 establishments in the United Kingdom