Blackie & Son was a publishing house in

Glasgow Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...

, Scotland, and London, England, from 1809 to 1991.Iain Stevenson, ''Book Makers: British Publishing in the Twentieth Century''. London: The British Library, 2010, p. 77.

History

The firm was founded as a bookseller in 1809 by John Blackie (1782–1874) as a partnership with two others and was known as 'Blackie, Fullarton and Company'. It began printing in 1819, using the skill and equipment of Edward Khull. It moved to

around 1830 and had premises at 8 Clyde Street facing the

River Clyde The River Clyde (, ) is a river that flows into the Firth of Clyde, in the west of Scotland. It is the eighth-longest river in the United Kingdom, and the second longest in Scotland after the River Tay. It runs through the city of Glasgow. Th ...

. Following the retirement of Fullarton the company was renamed 'Blackie and Son' in 1831, remaining in the Clyde Street property, and becoming a public limited company in 1890. Later on, the business moved its Glasgow office to 17 Stanhope Street, and also opened offices at 5 South College Street in Edinburgh and 16/18 William IV Street,

Charing Cross Charing Cross ( ) is a junction in Westminster, London, England, where six routes meet. Since the early 19th century, Charing Cross has been the notional "centre of London" and became the point from which distances from London are measured. ...

, London. The company also opened offices in Canada and India. It ceased publishing in 1991. Blackie and Son initially published books sold by subscription, including religious texts and reference books. Later the firm published single volumes, particularly school-level educational texts and children's books, taking advantage of compulsory education from 1870. It also published "finely printed 'toy' and 'reward' books" (the latter being "intended for presentation as prizes to pupils in day and Sunday schools"). In 1893 Blackie and Son appointed Talwin Morris as the firm's art director and book designer. During his tenure, until his death in 1911, Morris was "responsible for the first integrated and visually homogenised approach to the mass production of easily affordable books"Talwin Morris, Designer for Books and Blackie's
fulltable.com. Retrieved 11 January 2024. for any British publisher. He also designed books for Gresham Publishing, a subsidiary of Blackie and Son. Blackie published G. A. Henty's historical adventure books for boys (e.g. '' With Kitchener in the Soudan'' and '' With Lee in Virginia'') which were very popular in the British Empire in the later 19th century; Henty wrote 122 books including adult novels. From 1920, under the guidance of the Cambridge-trained engineer and mathematician, Frederick Bisacre, who became a Blackie and Son partner and subsequently its chairman, the firm began to publish a scientific list "at the cutting edge of research"Iain Stevenson, ''Book Makers: British Publishing in the Twentieth Century''. London: The British Library, 2010, p. 78. and which would become the "strongest list in the area" from any British commercial publisher. Blackie published the many Flower Fairy books of Cicely Mary Barker beginning in 1923. From the 1950s onwards it published The Kennett Library, a graded series of classics retold for schools including: '' Kidnapped'', ''

Little Women ''Little Women'' is a coming-of-age novel written by American novelist Louisa May Alcott, originally published in two volumes, in 1868 and 1869. The story follows the lives of the four March sisters— Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy—and details th ...

'', '' Westward Ho!'', '' The Black Arrow'', ''

Wuthering Heights ''Wuthering Heights'' is the only novel by the English author Emily Brontë, initially published in 1847 under her pen name "Ellis Bell". It concerns two families of the landed gentry living on the West Yorkshire moors, the Earnshaws and the ...

'' and '' Ben-Hur''. From 1960 to 1991, Blackie published over 130 "Topsy and Tim" titles by Jean and Gareth Adamson. In 1902, Walter Blackie commissioned Hill House on a plot in

Helensburgh Helensburgh ( ; ) is a town on the north side of the Firth of Clyde in Scotland, situated at the mouth of the Gareloch. Historically in Dunbartonshire, it became part of Argyll and Bute following local government reorganisation in 1996. Histo ...

to the West of Glasgow. The architect was

Charles Rennie Mackintosh Charles Rennie Mackintosh (7 June 1868 – 10 December 1928) was a Scottish architect, designer, water colourist and artist. His artistic approach had much in common with European Symbolism. His work, alongside that of his wife Margaret Macd ...

, a friend of Talwin Morris. The house is regarded as one of Mackintosh's finest works.

Book series

The following is a select listing. Further series are liste
here
in the Blackie Archives at Glasgow University Library.

Annuals

* Blackie's Boys' Annual * Blackie's Children's Annual * Blackie's Girls' Annual

Notable staff

* Marilyn Malin, later managing director of Methuen Children's Books, started her career as a secretary at Black and Son in the 1950s.

References

External links

*
Records of Blackie & Son Ltd, publishers, Bishopbriggs, Glasgow, Scotland
- archive held by

University of Glasgow The University of Glasgow (abbreviated as ''Glas.'' in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals; ) is a Public university, public research university in Glasgow, Scotland. Founded by papal bull in , it is the List of oldest universities in continuous ...

.
Blackie Archive : Children's School Textbooks, 1882-1976
at University of Glasgow Library (see also: three background articles on University of Glasgow Library Blog)

{{Authority control Book publishing companies of Scotland Defunct companies of Scotland Publishing companies disestablished in 1991 Publishing companies established in 1809 Companies based in Glasgow History of Glasgow 1991 disestablishments in Scotland 1809 establishments in Scotland British companies established in 1809