Hodder & Stoughton is a British publishing house, now an

imprint Imprint or imprinting may refer to: Entertainment * ''Imprint'' (TV series), Canadian television series * "Imprint" (''Masters of Horror''), episode of TV show ''Masters of Horror'' * ''Imprint'' (film), a 2007 independent drama/thriller film ...

Hachette Hachette may refer to: * Hachette (surname) * Hachette Livre, a French publisher, the imprint of Lagardère Publishing ** Hachette Book Group, the American subsidiary ** Hachette Distribution Services, the distribution arm See also * Hachette Fil ...

.H&S - About Us - Hachette UK
hodder.co.uk. Retrieved 4 April 2023.

History

Early history

The firm has its origins in the 1840s, with Matthew Hodder's employment, aged 14, with Messrs Jackson and Walford, the official publisher for the

Congregational Union Congregationalism (also Congregational Churches or Congregationalist Churches) is a Reformed Christianity, Reformed Christian (Calvinist) tradition of Protestant Christianity in which churches practice Congregationalist polity, congregational ...

. In 1861 the firm became Jackson, Walford and Hodder; but in 1868 Jackson and Walford retired, and Thomas Wilberforce Stoughton joined the firm, creating Hodder & Stoughton. Hodder & Stoughton published both religious and

secular Secularity, also the secular or secularness (from Latin , or or ), is the state of being unrelated or neutral in regards to religion. The origins of secularity can be traced to the Bible itself. The concept was fleshed out through Christian hi ...

works, and its religious list contained some progressive titles. These included George Adam Smith's ''

Isaiah Isaiah ( or ; , ''Yəšaʿyāhū'', "Yahweh is salvation"; also known as Isaias or Esaias from ) was the 8th-century BC Israelite prophet after whom the Book of Isaiah is named. The text of the Book of Isaiah refers to Isaiah as "the prophet" ...

'' for its ''Expositor’s

Bible The Bible is a collection of religious texts that are central to Christianity and Judaism, and esteemed in other Abrahamic religions such as Islam. The Bible is an anthology (a compilation of texts of a variety of forms) originally writt ...

'' series, which was one of the earliest texts to identify multiple authorship in the

Book of Isaiah The Book of Isaiah ( ) is the first of the Latter Prophets in the Hebrew Bible and the first of the Major Prophets in the Christian Old Testament. It is identified by a superscription as the words of the 8th-century BC prophet Isaiah ben Amo ...

. There was also a sympathetic ''Life of St Francis'' by Paul Sabatier, a

French Protestant Protestantism in France has existed in its various forms, starting with Calvinism and Lutheranism since the Protestant Reformation. John Calvin was a Frenchman, as were numerous other Protestant Reformers including William Farel, Pierre Viret ...

pastor A pastor (abbreviated to "Ps","Pr", "Pstr.", "Ptr." or "Psa" (both singular), or "Ps" (plural)) is the leader of a Christianity, Christian congregation who also gives advice and counsel to people from the community or congregation. In Lutherani ...

. Matthew Hodder made frequent visits to North America, meeting with the

Moody Press Moody Bible Institute (MBI) is a private evangelical Christian Bible college in Chicago, Illinois. It was founded by evangelist and businessman Dwight Lyman Moody in 1886. Historically, MBI has maintained positions that have identified it as n ...

and making links with

Scribners Charles Scribner's Sons, or simply Scribner's or Scribner, is an American publisher based in New York City that has published several notable American authors, including Henry James, Ernest Hemingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Kurt Vonnegut, Marjor ...

and Fleming H. Revell. The

list only gradually accepted

fiction Fiction is any creative work, chiefly any narrative work, portraying character (arts), individuals, events, or setting (narrative), places that are imagination, imaginary or in ways that are imaginary. Fictional portrayals are thus inconsistent ...

, and it was still subject to "moral censorship" in the early part of the 20th century. Matthew Hodder was doubtful about the ''

Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam ''Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám'' is the title that Edward FitzGerald (poet), Edward FitzGerald gave to his 1859 translation from Persian language, Persian to English of a selection of quatrains (') attributed to Omar Khayyam (1048–1131), dub ...

'', and the company refused

Michael Arlen Michael Arlen (born Dikran Sarkis Kouyoumdjian;, , 16 November 1895 – 23 June 1956) was an essayist, short story writer, novelist, playwright, and scriptwriter. He had his greatest successes in the 1920s while living and writing in England, ...

's '' The Green Hat'', a novel published by Collins in 1924. In 1922, Hodder and Stoughton published an edition of

Lewis Carroll Charles Lutwidge Dodgson (27 January 1832 – 14 January 1898), better known by his pen name Lewis Carroll, was an English author, poet, mathematician, photographer and reluctant Anglicanism, Anglican deacon. His most notable works are ''Alice ...

's ''

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland ''Alice's Adventures in Wonderland'' (also known as ''Alice in Wonderland'') is an 1865 English Children's literature, children's novel by Lewis Carroll, a mathematics university don, don at the University of Oxford. It details the story of a ...

''. The 1920s brought an explosion of commercial fiction at keen prices – Hodder's "Yellow Jackets" series were the precursors of the first paperbacks, and included bestsellers from

John Buchan John Buchan, 1st Baron Tweedsmuir (; 26 August 1875 – 11 February 1940) was a Scottish novelist, historian, British Army officer, and Unionist politician who served as Governor General of Canada, the 15th since Canadian Confederation. As a ...

Edgar Wallace Richard Horatio Edgar Wallace (1 April 1875 – 10 February 1932) was a British writer of crime and adventure fiction. Born into poverty as an illegitimate London child, Wallace left school at the age of 12. He joined the army at age 21 and was ...

Dornford Yates Cecil William Mercer (7 August 1885 – 5 March 1960), known by his pen name Dornford Yates, was an English writer and novelist whose novels and short stories, some humorous (the ''Berry'' books), some Thriller (genre), thrillers (the ''Chandos ...

and

Sapper A sapper, also called a combat engineer, is a combatant or soldier who performs a variety of military engineering duties, such as breaching fortifications, demolitions, bridge-building, laying or clearing minefields, preparing field defenses ...

Bulldog Drummond Hugh "Bulldog" Drummond is a fictional character, created by H. C. McNeile and published under his pen name "Sapper". Following McNeile's death in 1937, the novels were continued by Gerard Fairlie. Drummond is a First World War veteran who ...

. In 1928, the company became the exclusive British hardback publisher of

Leslie Charteris Leslie Charteris (; born Leslie Charles Bowyer-Yin; 12 May 1907 – 15 April 1993), was a British-Chinese author of adventure fiction, as well as a screenwriter.The Saint'', publishing all 50 UK first editions of the series until 1983. In this decade they also took over ownership of the medical journal ''

The Lancet ''The Lancet'' is a weekly peer-reviewed general medical journal, founded in England in 1823. It is one of the world's highest-impact academic journals and also one of the oldest medical journals still in publication. The journal publishes ...

''. Hodder & Stoughton were also the originators of the

Teach Yourself Teach Yourself is currently an imprint of Hodder Education and formerly a series published by the English Universities Press (a subsidiary company of Hodder & Stoughton) that specializes in self-instruction books. The series, which began in 1938, ...

line of self-instruction books, which are still published through Hodder Headline's educational division. As the company expanded at home and overseas, Hodder & Stoughton's list swelled to include the real-life adventures in Peary's ''

North Pole The North Pole, also known as the Geographic North Pole or Terrestrial North Pole, is the point in the Northern Hemisphere where the Earth's rotation, Earth's axis of rotation meets its surface. It is called the True North Pole to distingu ...

'' and several works by

Winston Churchill Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 1874 – 24 January 1965) was a British statesman, military officer, and writer who was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1940 to 1945 (Winston Churchill in the Second World War, ...

. During the war, Ralph Hodder Williams set up the Brockhampton Book Co. to sell off overstocks of

theological Theology is the study of religious belief from a religious perspective, with a focus on the nature of divinity. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of an ...

works. The manager, Ernest Roker, had an interest in children's books and managed to persuade author

Enid Blyton Enid Mary Blyton (11 August 1897 – 28 November 1968) was an English children's writer, whose books have been worldwide bestsellers since the 1930s, selling more than 600 million copies. Her books are still enormously popular and have been tra ...

to write a series of books for them about four children and a dog. In 1942, the

Famous Five ''The Famous Five'' is a series of children's adventure novels and short stories written by English author Enid Blyton. The first book, ''Five on a Treasure Island'', was published in 1942. The novels feature the adventures of a group of you ...

series was born with ''

Five on a Treasure Island ''Five on a Treasure Island'' (published in 1942) is a popular children's book by Enid Blyton. It is the first book in The Famous Five (novel series), ''The Famous Five'' series. The first edition of the book was illustrated by Eileen Soper. ...

''. In 1962, Brockhampton took over the children's writer

Elinor Lyon Elinor Bruce Lyon (17 August 1921 – 28 May 2008) was an English children's author from a Scottish family background. Several of her novels are set on the Highland coast, others in Wales. They have been seen to feature "strong girls and sensitiv ...

, whose novels the parent company had introduced in 1948. Hodder & Stoughton also published the

Biggles James Charles Bigglesworth, nicknamed "Biggles", is a fictional pilot and adventurer, the Title role#Title character, title character and Protagonist, hero of the ''Biggles'' series of adventure books, written for young readers by W. E. Johns ...

books by Captain

W. E. Johns William Earl Johns (5 February 189321 June 1968) was an English First World War pilot, and writer of adventure stories, usually written under the pen name Capt. W. E. Johns: best known for creating the fictional air-adventurer ''Biggles''. Earl ...

, after he moved publishers from the

Oxford University Press Oxford University Press (OUP) is the publishing house of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world. Its first book was printed in Oxford in 1478, with the Press officially granted the legal right to print books ...

during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. Hodder & Stoughton published their first original

book in 1942 with ''Biggles Sweeps the Desert'' around September/October of that year (they had previously published a reprint of ''Biggles Flies East'' in May 1942) and the Brockhampton Press published Johns' Gimlet books from 1947. From 1953, Brockhampton Press would also publish Biggles books, alternating with Hodder & Stoughton and Captain W. E. Johns remained with them until his death in 1968, with the last Hodder & Stoughton Biggles book appearing in August 1965 and the last Brockhampton Press Biggles book appearing in July 1970. Hodder & Stoughton also published some of Johns' Worrals books. Hodder & Stoughton eventually published 35 Biggles first editions and Brockhampton Press published a further 29 Biggles first editions.

Post-war years

In 1953 they published Sir John Hunt's successful ''The Ascent of Everest'', and began their long association with thriller writer

John Creasey John Creasey (17 September 1908 – 9 June 1973) was an English author known mostly for detective and crime novels but who also wrote science fiction, romance and westerns. He wrote more than six hundred novels using twenty-eight different p ...

. In the 1970s, they brought the Knight and

Coronet In British heraldry, a coronet is a type of crown that is a mark of rank of non-reigning members of the royal family and peers. In other languages, this distinction is not made, and usually the same word for ''crown'' is used irrespective of ra ...

imprints into common use. The latter is particularly memorable for

David Niven James David Graham Niven (; 1 March 1910 – 29 July 1983) was an English actor, soldier, raconteur, memoirist and novelist. Niven was known as a handsome and debonair leading man in Classic Hollywood films. His accolades include an Academ ...

's much-celebrated autobiography ''The Moon's a Balloon''. In the 1960s the Hodder and Stoughton fiction list broadened to include many quality commercial authors, including Mary Stewart whose works included ''Madam, Will You Talk?'' and sold millions of copies worldwide. The non-fiction publishing included

Anthony Sampson Anthony Terrell Seward Sampson (3 August 1926 – 18 December 2004) was a British writer and journalist. His most notable and successful book was '' Anatomy of Britain'', which was published in 1962 and was followed by five more "Anatomies", up ...

's era-defining ''The Anatomy of Britain'' in 1962. Another notable title in the children's sphere was the 1969 Brockhampton Press publication of ''Asterix the Gaul'' by Goscinny and

Uderzo Alberto Aleandro Uderzo (; 25 April 1927 – 24 March 2020), better known as Albert Uderzo (), was a French comic book artist and scriptwriter. He is best known as the co-creator and illustrator of the '' Astérix'' series in collaboration wit ...

. In 1974,

John le Carré David John Moore Cornwell (19 October 193112 December 2020), better known by his pen name John le Carré ( ), was a British author, best known for his espionage novels, many of which were successfully adapted for film or television. A "sophist ...

’s ''Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy'' was published to much critical acclaim, earning him a

Literary Guild The Literary Guild of America is a mail order book sales club, book club selling low-cost editions of selected current books to its members. Established in 1927 to compete with the Book of the Month Club, it is currently owned by Bookspan. It was a ...

Choice. The following year, previous employee John Attenborough published ''A Living Memory of Hodder''. In 1981, the company acquired the

New English Library The New English Library was a United Kingdom book publishing company, which became an imprint of Hodder Headline. History New English Library (NEL) was created in 1961 by the Times Mirror Company of Los Angeles, with the takeover of two small B ...

, an imprint created by the American

Times Mirror Company The Times Mirror Company was an American newspaper and print media publisher from 1884 until 2000. History It had its roots in the Mirror Printing and Binding House, a commercial printing company founded in 1873, and the ''Los Angeles Times'' ...

that published works from several genres including fantasy, science fiction and suspense and included books by

James Herbert James John Herbert, OBE (8 April 1943 – 20 March 2013) was an English horror writer. A full-time writer, he also designed his own book covers and publicity. His books have sold 54 million copies worldwide, and have been translated into 34 la ...

and

Stephen King Stephen Edwin King (born September 21, 1947) is an American author. Dubbed the "King of Horror", he is widely known for his horror novels and has also explored other genres, among them Thriller (genre), suspense, crime fiction, crime, scienc ...

. In 1986, Hodder & Stoughton introduced

Sceptre A sceptre (or scepter in American English) is a Staff of office, staff or wand held in the hand by a ruling monarch as an item of regalia, royal or imperial insignia, signifying Sovereignty, sovereign authority. Antiquity Ancient Egypt and M ...

as a literary imprint to sit alongside mass-market imprints Coronet and NEL. Originally publishing in paperback only, early books on the Sceptre list included

Thomas Keneally Thomas Michael Keneally, Officer of the Order of Australia, AO (born 7 October 1935) is an Australian novelist, playwright, essayist, and actor. He is best known for his historical fiction novel ''Schindler's Ark'', the story of Oskar Schindler' ...

’s ''

Schindler's Ark ''Schindler's Ark'' is a historical fiction published in 1982 by the Australian novelist Thomas Keneally. It is based on the fictionalized story of the historical figure, Oskar Schindler. The United States edition of the book was titled ''Schin ...

'' which had won the

Booker Prize The Booker Prize, formerly the Booker Prize for Fiction (1969–2001) and the Man Booker Prize (2002–2019), is a prestigious literary award conferred each year for the best single work of sustained fiction written in the English language, wh ...

in 1982. Hodder & Stoughton also won the Booker Prize in 1985 with the publication of

Keri Hulme Keri Ann Ruhi Hulme (9 March 194727 December 2021) was a New Zealand novelist, poet and short-story writer. She also wrote under the pen name Kai Tainui. Her novel ''The Bone People'' won the Booker Prize in 1985; she was the first New Zealand ...

’s ''

The Bone People ''The Bone People'', styled by the writer and in some editions as ''the bone people'', is a 1984 novel by New Zealand writer Keri Hulme. Set on the coast of the South Island of New Zealand, the novel focuses on three characters, all of whom ar ...

'', originally acquired from its

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

office. Other notable books on the Hodder & Stoughton list in this decade include

Rosamunde Pilcher Rosamunde Pilcher, OBE (''née'' Scott; 22 September 1924 – 6 February 2019) was a British novelist, best known for her sweeping novels set in Cornwall. Her books have sold over 60 million copies worldwide. Early in her career she was publis ...

’s ''The Shell Seekers'',

Elizabeth George Susan Elizabeth George (born February 26, 1949) is an American writer of mystery novels. She is best known for a series of novels featuring Inspector Thomas Lynley. The 21st book in the series was published in January 2022. The first 11 were ...

’s ''

A Great Deliverance ''A Great Deliverance'' () is a book written by Elizabeth George and published by Bantam Books (now owned by Random House) on 1 May 1988. It is George's first novel, and the first in her detective series featuring Inspector Lynley and Detectiv ...

'' and the first novel in Jean M. Auel’s prehistoric fiction series ''Earth’s Children® The Clan of the Cave Bear'', which was an international success and the series, completed with the publication of '' The Land of Painted Caves'' in 2011, has sold more than 45 million copies worldwide. In 1987, Hodder acquired the academic publisher Edward Arnold. ''The Lancet'' was sold to

Elsevier Elsevier ( ) is a Dutch academic publishing company specializing in scientific, technical, and medical content. Its products include journals such as ''The Lancet'', ''Cell (journal), Cell'', the ScienceDirect collection of electronic journals, ...

in 1991. In 1993,

Headline The headline is the text indicating the content or nature of the article below it, typically by providing a form of brief summary of its contents. The large type ''front page headline'' did not come into use until the late 19th century when incre ...

bought Hodder & Stoughton and the company became a division of Hodder Headline Ltd. In 1997 Sceptre published Charles Frazier’s Cold Mountain and the following year Hodder & Stoughton released

Sir Alex Ferguson Sir Alexander Chapman Ferguson (born 31 December 1941) is a Scottish former professional football manager and player, best known for managing Manchester United from 1986 to 2013. He is widely regarded as the greatest manager of all time and ...

’s much-lauded autobiography ''Managing My Life''. In 1999, Hodder Headline was acquired by

W H Smith WH Smith plc, trading as WHSmith (also written WH Smith and formerly as W. H. Smith & Son), is a British retailer, with headquarters in Swindon, England, which operates a chain of railway station, airport, port, hospital and motorway service st ...

. Also in 1999, Hodder acquired the children's publisher Wayland Publishers from

Wolters Kluwer Wolters Kluwer N.V. is a Dutch information services company. The company serves legal, business, tax, accounting, finance, audit, risk, compliance, and healthcare markets. Wolters Kluwer in its current form was founded in 1987 with a merger bet ...

21st century

In 2002 Hodder Headline Ltd acquired John Murray and two years later Hodder Headline was bought by

Hachette Livre Hachette Livre S.A. (; simply known as Hachette) is a French publishing, publishing group that was based in Paris. It was founded in 1826 by Louis Hachette as Brédif which later became successively L. Hachette et Compagnie, Librairie Hachette, ...

, which already owned British publishers

Orion Orion may refer to: Common meanings * Orion (constellation), named after the mythical hunter * Orion (mythology), a hunter in Greek mythology Arts and media Fictional entities Characters and species * Orion (character), a DC Comics c ...

and Octopus. When Hachette also acquired Time Warner Book Group (now Little, Brown) it became the UK’s lead publisher. The Hodder & Stoughton fiction list is now home to John Connolly,

Jeffery Deaver Jeffery Deaver (born May 6, 1950) is an American mystery and crime writer. He has a bachelor of journalism degree from the University of Missouri and a J.D. degree from Fordham University and originally started working as a journalist. He lat ...

John Grisham John Ray Grisham Jr. (; born February 8, 1955) is an American novelist, lawyer, and former politician, known for his best-selling legal thrillers. According to the Academy of Achievement, American Academy of Achievement, Grisham has written 37 ...

, Sophie Hannah,

Jodi Picoult Jodi Lynn Picoult (; born 1966) is an American writer. Picoult has published 28 novels and short stories, and has also written several issues of ''Wonder Woman''. Approximately 40 million copies of her books are in print worldwide and have been t ...

, Peter Robinson and Robyn Young. The 2009 publication of David Nicholls’ '' One Day'' heralded another international success. David wrote the screenplay for the 2011 film adaptation, directed by

Lone Scherfig Lone Scherfig () (born 2 May 1959) is a Danish film director and screenwriter. She is especially known for her films '' Italian for Beginners'' (2000) and '' An Education'' (2009), and is also known for her romantic comedies, such as '' One Day ...

and the book has sold more than two million copies worldwide. On 7 July 2010 they released Stephen King's '' Under the Dome'' with four cover versions. In 2012, Hodder Education sold its medical and higher education lines, including the remainder of Arnold, to

Taylor & Francis Taylor & Francis Group is an international company originating in the United Kingdom that publishes books and academic journals. Its parts include Taylor & Francis, CRC Press, Routledge, F1000 (publisher), F1000 Research and Dovepress. It i ...

. In 2014, Hodder acquired the independent publisher

Quercus An oak is a hardwood tree or shrub in the genus ''Quercus'' of the beech family. They have spirally arranged leaves, often with lobed edges, and a nut called an acorn, borne within a cup. The genus is widely distributed in the Northern Hemisp ...

Imprints

Coronet Books Coronet Books was established in 1966 as the paperback imprint of Hodder & Stoughton. The imprint was closed in 2004 but then relaunched in 2010, publishing fiction and non-fiction in hardback and paperback, including works by Chris Ryan, Lorn ...

* English Universities Press * Firefly * Flame - for young people * Hodder Faith * Hodder Moa Beckett (New Zealand) * Hodder & Stoughton * Hodder Children's Books * Hodder Paperbacks Limited * Knight Books * John Murray * Mulholland *

* Saltyard * Two Roads * Yellow Kite

Book series

* The "Biggles" BooksComrades in Arms
wejohns.com. Retrieved 4 April 2023. * The Christian Evidence Society's Lectures * Days With the Poets (At Least 19 titles - Mostly written by Mary Clarissa

May Byron Mary Clarissa "May" Byron (''née'' Gillington; 1861 – 5 November 1936) was a British writer and poet, best known for her abridgements of J. M. Barrie's Peter Pan books. She published under the names May Byron, M.C. Gillington and Maurice Cla ...

under various pseudonyms) * Expositor's Bible * The Famous Five * Hodder & Stoughton Christian Classics * Hodder & Stoughton Crown Octavo * Hodder & Stoughton Demy Octavo * Hodder & Stoughton Black Jackets * Hodder & Stoughton 2/- Yellow Jackets * Hodder & Stoughton 9d Yellow Jackets * Hodder & Stoughton Yellow Jacket Service Editions * The King's England * A New Philosophical and Theological Library * The Saint * Teach Yourself BooksTeach Yourself (English Universities Press; Hodder & Stoughton; Teach Yourself Books) - Book Series List
publishinghistory.com. Retrieved 4 April 2023. * The "Worrals" Books

Notable publications

References

External links

*
Flipback Books

Hodder & Stoughton Limited
at

London Metropolitan Archives The London Archives (previously known as the Greater London Record Office 1965–1997, and London Metropolitan Archives 1997–2024) is the principal local government archive repository for the Greater London area, including the City of London ...

Finding aid to the Hodder and Stoughton records at Columbia University. Rare Book & Manuscript Library.

Hodder & Stoughton Marks 150 Years in Book Publishing
at publishingperspectives.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Hodder and Stoughton Book publishing companies of the United Kingdom Christian publishing companies Book publishing company imprints Publishing companies established in 1868 1868 establishments in England

History

Early history

Post-war years

21st century

Imprints

Book series

Notable publications

See also

References

Further reading

External links