Samuel Orchart Beeton (2 March 1831 – 6 June 1877) was an English publisher, best known as the husband of Mrs Beeton (Isabella Mary Mayson) and publisher of '' Mrs Beeton's Book of Household Management''. He also founded and published '' Boy's Own Magazine'' (1855–90), the first and most influential boys' magazine.

Publishing career

Beeton made money as the first British publisher of '' Uncle Tom's Cabin'' in 1852, securing the rights from the then-unknown

Harriet Beecher Stowe Harriet Elisabeth Beecher Stowe (; June 14, 1811 – July 1, 1896) was an American author and abolitionist. She came from the religious Beecher family and became best known for her novel ''Uncle Tom's Cabin'' (1852), which depicts the harsh ...

. He was clever enough to realise that it would sell and the underlying message of the story underwrote his politics. In the year it was published he launched '' The Englishwoman's Domestic Magazine'', a pioneering serial for middle-class women, the same year. His '' Boy's Own Magazine'', published in the UK from 1855 to 1890, was the first and most influential boys' magazine. Beeton married Isabella Mary Mayson in 1856. She began writing for ''The Englishwoman's Domestic Magazine'', and contributed to the growing success of the business. He founded '' Beeton's Christmas Annual'' paperback magazine in 1860 and in the following year he launched a weekly magazine titled "The Queen" about fashion and culture for upper class women of society. The title was merged to "The Queen: The Ladies Newspaper and Court Chronicle" in 1864, although Beeton had sold his interest in 1862 to Serjeant Cox. In 1887 Beeton's Christmas Annual featured '' A Study In Scarlet'', a story by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle which was also the first work of literature to feature

Sherlock Holmes Sherlock Holmes () is a fictional detective created by British author Arthur Conan Doyle. Referring to himself as a " consulting detective" in the stories, Holmes is known for his proficiency with observation, deduction, forensic science and ...

. '' Mrs Beeton's Book of Household Management'' was published in 1861. Beeton followed it with a series of other self-help textbooks, including ''Beeton's Book of Needlework'', ''Beeton's Dictionary of Geography'', ''Beeton's Book of Birds'', ''Beeton's Book of Poultry and Domestic Animals'', ''Beeton's Book of Home Pets'', ''Beeton's Book of Anecdote, Wit and Humour'', ''Beeton's Dictionary of Natural History'', and others. He also produced an edition of the works of Francis Bacon.

Later life

After his wife Isabella died in 1865, Beeton's fortunes failed and he was obliged to sell the rights to the "Beeton" name to rival publishers and work for them for a salary. His last years were clouded by the tuberculosis from which he ultimately died, in 1877 aged 47. He was buried in his wife's grave in West Norwood Cemetery.

Fiction

The 2006 TV drama '' The Secret Life of Mrs Beeton'', based in part on Kathryn Hughes' biography ''The Short Life & Long Times of Mrs Beeton'', implied that Isabella Beeton suffered from

syphilis Syphilis () is a sexually transmitted infection caused by the bacterium ''Treponema pallidum'' subspecies ''pallidum''. The signs and symptoms of syphilis vary depending in which of the four stages it presents (primary, secondary, latent, an ...

contracted from Samuel, and that this could have led to her early death and those of her first two children, and an alleged number of early miscarriages, although there is no evidence for this speculation.

References

External links

* * * (some as 'Beeton, S. O.', previous page of browse report) {{DEFAULTSORT:Beeton, Samuel Orchart English book publishers (people) British magazine publishers (people) 19th-century deaths from tuberculosis 1830 births 1877 deaths Burials at West Norwood Cemetery Tuberculosis deaths in England 19th-century English businesspeople