Thomas Norton Longman
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Thomas Norton Longman (1771–1842) was an English publisher, who succeeded to the
Longman Longman, also known as Pearson Longman, is a publisher, publishing company founded in 1724 in London, England, which is owned by Pearson PLC. Since 1968, Longman has been used primarily as an imprint by Pearson's Schools business. The Longman ...
's publishing business in 1793.


Biography

Thomas Norton Longman was born in England, son of Thomas Longman (1730–1797), and his wife, Elizabeth Harris (1740-1808). He was also the great nephew of
Thomas Longman Thomas Longman may refer to: * Thomas Longman (1699–1755), English publisher who founded the publishing house of Longman * Thomas Norton Longman (1771–1842), his great nephew, English publisher * Thomas Longman (1804–1879), son of Thomas Nor ...
(1699-1755) who founded the Longman publishing house in 1724. Longman was the eldest of twelve siblings and the third generation Longman to run the family’s lucrative publishing business. It was Longman who in 1799 purchased a major share in the copyright of
Lindley Murray Lindley Murray (1745 – 16 February 1826) was an American Quaker lawyer, writer, and grammarian, best known for his English-language grammar books used in schools in England and the United States. Murray practised law in New York. As the ...
’s ''English Grammar'', which had an annual sale of about 50,000 copies. This and other works by Murray added to a sizeable backlist of widely used Longman educational books – soon to appear regularly in separate catalogues – most of them regarded as textbooks. Longman interest published extensively for the theatre in early nineteenth century. It has sometimes been suggested that this line of business was the result of the marriage of his father in 1760 to the sister of
Thomas Harris William Thomas Harris III (born September 22, 1940) is an American writer. He is the author of a series of suspense novels about Hannibal Lecter. The majority of his works have been adapted into films and television, including '' The Silence o ...
, who for many years was the proprietor and manager of Covent Garden, one of the three licensed theatres in London at that time. In fact, Longman had previously published several plays performed outside London. The Longman interest in the theatrical market is also reflected in translations of plays, among them
August von Kotzebue August Friedrich Ferdinand von Kotzebue (, ; – ) was a German playwright, who had also worked as a Russian diplomat. In 1817, one of Kotzebue's books was burned during the Wartburg festival. He was murdered in 1819 by Karl Ludwig Sand, a ...
’s ''The East Indian'' (1799). Some British dramatists had the majority of their books published by Longman; others were ‘printed under the authority of and by permission of the managers from the prompt books’. Longman playwrights included John O’Keeffe (1747–1833), William Pearce (1738–95), Thomas Morton (1764–1838) and Frederick Reynolds (1764–1841). Longman also purchased the
copyright A copyright is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the exclusive legal right to copy, distribute, adapt, display, and perform a creative work, usually for a limited time. The creative work may be in a literary, artistic, ...
from
Joseph Cottle Joseph Cottle (1770–1853) was an English publisher and author. Cottle started business in Bristol. He published the works of Samuel Taylor Coleridge and Robert Southey on generous terms. He then wrote in his ''Early Recollections'' an exposur ...
, of
Bristol Bristol () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, the most populous city in the region. Built around the River Avon, Bristol, River Avon, it is bordered by t ...
, of Southey's ''
Joan of Arc Joan of Arc ( ; ;  – 30 May 1431) is a patron saint of France, honored as a defender of the French nation for her role in the siege of Orléans and her insistence on the Coronation of the French monarch, coronation of Charles VII o ...
'' and
Wordsworth William Wordsworth (7 April 177023 April 1850) was an English Romantic poet who, with Samuel Taylor Coleridge, helped to launch the Romantic Age in English literature with their joint publication '' Lyrical Ballads'' (1798). Wordsworth's ...
's ''
Lyrical Ballads ''Lyrical Ballads, with a Few Other Poems'' is a collection of poems by William Wordsworth and Samuel Taylor Coleridge, first published in 1798 and generally considered to have marked the beginning of the English Romantic movement in literature. ...
''. He published the works of Wordsworth,
Coleridge Samuel Taylor Coleridge ( ; 21 October 177225 July 1834) was an English poet, literary critic, philosopher, and theologian who was a founder of the Romantic Movement in England and a member of the Lake Poets with his friend William Wordsworth ...
, Southey and
Scott Scott may refer to: Places Canada * Scott, Quebec, municipality in the Nouvelle-Beauce regional municipality in Quebec * Scott, Saskatchewan, a town in the Rural Municipality of Tramping Lake No. 380 * Rural Municipality of Scott No. 98, Sas ...
, and acted as London agent for the ''
Edinburgh Review The ''Edinburgh Review'' is the title of four distinct intellectual and cultural magazines. The best known, longest-lasting, and most influential of the four was the third, which was published regularly from 1802 to 1929. ''Edinburgh Review'', ...
'', which was started in 1802. Longman's great-uncle and father called themselves "booksellers", not publishers, although they all produced books on their own account. In contrast, Longman and his partners (Rees, Orme, Hurst, Green) – still calling themselves (and being called) booksellers – have passed into history as ‘publishers’, a term whose meaning had changed during the course of the eighteenth century. Before Longman took the reign of the business, there was no concept of ‘
publishers Publishing is the activities of making information, literature, music, software, and other content, physical or digital, available to the public for sale or free of charge. Traditionally, the term publishing refers to the creation and distribu ...
’. Booksellers brought book shares and the cumulative earnings were shared by all the share holders. At the turn of the nineteenth century, Longman began to consolidate the business and moved to buying the works outright, for a one time down payment. Longman famously paid
Thomas Moore Thomas Moore (28 May 1779 – 25 February 1852), was an Irish writer, poet, and lyricist who was widely regarded as Ireland's "National poet, national bard" during the late Georgian era. The acclaim rested primarily on the popularity of his ''I ...
, a famous Irish balladeer, an unprecedented sum of £3,000 in 1813 for his, yet to be written, poem ''
Lalla Rookh ''Lalla Rookh'' is a romantic work by Irish poet Thomas Moore, first published in 1817. The title refers to the fictional heroine of the frame tale, depicted as the daughter of the 17th-century Mughal emperor Aurangzeb. It consists of four n ...
'' (1817). This amount was later surpassed when Longmans paid
Thomas Macaulay Thomas Babington Macaulay, 1st Baron Macaulay, (; 25 October 1800 – 28 December 1859) was an English historian, poet, and Whig politician, who served as the Secretary at War between 1839 and 1841, and as the Paymaster General between 184 ...
£20,000 on account of the profits for the third and fourth edition of ''
History of England The territory today known as England became inhabited more than 800,000 years ago, as the discovery of stone tools and footprints at Happisburgh in Norfolk have indicated.; "Earliest footprints outside Africa discovered in Norfolk" (2014). BB ...
'' in 1856. When the
Copyright Act 1814 The Statute of Anne, also known as the Copyright Act 1709 or the Copyright Act 1710 (cited either as 8 Ann. c. 21 or as 8 Ann. c. 19), was an act of the Parliament of Great Britain passed in 1710, which was the first statute to provide for ...
was under review, Longman gave informative evidence to the select committee on copyright in 1813, a year before the act was passed, which extended the term of fourteen years laid down in the
Statute of Anne The Statute of Anne, also known as the Copyright Act 1709 or the Copyright Act 1710 (cited either as 8 Ann. c. 21 or as 8 Ann. c. 19), was an act of the Parliament of Great Britain passed in 1710, which was the first statute to provide for ...
to twenty-eight years, or – if the author was alive at the end of that time – for the rest of his or her life. Longman died at the age of 71, in August, 1842 and left an inheritance of £200,000 for his widow and family.


Family

Longman married Mary Slater, of
Horsham Horsham () is a market town on the upper reaches of the River Arun on the fringe of the Weald in West Sussex, England. The town is south south-west of London, north-west of Brighton and north-east of the county town of Chichester. Nearby to ...
,
Sussex Sussex (Help:IPA/English, /ˈsʌsɪks/; from the Old English ''Sūþseaxe''; lit. 'South Saxons'; 'Sussex') is an area within South East England that was historically a kingdom of Sussex, kingdom and, later, a Historic counties of England, ...
, in 1799. They had seven children. The eldest daughter, Mary Longman, married
Andrew Spottiswoode Andrew Spottiswoode (19 February 1787 – 20 February 1866) was a Scottish printer, publisher and politician, MP for Saltash from 1826 to 1830, and Colchester from 1830 to 1831. Life He was the fourth son of John Spottiswoode (died 1805) of Sp ...
in 1819. The eldest son,
Thomas Longman (1804–1879) Thomas Longman, (1804–1879) was the head of the London publishing house Longman, while in charge he oversaw the publication of a sumptuous art book containing images of many of the great masters. Longman also published works by the Whig historian ...
married Georgina Townsend Bates. He succeeded his father, becoming the fourth generation Longman to join the publishing business.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Longman, Thomas Norton 18th-century British publishers (people) 1771 births 1842 deaths 19th-century British publishers (people)