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The Princess and the Goblin cover of the edition published by Blackie & Son, 1911.

Blackie & Son was a publishing house in Glasgow, Scotland, and London, England, from 1809 to 1991.[1]

History

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The firm was founded as a bookseller in 1809[1] 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.[2] It moved to Glasgow around 1830 and had premises at 8 Clyde Street facing the River Clyde.[3] 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, London.[4] 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[1] and children's books, taking advantage of compulsory education from 1870. It also published "finely printed 'toy' and 'reward' books"[1] (the latter being "intended for presentation as prizes to pupils in day and Sunday schools").[1]

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"[5] for any British publisher. He also designed books for Gresham Publishing, a subsidiary of Blackie and Son.[6]

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.[7]

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,[8] the firm began to publish a scientific list "at the cutting edge of research"[9] and which would become the "strongest list in the area"[9] from any British commercial publisher.

Blackie published the many Flower Fairy books of Cicely Mary Barker beginning in 1923.[10] From the 1950s onwards it published The Kennett Library, a graded series of classics retold for schools including: Kidnapped, Little Women, Westward Ho!, The Black Arrow, Wuthering Heights 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 to the West of Glasgow. The architect was Charles Rennie Mackintosh, a friend of Talwin Morris. The house is regarded as one of Mackintosh's finest works.[11]

Book series

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

  • Anytime Series[12]
  • Authors in Their Age
  • Beautiful Colour Books (Cicely Mary Barker)
  • Beautiful England[13]
  • Beautiful Ireland[13]
  • Beautiful Poems Series
  • Beautiful Scotland[13]
  • Beautiful Switzerland[13]
  • Blackie's Books For Boys And Girls Series
  • Blackie's Books for Girls
  • Blackie's Comprehensive School Series
  • Blackie's Crown Library[14][5]
  • Blackie's Easy to Read Story Book Series
  • Blackie's English Classics
  • Blackie's English School Texts
  • Blackie's English Texts (commonly subtitled: Highways and Byways of English Literature)[15]
  • Blackie's Famous Books[16]
  • Blackie's Famous Books for Boys and Girls
  • Blackie's Flying Series[17]
  • Blackie's French Plays
  • Blackie's German Texts
  • Blackie's Graded Story Readers
  • Blackie's Illustrated Latin Series[18]
  • Blackie's Infant Bookshelf
  • Blackie's Library of Famous Books[5]
  • Blackie's Limp Leather Library[19]
  • Blackie's Modern Language Series
  • Blackie's Scripture Books
  • Blackie's Smaller English Classics
  • Blackie's Sports Series[20]
  • Blackie's Standard English Classics[21]
  • Blackie's Star Classics
  • Blackie’s Story Book Readers
  • Blackie's Two Shilling Series of Reward Books[22] (commonly referred to as: Reward Books)
  • Blackie's Travel Library[23]
  • Books Illustrated in Colour by Cicely M. Barker
  • The Boys' Library
  • Brave Men Series
  • The Casket Library[24]
  • Castle Library[25]
  • Children's Classics
  • Chosen Books[26]
  • Cock Robin Books[27]
  • Continuous Readings from Great Authors
  • The Crusader Series[28]
  • The Enterprise Library[29]
  • Graduated Stories
  • Great Achievements Series[30]
  • Great Endeavour
  • The Imperial Library (AKA Blackie's Imperial Library)[31]
  • Junior School Library
  • The Kennett Library[32]
  • The Kingfisher Books[33]
  • Little French Classics[5]
  • The London Bells Series[14]
  • The Minerva Poets[34]
  • Myra Dakins School Series
  • Nature-Story Picture Books
  • The New Henty Library[35] (later reissued as: New Popular Edition)
  • The New Popular Henty
  • The Newton Readers
  • Nursery Series by John Hassall
  • Order of Merit Series[36]
  • Our Beautiful Homeland Series
  • The Pagoda Readers
  • The Palmerston Readers[37]
  • The Peak Library[38]
  • The Picture Shakespeare
  • The Pinnacle Library[39]
  • The Pioneer Library[40]
  • Pioneers of Empire[41]
  • The Plain Text Poets[5]
  • The Plain Text Shakespeare[5]
  • Poetry Quest: A Contemporary Poetry Series for Schools[42]
  • The Rambler Nature Books[14]
  • Rambles Among Our Industries[43]
  • The Realm of Reading
  • The Red Letter Library[44]
  • The Red Letter Poets[45]
  • The Red Letter Shakespeare[5]
  • Retold for Little Folk Series[46]
  • Scripture Stories for Children
  • Services Library
  • Stories Old and New[14][5]
  • Student Drama Series[47]
  • The Student's Physics[48]
  • Theodora Wilson Wilson's Bible Stories (AKA Wilson's Bible Stories)[49]
  • Tiny Tots Series: Dainty Little Books for Dainty Little Folk[50]
  • Topics in Modern History Series[51]
  • Triumphs of Enterprise Series[52]
  • True Adventure Series[53]
  • The Useful Hints Series of Household Management Books[54]
  • Vere Foster's Water-Colour Series[14] (also known as: Vere Foster's Water-Color Series)
  • The Victorian Era Series[55]
  • The Wallet Library[56]
  • The Warwick Library[57]
  • The Warwick Shakespeare;[58] succeeded by series: New Warwick Shakespeare
  • The Wayfarer Books[59]
  • What Did They Teach Series[60]
  • Wonders of Life[61]

Annuals

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  • Blackie's Boys' Annual[62]
  • Blackie's Children's Annual
  • Blackie's Girls' Annual

Further reading

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See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b c d e Iain Stevenson, Book Makers: British Publishing in the Twentieth Century. London: The British Library, 2010, p. 77.
  2. ^ Blackie and Son, gracesguide.co.uk. Retrieved 24 May 2018.
  3. ^ Glasgow Post Office Directory 1830
  4. ^ "(53) - Scottish Post Office Directories > Towns > Edinburgh > 1805-1834 - Post Office annual directory > 1832-1833 - Scottish Directories - National Library of Scotland". nls.uk.
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h Talwin Morris, Designer for Books and Blackie's, fulltable.com. Retrieved 11 January 2024.
  6. ^ Talwin Morris Biography, umanitoba.ca. Retrieved 30 January 2024.
  7. ^ John Feather, A History of British Publishing, London: Routledge, 2006, 2nd ed., chapter "The Age of Novels", passim.
  8. ^ Frederick Francis Percival Bisacre, MacTutor, mathshistory.st-andrews.ac.uk. Retrieved 13 January 2024.
  9. ^ a b Iain Stevenson, Book Makers: British Publishing in the Twentieth Century. London: The British Library, 2010, p. 78.
  10. ^ Cicely Mary Barker: "Blackie's Easy Story Book" Book Cover Artwork, 1924, illustrationartistsgallery.com. Retrieved 13 January 2024.
  11. ^ Hillhouse by Charles Rennie Mackintosh, victorianweb.org. Retrieved 13 January 2024.
  12. ^ se:Anytime Series, worldcat.org. Retrieved 21 January 2024.
  13. ^ a b c d Beautiful England (Blackie and Son Limited) - Book Series List, publishing history.com. Retrieved 4 May 2020.
  14. ^ a b c d e Charles Lamb, Tales from Shakespeare Designed for the Use of Young People, London, Edinburgh and Bombay, n.d. (ca. 1917) (The Crown Library), publisher's advertisements in final pages.
  15. ^ se:Highways and Byways of English Literature, worldcat.org. Retrieved 21 January 2024.
  16. ^ Blackie's Famous Books (Blackie and Son Ltd.) - Book Series List, publishing history.com. Retrieved 24 May 2018.
  17. ^ se:Blackie's Flying Series, worldcat.org. Retrieved 21 January 2024.
  18. ^ se:Blackie's illustrated Latin series, worldcat.org. Retrieved 21 January 2024.
  19. ^ se:Blackie's Limp Leather Library, worldcat.org. Retrieved 21 January 2024.
  20. ^ Blackie's Sports Series, worldcat.org. Retrieved 21 January 2024.
  21. ^ se:Standard English classics (London, England), worldcat.org. Retrieved 21 January 2024.
  22. ^ [se:Blackie's two shilling series of reward books Blackie's Two Shilling Series of Reward Books], worldcat.org. Retrieved 21 January 2024.
  23. ^ "Travel Library" + Blackie, worldcat.org. Retrieved 21 January 2024.
  24. ^ Casket Library, seriesofseries.com. Retrieved 4 May 2020.
  25. ^ "Castle Library" + Blackie, worldcat.org. Retrieved 23 January 2024.
  26. ^ "Chosen Books" + Blackie, worldcat.org. Retrieved 23 January 2024.
  27. ^ se:Cock Robin Books, worldcat.org. Retrieved 24 January 2024.
  28. ^ "Crusader Series" + Blackie, worldcat.org. Retrieved 23 January 2024.
  29. ^ "Enterprise Library" + Blackie, worldcat.org. Retrieved 21 January 2024.
  30. ^ "Great Achievements Series" + Blackie, worldcat.org. Retrieved 23 January 2024.
  31. ^ Imperial Library, seriesofseries.com. Retrieved 4 May 2020.
  32. ^ "Kennett Library" + Blackie, worldcat.org. Retrieved 23 January 2024.
  33. ^ "Kingfisher Books" + Blackie, worldcat.org. Retrieved 23 January 2024.
  34. ^ se:The Minerva Poets, worldcat.org. Retrieved 1 February 2024.
  35. ^ se:The New Henty Library, worldcat.org. Retrieved 21 January 2024.
  36. ^ Order of Merit Series, seriesofseries.com. Retrieved 17 January 2024.
  37. ^ se:Palmerston Readers, worldcat.org. Retrieved 21 January 2024.
  38. ^ Peak Library + Blackie, worldcat.org. Retrieved 21 January 2024.
  39. ^ se:The Pinnacle Library, worldcat.org. Retrieved 21 January 2024.
  40. ^ "Pioneer Library" + Blackie, worldcat.org. Retrieved 21 January 2024.
  41. ^ Pioneers of Empire ... With ... coloured illustrations, worldcat.org. Retrieved 21 January 2024.
  42. ^ se:Poetry quest, worldcat.org. Retrieved 21 January 2024.
  43. ^ se:Rambles among our industries, worldcat.org. Retrieved 21 January 2024.
  44. ^ se:The Red Letter Library, worldcat.org. Retrieved 21 January 2024.
  45. ^ se:The Read Letter Poets, worldcat.org. Retrieved 21 January 2024.
  46. ^ Retold for Little Folk, worldcat.org. Retrieved 21 January 2024.
  47. ^ Student Drama Series (Blackie) - Book Series List, publishinghistory.com. Retrieved 12 January 2024.
  48. ^ se:Student's Physics, worldcat.org. Retrieved 21 January 2024.
  49. ^ /search?q=%22Wilson%27s+Bible+Stories%22+%2B+Blackie "Wilson's Bible Stories" + Blackie, worldcat.org. Retrieved 21 January 2024.
  50. ^ Tiny Tots Series, worldcat.org. Retrieved 21 January 2024.
  51. ^ se:Topics in Modern History Series, worldcat.org. Retrieved 21 January 2024.
  52. ^ se:Triumphs of enterprise, worldcat.org. Retrieved 21 January 2024.
  53. ^ "True Adventure Series" + Blackie, worldcat.org. Retrieved 21 January 2024.
  54. ^ Publisher's advertisement in final pages of: Norman Macleod, The Starling, London, Glasgow, Dublin and Bombay: Blackie and Son, 1909. Retrieved 5 February 2024.
  55. ^ "Victorian Era Series" + Blackie, worldcat.org. Retrieved 21 January 2024.
  56. ^ Wallet Library, seriesofseries.com. Retrieved 24 May 2018.
  57. ^ The Warwick Library. Edited by C. H. Herford, worldcat.org. Retrieved 21 January 2024.
  58. ^ The Warwick Shakespeare, worldcat.org. Retrieved 21 January 2024.
  59. ^ "Wayfarer Books" + Blackie, worldcat.org. Retrieved 21 January 2024.
  60. ^ "What Did They Teach" + Blackie, worldcat.org. Retrieved 21 January 2024.
  61. ^ Wonders of Life. (Graded nature study readers). (With illustrations.), worldcat.org. Retrieved 21 January 2024.
  62. ^ Blackie's boys' annual, worldcat.org. Retrieved 17 January 2024.
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