Sir Stanley Unwin, KCMG (19 December 1884 – 13 October 1968) was a British publisher, who founded the Allen & Unwin publishing firm.[1]
Sir Stanley Unwin | |
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Born | Stanley Unwin 19 December 1884 |
Died | 13 October 1968 London, England, United Kingdom | (aged 83)
Burial place | Golders Green Crematorium |
Nationality | British |
Occupation | Publisher |
Known for | Founder of Allen & Unwin |
Spouse | Alice Mary Storr (m. 1914–1968) |
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Relatives |
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Unwin started his career at the publishing firm of his step uncle Thomas Fisher Unwin. In 1914 Stanley Unwin purchased a controlling interest in the firm George Allen and Sons, and established George Allen & Unwin, later to become Allen and Unwin.[2]
The company found success publishing authors such as Bertrand Russell, Sidney Webb, R. H. Tawney and Mahatma Gandhi.[2]
In the 1930s he published two bestsellers by Lancelot Hogben: Mathematics for the Million and Science for the Citizen.[3]
In 1936, J. R. R. Tolkien submitted The Hobbit for publication and Unwin paid his ten-year-old son Rayner Unwin a shilling to write a report on the manuscript.[4] Rayner's favourable response prompted Unwin to publish the book. Once the book became a success, Unwin asked Tolkien for a sequel, which eventually became the bestselling The Lord of the Rings. Tolkien had wanted to publish The Silmarillion, but it was turned down for being "too Celtic"; it was finally published after his death by Allen & Unwin in 1977.
In 1950 Unwin published another bestseller, Thor Heyerdahl's The Kon-Tiki Expedition.
During his career Unwin was active in book trade organs such as the Publishers Association, the International Publishers Association and the British Council.[2]
Stanley Unwin was born on 19 December 1884 at 13 Handen Road, Lee, Lewisham, south-east London. His father was Edward Unwin (1840-1933) and his mother was Elizabeth Unwin (née Spicer). Edward Unwin was a printer whose father, Jacob Unwin, was the founder of the printing firm Unwin Brothers.
The publisher Thomas Fisher Unwin was his father's youngest stepbrother, therefore Stanley Unwin's step-uncle. The children's author Ursula Moray Williams was his niece.[5]
Unwin was a lifelong pacifist, and during the First World War, as a conscientious objector, he joined the Voluntary Aid Detachment (VAD).[6]
Unwin died on 13 October 1968 and was honoured with a Blue Plaque at his birthplace.