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Collection Overview
| Size | 150.0 feet of linear shelf space (approximately 210000 items) |
| Abstract | J.M. Dent & Sons, book publishers of London, England, was founded in 1888 by Joseph Malaby Dent (1859-1926). The company achieved success by selling cheap editions of the classics to the working class. Dent's first major production, the Temple Shakespeare series, was established in 1894, followed in 1906 by Everyman's Library, a series of 1000 volumes. Eventually, Dent's publishing activities expanded to include textbooks, children's books, educational books, self-help books, and travel guides. Dent remained in the forefront of the publishing field by expanding sales to foreign markets, including Australia, Canada, France, New Zealand, South Africa, and the United States. Records include editorial department correspondence with authors, publishing companies, and literary agents; drafts of manuscripts published by Dent; illustrative material used in Dent publications; editorial reports and recommendations; author contracts; copyright agreements; and royalty payments. There are also directors' files containing editorial and personal correspondence; financial materials, including ledgers containing company accounts, cash books, balance sheets, payroll records, equipment inventories, warehouse stock books, and book sales figures; intra-office, memoranda regarding the production of books; legal correspondence and claim statements; material relating to publishing companies that were either affiliated with or subsidiaries of J.M. Dent & Sons; and other materials, including agreements with non-affiliated organizations, address books, work journals, visitors' books, and photographs of Dent buildings and employees. Author files (nine groupings by author name), Company Files, Editor Files, and Serial Files are cataloged separately. Note that files are incomplete, since many items of significant commercial value were sold piecemeal in the 1980s and some files from later years are held by Weidenfeld and Nicholson, which took over the Dent firm in 1986. AUTHOR FILES ABSTRACT: Author files include correspondence with editorial department staff and with the directors of J.M. Dent & Sons that discusses manuscript proposals and submissions, book acceptance and rejection, editorial recommendations, contracts, copyright agreements, sales figures, royalty payments, legal problems, reprints, and successive editions. Author files also include correspondence regarding illustrations used in Dent publications, correspondence with illustrators, rough drafts of manuscripts, synopses of manuscripts, and photographs of selected authors and illustrators. COMPANY FILES ABSTRACT: Company files include correspondence between members of the J.M. Dent editorial staff and companies involved in the publishing and literary agent businesses. Correspondence addresses a wide range of editorial matters, including manuscript submissions, book acceptance and rejection, editorial recommendations, printing rights, translating rights, copyright agreements, royalty payments, and fees owed to agents. Company files also include records of publishing companies that were either affiliated with or direct subsidiaries of J.M. Dent & Sons. These files contain correspondence, inter-office memoranda, financial reports, balance sheets, sales figures, contracts, agreements, trademark applications, and legal records. EDITOR FILES ABSTRACT: Editor files include inter-office correspondence and memoranda between members of the J.M. Dent editorial department discussing book acceptance and rejection, editorial recommendations, advice on what titles to include in various series, copyright agreements, sales figures, royalty payments, legal problems, reprints, and successive editions. Editorial files also include correspondence with authors and companies that pertains to manuscript proposals and submissions; correspondence with the directors of J.M. Dent & Sons; editorial emendations to rough drafts and illustrative material; and photographs of most editors in the J.M. Dent staff. BOOK SERIES ABSTRACT: Book series titles include correspondence to and from the editors responsible for each series, rough drafts of manuscripts published under each series name, and illustrative material used in these books. Of particular interest are the Everyman's Library files containing trademark applications, financial records, sales figures, legal records, Everyman history files, and letters of commendation from contributing authors. |
| Creator | J.M. Dent & Sons. |
| Language | English |
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Information For Users
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Subject Headings
The following terms from Library of Congress Subject Headings suggest topics, persons, geography, etc. interspersed through the entire collection; the terms do not usually represent discrete and easily identifiable portions of the collection--such as folders or items.
Clicking on a subject heading below will take you into the University Library's online catalog.
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Related Collections
J.M. Dent & Sons Woodblocks (#12023)
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Historical Information
Joseph Malaby Dent (1849-1926), founder of J.M. Dent & Sons, was born in Darlington, England, the tenth child of George Dent, a housepainter. Dent received an elementary education at a local grammar school that emphasized reading and writing skills. According to J.M. Dent's Memoirs, "When I was about ten or eleven years old ... I formed the habit of reading which has never since been broken." By the time he was thirteen, Dent was apprenticed to a printer; shortly thereafter, he turned to bookbinding. In 1867, he moved to London, where he set up his own bookbinding shop. Dent quickly gained a reputation for fine craftsmanship; he often noted that his fine leather bindings put to shame the unattractive Victorian typography of the sheets they bound.
In 1888, Dent founded the firm of J.M. Dent and Company (the name was changed to J.M. Dent & Sons in 1909) and began publishing at 69 Great Eastern Street, London. Dent's first production, Charles Lamb's Essays of Elia, was edited by Augustine Birrell and illustrated by Herbert Railton, followed in 1889 by Goldsmith's Poems and Plays. Works by Jane Austen, the Bronte sisters, Geoffrey Chaucer, Daniel Defoe, Maria Edgeworth, Henry Fielding, Samuel Johnson, Lord Tennyson, and W. B. Yeats followed between 1889 and 1894. These early editions were produced in limited quantities on handmade paper and enjoyed some commercial success.
In 1893, the bookseller Frederick Evans suggested that Dent publish a series of pocket volumes of William Shakespeare's works. Recognizing the potential demand for cheap editions of the classics, Dent established the Temple Shakespeare series in 1894 and appointed Israel Gollancz chief editor. The series eventually included forty volumes that were sold for one shilling a volume. Over the next four decades, the series sold over five million copies, "the largest sale made in Shakespeare since the plays were written," Dent claimed.
Dent also published titles under the Mediaeval Towns series, the Temple Dramatists series, the Lyric Poets series, and the Temple Biographies. By 1895, Dent had published about three hundred volumes and paid off all his debts. Then, in January 1897, he moved the administrative offices of J.M. Dent & Co. to 29-30 Bedford Street, London, leaving 69 Great Eastern Street to function exclusively as Dent's bindery.
In 1904, with years of experience publishing the classics at popular prices, Dent began to plan for Everyman's Library, a series of one thousand classics that would be sold at an affordable price (one shilling a volume). Dent hired Ernest Percival Rhys to function as the chief editor of Everyman's Library, and he built the Temple Press, a suburban plant that employed over four hundred workers, to produce the books. Production began in 1906 and 152 titles were issued by the end of that year. Public demand for books in Everyman's Library was high.
Within a few years of its triumphant launch, however, the momentum of Everyman's Library was broken by two unforeseeable obstacles. When the series began, copyright protection expired 42 years after publication or seven years after the death of an author, whichever came later. That allowed Dent to publish the works of Victorian writers such as Dickens, Tennyson, Ruskin, Huxley, and George Eliot, whose copyrights conveniently expired around the turn of the century. The Copyright Act of 1911, however, extended protection to fifty years after an author's death. As a result, Robert Browning's work up to 1869 was published in Everyman's Library by 1911, but the new law postponed publication of the final two Browning volumes until 1944.
The impact of World War I was even more devastating to Dent. Volume 700 of Everyman's Library had been reached in 1914, but within a few years the publication of additional volumes came to a halt. Wartime inflation and shortages of supplies forced the price of each volume up to two shillings, sixpence by 1920. In 1921, new titles began to appear again, but only in a slow trickle.
Dent responded to the setbacks of the 1910s by expanding book sales to international markets. In 1914, Dent established a French subsidiary, J.M. Dent & Fils; they distributed Everyman books in France, translated the classics into French, and published various French titles in the Collection Gallia series. Dent expanded international distribution to North America by setting up a Canadian subsidiary in 1913 and by allowing E. P. Dutton & Co. to distribute Everyman titles throughout the United States. In addition, Dent hired agents to sell Everyman titles in Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, and most of continental Europe.
Everyman's Library finally reached volume 1,000 on its golden jubilee, with the publication of Aristotle's Metaphysics on 29 March 1956. In 1960, Everyman Paperbacks were introduced. By 1975, 1,239 titles had been published in Everyman's Library, with total sales in excess of 60 million.
Of course, the Dent firm had publishing activities besides Everyman's Library. In the fall of 1904, Dent inaugurated the Temple Classics Magazine to supplement the Temple Classics series, but it only lasted five issues. He tried again with Everyman, a penny literary weekly designed "to foster a taste for books among the proletariat." The first issue, for 12 October 1912, sold 150,000 copies on the strength of contributions by G. K. Chesterton, Alfred Russel Wallace, Norman Angell, and Saintsbury. Unfortunately, circulation slowly fell off, and publication ceased in 1920.
In 1925, the Dent firm began publishing the Bookmark as a three-penny quarterly devoted mainly to publicizing the firm's new books. Everyman was revived as a two-penny weekly on 31 January 1929 but again it was a financial failure, and Sir Robert Donald bought it in January 1932. When Everyman closed down again in 1935, the Dent company renamed its house journal the Bookmark and Everyman and continued to publish it until 1938.
In 1913, Everyman's Library was supplemented by the Wayfarer's Library, a series of books devoted to modern literature. The company continued to publish works by important contemporary authors, among them Ogden Nash and Dylan Thomas. The company also expanded its activities in educational publishing with the Kings' Treasuries of Literature series, begun in 1920. The firm ventured into science texts in 1928, history in 1931, and geography in 1931.
J.M. Dent, his sons Hugh and Jack, and Jack's son F. J. Martin Dent, constituted the board of directors in the 1920s. Hugh joined the company in 1909 and functioned as an editor for Everyman's Library; Jack joined the company in 1915 and supervised the Temple Press; Martin came in 1924 and directed the production department. After J.M. Dent's death on 9 May 1926, the board was expanded to include W. G. Taylor, who had been secretary of the firm since 1916. Hugh R. Dent served as chairman from 1926 to 1938, followed by Taylor from 1938 to 1963; Taylor was also managing director from 1934 to 1955. Taylor's two posts were taken over by F. J. Martin Dent.
J.M. Dent & Sons was purchased by Weidenfeld and Nicholson in January 1988, and the Dent staff was moved to Weidenfeld's offices at 91 Clapham Street, London.
(Adapted from information in The Dictionary of Literary Biography, Hugh Dent's The House of Dent, 1888-1938 (London, 1928), and J.M. Dent's The Memoirs of J.M. Dent (London, 1928)
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Scope and Content
The material in this collection documents the publishing history of J.M. Dent & Sons and of the Dent family's involvement with the company. The collection consists of correspondence files of the editorial department; drafts of manuscripts published by Dent; illustrative material used in Dent publications; correspondence generated by the directors of J.M. Dent & Sons; administrative files; files from companies affiliated with or subsidiaries of Dent; and photographs of Dent's buildings and staff.
Although the papers include material from the early-18th century through to the company's sale to Weidenfeld and Nicholson in 1986, the bulk of the material dates from 1909 to the 1950s.
Every attempt was made during processing to preserve or reconstruct the original order of these files. When possible, original folder titles have been preserved, and the original order of items within folders has been maintained. The arrangement of Series 2, Series 4, Series 5, and Series 6 closely reflects the organizational filing system as received by the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Series 1 and Series 3, however, were received in disarray. This material has been organized into series and subseries chiefly according to the subject matter, and, within each series and subseries, in alphabetical order according to the original folder titles.
Researchers should note that when the J.M. Dent & Sons Records were received by the University, most files were marked "Pruned." Letters and illustrations of significant commercial value (e.g., correspondence with Jospeh Conrad, Dylan Thomas, and Virginia Woolf, and Aubrey Beardsley's woodcuts for La Morte d'Arthur) had been removed and sold. It is impossible to determine how many items were culled, but scattered correspondence with canonical authors still remains in the collection.
Editorial department files (Series 1) include intra-office memoranda, as well as correspondence between members of the J.M. Dent editorial department, prospective authors, publishing companies, and literary agencies. Correspondence discusses manuscript proposals and submissions, book acceptance and rejection, editorial reports and recommendations, contracts, copyright agreements, book orders, sales figures, royalty payments, legal problems, reprints, successive editions, and translation and printing rights.
Canonical authors represented in the editorial department files include: Lord Balfour, Max Beerbohm, Hilaire Belloc, G. K. Chesterton, Winston Churchill, Lawrence Durrell, Albert Einstein, T. S. Eliot, E. M. Forster, John Galsworthy, W. E. Gladstone, Aldous Huxley, C. S. Lewis, D. B. Wyndham Lewis, Somerset Maugham, Edwin Muir, V. S. Pritchett, Dorothy Richardson, V. Sackville-West, Bernard Shaw, J. R. R. Tolkien, Hugh Walpole, P. G. Wodehouse, Virginia Woolf, and William Butler Yeats.
Book materials (Series 2) contain files concerning individual books published by Dent and illustrative material used in them. Book files contain drafts of manuscripts published by Dent, editorial amendments to those manuscripts, and intra-office communications regarding the production of these books. The illustrative material consists of photographs, drawings, and prints that were used or considered for use by Dent; roughly half of the illustrative material is loose and the rest is organized in scrapbooks. Book titles represented in Series 2 tend to be popular literature, textbooks, cookbooks, biographies, travel guides, etc.; as a result, few of the authors are well known.
Directors' correspondence files (Series 3) contain mostly correspondence to and from the directors of J.M. Dent & Sons. As of 1986, only four men had served as director of J.M. Dent & Sons: J.M. Dent (1888-1926), Hugh Dent (1926-1938), W. G. Taylor (1938-1963), and F. J. Martin Dent (1963-1986). About half of the correspondence discusses business and editorial matters, including editorial recommendations, contracts, copyright agreements, the cost of producing books, sales figures, royalty payments, marketing issues, and legal problems. The other half addresses issues relating to the directors' personal lives, including personal finance, purchasing and maintaining property, medical advice, correspondence with family members, letters of congratulations and condolence, holiday cards, and correspondence with lawyers regarding wills and estates.
Canonical writers represented in Series 3 include G. K. Chesterton, Joseph Conrad, John Drinkwater, John Galsworthy, Robert Gibbings, Edmund Gosse, W. H. Hudson, Henry James, Margaret Kennedy, Oliver Lodge, Henry Newbolt, Margaret Oliphant, Ezra Pound, J. B. Priestley, Arthur Quiller-Couch, George Saintsbury, Bernard Shaw, Frank Swinnerton, Dylan Thomas, G. M. Trevelyan, and Mortimer Wheeler.
Administrative files (Series 4) deal with the overall operation of J.M. Dent & Sons and were chiefly generated by Dent's administrative headquarters on Bedford Street, London. Administrative files consist of four types of material: financial material, legal records, personnel files, and general administrative files. Financial materials consist of correspondence, intra-office memoranda, receipts, ledgers, equipment inventories, and agreements pertaining to the company's income, operating expenses, and long-term assets. Legal records consist of correspondence, claim statements, affidavits, and other material regarding libel suits, trademark applications, and general legal advice. Personnel files consist of correspondence, agreements, and contracts between J.M. Dent's personnel department and staff of the editorial, book production, and sales departments pertaining to job offers, contract negotiations and renewals, promotions, leave of absence requests, and retirement notices. General administrative files contain address books, agreements with non-affiliated organizations, catalogs of books published by Dent, exhibit material, lists, and a visitors' log.
Subsidiaries/Affiliated Organizations (Series 5) contain file records of six publishing companies that were either affiliated with or direct subsidiaries of J.M. Dent & Sons: E. P. Dutton & Co., Everyman Publishing Co., Galley Press, Ltd., J.M. Dent & Fils, J.M. Dent & Sons (Canada), and Phoenix Book Co. The files contain a wide variety of material, including correspondence, inter-office memoranda, financial reports, balance sheets, sales figures, contracts, agreements, trademark applications, and legal records. Material pertains to all administrative, editorial, financial, legal, book production, and marketing issues of Dent's subsidiaries and affiliated organizations.
Photographic material (Series 6) contains photographs of J.M. Dent staff; relatives of Dent employees; selected authors published by Dent; Dent's offices in London, Paris, and Canada; the Temple Press at Letchworth, Dent's bindery and printing house; and group photos from important company social occasions.
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Series Quick Links
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Series 1. Editorial Department Files, 1909-1941.
Mostly correspondence to and from members of the J.M. Dent editorial department concerning prospective publications. There are equal numbers of incoming and outgoing letters.
This correspondence has been divided into three subseries: "Author Files," "Company Files," and "Staff Files." The author files in Subseries 1.1, which comprise roughly 70% of this series, consist of correspondence between Dent editors and prospective authors. The company files in Subseries 1.2, which comprise roughly 20% of this series, consist of correspondence between Dent editors and companies involved in the publishing industry. Finally, the staff files in Subseries 1.3 consist of intra-office communications between members of the Dent editorial staff. The material in each subseries has been arranged by author, company, or editor respectively.
Much additional editorial correspondence can be found elsewhere in the collection. In particular, J.M. Dent and Hugh Dent functioned as part-time editors; much of their personal correspondence in Subseries 3.1 and 3.2 discusses editorial concerns. In addition, Subseries 2.1, "Book Files," includes some editorial correspondence; note that the book files differ from Series 1 in that they largely date from the 1950s and 1960s.
At the end of this inventory, there is a comprehensive index to the J.M. Dent & Sons Records. The index is based largely on the correspondence in Series 1 and 3, and it should assist researchers in locating editorial correspondence in other portions of the papers. A note preceding the index provides further information on its scope and use.
Researchers should also note that letters of significant commercial value (e.g., correspondence with Joseph Conrad, Dylan Thomas, and Virginia Woolf) were removed and sold before the records were acquired by the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. It is impossible to determine how many documents were culled in this way, but some scattered "famous author" letters still remain in Series 1.
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Subseries 1.1. Author Files, 1919-1939.
Arrangement: alphabetical by author name.
Correspondence between members of the J.M. Dent editorial department and authors whose manuscripts were considered for publication. About half of the correspondence discusses manuscript proposals and submissions; the other half addresses a wide range of editorial matters, including book acceptance and rejection, editorial reports and recommendations, contracts, copyright agreements, sales figures, royalty payments, legal problems, reprints, and successive editions. About 5,000 authors are represented.
Subseries 1.1 is organized in three categories: "Individual Author Files," "Other Authors," and "Correspondent Unknown." First, individual files were created for authors represented by five or more pieces of correspondence. These individual author files, which comprise roughly 80% of the subseries, are arranged in alphabetical order. The individual author files are followed by "Other Authors," an alphabetical arrangement of correspondence with individuals represented by less than five pieces of correspondence each. Finally, correspondence that cannot be attributed to an author has been placed at the end of the subseries as "Correspondent Unknown."
Although many letters were removed before the J.M. Dent records were acquired by the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, some scattered "famous author" material remains in Subseries 1.1. Canonical authors represented here include Lord Balfour, Max Beerbohm, Hilaire Belloc, G. K. Chesterton, Winston Churchill, Lawrence Durrell, Albert Einstein, E. M. Forster, John Galsworthy, W. E. Gladstone, Aldous Huxley, C. S. Lewis, D. B. Wyndham Lewis, Somerset Maugham, Edwin Muir, V. S. Pritchett, Dorothy Richardson, V. Sackville-West, Bernard Shaw, J. R. R. Tolkien, Hugh Walpole, P. G. Wodehouse, Virginia Woolf, and William Butler Yeats. Consult the index at the end of the inventory for a more complete list of author material.
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Subseries 1.1.1. Individual Author Files
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Subseries 1.1.2. Other Authors
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Subseries 1.2. Company Files, 1919-1939.
Arrangement: alphabetical by company name.
Correspondence between members of the J.M. Dent editorial staff and companies that can be considered in four categories: English and American publishing companies, foreign language publishing companies, literary agents, and miscellaneous companies. Correspondence with English and American publishing companies, which comprises roughly 50% of the subseries, addresses a wide range of editorial matters, including manuscript submissions, book acceptance and rejection, editorial recommendations, printing rights, copyright agreements, book orders, fees, and royalty payments. Correspondence with foreign language publishing companies, roughly 20% of the subseries, addresses translation and printing rights. Correspondence with literary agents, another 20% of the subseries, discusses books considered for publication by Dent as well as fees owed to literary agencies. The remaining correspondence is with organizations that range from the transportation industry and film production operations to museums and embassies; it primarily requests permission to publish material, such as photographs, drawings, and maps, that had already been copyrighted. More than 2,000 companies are represented.
Subseries 1.2 is organized in two categories: "Individual Company Files" and "Other Companies." Individual files were created for companies represented by five or more pieces of correspondence. These individual company files, which comprise roughly 90% of the subseries, are arranged in alphabetical order. The individual company files are followed by Other Companies, an alphabetical arrangement of correspondence with companies represented by less than five items each.
Many letters were removed from this subseries before the J.M. Dent Records were acquired by the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill; some scattered "famous author" material does remain in Subseries 1.2. For example, the Faber & Faber file contains several T. S. Eliot letters. The index at the end of the collection provides further access to the material in Subseries 1.2 by linking individual correspondents to company files.
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Subseries 1.2.1. Individual Company Files
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Subseries 1.2.2. Other Companies
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Subseries 1.3. Staff Files, 1909-1939.
Arrangement: alphabetical by editor name.
Mostly intra-office correspondence and memoranda between members of the J.M. Dent editorial department. The material addresses a wide range of editorial matters, including book acceptance and rejection, editorial reports, advice on what titles to include in a series, copyright agreements, sales figures, royalty payments, reprints, and successive editions. Twenty-four editors are represented.
The files have been arranged alphabetically by editor name. Each entry below includes comprehensive dates as well as a brief description of contents; researchers should note that the descriptions are not comprehensive.
Researchers should also note that significant editorial correspondence can be found in Subseries 3.1, "J.M. Dent Files," and Subseries 3.2, "Hugh Dent Files"; J.M. Dent and Hugh Dent functioned as part-time editors.
"Personnel Files" in Subseries 4.3 "Other Administrative Files" contain contracts and routine paperwork regarding hiring, firing, and other administrative issues pertaining to Dent staff.
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Series 2. Book Materials, 1892-1983.
Files concerning individual books published by Dent and illustrative material used in them. This material differs from the editorial correspondence of Series 1 and 3 in that it is separated by book title rather than author (or prospective author) and in that the bulk of the material dates from the 1940s-1960s rather than the 1920s and 1930s.
The book materials in Series 2 have been divided into two subseries: "Book Files" and "Illustrative Material." The book files in Subseries 2.1, which comprise roughly half of this series, contain drafts of manuscripts published by Dent, editorial amendments to those manuscripts, and intra-office communications regarding the production of these books. The illustrative material in Subseries 2.2 consists of photographs, drawings, and prints that were used or considered for use by Dent; roughly half of the illustrative material is loose and the rest is organized in scrapbooks.
Researchers should note that when the book materials were received by the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, most files were marked "Pruned." Items of significant commercial value (e.g., Aubrey Beardsley's woodcuts for La Morte d'Arthur and the drawings of Charles Brock, Charles Folkard, and Arthur Rackham) had been removed and sold. It is impossible to determine how many items were culled in this way, but some scattered "famous author" and "famous illustrator" material still remains in Series 2.
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Subseries 2.1. Book Files, 1945-1975.
Arrangement: alphabetical.
Drafts of manuscripts, synopses of manuscripts, editorial recommendations, intra-office communications regarding the production of books, and correspondence with authors regarding indexing books, book jacket/cover design, sales figures, and royalty payments. Each file is devoted to a particular book published by Dent or by Phoenix House, one of Dent's subsidiaries. About 500 titles are represented.
Files for books in series 2.1 are arranged according to the following book series categories: Behind the Scenes Series, Cities of the World Series, Excursion Series, Great Moments Series, Living Biography Series, Old Masters Series, Pageant Series, Progress of Science Series, Works Like This Series, and Young Traveller Series. Material that does not belong to a series, representing nearly 70% of the book files, is listed under the category "Other Books." Within each category, material is arranged alphabetically by author.
Book titles represented in Subseries 2.1 tend to be popular literature, textbooks, cookbooks, biographies, travel guides, etc. Although few of the authors are well known, all have been included in the comprehensive index of the J.M. Dent & Sons Records.
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Subseries 2.2.1. Behind the Scenes Series.
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Subseries 2.1.2. Cities of the World Series
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Subseries 2.1.3. Excursion Series
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Subseries 2.1.4. Great Moments Series
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Subseries 2.1.5. Living Biography Series
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Subseries 2.1.6. Old Masters Series
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Subseries 2.1.7. Pageant Series
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Subseries 2.1.8. Progress of Science Series
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Subseries 2.1.9. Works Life This Series
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Subseries 2.1.10. Young Traveller Series
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Subseries 2.1.11. Other Books
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Subseries 2.2. Illustrative Material, 1892-1983.
Illustrative material used or considered for use in books published by Dent or by Phoenix House, one of Dent's subsidiaries.
The illustrative material in Subseries 2.2 has been divided into three subseries: "Loose Illustrative Material," "Scrapbooks," and "Herbert Norris Material." The loose illustrative material in Subseries 2.2.1, which comprises roughly 45% of this subseries, contains loose photographs, drawings, and prints. The scrapbooks in Subseries 2.2.2, another 45% of the subseries, contain prints that have been organized in scrapbooks. Finally, the Herbert Norris material in Subseries 2.2.3 contains illustrative material from Norris's series of books on costume and fashion. The Norris material differs from the materials in Subseries 2.2.1 and 2.2.2 in that it contains both loose illustrations and scrapbooks and in that the Norris scrapbooks contain research notes, descriptions of illustrations, and random jotting in the margins.
Researchers should note that there is considerable redundancy between the loose illustrative material and the scrapbooks; most of the material dates from the 1920s through the 1960s.
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Subseries 2.2.1. Loose Illustrative Material, 1920-1985.
Arrangement: alphabetical.
Photographs, maps, paintings, drawings, engravings, and prints that were used or considered for use as illustrations in books published by Dent and/or Phoenix House.
The organizational scheme for this series is identical to that of Subseries 2.1 "Book Files" with material arranged in the following categories: Behind the Scenes Series, Cities of the World Series, Excursion Series, Great Moments Series, Living Biography Series, Progress of Science Series, Works Like This Series, and Young Traveller Series. Books that do not belong to a series are listed under the category "Other Books," which contains about 90% of the illustrative material. A final category, "Miscellaneous Cover Art," contains scattered original drawings, etchings, and paintings, many of which were used as cover illustrations for the Everyman's Library. Within each category, except for "Miscellaneous Cover Art," material is arranged alphabetically by author.
Each entry represents the illustrations for one book title and gives a brief description of contents.
"Original" illustrations are executed in a variety of media, including chalk, ink, pencil, engraving tool, paint, or some combination thereof, on a surface of cardboard or paper. "Print" designates an item that duplicates on paper or cardboard the image of an "original," a photograph, or other printed material. A variety of printing techniques are represented here, including lithography and photostatic printing. Blueprints and maps are also included under the heading "print." "Photo" designates an item that is formed on photographic paper, film, or glass. Photographs comprise the bulk of the illustrative material.
Much of the material in this series bears the mark of editorial decision-making; instructions for enlarging, reducing, detailing, lightening or darkening a photograph, for example, might appear on a picture's margins. In addition, roughly 5% of the material represented here was rejected by Dent and did not appear in a Dent publication. Rejected material will further suggest the nature of editorial priorities and judgement.
Inclusive dates for the series have been determined by the range of book publication dates. As a result, some illustrative material may predate 1920, the earliest publication date in this series.
The comprehensive index to the J.M. Dent & Sons Records, which appears at the end of this inventory, includes all author names. Unfortunately, less than 10% of the entries in this subseries include illustrator names; staff in the Rare Book Collection plan to develop a comprehensive index to illustrators in the near future.
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Subseries 2.2.1.1. Behind the Scenes Series
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Subseries 2.2.1.2. Cities of the World Series
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Subseries 2.2.1.3. Excursion Series
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Subseries 2.2.1.4. Great Moments Series
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Subseries 2.2.1.5. Living Biography Series
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Subseries 2.2.1.6. Progress of Science Series
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Subseries 2.2.1.7. Works Like This Series
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Subseries 2.2.1.8. Young Traveller Series
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Subseries 2.2.1.9. Other Books
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Subseries 2.2.1.9 Miscellaneous Cover Art
Folder 3701-3709
Folder 3701Folder 3702Folder 3703Folder 3704Folder 3705Folder 3706Folder 3707Folder 3708Folder 3709 |
Everyman's Library titles #11043, Subseries: "2.2.1.9 Miscellaneous Cover Art" Folder 3701-3709 |
Folder 3710-3712
Folder 3710Folder 3711Folder 3712 |
Other titles #11043, Subseries: "2.2.1.9 Miscellaneous Cover Art" Folder 3710-3712 |
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Subseries 2.2.2. Scrapbooks, 1892-1965.
Arrangement: numerical by volume.
Scrapbooks containing prints of illustrations used in books published by Dent and/or Phoenix House. There is considerable redundancy between this material and the loose illustrative material of Subseries 2.2.1. However, this material differs from the loose illustrative material in that it contains no original artwork and in that it bears no editorial instructions.
The Dent staff arranged and numbered illustrations in the scrapbooks in a scheme that is not readily apparent. In some cases, all illustrations for a book are grouped together in one volume; in other cases, illustrations for a book are scattered through several volumes.
Two indexes follow. The first is a list of book titles arranged alphabetically by author name. The second is an alphabetical list of titles of books whose author is unknown. Each entry represents the illustrations for one book title and indicates the scrapbook or scrapbooks in which illustrations can be found. Some entries include information on illustrator, editor, translator, and publication date.
The comprehensive index to the J.M. Dent & Sons Records, which appears at the end of this inventory, includes all author names. Unfortunately, less than 10% of the entries in this subseries include illustrator names; staff in the Rare Book Collection plan to develop a comprehensive index to illustrators in the near future.
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AUTHOR INDEX to Subseries 2.2.2: Scrapbooks
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TITLE INDEX to Subseries 2.2.2: Scrapbooks
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Subseries 2.2.3. Herbert Norris Material, 1911-1940.
Scrapbooks and loose illustrative material of Herbert Norris, freelance writer on historical topics relating to costume, fashion, armor, and heraldry. Norris, a resident of London, lectured on historical costume at the University of London and at the Center for Speech Training, London. He also designed sets and costumes for British theatrical productions, films, pageants, and historical balls.
This material relates to Norris's Costume & Fashion (1924-1930), a six-volume survey of European fashion from pre-Roman times through the 19th century. The volumes and loose illustrative material include drawings by Norris, translations and excerpts from guide books, research notes, descriptions, and seemingly random jottings, all of which went into Costume & Fashion. In effect, this material forms a rough or working draft of Norris's books.
Norris arranged this material in four categories: "Costume and Dress Design," "Survey of Dress through English History," "Miscellaneous Scrapbooks," and "Loose Illustrative Material." This arrangement has been retained.
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Subseries 2.2.3.1. Costume and Dresss Design
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Subseries 2.2.3.2. Survey of Dress Through English History
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Subseries 2.2.3.3. Miscellaneous Scrapbooks
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Subseries 2.2.3.4. Loose Illustrative Material
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Series 3. Directors' Files, 1909-1986.
Mostly correspondence to and from the directors of J.M. Dent & Sons. About half of the correspondence discusses business concerns; the other half addresses personal issues. There are equal numbers of incoming and outgoing letters.
As of 1986, only four men had served as director of J.M. Dent & Sons: J.M. Dent (1888-1926), Hugh Dent (1926-1938), W. G. Taylor (1938-1963), and F. J. Martin Dent (1963-1986). The material in this series has been divided into four subseries to correspond with the directors.
In addition to overseeing the operations of the company, each director functioned as a part-time editor; much of the correspondence in Series 3 discusses editorial concerns. In order to reconcile this correspondence with the editorial correspondence of Series 1, consult the comprehensive index to the J.M. Dent & Sons Records which has been placed at the end of the inventory. A note preceding the index provides further information on its scope and use.
Researchers should also note that letters of significant commercial value (e.g., correspondence with Arthur Conan Doyle and Woodrow Wilson) were removed before the records were acquired by the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. It is impossible to determine how many documents were culled in this way, but some scattered "famous author" letters still remain in Series 3.
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Subseries 3.1. J.M. Dent Files, 1909-1924.
Arrangement: alphabetical.
J.M. Dent served as director of J.M. Dent & Co. between 1888 and 1909 and as director of J.M. Dent & Sons between 1909 and 1926. These files contain J.M. Dent's business, editorial and personal correspondence during his tenure at J.M. Dent & Sons. Unfortunately, no correspondence remains prior to 1909, during Dent's years at J.M. Dent & Co.
About two-thirds of the correspondence in this subseries discusses business and editorial matters, including editorial recommendations, contracts, copyright agreements, the cost of producing books, sales figures, royalty payments, marketing issues, and legal problems; the other third addresses personal matters, including correspondence with family members, letters of congratulations to friends, holiday cards, correspondence with accountants regarding personal finances, and correspondence with lawyers regarding wills and estates.
Subseries 3.1 is organized in three categories: "Individual Author/Company Files," "Other Authors/Companies," and "Correspondent Unknown." First, individual files were created for authors and companies represented by five or more pieces of correspondence. These individual author/company files, which comprise roughly 80% of the subseries, are arranged in alphabetical order. The individual files are followed by "Other Authors/Companies," an alphabetical listing of correspondence with individuals represented by less than five pieces of correspondence each. Finally, correspondence that cannot be attributed to an author has been placed at the end of the subseries as "Correspondent Unknown." About 1500 authors and companies are represented.
Although many letters were removed before the J.M. Dent records were acquired by the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, some scattered "famous author" material remains in Subseries 3.1. Writers represented here include Joseph Conrad, John Drinkwater, John Galsworthy, Edmund Gosse, W. H. Hudson, Henry James, Henry Newbolt, Margaret Oliphant, Ezra Pound, George Saintsbury, and G. M. Trevelyan. Consult the index at the end of the inventory for a more complete list of editorial correspondence and other material.
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Subseries 3.1.1. Individual Author/Company Files
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Subseries 3.1.2. Other Authors/Companies
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Subseries 3.2. Hugh Dent Files, 1922-1938.
Arrangement: alphabetical.
Hugh Dent served as director of J.M. Dent & Sons between 1926 and 1938. Although these files predate his promotion to director by four years, the vast majority of correspondence falls within his tenure as director of J.M. Dent & Sons.
The material in this subseries differs from the J.M. Dent files of Subseries 3.1 in that it is nearly void of correspondence discussing business and editorial matters. Nearly 90% of the material in this subseries addresses personal concerns, including correspondence with family members, estate files, personal finance, stock purchases and transfers, insurance purchases, purchasing and maintaining property at Reigate, property rental, country club membership, medical advice, and letters of congratulations and condolence. The remaining material offers editorial recommendations to Dent editors and prospective authors
Like the J.M. Dent files of Subseries 3.1, Subseries 3.2 is organized in three categories: "Individual Author/Company Files," "Other Authors/Companies," and "Correspondent Unknown." Individual files were created for authors and companies represented by five or more pieces of correspondence. These individual files, which comprise roughly 80% of the subseries, are arranged in alphabetical order. The individual author/company files are followed by "Other Authors/Companies," an alphabetical listing of correspondence with individuals represented by less than five pieces of correspondence each. Finally correspondence that cannot be attributed to an author has been placed at the end of the subseries as "Correspondent Unknown." About 1000 authors are represented.
Several files are of particular interest: "Everyman's Library Commendations" (folder 4554) includes letters from such notables as G. K. Chesterton, John Drinkwater, John Galsworthy, Edmund Gosse, Margaret Kennedy, Oliver Lodge, and Bernard Shaw; "Letters of Sympathy, re. J.M. Dent's Death" (folders 4600-4602) include letters from Oliver Lodge, Arthur Quiller-Couch, and George Saintsbury. Consult the index at the end of the inventory for a more complete list of editorial correspondence and other material.
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Subseries 3.2.1. Individual Author/Company Files
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Subseries 3.2.2. Other Authors/Companies
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Subseries 3.3. W. G. Taylor Files, 1942-1961.
Arrangement: alphabetical.
W. G. Taylor served as director of J.M. Dent & Sons between 1938 and 1963. Although the two hundred letters in this subseries represent a small percentage of the total correspondence produced during Taylor's 25-year directorship, this material contains editorial and personal correspondence with best-selling authors (Robert Gibbings and Ronald A. Knox), a contemporary politician (Walter Nash), the Vatican, and several publishing companies.
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Subseries 3.4. F. J. Martin Dent Files, 1963-1986.
Arrangement: alphabetical.
F. J. Martin Dent served as director of J.M. Dent & Sons between 1963 and 1988. About two-thirds of the correspondence in this subseries discusses business and editorial matters, including editorial recommendations, contracts, copyright agreements, the cost of producing books, sales figures, royalty payments, marketing issues, legal problems, and public speeches; the other third addresses personal matters, including letters of congratulations and condolence, holiday cards, and correspondence regarding a trip to Australia. About 100 authors are represented.
Subseries 3.4 is organized in three categories: "Individual Author/Company Files," "Other Authors/Companies," and "Correspondent Unknown." Individual files were created for authors and companies represented by five or more pieces of correspondence. These individual author/company files, which comprise roughly 80% of the subseries, are arranged in alphabetical order. The individual files are followed by "Other Authors/Companies," an alphabetical listing of correspondence with individuals represented by less than five pieces of correspondence each. Finally, correspondence that cannot be attributed to an author has been placed at the end of the subseries as "Correspondent Unknown."
Although many letters were removed before the J.M. Dent records were acquired by the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, some scattered "famous author" material remains in Subseries 3.1. Writers represented here include Joseph Conrad, Robert Gibbings, J. B. Priestley, Frank Swinnerton, Dylan Thomas, and Mortimer Wheeler. Consult the index at the end of the inventory for a more complete list of editorial correspondence and other material.
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Subseries 3.4.1. Individual Authors/Company Files
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Subseries 3.4.2. Other Authors/Companies
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Series 4. Administrative Files, 1894-1986.
The material in this series deals with the overall operation of J.M. Dent & Sons and was chiefly generated by Dent's administrative headquarters on Bedford Street, London. The material in this series differs from other series in that these files deal with the company as a whole, whereas other series pertain to the operations of individual departments.
The administrative files have been divided into four subseries: "Financial Material," "Legal Records," "Personnel Files," and "Other Administrative Files." The financial material of subseries 4.1 comprises roughly half of this series; the legal records of subseries 4.2 comprise roughly one-quarter of this series; the personnel records of subseries 4.3 comprise approximately 5% of this series; and the other administrative files of subseries 4.4 comprise roughly one-fifth of the series.
The administrative files do not appear to have been culled like the editorial files, the book materials, and the directors' correspondence files. As a result, this material appears to be fairly comprehensive for the period 1894 to 1965, with scattered materials extending as far as 1986.
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Subseries 4.1. Financial Material, 1894-1986.
These materials deal with the overall financial operation of J.M. Dent & Sons and appear to be fairly comprehensive for the period 1894 to 1965. The material consists of correspondence, intra-office memoranda, receipts, ledgers, equipment inventories, and agreements pertaining to the company's income (book orders and sales), operating expenses (general accounting and payroll), and long-term assets (physical plant and stock records).
The financial material has been divided into five subseries: "General Accounting and Payroll," "Physical Plant," "Book Sales," "Stock Records," and "Other Financial Material."
For the financial papers of J.M. Dent's subsidiaries and other affiliated organizations, see Series 5.
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Subseries 4.1.1. General Accounting and Payroll, 1898-1973.
Arrangement: chronological.
Correspondence, intra-office memoranda, receipts, ledgers, and computer print-outs regarding the operating expenses of J.M. Dent & Sons. About half of the material addresses payroll issues, including wages paid, bonuses paid, and retirement fund deductions and payments (J.M. Dent's retirement fund was called the "Thrift Fund"); the other half of the material pertains to general operating expenses, such as rent paid, utilities paid, insurance expenses and deductions, and office equipment purchased. This material appears to be comprehensive for the period 1902 to 1966. Materials extend as far as 1973.
The General Accounting and Payroll material is arranged chronologically, with each entry including a brief description of contents. Payroll material is designated "Payroll," "Bonus," "Thrift Fund," or "Wages"; the balance papers and cash books represent the bulk of the general accounting material.
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Subseries 4.1.2. Physical Plant, 1898-1975.
Arrangement: alphabetical.
Correspondence, intra-office memoranda, equipment inventories, blueprints, contracts and agreements concerning the leasing, mortgaging, purchasing, and renovating of property. Consult the General Accounting material of Subseries 4.1.1 to see the everyday operating expenses of the physical plant, including rent, utilities, and insurance payments.
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Subseries 4.1.3. Book Sales, 1894-1973.
Arrangement: chronological.
Chiefly ledgers charting the sale of J.M. Dent books published between 1894 and 1957. The sales figures are particularly rich for books in Everyman's Library and the King's Treasuries of Literature series. There are also invoices for books ordered from J.M. Dent & Sons. Although these book invoices come exclusively from 1958 and 1959 and represent a small percentage of the total number of books ordered from Dent during their 100 year publishing history, the invoices can be used to supplement the book sales figures. In addition, the invoices are primarily foreign in origin and they give a sense of J.M. Dent's international markets.
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Subseries 4.1.4. Stock Records, 1897-1986.
Arrangement: chronological.
Ledgers that document the total number of books in J.M. Dent & Sons's warehouse. The stock records appear to be comprehensive for the period 1897 to 1938; records between 1939 and 1986 tend to list the availability of books in specific series, in particular Everyman's Library, the King's Treasury of Literature Series, and Educational books.
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Subseries 4.1.5. Miscellaneous Financial, 1902-1975.
Arrangement: alphabetical.
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Subseries 4.2. Legal Records, 1894-1971.
Arrangement: chronological.
Correspondence and other legal papers documenting the relationship between the law firm of Docker, Hosgood & Co. and J.M. Dent & Sons, Ltd. Included are Docker Hosgood's advice on investments, insurance, publication agreements, copyright law, taxes, and the buying, selling, renting, and leasing of property. Also included is material relating to law suits brought against Dent. Of particular interest are items concerning the suit filed in 1902 by Israel Gollancz relating to the Temple Shakespeare edition.
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Subseries 4.2.1. Docker, Hosgood & Co.: General Correspondence
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Subseries 4.2.2. Gollancz vs. Dent, 1894-1932.
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Other Legal Records
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Subseries 4.3. Personnel Files, 1916-1986.
Arrangement: alphabetical.
Correspondence, agreements, and contracts between J.M. Dent's personnel department and staff of the editorial, book production, and sales departments. Material pertains to job offers, contract negotiations and renewals, promotions, leave of absence requests, and retirement notices. There is no material for job applicants, only for persons who were employed by Dent. Although material spans the period 1916 to 1986, it is richest for the 1920s, 1930s and 1940s.
Items are arranged alphabetically by name of staff member. When available, names are followed by job title.
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Subseries 4.4. Other Administrative Materials, 1904-1986.
Arrangement: alphabetical.
This subseries contains a variety of administrative material, much of which covers fairly routine matters: address books; catalogs of books published by Dent; correspondence and agreements insuring valuable material at various Dent exhibitions; lists of filing cabinet material, safe contents, and distribution schedules; invitations to important social occasions, including seating arrangements and newspaper clippings describing those events; and a visitors' log at Aldine Press. Of particular interest are agreements, material pertaining to "The COG," history files, and the Letchworth Journal.
The agreements files contain correspondence, intra-office memoranda, and contracts between J.M. Dent & Sons and non-affiliated organizations. Agreements span the period 1920 to 1981 and pertain to the sale of various Dent operations, debenture contracts, and trademark registration and renewal forms, and contracts allowing Dent to redesign their patented Joanna Typeface. Of particular interest are agreements with the Australian Agency, Grant Educational Co., JUTA & Co., and Macmillan & Co., all of which document the sale of Dent volumes in foreign markets; similar agreements with Dent subsidiaries and affiliated organizations can be found in Series 5; researchers interested in the international distribution of Dent books should also consult the international book orders and sales in Subseries 4.1.4 and Subseries 4.1.5.
"The COG" was an internal journal published for Dent employees. These files span the period 1954 to 1964 and include an index to all COG issues; proof copies of the journal; rough draft articles submitted to D. Ross, senior editor of "The COG"; editorial correspondence with D. Ross; and intra-office memoranda describing Dent's goals in publishing this journal. Bound copies of "The COG" are held in the Rare Book Collection.
The history files were maintained by J.M. Dent & sons and contain articles, brochures, correspondence, and newspaper clippings charting firm's the history. Nearly half of the history files contain information on Everyman's Library; the other half pertain to the general history of J.M. Dent & Sons. Researchers interested in the history of Everyman's Library should also consult the Everyman's Publishing Co. files of Subseries 5.2.
The Letchworth journal is a personal diary maintained by the manager of the Aldine Press (formerly the Temple Press), Dent's printing and binding operation in Letchworth Garden City, covering the period 1951 to 1965. The diary describes the daily operation of the Aldine Press, breaking it up into three divisions: printing shop, binding shop, and engineering section. The diary offers insight into the relationship between editors, binders, and printers as well as offering an excellent description of physical production of books.
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Series 5. Subsidiaries/Affiliated Organizations, 1913-1978.
Files concerning publishing companies that were either affiliated with or direct subsidiaries of J.M. Dent & Sons. Files contain a wide variety of material, including correspondence, inter-office memoranda, financial reports, balance sheets, sales figures, contracts, agreements, trademark applications, and legal records. The material in this series is similar to Series 4, the administrative records of J.M. Dent & Sons, in that it contains files pertaining to all administrative, financial, legal, book production, and marketing issues of Dent's subsidiaries and affiliated organizations. This series differs from Series 4, however, in that it also includes editorial and directors' correspondence files.
This material has been divided into six subseries: E. P. Dutton & Co., Everyman Publishing Co., Galley Press, Ltd., J.M. Dent & Fils (Paris House), J.M. Dent & Sons (Canada), Phoenix Book Co.
Researchers should note that because of the administrative nature of this material, little of it is included in the comprehensive index at the end of this inventory.
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Subseries 5.1. E. P. Dutton & Co., 1913-1959.
Arrangement: chronological.
E. P. Dutton & Co. is an American publishing firm that was founded by Edward Payson Dutton in Boston in 1852. Dutton moved his company's headquarters to New York in 1877, and he forged a strong relationship with J.M. Dent in the early-20th century. The company became a co-sponsor of Everyman's Library in 1906, with Dutton's chief responsibility being the distribution of Everyman's Library volumes throughout the United States. John Macrae ran the company between 1913 and 1943 and was succeeded by son, Elliott Macrae.
Included is correspondence, 1913-1935, between John Macrae, president of E. P. Dutton & Co., and J.M. Dent, Hugh Dent, and various members of J.M. Dent's editorial staff. There is also correspondence, 1936-1959, between Elliott Macrae and the Dent editorial staff. About two-thirds of the correspondence discusses editorial concerns pertaining to Everyman's Library, including manuscript proposals and submissions, editorial reports and recommendations, contracts, and royalty payments; the other third addresses production issues, including the quality of books and the cost of producing books. Correspondence also includes information on book sales in the United States.
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Subseries 5.2. Everyman Publishing Co., 1928-1978.
Arrangement: chronological.
J.M. Dent & Sons set up the Everyman Publishing Co. in 1928. This subsidiary, under the direction of C. B. Purdom, assumed responsibility for protecting the "Everyman" name through trademark registration and renewal; it also revived Everyman, a two-penny literary weekly designed "to foster a taste for books among the proletariat." Rights to the Everyman journal were sold to Sir Robert Donald in July 1932. Donald sold rights to the Everyman journal back to the Everyman Publishing Co. in 1935. The Everyman Publishing Co. also assumed administrative responsibilities for Everyman's Library publications.
Records, 1928-1929, include correspondence between C. B. Purdom and Hugh Dent describing Dent's goals in establishing this subsidiary organization; a proposal for establishing the Everyman journal; and the company's Articles of Association with J.M. Dent & Sons, 15 December 1928.
Records, 1929-1932, include financial statements, balance sheets, journal invoices and sales figures; reports from the circulation department to Hugh Dent and C. B. Purdom; "Private Correspondence" between Hugh Dent and C. B. Purdom that discusses the journal's poor circulation, problems with the advertising department, and the "unsatisfactory" financial position of the company; and correspondence to and from the advertising department. The files for 1929-1932 constitute roughly one-third of the material in this subseries.
Records, 1932-1935, include the agreement of 1 July 1932 selling Sir Robert Donald rights to Everyman journal; legal correspondence between Dent and the law firm of Docker, Hosgood & Co. discussing the terms of the transfer and legal ramifications of that deal; correspondence between Robert Donald and Hugh Dent discussing changes to be made to the journal; sales figures; correspondence announcing the failure of Donald's venture; and inter-office memoranda and proposals for a new Everyman's Library journal. The files for 1932-1935 constitute roughly one-third of the material in this subseries.
There are also trademark applications and renewal forms, 1928-1978, for Everyman's Library (5 March 1928 & March 1966); Everyman's Encyclopedia (5 April 1966); Australian trademarks (12 August 1968); New Zealand trademarks (1968); French trademarks; South African trademarks; and United States trademarks. This material also contains legal correspondence with Docker, Hosgood & Co. about trademark infringement.
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Subseries 5.3. Galley Press, Ltd., 1958-1965.
Arrangement: chronological.
Galley Press, Ltd. was a publishing company founded by J.M. Dent & Sons in 1959. Galley Press was established as a direct subsidiary of Dent, and its original mission was to take over publication of Dent's "great literature," leaving Dent the responsibility of printing textbooks, reference works, educational books, and children's literature.
Records, 1958-1959, include correspondence and inter-office memoranda announcing the creation of Galley Press and describing Dent's goals in establishing this subsidiary organization. A letter from E. J. Piggott to J. S. Black of 12 March 1959 is of particular interest: "The Directors have just agreed to form another subsidiary company (I hear you groan); It will be a direct subsidiary of Dents and its purpose is to give Mr. Anthony Dent an opportunity to establish a new publishing imprint under the proposed name of The Galley Press.... Dent will perform all the publishing functions for the new company except the editorial ones and will finance the venture...."
Administrative records, 1959-1962, include Galley Press's Registration Title, their Articles of Association with J.M. Dent & Sons, the original share certificates issued on 26 August 1959, correspondence regarding insuring the company, lists of employees, board of director's agenda and meeting minutes.
Editorial records, 1959-1962, include a few book invoices, correspondence pertaining to book submissions, author contracts, and royalty agreements.
Legal records, 1962-1965, include correspondence, claim statements, affidavits, and other materials regarding Mabel Lethbridge's libel suit against Galley Press. Mabel Lethbridge of St. Ives, Cornwall, sued Galley Press for publishing Sven Berlin's "The Dark Monarch," a book portraying Bohemian life in a Cornish fishing village. Materials include correspondence between Galley Press and their lawyers, Oswald Hickson, Collier & Co., discussing the ramifications of the lawsuit; correspondence announcing that publication of "The Dark Monarch" had been discontinued; correspondence with bookshops asking them to remove all copies of Berlin's book from their shelves; miscellaneous claim statements and other legal papers; and the agreement settling the libel suit for 210 pounds.
Financial records and balance sheets, 1962-1965, document the financial position of the company; a 22 December 1956 deed of release announces J.M. Dent & Sons' 6,297 debt to Galley Press.
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Subseries 5.4. J.M. Dent & Fils (Paris House), 1914-1945.
Arrangement: chronological.
J.M. Dent & Sons opened a Paris office in 1914. This French subsidiary became known as "Paris House" and assumed responsibility for distributing Everyman books throughout France, translating the classics into French, and publishing various French titles in the "Collections Gallia" series. London oversaw all financial aspects of Paris House's book production between 1914 and 1926. In 1926, however, Paris House stopped producing books. By 1934, all French operations were sold to M. Marcel Didier. Didier acted as Dent's agent in France, selling Everyman books for a commission.
Material in this subseries is strongest for the period 1914 to 1934; limited correspondence with Didier covers the period 1934-1945. Researchers should note that more than half of the correspondence in this subseries is in French.
Financial records, 1914-1934, constitute the vast majority of the material, including balance sheets and papers listing Paris House's profits and losses; book sales figures; stock records; correspondence with the accounting firms of Hisch, Porter & Co. and Feloitte, Plender, Griffiths & Co.; and correspondence with the London County of Westminster Bank, Paris. Of particular interest are the 1916 Article of Incorporation & Association between Paris House and J.M. Dent & Sons and the Paris House Reports to London, 1918-1920. Correspondence in 1934 focuses on transferring Paris operations to Didier.
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Subseries 5.5. J.M. Dent & Sons (Canada), 1915-1959.
Arrangement: chronological.
In 1913, J.M. Dent & Sons set up a Toronto branch of the firm, which was under the management of Henry Button; operations did not become profitable until the 1920s. J.M. Dent & Sons (Canada) became independent in April 1935, with Button and Hugh Dent (later W. G. Taylor) serving on the board of directors.
Records, 1916-1928, consist primarily of correspondence between Henry Button and Hugh Dent. About two-thirds of this correspondence discusses financial issues pertaining to the Canadian operations, including the cost of producing books, sales figures, financial statements highlighting the company's profits and losses, binding issues, and problems with the supply of paper; the other third addresses editorial concerns, including manuscript submissions, lists of books published, and synopses of books.
Records, 1935-1936, include the Canadian branch's 1935 application for incorporation, agendas and minutes from board meetings, book orders, stock records, financial statements, correspondence predicting the costs of producing books, and editorial correspondence pertaining to author agreements and royalty contracts. The files for 1935 and 1936 constitute more than half of the material in this subseries.
Records, 1938-1945, contain personal correspondence between Button and W. G. Taylor about Taylor's taking over the company and a trip that he made to Canada.
Records, 1947-1951, consist of author contracts and agreements pertaining to books published in the "Canadians All" series and in the "New Canadian Healthy" series.
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Subseries 5.6. Phoenix Book Co., 1928-1939.
Arrangement: chronological.
J.M. Dent & Sons founded the Phoenix Book Co. in 1928 to sell books on the installment plan. Headed by Hugh Dent, this subsidiary began by selling sets of works by Dickens and Scott; it later marketed The Encyclopedia Britannica, The Cambridge Ancient History, Everyman's Library, and Penguin paperbacks. In 1947, the Phoenix Book Co. changed their name to Phoenix House. The company was distributing almost two hundred titles and selling more than four hundred thousand books a year. In 1959, Phoenix House was absorbed into the J.M. Dent & Sons operations.
Material in this subseries spans the period 1928 to 1939; it is rich for 1928 and 1929, but rather sparse between 1930 and 1939.
Files, 1928, include a proposal for the Phoenix Book Co., the company's Articles of Incorporation, Articles of Association with J.M. Dent & Sons, the projected costs for startup and operation, and correspondence with Docker & Hosgood pertaining to the legal aspects of starting a new business. These files also contain financial reports and balance sheets, as well as a pass book from Westminster Bank, Ltd., with the first entry dated 20 September 1928.
Files, 1929, include correspondence with Dent about launching an advertising campaign, reports of advertising expenses, initial sales figures, financial reports (quarterly balance sheets), and a report on plans for Phoenix development.
Files, 1930-1939, include financial reports, agenda and minutes from board meetings, plans for Phoenix development, book orders, and Hugh Dent's editorial correspondence.
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Series 6. Photographic Material, circa 1850,
1926-1976.
Arrangement: alphabetical.
Photographs of J.M. Dent staff; relatives of Dent employees; selected authors published by Dent; Dent's offices in London, Paris, and Canada; the Temple Press at Letchworth, Dent's bindery and printing house; "London Staff" in the editorial, publicity, sales, stock, royalty, and invoice departments; and "Miscellaneous Awards" given to the cricketer of the year, the bowling champion, and the Dent Cup recipient.
"Miscellaneous Staff" files contain some labeled photographs of individual staff members, including R. Adams, A. R. Bullock, H. Cade, Arthur Deacon, C. J. Eustace, A. P. Garnham, Reginald Hine, John McClelland, A. Parkes, C. Philips, S. Gordon Scott, G. C. E. Smith, Gordon Stephen, and R. Waldock. Other photographs are group photos from the New Temple Shakespeare Luncheon of 1934, Christmas parties of 1958 and 1966, the Aldine House Party of 1964, the Football Dinner, and other unidentified events. Of particular interest are two photographs from Dent's Jubilee Dinner of 20 October 1938, which contain indexes linking faces to names of more than 150 Dent employees.
Most photos are undated, but appear to span the period 1926-1976.
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Series 7. Other Papers, 1834-1965.
The other papers of Series 7 contain a wide variety of material that does not directly relate to the operation of J.M. Dent & Sons: reviews of Dent books that were clipped from newspapers and some magazines; a catalog of out-of-print books; and estate files of three Dent relatives which contain personal correspondence, legal correspondence, wills, agreements, and financial records.
Of particular interest are the correspondence files that predate the company, including letters to and from George Dent (J.M. Dent's father), Isabella Railton (J.M. Dent's mother), Charles Knight, and John Ruskin. The correspondence files also contain more than 500 letters to and from Dent staff who were temporarily serving in World War II; these letters offer an interesting, first-hand account of the war and discuss tactical matters, describe morale among the troops, and contain a good deal of reminiscing about the past.
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INDEX TO INVENTORY
Proper names appearing in this inventory have been indexed below. Bracketed numbers refer to series/subseries and folders within those series/subseries (e.g., Oliphant, Margaret [3.1 - 4213] means that materials relating to Mrs. Oliphant appear in Subseries 3.1, folder 4213). While efforts were made to standardize names, it is possible that some duplication still exists, especially when materials relating to a particular individual were not clearly distinguished by Dent. Researchers should, therefore, check this index under all possible names (pseudonyms, spelling variations, etc.) for the persons or organizations they are seeking.
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Items Separated
Processed by: Gregory Smith with the assistance of Mary Ahrens, Aimee Bryant, Nicole Byers, Cara Cardellino, Jackie Dean, Cleve Hicks, Alicia Reeves, and Ryan Teall, 1994
Encoded by: ByteManagers Inc., 2008
The illustrative material of Subseries 2.2 and other related materials are housed in the Rare Book Collection.
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