The Story of the House of Cassell

by Cassell and Company

THE STORY OF THE

HOUSE OF CASSELL

With Twenty Illustrations

CASSELL AND COMPANY, LTD

London, New York, Toronto and Melbourne

1922

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JOHN CASSELL

 

FOREWORD

 

The House of Cassell, now nearly eighty years old, holds a unique place among English publishing houses. It was the pioneer of some important movements—the bringing of educational literature within reach of the mass of English people, the serial publication of great books, and the modern development of illustration in both books and periodical publications. It has grown from small beginnings into a huge institution whose name is familiar all over the world.

The history of the House of Cassell falls into four epochs. The first was that in which John Cassell's individuality counted for everything, and ran from his vague beginnings as a publisher in the early 'forties to his death in 1865. The second was the eighteen years of George William Petter and Thomas Dixon Galpin's supremacy, from 1865 to 1883. The third, dating from the formation of the Company in 1883, was chiefly dominated by the personality of Sir Wemyss Reid, the general manager from 1887 to 1905.

The last epoch began with the appointment in 1905 of Sir Arthur Spurgeon, the present general manager, and has been noteworthy for a complete reorganization of the business on modern lines and the restoration of its old prosperity and activity, which had been somewhat dimmed during the latter years of the nineteenth century.

The records here presented owe much to the collaboration of various members of the staff of Cassell's, past and present. The narrative has drawn largely upon their recollections.

CONTENTS

PART I john cassell
CHAPTER		PAGE
1.	Factory Hand and Temperance Reformer	3
2.	From Tea Merchant to Publisher	12
3.	La Belle Sauvage	19
4.	The Growth of Educational Literature	25
5.	John Cassell and Lord Brougham and Others	35
6.	The Taxes on Knowledge — American Experiences	43
7.	The Last Years	54
PART II the house of cassell
1.	Cassell, Petter and Galpin	63
2.	Some Editors and Arnold-Forster	71
3.	Departmental Managers	80
4.	The New Order	85
5.	Forty Years of Illustration	96
6.	Magazines and Periodicals	114
7.	The First Halfpenny Newspaper, and Some Others	147
8.	Serials and Books	157
9.	The Novelists: "R.L.S," and Others	207
10.	The Machinery at La Belle Sauvage	221
11.	The Social Side of La Belle Sauvage	230
	Index	237

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

John Cassell	Frontispiece
	FACING PAGE
La Belle Sauvage Inn	18
Coach Emerging from La Belle Sauvage Yard	22
Relief from Old La Belle Sauvage (showing the Crest of the Cutlers' Company)	24
The Entrance to La Belle Sauvage Yard in 1782	24
George William Petter	64
Thomas Dixon Galpin	66
Sir Wemyss Reid	70
Rt. Hon. H. O. Arnold-Forster	78
W. E. Henley	98
Sir J. E. Millais	110
Sir Luke Fildes, K.C.V.O., R.A.	110
Henry Morley	160
Dean Farrar	160
Robert Louis Stevenson	208
Sir Rider Haggard, K.B.E.	216
Col. Burnaby	216
H. G. Wells	218
Fleet Lane View of Cassell and Company's Premises	222
La Belle Sauvage Yard, 1921	228