A & C Black

A & C Black
Parent company	Bloomsbury Publishing
Founded	1807; 217 years ago
Founder	Adam Black and Charles Black
Country of origin	United Kingdom
Headquarters location	London
Publication types	Books
Nonfiction topics	Reference

A & C Black is a British book publishing company, owned since 2002 by Bloomsbury Publishing. The company is noted for publishing Who's Who since 1849 and the Encyclopædia Britannica between 1827 and 1903.^[1]^[2] It offers a wide variety of books in fiction and nonfiction, and has published popular travel guides, novels, and science books.

History

The firm was founded in 1807 by Charles and Adam Black in Edinburgh.^[1] In 1851, the company purchased the copyrights to Sir Walter Scott's Waverly novels for £27,000.^[1] The company moved to the Soho district of London in 1889.^[3]

During the years 1827–1903 the firm published the seventh, eighth and ninth editions of the Encyclopædia Britannica. This was purchased from Archibald Constable after his company's failure to publish the seventh edition of the encyclopedia.^[4] Adam Black retired in 1870 due to his disapproval of his sons' extravagant plans for its ninth edition.^[4] This edition, however, would sell half a million sets and was released in 24 volumes from 1875 to 1889.^[4]

Beginning in 1839, the firm published a series of travel guides known as Black's Guides.

The company was the publisher of the annual Who's Who (since 1849^[2]) and also, since 2002, the Whitaker's Almanack. Other notable works include Black's Medical Dictionary and the Know The Game series of sports rules and laws reference books.^[5]

The firm also published the A. & C. Black Colour Books: Twenty Shilling Series (1901–21),^[6] a "range of high-quality colour collectable picture books"^[7] which are still collected by bibliophiles.^[8]

In 1902 they published P. G. Wodehouse's first book, The Pothunters, and went on to produce many of his early works.

In 1989 A & C Black purchased both Christopher Helm Publishers and later the Pica Press, publishers of the Helm Identification Guides, from Christopher Helm.^[9]

In 2000 A & C Black was purchased by Bloomsbury Publishing Plc, which continued producing the former's range of reference works.^[10]

In June 2002, T. & A. D. Poyser and their back-list of around 70 ornithology titles were acquired from Elsevier Science.

A & C Black purchased Methuen Drama from Methuen Publishing in 2006, and acquired Arden Shakespeare from Cengage Learning in 2008.

In 2016, A & C Black Music list moved to Collins Learning, a division of HarperCollins Publishers Ltd.

Notable books

Book series

Black's Atlas of North America, 1856
Artist's Sketch Book Series
Ballet Pocket Series (Newman Wolsey; then: A. & C. Black)^[11]
Black's Guides
Black's Junior Reference Books
Black's Novel Library^[12]
Black's Popular Series of Colour Books
Black's School History
Black's "Water-colour" series
Colour Books: The 7s. 6d. Net Series
Colour Books: The 6s. Net Series
Colour Books: The 10s. Net Series
Colour Books: The 20s. Net Series
Dancers of To-day
Ecclesiastical History of England (General Editor: J. C. Dickinson)
The Fascination of London^[13]
Guild Text-books
How-and-Why Series
Know the Game
The Making of the Nations^[14]
Peeps at Ancient Civilisations
Peeps at Great Cities
Peeps at Great Explorers
Peeps at Great Men
Peeps at Great Railways
Peeps at History
Peeps at Industries
Peeps at Many Lands
Peeps at Nature
Peeps at Nature for Little Children
Peeps for Little People
The Peeps Series (sometimes called: Miscellaneous Peeps series)
Social Life in England

Imprints

Adlard Coles Nautical
Arden Shakespeare
Andrew Brodie Publications
Featherstone
Methuen Drama
T. & A. D. Poyser
Reeds Almanac
John Wisden & Co

References

^ ^a ^b ^c Ward, Arthur (2015). A Guide to War Publications of the First & Second World War: From Training Guides to Propaganda Posters. Barnsley, UK: Pen and Sword. ISBN 978-1-78383-154-8.
^ ^a ^b Duckett, Robert John; Walker, Peter; Donnelly, Christinea (2008). Know it All, Find it Fast: An A-Z Source Guide for the Enquiry Desk (3rd ed.). London: Facet Publishing. p. 77. ISBN 978-1-85604-652-7.
^ Barton, Susan; Brodie, Allan (2016). Travel and Tourism in Britain, 1700–1914 Vol 1. Oxon: Routledge. p. 25. ISBN 978-1-84893-412-2.
^ ^a ^b ^c Finkelstein, David (2007). Edinburgh History of the Book in Scotland, Volume 4: Professionalism and Diversity 1880-2000, Volume 4. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press. p. 347. ISBN 978-0-7486-1829-3.
^ Know The Game, archive.org. Retrieved 16 April 2017.
^ A. & C. Black Colour Books: Twenty Shilling Series, publishinghistory.com. Retrieved on 16 April 2017.
^ The History of A&C Black Publishers, archive.org. Retrieved on 16 April 2017.
^ Cliff Tomaszewski, "A. & C. Black's 20/- Colour Books", Stella and Rose's Books. Retrieved 16 April 2017.
^ FOB: Firms Out of Business, utexas.edu. Retrieved 16 April 2017.
^ Gadsby, David (10 November 2013). "Charles Black obituary | Publishing". The Guardian.
^ Ballet Pocket Series (Newman Wolsey Ltd; then: A. & C. Black) - Book Series List, publishinghistory.com. Retrieved 31 January 2020.
^ bibliogroup:Black's Novel Library, Google Books. Retrieved 31 January 2020.
^ Sir Walter Besant and G. E. Mitton, The Fascination of London: Holburn and Bloomsbury, London: Adam & Charles Black, 1903 (The Fascination of London series), archive.org. Retrieved 31 January 2020.
^ The Making of the Nations (A. & C. Black) – Book Series List, publishinghistory.com. Retrieved 31 January 2020.

External links

A&C Black – archive.org copy of the site as it was on 15 January 2010.
History of A&C Black, acblack.com (archive.org copy).
Bloomsbury Publishing corporate structure
Bloomsbury Publishing corporate history
Whitaker's Almanack
A & C Black Colour Books: Twenty Shilling Series
Records of A. & C. Black Publishers Ltd, University of Reading
Recovering Publishing Histories: the Adam & Charles Black Letterbooks

[:0-1] Ward, Arthur (2015). A Guide to War Publications of the First & Second World War: From Training Guides to Propaganda Posters. Barnsley, UK: Pen and Sword. ISBN 978-1-78383-154-8.

[:2-2] Duckett, Robert John; Walker, Peter; Donnelly, Christinea (2008). Know it All, Find it Fast: An A-Z Source Guide for the Enquiry Desk (3rd ed.). London: Facet Publishing. p. 77. ISBN 978-1-85604-652-7.

[3] Barton, Susan; Brodie, Allan (2016). Travel and Tourism in Britain, 1700–1914 Vol 1. Oxon: Routledge. p. 25. ISBN 978-1-84893-412-2.

[:1-4] Finkelstein, David (2007). Edinburgh History of the Book in Scotland, Volume 4: Professionalism and Diversity 1880-2000, Volume 4. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press. p. 347. ISBN 978-0-7486-1829-3.

[5] Know The Game, archive.org. Retrieved 16 April 2017.

[6] A. & C. Black Colour Books: Twenty Shilling Series, publishinghistory.com. Retrieved on 16 April 2017.

[7] The History of A&C Black Publishers, archive.org. Retrieved on 16 April 2017.

[8] Cliff Tomaszewski, "A. & C. Black's 20/- Colour Books", Stella and Rose's Books. Retrieved 16 April 2017.

[9] FOB: Firms Out of Business, utexas.edu. Retrieved 16 April 2017.

[10] Gadsby, David (10 November 2013). "Charles Black obituary | Publishing". The Guardian.

[11] Ballet Pocket Series (Newman Wolsey Ltd; then: A. & C. Black) - Book Series List, publishinghistory.com. Retrieved 31 January 2020.

[12] roup:Black's Novel Library, Google Books. Retrieved 31 January 2020.

[13] Sir Walter Besant and G. E. Mitton, The Fascination of London: Holburn and Bloomsbury, London: Adam & Charles Black, 1903 (The Fascination of London series), archive.org. Retrieved 31 January 2020.

[14] The Making of the Nations (A. & C. Black) – Book Series List, publishinghistory.com. Retrieved 31 January 2020.

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