- Company formation papers, 1911-1917;
- Minute papers, 1917-late 20th century;
- Financial records, 1897-1960;
- Shares, 1917-1951;
- Register of seals, 1924-1951;
- Administrative papers, 1897-1938;
- Correspondence, 1915-1939.
Records of Gresham Publishing Co Ltd, publishers, 1917-1948, London, England
- Reference
- GB 248 UGD 061/10/1
- Dates of Creation
- 1897-late 20th century
- Name of Creator
- Physical Description
- 0.5 metres
Scope and Content
Administrative / Biographical History
The Gresham Publishing Co was founded in 1898 by Blackie & Son Ltd , publishers, Bishopbriggs, Glasgow, Scotland. Blackie & Son had started subscription selling in the late 1870s but by the 1890s the trade was failing. The subscription department was brought under new management in 1893 and the trade started to pick up again, and an instalment system of payment ran parallel with the traditional subscription method for a time. The company sold works such as Kerner's Natural History of Plants and Davis's Natural History of Animals , both of which sold well. The Gresham Publishing Co was formed in order to take over the subscription trade of Blackie & Son Ltd and also to introduce the publication of scientific and technical books. Volumes were issued at intervals of 3 months and were paid for on delivery. Titles included The New Popular Encyclopaedia (1900) and the Gresham Dictionary and Gresham Encyclopaedia (1910s). The firm was incorporated in 1917 as Gresham Publishing Co Ltd and had its head office London with branches in almost every major British city as well as branches in Canada and India. The company continued trading until 1948 .
Sources: GB 248 UGD 061/10/1/2/2 and 10/1/7/2: Notes on company history
Arrangement
Arranged chronologically within series
Access Information
Open
Acquisition Information
Deposit : Company Secretary, Blackie & Son Ltd : November 1974
Other Finding Aids
Digital file level list available in searchroom
Manual file level list available at the National Registers of Archives in Edinburgh (NRA(S)1751 and 2501) and London (NRA21851)
Alternative Form Available
No known copies
Conditions Governing Use
Applications for permission to quote should be sent to the University Archivist
Reproduction subject to usual conditions: educational use & condition of documents
Appraisal Information
This material has been appraised in line with standard GB 248 procedures
Custodial History
Held by Blackie & Sons Ltd, publishers, Bishopbriggs, Glasgow, Scotland
Accruals
None expected
Bibliography
No known publications using this material
Additional Information
This material is original
EAD enhancement by Peter Morphew, Archive Cataloguer, October 2017