Records of Gresham Publishing Co Ltd, publishers, 1917-1948, London, England

Scope and Content

  • 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.

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

Related Material

GB 248 UGD 061 Records of Blackie & Son Ltd

Records concerning Blackie & Sons Limited international branches see UGD 061/4/7.

GB 248 UGD 061/10/2 Records of Blackie & Son (India) Ltd

GB 248 UGD 061/10/3 Records of Blackie & Son (Canada) Ltd

GB 248 UGD 061/10/4 Records of Blackie & Son (Australasia) Ltd

GB 248 UGD 061/10/5 Records of Abelard Schuman Ltd

UGD 061/10/6 International Textbook Company Limited

UGD 061/10/7 Antonine Publishing Company Limited

Material in other repositories: no material associated by provenance

Bibliography

No known publications using this material

Additional Information

This material is original

EAD enhancement by Peter Morphew, Archive Cataloguer, October 2017