Tag: Collins

Early Offices

Westbow
Thomas Nelson’s bookshop once sat in a half-timbered storefront at 7 West Bow in Edinburgh, one of many rickety buildings rising precariously from the Z-shaped street like upside-down pyramids. More

Doctor Zhivago

Doctor Zhivago
Collins was the first to publish this epic romantic drama by the Nobel Prize winner in English. More

1908: Collins obtains New Zealand Post Office Box #1…

Auckland's First Sky-Scrapper. The Wyndam Street Building.
During a time of expansion for Collins in New Zealand, the company obtains New Zealand Post Office Box #1 (which it continues to use to this day) and moves to a new building on Wyndham Street, which at eight stories high, was then Auckland’s tallest building. More

Letter from “Padington”

Letter from “Padington”
Signed with a paw print, this letter from “Padington” (circa 1966) was sent to Australian booksellers and sales staff, encouraging them to sell the latest Paddington title. More

A Bear Called Paddington

An early cover layout for A Bear Called Paddington by Michael Bond, published by Collins in 1958.
In 1958, an editor at Collins named Barbara Ker Wilson received a manuscript submission about a talking bear, which she opened with “initial suspicion” —as the publisher had received many other proposals featuring humanized animals that “are invariably either whimsy-whamsy, written down, or filled with adult innuendoes.” More

A Game of Thrones

A Game of Thrones
First volume in the internationally bestselling series that has sold upward of 70 million copies. More

Education and Publishing

Title pages of several books featured in Harper’s Family Library in the 1830s, including The History of the Bible and The Lives of Celebrated Travelers.
Beginning in 1830, the Harper brothers believed that the increasingly literate populace might clamor for turnkey collections. More

The HarperCollins Logo

The Harper “fire” and Collins “water” colophons, which were combined to create today’s “fire and water” HarperCollins logo.
The HarperCollins logo represents the 1990 consolidation of Harper & Row, based in New York, and Collins Publishers, based in London and Glasgow. More

Founded on Religion

The 1859 license granted to William Collins and Company, giving it permission to print the Bible.
Though a shared love of the written word inspired those who laid the foundation of HarperCollins, spreading Christian principles was a calling for them. More

The Hobbit

The Hobbit
J. R. R. Tolkien’s enchanting tale became an instant success when it was first published. More