Tag: Collins

Science Fiction & Fantasy

The 2nd Avon Fantasy Reader (1947).
HarperCollins’s connections to nascent science fiction and fantasy worlds began with works such as Edward Lytton Bulwer’s The Coming Race (1871), and H. G. Wells’s The War of the Worlds (1898) and The Invisible Man (1898). More

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

George R. R. Martin

The Collectors’ Preview Edition of A Game of Thrones by George R. R. Martin, Book One of A Song of Ice and Fire.
It was in 1993 that George R. R. Martin–already an acclaimed author of science fiction and horror novels, and well known for his work in Hollywood as a screenwriter on The Twilight Zone and Beauty and the Beast–decided he needed a broader outlet for his creativity and conceived of A Song of Ice and Fire, a truly monumental fantasy series. More

Queen Elizabeth II visiting the Collins Glasgow offices

Queen Elizabeth II visiting the Collins Glasgow offices
Billy Collins, William Collins Sons & Co.’s incumbent chairman, greets Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, at the Collins Glasgow offices as part of the company’s celebration of its 150th anniversary in 1969. 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

“The Most Beautiful Printing Ever Done”

An edition of Harper’s Illuminated and New Pictorial Bible from 1846.
James Harper went to Europe in 1835 to compile a set of fairy tales for publication, and Harper & Brothers enlisted Joseph A. Adams to make 81 detailed wood-cut engravings for the collection. More

Collins Operations during WWII

The 1940 destruction of the Collins Bridewell Place offices.
Collins maintained combined office and warehouse space at Bridewell Place in London for many years, and in 1917, its new London publishing office at 48 Pall Mall was complemented by printing works in Mayfair that included a state-of-the-art bindery, warehouse, and distribution center. More

Letter from C. S. Lewis

Letter from C. S. Lewis
In this letter to Collins publisher Billy Collins, dated November 1954, C. S. Lewis—author of The Chronicles of Narnia series, Mere Christianity, and The Screwtape Letters, among others—outlines what he sees as his three types of “literary output”: “A. Religious and General. B. Fiction. C. Academic.” 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

Agatha Christie

Agatha Christie.
The house of Collins acquired “Queen of Crime” Agatha Christie after she disagreed with her former publisher over the spelling of “coco”/”cocoa” in her first book, The Mysterious Affair at Styles. 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