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The Seven Lives of John Murray: The Story of a Publishing Dynasty

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This is just a wonderfully informal and informative look at the history of John Murray publishers, first established in London in 1768. The seven lives referred to in the title are the successive John Murrays who headed the house until it was acquired in 2002 by Hodder Headline, though it still is somewhat independent. The history of the book has become a hot topic in recent years, and although this is not an academic treatise, it is just full of information. The famous authors published by Murray seem endless, including Lord Byron, Darwin, Dr. Livingstone, John Betjeman, Freya Stark and Kenneth Clark just to name a few. Murray's was also involved in publishing the "Quarterly Review" and the "Cornhill" periodicals. The book was predominantly researched in Murray's own extensive archives, which were acquired by the National Library of Scotland for over 31 million pounds in 2005, which attests to the historical interest that attaches to the history of the firm. The history of British publishing in the 19th and 20th centuries affords invaluable insights into the intellectual history of the period, and Murray was at the center of it all. Now the reader can be as well.