Angus & Robertson and the British Trade in Australian Books, 19301970

The Getting of Bookselling Wisdom

By (author) Jason D. Ensor

Publication date:

15 December 2012

Publisher

Anthem Press

Dimensions:

229x153mm
6x9"

ISBN-13: 9780857285669

‘Angus & Robertson and the British Trade in Australian Books, 1930–1970’ traces the history of the printed book in Australia, particularly the production and business context that mediated Australia’s literary and cultural ties to Britain for much of the twentieth century. This study focuses on the London operations of one of Australia’s premier book publishers of the twentieth century: Angus & Robertson. The book argues that despite the obvious limitations of a British-dominated market, Australian publishers had room to manoeuvre in it. It questions the ways in which Angus & Robertson replicated, challenged or transformed the often highly criticised commercial practices of British publishers in order to develop an export trade for Australian books in the United Kingdom. This book is the answer to the current void in the literary market for a substantial history of Australia’s largest publisher and its role in the development of Australia’s export book trade.

‘Jason Ensor's absorbing study of Angus & Robertson's UK publishing ventures in the mid-twentieth century is a valuable addition to the story of Australian cultural history. It is also a timely contribution to the newly transnational and worldly understanding of what is usually thought of as an iconically nationalist institution, Angus & Robertson. We know that the empire wrote back, but Ensor's study shows us how the empire also published back.’ —Philip Mead, University of Western Australia