Victor Gollancz Ltd
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Victor Gollancz Ltd was a major British book publishing house of the twentieth century. It was founded in 1927 by Victor Gollancz (1893–1967) and specialised in the publication of high quality literature, nonfiction and popular fiction, including science fiction.
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[edit] Origins as a political house
Gollancz was left-inclined in politics and a supporter of socialist movements. This is reflected in some of the books he published. Victor Gollancz commissioned George Orwell to write about the urban working class in the North of England, the result was The Road to Wigan Pier. His break with Orwell came when he declined to publish Orwell's account of the Spanish Civil War Homage to Catalonia; the pair having drifted apart on political grounds. He did publish The Red Army Moves by Geoffrey Cox on the Winter War which was critical of the Soviet attack on Finland, but also foresaw that the Red Army would defeat the Germans.
Gollancz was the original publisher of a number of famous authors and their books including:
- George Orwell with Down and Out in Paris and London in 1933
- Alfred Ayer with Language, Truth and Logic in 1936
- A. J. Cronin with The Citadel in 1937
- Daphne du Maurier with Rebecca in 1938
- Kingsley Amis with Lucky Jim in 1953
- E. P. Thompson with The Making of the English Working Class in 1963
- Anthony Price with The Labyrinth Makers in 1971.
Many of Gollancz's books were published in one of their familiar house dust jackets, of which the most famous was bright yellow, with the title and author rendered in a vibrant, bold typography.
[edit] Transition to science fiction and fantasy genres
Upon Gollancz's death in 1967, his daughter, Livia, became controlling director. She sold it to Houghton Mifflin in 1989. Three years later, in October 1992, Houghton Mifflin sold Gollancz to Cassell. In 1998, the Orion Publishing Group purchased Gollancz from Cassell and turned it into its science fiction and fantasy imprint, Gollancz Science Fiction. To date, Gollanz has published 38 award winning and nominated books by the following authors[1]:
- Alastair Reynolds
- Mark Chadbourn
- Gwyneth Jones
- William Gibson
- Jon Grimwood
- Ian McDonald
- Paul McAuley
- Michael Harrison
- Mary Gentle
- Graham Joyce
- Jonathan Carroll
- Terry Pratchett
- Robert Shaw
- James Lovegrove
- Richard Morgan
- Geoff Ryman
- Keith Roberts
- John Sladek
- James Ballard
- Dan Simmons
- Gregory Bear
- Bruce Sterling
- Stephen Baxter
- Gene Wolfe
- Thomas Disch
- Ian Watson
- Christopher Priest
- Stephen Donaldson
- Joe Hill
- Robert Cormier
- Robert Holdstock
- Scott Lynch
- Michael Coney
- Christopher Evans
- Roger Levy
- Arthur Clarke
- Alison Sinclair
- Peter Delacorte
- Adam Roberts
To date, Gollanz published novels have been nominated for 134 science fiction and fantasy awards, and have won 28 of them [2].
[edit] Expansion into Manga
In 2005 Gollancz set up a manga publishing arm, Gollancz Manga, which publishes UK editions of various Viz Media properties.
The following titles have been published:
- Case Closed (Detective Conan)
- Dragon Ball
- Fushigi Yūgi
- Flame of Recca
- Maison Ikkoku
- One Piece
- Rurouni Kenshin
- Yu-Gi-Oh! (Volumes 1-7 and Yu-Gi-Oh! Duelist)
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ "Worlds Without End Science Fiction and Fantasy publishers". Worlds Without End. http://www.worldswithoutend.com/publisher.asp?ID=66. Retrieved 2009-04-01.
- ^ "Worlds Without End publisher rankings". Worlds Without End. http://www.worldswithoutend.com/publishers.asp. Retrieved 2009-04-01.
[edit] External links and resources
- Orion Publishing Group official website
- A catalogue of the Papers of Victor Gollancz Ltd
- Edwards, Ruth Dudley. Victor Gollancz: A Biography. London: V. Gollancz, 1987. ISBN 0575031751.
- Hodges, Sheila. Gollancz: The Story of a Publishing House, 1928–1978. London: V. Gollancz, 1978. ISBN 057502447X.
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