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| Parent company | Hachette |
|---|---|
| Status | Active |
| Founded | 1868; 157 years ago (1868) |
| Founder |
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| Country of origin | United Kingdom |
| Headquarters location | London, England |
| Imprints | Hodder & Stoughton,Coronet,Hodder Faith,John Murray,Mulholland,Quercus,Saltyard,Sceptre,Two Roads, Hodderscape |
| Official website | hodder |
Hodder & Stoughton is a British publishing house, now animprint ofHachette.[1]
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The firm has its origins in the 1840s, with Matthew Hodder's employment, aged 14, withMessrs Jackson and Walford, the official publisher for theCongregational Union. In 1861 the firm became Jackson, Walford and Hodder; but in 1868 Jackson and Walford retired, andThomas Wilberforce Stoughton joined the firm, creatingHodder & Stoughton.[1]
Hodder & Stoughton published both religious andsecular works, and its religious list contained some progressive titles. These includedGeorge Adam Smith'sIsaiah for itsExpositor’sBible series, which was one of the earliest texts to identify multiple authorship in theBook of Isaiah. There was also a sympatheticLife ofSt Francis byPaul Sabatier, aFrench Protestantpastor. Matthew Hodder made frequent visits to North America, meeting with theMoody Press and making links withScribners andFleming H. Revell.
Thesecular list only gradually acceptedfiction, and it was still subject to "moral censorship" in the early part of the 20th century. Matthew Hodder was doubtful about theRubaiyat of Omar Khayyam, and the company refusedMichael Arlen'sThe Green Hat, a novel published byCollins in 1924. In 1922, Hodder and Stoughton published an edition ofLewis Carroll'sAlice's Adventures in Wonderland.
The 1920s brought an explosion of commercial fiction at keen prices – Hodder's "Yellow Jackets" series were the precursors of the first paperbacks, and included bestsellers fromJohn Buchan,Edgar Wallace,Dornford Yates andSapper'sBulldog Drummond.[1] In 1928, the company became the exclusive British hardback publisher ofLeslie Charteris's adventure novel series,The Saint, publishing all 50 UK first editions of the series until 1983. In this decade they also took over ownership of the medical journalThe Lancet.
Hodder & Stoughton were also the originators of theTeach Yourself line of self-instruction books, which are still published through Hodder Headline's educational division. As the company expanded at home and overseas, Hodder & Stoughton's list swelled to include the real-life adventures in Peary'sNorth Pole and several works byWinston Churchill.
During the war, Ralph Hodder Williams set up theBrockhampton Book Co. to sell off overstocks oftheological works. The manager, Ernest Roker, had an interest in children's books and managed to persuade authorEnid Blyton to write a series of books for them about four children and a dog. In 1942, theFamous Five series was born withFive on a Treasure Island. In 1962, Brockhampton took over the children's writerElinor Lyon, whose novels the parent company had introduced in 1948.[citation needed]
Hodder & Stoughton also published theBiggles books by CaptainW. E. Johns, after he moved publishers from theOxford University Press during theSecond World War. Hodder & Stoughton published their first originalBiggles book in 1942 withBiggles Sweeps the Desert around September/October of that year (they had previously published a reprint ofBiggles Flies East in May 1942) and the Brockhampton Press published Johns' Gimlet books from 1947. From 1953, Brockhampton Press would also publish Biggles books, alternating with Hodder & Stoughton and Captain W. E. Johns remained with them until his death in 1968, with the last Hodder & Stoughton Biggles book appearing in August 1965 and the last Brockhampton Press Biggles book appearing in July 1970. Hodder & Stoughton also published some of Johns' Worrals books. Hodder & Stoughton eventually published 35 Biggles first editions and Brockhampton Press published a further 29 Biggles first editions.[2]
In 1953 they publishedSir John Hunt's successfulThe Ascent of Everest, and began their long association with thriller writerJohn Creasey. In the 1970s, they brought the Knight andCoronet imprints into common use. The latter is particularly memorable forDavid Niven's much-celebrated autobiographyThe Moon's a Balloon.
In the 1960s the Hodder and Stoughton fiction list broadened to include many quality commercial authors, includingMary Stewart whose works includedMadam, Will You Talk? and sold millions of copies worldwide. The non-fiction publishing includedAnthony Sampson's era-definingThe Anatomy of Britain in 1962. Another notable title in the children's sphere was the 1969 Brockhampton Press publication ofAsterix the Gaul byGoscinny andUderzo. In 1967, Godder and Stoughton sold its Canadian publisher, the Musson Book Company, toGeneral Publishing.
In 1974,John le Carré’sTinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy was published to much critical acclaim, earning him aLiterary Guild Choice.[3] The following year, previous employee John Attenborough publishedA Living Memory of Hodder. In 1981, the company acquired theNew English Library, an imprint created by the AmericanTimes Mirror Company that published works from several genres including fantasy, science fiction and suspense and included books byJames Herbert andStephen King.
In 1986, Hodder & Stoughton introducedSceptre as a literary imprint to sit alongside mass-market imprints Coronet and NEL. Originally publishing in paperback only, early books on the Sceptre list includedThomas Keneally’sSchindler's Ark which had won theBooker Prize in 1982. Hodder & Stoughton also won the Booker Prize in 1985 with the publication ofKeri Hulme’sThe Bone People,[4] originally acquired from itsNew Zealand office.
Other notable books on the Hodder & Stoughton list in this decade includeRosamunde Pilcher’sThe Shell Seekers,Elizabeth George’sA Great Deliverance and the first novel inJean M. Auel’s prehistoric fiction seriesEarth’s Children® The Clan of the Cave Bear, which was an international success and the series, completed with the publication ofThe Land of Painted Caves in 2011, has sold more than 45 million copies worldwide.
In 1987, Hodder acquired the academic publisherEdward Arnold.
The Lancet was sold toElsevier in 1991.[5] In 1993,Headline bought Hodder & Stoughton and the company became a division of Hodder Headline Ltd.[6] In 1997 Sceptre published Charles Frazier’s Cold Mountain and the following year Hodder & Stoughton releasedSir Alex Ferguson’s much-lauded autobiographyManaging My Life.[3]
In 1999, Hodder Headline was acquired byW H Smith. Also in 1999, Hodder acquired the children's publisher Wayland Publishers fromWolters Kluwer.[7]
In 2002 Hodder Headline Ltd acquiredJohn Murray and two years later Hodder Headline was bought byHachette Livre, which already owned British publishersOrion and Octopus. When Hachette also acquired Time Warner Book Group (now Little, Brown) it became the UK’s lead publisher. The Hodder & Stoughton fiction list is now home toJohn Connolly,Jeffery Deaver,John Grisham,Sophie Hannah,Stephen King,Jodi Picoult, Peter Robinson andRobyn Young. The 2009 publication ofDavid Nicholls’One Day heralded another international success. David wrote the screenplay for the 2011 film adaptation, directed byLone Scherfig and the book has sold more than two million copies worldwide.
On 7 July 2010 they released Stephen King'sUnder the Dome with four cover versions.[8]
In 2012, Hodder Education sold its medical and higher education lines, including the remainder of Arnold, toTaylor & Francis.[9]
In 2014, Hodder acquired the independent publisherQuercus.[10]
In December 2023, Hodder & Stoughton revealed its new logo, featuring astoat, reflecting the pronunciation of Stoughton's name.[11]
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