View source for Henry Colburn

{{Short description|British publisher  (1784–1855)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2015}}
{{EngvarB|date=November 2015}}
'''Henry Colburn''' (1784&nbsp;– 16 August 1855) was a British publisher.

==Life==
Virtually nothing is known about Henry Colburn's parentage or early life, and there is uncertainty over his year of birth.<ref>Although Colborn's age at his death in 1855 is recorded as 65 in the [[London Metropolitan Archives]] Parish Registers (DL/T/041/023 #24557), his entry in the [[1851 United Kingdom census]] (HO 107/1485, 13 Gt Marlborough St) gives his age as 66 (b. Chelsea).</ref> He was well-educated and fluent in French and had the financial capital at a young age to enter publishing, giving credence to the hypothesis of [[Michael Sadleir]] that he may have been the illegitimate son of an Englishman by a French mother.<ref>{{cite thesis|last=Melnyk|first=Veronica|date=2002|title='Half fashion and half passion': the life of publisher Henry Colburn|type=PhD|chapter=|publisher=[[University of Birmingham]]|docket=|oclc=|url=https://etheses.bham.ac.uk/id/eprint/163/1/Melnyk02PhD.pdf|access-date=17 Dec 2021}}</ref>

He is first documented as an apprentice printer indentured for six years to William Earle, a bookseller in [[Albemarle Street]], London, on 1 June 1800 for the sum of £1,000.<ref>[[The National Archives (United Kingdom)]], Board of Stamps: Apprenticeship Books: Series IR 1; Class: IR 1; Piece: 38 entry for 25 Jun 1800</ref> Earle's was an established English and foreign language library.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Earle|first=William|title=A New Catalogue of the Extensive and Well-chosen Collection of English Books; Being Part I. of Earle's Original French, English, Spanish and Italian Circulating Library; Established Upwards of 60 Years ...|publisher=J. Nichols|year=1800|location=London}}</ref> In 1806, Colburn acquired Morgan's [[circulating library]] based in [[Conduit Street]],<ref>{{Cite news|date=28 Jun 1806|title=Colburn's Library (Late Morgan's) (advertisement)|work=[[The Morning Chronicle]]|url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000174/18061129/002/0001|access-date=18 Dec 2021|quote=No. 41, Conduit-street, Bond-street.—H. Colburn (from Earle's) having purchased the above select and valuable French and English Circulating Library...}}</ref> from where he published his first books, notably works by popular light novelists translated from French and German. Most of the French novels were published in the original language by ''Chez Colburn'' and then reissued in translation''.'' A few were non fiction, as can be seen in the table.
{| class="wikitable mw-collapsible mw-collapsed"
|+ class="nowrap" | Early publications
!Title
!Author
!Advertised
!Published
|-
|''Anecdotes, Interesting Narratives, and Miscellanies''
|[[August von Kotzebue|Kotzebue]]
|Nov 1806
|1806
|-
|''[https://books.google.com/books?id=MXYyAQAAMAAJ&q=the+pastor%27s+Daughter The Pastor's Daughter, with other Romances]''
|[[August von Kotzebue|Kotzebue]]
|Nov 1806
|1806
|-
|''[https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/830967521 Convent of Notre Dame, or Jeannette]''
|[[François Guillaume Ducray-Duminil|Ducray-Duminil]] (tr. [[Elizabeth Meeke|Meeke]])
|Mar 1807
|1807
|-
|[https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/557602564 ''An Essay on the Study of Statistics'']
|Daniel Boileau
|Apr 1807
|1807
|-
|''[https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/1104680160 The Second Titan War Against Heaven]''
|[[Eaton Stannard Barrett|Barrett]]
|Jun 1807
|1807
|-
|''Christina, or memoirs of a German Princess''
|[[Isabelle de Montolieu|de Montolieu]]
|Sep 1807
|1807
|-
|''Memoirs of Female Philosophers''
|Anon (after [[Elizabeth Hamilton (writer)|Hamilton]])
|Nov 1807
|1808
|-
|''The Sorrows of Gustavus, or The History of a Young Swede''
|[[Barbara von Krüdener|von Krüdener]]
|Nov 1807
|1808
|-
|''The Romance of the Appennines, or memoirs of the Viterba family''
|Anon
|Nov 1807
|1808
|-
|''[https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/558477293 Le Duc de Lauzun (French)]''
|[[Stéphanie Félicité, comtesse de Genlis|de Genlis]]
|Jan 1807
|1808
|-
|[https://books.google.com/books?id=zxTvMsdF1j0C ''History of the Female Sex'']
|[[Christoph Meiners|Meiners]]
|Jan 1808
|1808
|-
|''Zoological Anecdotes''
|William Brewster
|Feb 1808
|1808
|-
|''The Duke of Lauzun'' (English)
|[[Stéphanie Félicité, comtesse de Genlis|de Genlis]]
|Mar 1808
|1808
|-
|''Sainclair, ou la Victime des Sciences et des Arts'' (French)
|[[Stéphanie Félicité, comtesse de Genlis|de Genlis]]
|Apr 1808
|1808
|-
|''Claire d'Albe'' (French)
|[[Sophie Ristaud Cottin|Cottin]]
|May 1808
|1808
|-
|''The Earl of Cork'' (in French and English)
|[[Stéphanie Félicité, comtesse de Genlis|de Genlis]]
|May 1808
|1808
|-
|''[https://books.google.com/books?id=5oK_4VtCyJQC Les Souvenirs de Felici L***]'' (French)
|[[Stéphanie Félicité, comtesse de Genlis|de Genlis]]
|May 1808
|1808
|-
|''Clara: a Novel'' (in French and English)
|[[Sophie Ristaud Cottin|Cottin]]
|May 1808
|1808
|-
|''Bélisaire'' (in French and English)
|[[Stéphanie Félicité, comtesse de Genlis|de Genlis]]
|Aug 1808
|1808
|-
|''[https://books.google.com/books?id=VAwMAAAAYAAJ A Picture of Valencia]''
|[[:de:Christian Augustus Fischer|Fischer]]
|Sep 1808
|1808
|-
|''[https://books.google.com/books?id=egqYUqvYnO4C&q=Andrew+Grant+MD History of Brazil]''
|Andrew Grant MD
|Sep 1808
|1809
|-
|''[https://books.google.com/books?id=1PA5Jfnf9xIC&q=Picture+of+Lisbon A Picture of Lisbon]''
|[[Johann Heinrich Friedrich Link|Link]]
|Sep 1808
|1809
|-
|''Honourine d'Userche, Saint Anne, and the Ruins of Yedburg'' (in English and French)
|[[Isabelle de Charrière|de Charrière]]
|Nov 1809
|1809
|-
|''Atala ou des Amours de deux Sauvages dans le Desert'' (French)
|[[François-René de Chateaubriand|de Chateaubriand]]
|Nov 1809
|1809
|-
|''Theodore et Blanche'' (French)
|[[Sophie Ristaud Cottin|Cottin]]
|Nov 1808
|
|-
|''Malvina'' (French)
|[[Sophie Ristaud Cottin|Cottin]]
|Dec 1808
|1809
|-
|''[https://books.google.com/books?id=9gAGAAAAQAAJ Amelie Mansfield]'' (French)
|[[Sophie Ristaud Cottin|Cottin]]
|Dec 1808
|1809
|-
|''Alphonso, or The Natural Son'' 
|[[Stéphanie Félicité, comtesse de Genlis|de Genlis]]
|Dec 1808
|1809
|-
|''[https://books.google.com/books?id=LztHAAAAIAAJ The Batchelor]''
|Thomas George Moore
|Dec 1808
|1809
|-
|''[https://books.google.com/books?id=ngZCE2cNs6AC Leontina]''
|[[August von Kotzebue|Kotzebue]]
|Dec 1808
|1809
|}
He had an early coup in publishing [[Lady Caroline Lamb]]'s [[roman à clef]] (and succès de scandale) novel ''[[Glenarvon]]'' (1816), which went through four editions and sold very well.<ref>Douglass, Paul. ''Lady Caroline Lamb'' Palgrave-Macmillan, 2004, pp. 183–18.</ref> [[Lady Morgan]]'s ''France'' (1817) was another of his earliest successful ventures. A furious attack in the ''[[Quarterly Review]]'' (April 1817) did more good than harm to the book.{{sfn|Tedder|1887}} ''[[Glenarvon]]'' was a harbinger of Colburn's later great innovation, the so-called "silver fork novel", a kind of [[fashionable novel]] which gave readers the thrill of peering into the lifestyles of rich and aristocratic families. In 1827 he published one of the first science fiction novels, ''[[The Mummy! A Tale of the Twenty-Second Century]]'' written by [[Jane Wells Webb Loudon|Jane Webb]] (later known as Jane C. Loudon).<ref name="ODNB">[http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/17030 "Profile of Jane Loudon"], ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography''. (Oxforddnb.com), Retrieved on 5 April 2012.</ref>

At the beginning of 1824 his publishing interests were separated from the library and established in [[New Burlington Street]].<ref>{{Cite news|date=6 Feb 1824|title=Messrs. Colburn and Co. (advertisement)|work=[[The Morning Post]]|url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000174/18240206/002/0002|access-date=19 Dec 2021|quote=Messrs. Colburn and Co. ... have determined (for the convenience of each) to SEPARATE their PUBLISHING BUSINESS from the LIBRARY ; and that, in future, the former will be conducted by Mr. Colburn, at No. 8, New Burlington-street ...}}</ref>

In 1830 Colburn took his printer, [[Richard Bentley (publisher)|Richard Bentley]] into a partnership, which was dissolved in August 1832. Having first set up business again at Windsor for a short time, Colburn paid a forfeiture for breaking the covenant not to commence publishing within twenty miles of London, and opened a house in [[Great Marlborough Street]]. He finally retired from business in favour of Messrs. [[Hurst & Blackett]], but kept his name attached to a few books. These included [[Elliot Warburton]]'s ''Crescent and the Cross'', the ''Diaries'' of Evelyn and Pepys, [[Agnes Strickland]]'s ''Lives'' and ''[[Burke's Peerage]]''. Their copyrights went to auction at [[Henry Southgate|Southgate & Barrett]] on 26 May 1857, and produced about £14,000.{{sfn|Tedder|1887}}

Colburn amassed a considerable fortune, his property being sworn as under £35,000.{{sfn|Tedder|1887}}

==Periodicals==
With the support of [[Frederic Shoberl]], Colburn started in 1814 ''[[The New Monthly Magazine|New Monthly Magazine, and Universal Register]]'', a rival to the old ''[[Monthly Magazine]]'' of [[Sir Richard Phillips]]. [[John Watkins (writer)|John Watkins]] and [[Alaric Alexander Watts]] were among the early editors. A new series began in 1820 under the care of [[Thomas Campbell (editor)|Thomas Campbell]]. [[Edward Bulwer-Lytton|Bulwer Lytton]] (1832), [[Theodore Hook]], and [[Harrison Ainsworth]] (3rd ser., 1836) successively were editors. The magazine lasted to 1875.{{sfn|Tedder|1887}}

On 25 January 1817, Colburn brought out the first number of the ''[[Literary Gazette]]'', priced at one shilling.{{sfn|Tedder|1887}} It was the earliest weekly newspaper devoted to literature, science, and the arts which obtained reputation and authority. Initially [[Hannibal Evans Lloyd]], and Thomasina Ross who had worked with Lloyd before, appear to have been joint editors.<ref>{{cite book|author=Susan Matoff|title=Conflicted Life: William Jerdan, 1782–1869, London Editor, Author and Critic|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YR5zfWS4RpIC&pg=PA75|access-date=8 September 2013|date=January 2011|publisher=Sussex Academic Press|isbn=978-1-84519-417-8|page=75}}</ref> The department of fine arts was under the care of [[William Paulet Carey]]. After the twenty-sixth number (19 July 1817) [[William Jerdan]] purchased a third share of the property and became sole editor. [[Messrs. Longman]] also purchased a third, and the periodical was rapidly successful. In 1842, [[William Jerdan]] became sole proprietor. The ''Gazette'' was incorporated with the ''Parthenon'' in 1862. {{sfn|Tedder|1887}}

On 31 December 1827, Colburn wrote to Jerdan that he had joined the new literary journal, the ''[[Athenaeum (British magazine)|Athenaeum]],'' "in consequence of the injustice done to my authors generally" by the ''Gazette''. In 1828, he founded the ''Court Journal''; in the following year he brought out the ''[[United Service Magazine and Naval and Military Journal]]''; and he had some interest in the ''[[Sunday Times]]''.{{sfn|Tedder|1887}}

A biography of [[David Lester Richardson]] recounts the background to Colburn's ''Court Journal''. Richardson established the ''London Weekly Review'' in 1827, but was compelled to give it up in 1828; he entered into an agreement under which Colburn would assume control of the journal in return for Richardson receiving a share in the profits of sales of the ''London Weekly Review''. Colburn ingeniously renamed the publication as the ''Court Journal'', and Richardson's anticipated rewards evaporated.<ref name="CMJ">{{cite journal|journal=Calcutta Monthly Journal|volume=For the year 1838|title=Biographical Sketches No.1 - D.L.R|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MBYYAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA4|page=4|date=1839|location=Calcutta|publisher=Samuel Smith and Co.}}</ref>

==Books==
After the successes of Lady Caroline Lamb's ''[[Glenarvon]]'' (1816) and Lady Morgan's ''France'' (1817), Colburn, at the suggestion of [[William Upcott]], brought out the first edition of ''[[John Evelyn's Diary]]'' in 1818. It was followed by his publication of ''[[Pepys's Diary]]'' in 1825.  At the height of Theodore Hook's headlong London career, Colburn offered him £600. for a novel, and ''Sayings and Doings'' (1824) was the result. Six thousand copies of the three volumes are said to have been sold.{{sfn|Tedder|1887}} In 1827 he published Thomas Skinner Sturr's anonymous ''Richmond, or stories in the life of a Bow Street officer'', the earliest collection of detective stories.

In 1826, Colburn published ''The Posthumous Works of [[Ann Radcliffe|Anne Radcliffe]]'', featuring ''[[Gaston de Blondeville]],'' and ''A Memoir of The Authoress'', the first known biographical work on Mrs. Radcliffe.<ref>{{Cite book|title=The Posthumous Works of Anne Radcliffe ... To Which Is Prefixed a Memoir of the Authoress, with Extracts from her Private Journals. (Four Volumes)|last=Ward Radcliffe|first=Ann|year=1833|location=London|publisher=Henry Colburn|oclc=2777722}}</ref>

Colburn was a major purveyor of the [[fashionable novel]] mode of social fiction called "Silver Fork" after a phrase coined by [[William Hazlitt]].

The series of ''Colburn's Modern Standard Novelists'' (1835–41, 19 vols.), containing works by [[Thomas Campbell (poet)|Thomas Campbell]], [[Edward Bulwer-Lytton, 1st Baron Lytton|Bulwer Lytton]], [[Theodore Hook]] and [[William Harrison Ainsworth|Harrison Ainsworth]], [[Lady Morgan]], [[Robert Plumer Ward]], [[Horace Smith (poet)|Horace Smith]], [[Frederick Marryat|Marryat]], [[Thomas Henry Lister]], [[George Payne Rainsford James|G. P. R. James]], and [[George Robert Gleig]]. Colburn also numbered among "my authors" [[Benjamin Disraeli|Disraeli]], [[John Banim]], and fashionable novelists of the day.{{sfn|Tedder|1887}}

Colburn's book series, ''The Naval and Military Library of Entertainment: A Series of Works from the Pens of Distinguished Officers. Now First Collected'' (1834, 20 vols.), contained works by [[Frederick Marryat|Marryat]], [[George Gleig (priest)|Gleig]] and other lesser known authors on nonfiction subjects, including travel and memoirs, and military-related fiction, "particularly suited to the taste and pursuits of the members" of the Army and Navy.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=waw6AQAAMAAJ&pg=PA784 Publisher's advertisement], in: ''The London Literary Gazette and Journal of Belles Lettres, Arts, Sciences, etc.'', No. 881, 17 December 1833, p. 784. Retrieved 18 April 2021.</ref>

==Family==
He was twice married, the second time to Eliza Anne, only daughter of Captain Crosbie, who survived him. He died at his house in Bryanston Square on 16 August 1855.{{sfn|Tedder|1887}} He was buried in [[Kensal Green Cemetery]].

==References==
{{reflist}}
;Attribution
{{DNB|wstitle=Colburn, Henry|first=Henry Richard|last=Tedder|volume=11|pages=254-255}}

==Sources==
*{{Cite DNB|wstitle=Shoberl, Frederic|first=George Clement |last=Boase|authorlink = George Clement Boase|volume=52}}
*[[John Sutherland (author)|Sutherland, John]] & Melnyk, Veronica, ''Rogue Publisher 'The Prince of Puffers': The Life and Works of the Publisher Henry Colburn'' (Edward Everett Root Publishers Co., 2018)

==External links==
{{wikisource|works=or}}
* {{find a Grave|10427024}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Colburn, Henry}}
[[Category:1780s births]]
[[Category:1855 deaths]]
[[Category:English printers]]
[[Category:Burials at Kensal Green Cemetery]]
[[Category:Publishers (people) from London]]
[[Category:19th-century British businesspeople]]