Author Description

A remarkably complete record of both John Murray's business career (1768-1793) and his private life is preserved in the archive of the London publishing house that still bears his name. In this book, Zachs exploits that material to fully trace Murray's success in the competitive book trade, success which he achieved by imaginatively using many of the new practices that were revolutionizing the industry. The accounts of Murray's negotiations with authors and other traders, and the details of how he produced and marketed his publications, lay bare the fundamental economics of the book trade in a surprisingly contemporary way. And all the while, Zachs also tells the story of a remarkable life. Murray was a complicated man--honest and hypocritical, self-serving and generous, a constant schemer capable of considerable spontaneity, and so forth. He was married twice (to sisters), was the father of an illegitimate son for whom he had lifelong affection, and was always anything but conventional.