Christopher MacLehose

Christopher MacLehose was born in Edinburgh, Scotland, on 12 July 1940 to Alexander MacLehose and Elizabeth Hope MacLehose (née Bushell). His family was involved with the book trade as printers, booksellers and publishers, and he has described them as "seven generations, all of them second sons". He was educated at Shrewsbury School (1953–58),The Salopian, Issue 148, Summer 2011, p. 41. and read history at Worcester College, Oxford University.[http://www.ukwhoswho.com/view/10.1093/ww/9780199540884.001.0001/ww-9780199540884-e-255644/version/2 "MacLehose, Christopher Colin"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180830110510/http://www.ukwhoswho.com/view/10.1093/ww/9780199540884.001.0001/ww-9780199540884-e-255644/version/2 |date=30 August 2018 }}, Who's Who & Who Was Who, Oxford University Press, 2014. Retrieved 30 August 2018.

MacLehose took a job at the Glasgow Herald, where he hoped to stay for six months to gain the experience that would enable him to work for the recently founded Independent Television News; however, his ambitions changed direction after a few weeks: "I realised ... I wanted to work with language and words," MacLehose said in a 2012 interview. So he worked in the editorial office of the family printing factory by day, while freelancing by night for The Herald writing reviews and obituaries. Eventually, he was offered employment as literary editor of The Scotsman, following which he moved in 1967 to London and went into book publishing, initially as an editor at the Cresset Press (part of the Barrie Group), with P. G. Wodehouse among his authors,Anthony Gardner, [http://www.anthonygardner.co.uk/interviews/christopher_maclehose.html "Christopher MacLehose: The champion of translated fiction who struck it rich with Stieg Larsson"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170125204143/http://www.anthonygardner.co.uk/interviews/christopher_maclehose.html |date=25 January 2017 }}, 2010. as well as George MacDonald Fraser of Flashman fame, who had been the features editor of the Glasgow Herald when MacLehose was there.Christopher MacLehose, [https://www.spectator.co.uk/2014/05/the-road-to-bestsellerdom-by-christopher-maclehose-article/ "The derring-do that created Flashman"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170326141315/https://www.spectator.co.uk/2014/05/the-road-to-bestsellerdom-by-christopher-maclehose-article/ |date=26 March 2017 }}, The Spectator, 24 May 2014. MacLehose subsequently became editorial director of Chatto & Windus, and then editor-in-chief of William Collins.Hrvoje Bozicevic, [http://portal.unesco.org/culture/en/ev.php-URL_ID=24217&URL_DO=DO_TOPIC&URL_SECTION=201.html "The life and death of Harvill Press: Save the Leopard!"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170326230412/http://portal.unesco.org/culture/en/ev.php-URL_ID%3D24217%26URL_DO%3DDO_TOPIC%26URL_SECTION%3D201.html |date=26 March 2017 }}, Literature & Translation, UNESCO, 17 November 2004.Lucinda Byatt, [https://textline.wordpress.com/page/43/?archives-list=1 "At two ends of the publishing continuum: Harvill Secker's celebrates its (cumulative) centenary and Vagabond Voices"], A World of Words, 1 October 2009. {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190306044704/https://textline.wordpress.com/page/43/?archives-list=1 |date=6 March 2019 }}.

In 1984, MacLehose took charge of the Harvill imprint, of which he was publisher for the next 20 years, with a well respected list that specialised in translated works and included such titles as Boris Pasternak's Dr Zhivago, Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa's The Leopard, Mikhail Bulgakov's The Master and Margarita, Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn's One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich, and Peter Høeg's Miss Smilla's Feeling for Snow. Under his leadership, between 1998 and 2005, Harvill Press published a numbered series of books, known as the Leopard Series due to the series emblem (the initial series ran up to number 310 and was revived in 2020).https://300oddleopards.wordpress.com/ In 1995, MacLehose led a management buy-out of Harvill and for the following seven years characterised the company as "a bridge across cultures",Andrew Franklin, [https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/from-small-beginnings-5616429.html "From Small Beginnings"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171201042127/https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/from-small-beginnings-5616429.html |date=1 December 2017 }}, The Independent, 11 May 1996. counting among his authors Richard Ford, Raymond Carver, W. G. Sebald, José Saramago, Georges Perec, Claudio Magris and P. O. Enquist.Baret Magariani, [http://www.newstatesman.com/patrician-hauteur-interview-christopher-maclehose "Patrician hauteur. Interview – Christopher MacLehose"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170326135740/http://www.newstatesman.com/patrician-hauteur-interview-christopher-maclehose |date=26 March 2017 }}, New Statesman, 26 February 1999. In 2002, the company was bought by Random House[http://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/harvill-press-joins-the-random-house-group-155064545.html "Harvill press joins The Random House Group"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170328200414/http://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/harvill-press-joins-the-random-house-group-155064545.html |date=28 March 2017 }}, PR Newswire.Hilary Macaskill, [https://www.thebookseller.com/features/adapting-acquisition "Adapting to acquisition"], The Bookseller, 13 August 2003. and two years later MacLehose left.Michael Thwaite, [http://www.readysteadybook.com/Blog.aspx/www.clinamen.co.uk/www.clinamen.co.uk/www.amazon.co.uk/Death-Family-Karl-Ove-Knausgaard/dp/1846554675/www.sylpheditions.com/www.guardian.co.uk/books/2011/sep/02/Blog.aspx?permalink=20060921103159 "MacLehose joins with Quercus"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170328200221/http://www.readysteadybook.com/Blog.aspx/www.clinamen.co.uk/www.clinamen.co.uk/www.amazon.co.uk/Death-Family-Karl-Ove-Knausgaard/dp/1846554675/www.sylpheditions.com/www.guardian.co.uk/books/2011/sep/02/Blog.aspx?permalink=20060921103159 |date=28 March 2017 }}, Ready Steady Book, 21 September 2006.

He then set up the MacLehose Press, whose motto is "Read the World",Sam Leith, [http://www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/magazine/leith-on-language-found-in-translation "Leith on language: Found in translation"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170331143151/http://www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/magazine/leith-on-language-found-in-translation |date=31 March 2017 }}, Prospect, 16 March 2017 (April issue). as "an independently minded imprint" of Quercus Books (itself founded in 2004).{{cite web|url=http://www.maclehosepress.com/about/|publisher=MacLehose Press|title=ABOUT MACLEHOSE PRESS|accessdate=26 March 2017|archive-date=26 March 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170326225947/http://www.maclehosepress.com/about/|url-status=live}}[https://www.quercusbooks.co.uk/Information/About%20Us.page "About us"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170328201821/https://www.quercusbooks.co.uk/Information/About%20Us.page |date=28 March 2017 }}, Quercus. The first titles were published in January 2008,Joshua Farrington, [http://www.thebookseller.com/news/maclehose-press-celebrates-fifth-anniversary "MacLehose Press celebrates fifth anniversary"], The Bookseller, 21 December 2012. {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170326230117/http://www.thebookseller.com/news/maclehose-press-celebrates-fifth-anniversary |date=26 March 2017 }}. and among these was the best-selling psychological thriller The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Swedish author Stieg Larsson.[https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-25494189 "What publishers can do when a best-selling author dies"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140110003225/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-25494189 |date=10 January 2014 }}, BBC News, 23 December 2013. Other international authors published by MacLehose Press include Bernardo Atxaga,[https://www.economist.com/news/books-and-arts/21726056-bernardo-atxaga-tries-make-sense-reno-nevada-basque-writer-contemplates-america "A Basque writer contemplates America"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170925230517/https://www.economist.com/news/books-and-arts/21726056-bernardo-atxaga-tries-make-sense-reno-nevada-basque-writer-contemplates-america |date=25 September 2017 }}, The Economist, 10 August 2017. Dulce Maria Cardoso,[http://www.eurolitnetwork.com/rivetingreviews-rosie-goldsmith-reviews-the-return-by-dulce-maria-cardoso-2/ "#RivetingReviews: Rosie Goldsmith reviews THE RETURN by Dulce Maria Cardoso"], European Literature Network, 15 September 2017. {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190921104409/http://www.eurolitnetwork.com/rivetingreviews-rosie-goldsmith-reviews-the-return-by-dulce-maria-cardoso-2/ |date=21 September 2019 }}. Philippe Claudel,Boyd Tonkin, [https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/features/philippe-claudel-wins-independent-foreign-fiction-prize-1972537.html "Philippe Claudel wins Independent Foreign Fiction Prize"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170926001353/http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/features/philippe-claudel-wins-independent-foreign-fiction-prize-1972537.html |date=26 September 2017 }}, The Independent, 13 May 2010. Otto de Kat, Maylis de Kerangal, Virginie Despentes, Joël Dicker,Liz Bury, [https://www.theguardian.com/books/2013/dec/06/dan-brown-french-bestseller-englilsh-quebert "Dan Brown-trumping French bestseller due in English next year"], The Guardian, 6 December 2013. {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170925230905/https://www.theguardian.com/books/2013/dec/06/dan-brown-french-bestseller-englilsh-quebert |date=25 September 2017 }}.Katherine Cowdrey, [https://www.thebookseller.com/news/maclehose-press-acquires-new-novel-jo-l-dicker-369321 "'Harry Quebert' companion novel to MacLehose"], The Bookseller, 19 July 2016. {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170925230011/https://www.thebookseller.com/news/maclehose-press-acquires-new-novel-jo-l-dicker-369321 |date=25 September 2017 }}. Sophie Divry, Per Olov Enquist, Roy Jacobsen, Jaan Kross, Andrey Kurkov, David Lagercrantz, Pierre Lemaitre, Élmer Mendoza, Patrick Modiano, Marie NDiaye, Daniel Pennac, Lydie Salvayre, Żanna Słoniowska, and Valerio Varesi.Ian Thomson, [https://www.spectator.co.uk/2016/03/modern-italys-heart-of-darkness/ "Modern Italy’s heart of darkness"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170926084135/https://www.spectator.co.uk/2016/03/modern-italys-heart-of-darkness/ |date=26 September 2017 }}, The Spectator, 26 March 2016.[https://www.maclehosepress.com/books/?offset=1493905020444&reversePaginate=true "Books"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170925231608/https://www.maclehosepress.com/books/?offset=1493905020444&reversePaginate=true |date=25 September 2017 }}, MacLehose Press. On 30 October 2020, MacLehose Press announced that MacLehose had chosen to leave the imprint. Associate publisher Katharina Bielenberg took over as publisher.{{Cite web|author=Katherine Cowdrey|date=30 October 2020|title=Christopher MacLehose steps back from MacLehose Press after 13 years {{!}} The Bookseller|url=https://www.thebookseller.com/news/christopher-maclehose-steps-back-maclehose-press-1223790|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201031081930/https://www.thebookseller.com/news/christopher-maclehose-steps-back-maclehose-press-1223790|archive-date=31 October 2020|access-date=2020-10-30|website=www.thebookseller.com}}{{Cite web|author=Erin Somers|date=2020-10-30|title=People, Etc.|url=https://lunch.publishersmarketplace.com/2020/10/people-etc-1262/|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201101044859/https://lunch.publishersmarketplace.com/2020/10/people-etc-1262/|archive-date=1 November 2020|access-date=2020-10-30|website=Publishers Lunch|language=en-US}}

In March 2021, it was announced that MacLehose would be leading a new imprint at the Welbeck Publishing Group called Mountain Leopard Press, with a focus on literary work and translated literature,{{cite web|url=https://publishingperspectives.com/2021/03/londons-welbeck-is-in-new-partnership-on-an-imprint-with-christopher-maclehose/|title=London's Welbeck Launches a New Imprint with Christopher MacLehose|author=Porter Anderson|website=Publishing Perspectives|date=23 March 2021}} the launch title being Evelio Rosero's Stranger to the Moon, translated by Victor Meadowcroft and Anne McLean.John Self, [https://thecritic.co.uk/issues/june-2022/reinvention-and-rediscoveries/ "Reinvention and rediscoveries"], The Critic, June 2022. In December 2022 the Mountain Leopard list was sold by Welback to Hachette.{{cite web|url= https://www.pnreview.co.uk/cgi-bin/scribe?item_id=11676|title=News & Notes {{!}} A great publisher revives|website= PN Review 276|volume=50|number=4|date=March–April 2024|access-date=22 May 2024}}

In January 2024, it was announced that MacLehose would be launching Open Borders Press, the first imprint of Orenda Books, with Andrey Kurkov's Our Daily War as the imprint's first title.

With "a reputation as a master at finding foreign fiction by writers such as Henning Mankell and Haruki Murakami and turning them into English language hits",Nick Clark, [https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/news/the-publishing-house-that-stieg-larsson-built-2044818.html "The publishing house that Stieg Larsson built"], The Independent, 5 August 2010. {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170619212256/http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/news/the-publishing-house-that-stieg-larsson-built-2044818.html |date=19 June 2017 }}. MacLehose has said: "When I first came into publishing, there was André Deutsch, Fredric Warburg, Ernest Hecht, Manya Harari, George Weidenfeld – a generation of multilingual people who came to England bringing the assumption that books that had to be translated were no different.... You simply published the best you could find and if you had to translate them, you just got on with it."Andrew Jack, [https://www.ft.com/content/c47e6e38-0b9c-11e5-8937-00144feabdc0 "Translators: Publishing’s unsung heroes at work"], Financial Times, 6 October 2015. {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170326230831/https://www.ft.com/content/c47e6e38-0b9c-11e5-8937-00144feabdc0 |date=26 March 2017 }}.

In 2006, MacLehose received the London Book Fair Lifetime Achievement Award for International Publishing.[http://www.trilogygroup.com/lifetime-achievement-award/ "Lifetime Achievement Award"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170326135740/http://www.trilogygroup.com/lifetime-achievement-award/ |date=26 March 2017 }}, Trilogy, 12 January 2005.[http://www.londonbookfair.co.uk/ARCHIVE/LBF-2016/Whats-On/events/lifetime-achievement-award/ Lifetime Achievement Award], London Book Fair.

He was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) for services to the publishing industry in the 2011 New Year Honours.[https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/59647/supplement/1 "New Year Honours—United Kingdom"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170807105229/https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/59647/supplement/1 |date=7 August 2017 }}, The London Gazette, 31 December 2010, Supplement No. 1, p. 8.Graeme Neill, [http://www.thebookseller.com/news/weidenfeld-and-maclehose-lauded-new-years-honours-list "Weidenfeld and MacLehose lauded in New Year's Honours list"], The Bookseller, 4 January 2011. {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170326230129/http://www.thebookseller.com/news/weidenfeld-and-maclehose-lauded-new-years-honours-list |date=26 March 2017 }}.

In 2016, MacLehose was awarded the Benson Medal by the Royal Society of Literature (RSL).[http://rsliterature.org/award/the-benson-medal/ "The Benson Medal"], The Royal Society of Literature. {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170321085013/http://rsliterature.org/award/the-benson-medal/ |date=21 March 2017 }}. He was elected an honorary Fellow of the RSL in 2021.{{cite web|url=https://rsliterature.org/2021/07/rsl-announces-44-new-fellows-and-honorary-fellows/|title=RSL announces 44 new Fellows and Honorary Fellows|publisher=The Royal Society of Literature|date=6 July 2021|access-date=6 July 2021|archive-date=9 July 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210709184112/https://rsliterature.org/2021/07/rsl-announces-44-new-fellows-and-honorary-fellows/|url-status=dead}}[https://rsliterature.org/fellow/christopher-maclehose/ "Christopher MacLehose"], RSL Fellows, The Royal Society of Literature.

MacLehose received Estonia's Order of the Cross of Terra Mariana, IV Class, in 2023.{{Cite web |date=6 Feb 2023 |title=Presidendilt saavad teenetemärgi ka kümned kultuuritegelased |url=https://kultuur.err.ee/1608875711/presidendilt-saavad-teenetemargi-ka-kumned-kultuuritegelased |access-date=25 Feb 2023 |website=ERR Uudised}}{{cite web|url=https://www.bookbrunch.co.uk/page/free-article/maclehose-honoured/|title=MacLehose honoured|website=BookBrunch|date=20 April 2023}}

{{Reflist|30em}}

• [http://www.maclehosepress.com/ MacLehose Press] official website.
• [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VbOYjFks2A8 "Christopher MacLehose on Editorial Identity Part 1"] and [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V7PZY_m8FIE "Christopher MacLehose on Editorial Identity Part 2"], LiteratureNorthwest, 15 January 2013. YouTube video.
• Tom Tivnan, [https://www.thebookseller.com/insight/quality-control-helps-fiction-afar-punch-above-its-weight-says-maclehose-820711 "Quality control helps fiction from afar punch above its weight, says MacLehose"], The Bookseller, 27 June 2018.
• [https://anuradharoy.blogspot.com/2021/09/meet-writers-christopher-maclehose-and.html "Meet the Writers: Christopher MacLehose and Anuradha Roy with Georgina Godwin"], 4 September 2021.

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Category:Living people

Category:1940 births

Category:Alumni of Worcester College, Oxford

Category:British book publishing company founders

Category:Commanders of the Order of the British Empire

Category:People educated at Shrewsbury School

Category:Publishers (people) from Edinburgh