Routledge

The firm originated in 1836, when the London bookseller George Routledge published an unsuccessful guidebook, The Beauties of Gilsland, with his brother-in-law W. H. (William Henry) Warne as assistant. In 1848, the pair entered the booming market for selling inexpensive imprints of works of fiction to rail travellers, in the style of the German Tauchnitz family, which became known as the "Railway Library".{{cite web

|title= Yellowbacks: III – Routledge's Railway Library

|url= http://www.bl.uk/collections/early/victorian/yellow/yellow3.html

|access-date= 15 February 2015

|archive-date= 16 February 2015

|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20150216061157/http://www.bl.uk/collections/early/victorian/yellow/yellow3.html

|url-status= live

}}

The venture was a success as railway usage grew, and it eventually led to Routledge, along with W H Warne's brother Frederick Warne, to found the company, George Routledge & Co. in 1851.{{cite web |title= UCL Library Services: Routledge & Kegan Paul Ltd Archives – 1850–1984 |url= http://archives.ucl.ac.uk/DServe/dserve.exe?dsqIni=Dserve.ini&dsqApp=Archive&dsqCmd=Show.tcl&dsqSearch=RefNo==%27ROUTLEDGE%27&dsqDb=Catalog |access-date= 15 February 2015 |archive-date= 16 February 2015 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20150216063752/http://archives.ucl.ac.uk/DServe/dserve.exe?dsqIni=Dserve.ini&dsqApp=Archive&dsqCmd=Show.tcl&dsqSearch=RefNo==%27ROUTLEDGE%27&dsqDb=Catalog |url-status= live }}

The following year in 1852, the company gained lucrative business through selling reprints of Uncle Tom's Cabin, (in the public domain in the UK) which in turn enabled it to pay author Edward Bulwer-Lytton £20,000 for a 10-year lease allowing sole rights to print all 35 of his works{{sfn|Sutherland|2009|pp=527, 553}} including 19 of his novels to be sold cheaply as part of their "Railway Library" series.{{cite ODNB|id=24184|title=Routledge, George|year=2004|last=Barnes|first=James J.|last2=Barnes|first2=Patience P.}}

File:Routledge stand at Senate House History Day 2018.jpg

The company was restyled in 1858 as Routledge, Warne & Routledge when George Routledge's son, Robert Warne Routledge, entered the partnership. Frederick Warne eventually left the company after the death of his brother W. H. Warne in May 1859 (died aged 37).{{cite web

|title= William Henry Warne (1822–1859) – Genealogy

|website=Geni

|url=http://www.geni.com/people/William-Warne/6000000012518167353

|access-date=16 February 2015

|archive-date=16 February 2015

|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150216060357/http://www.geni.com/people/William-Warne/6000000012518167353

|url-status=live

}} Gaining rights to some titles, he founded Frederick Warne & Co. in 1865, which became known for its Beatrix Potter books.{{cite web

|title=Taylor and Francis Informa

|website=ketupa.net

|url=http://ketupa.net/tfinforma.htm

|access-date=16 February 2015

|archive-date=9 April 2016

|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160409074957/http://ketupa.net/tfinforma.htm

|url-status=dead

}} In July 1865, George Routledge's son Edmund Routledge became a partner, and the firm became George Routledge & Sons.{{cite web|title=Routledge, George |work=Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900, Volume 49 |url=https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Routledge,_George_%28DNB00%29|via=Wikisource |access-date=10 November 2015|archive-date=14 September 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150914134430/https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Routledge,_George_%28DNB00%29|url-status=live}}

By 1899, the company was running close to bankruptcy. Following a successful restructuring in 1902 by scientist Sir William Crookes, banker Arthur Ellis Franklin, William Swan Sonnenschein as managing director, and others, however, it was able to recover and began to acquire and merge with other publishing companies including J. C. Nimmo Ltd. in 1903. In 1912, the company took over the management of Kegan Paul, Trench, Trübner & Co., the descendant of companies founded by Charles Kegan Paul, Alexander Chenevix Trench, Nicholas Trübner, and George Redway.{{cite web |title= PUBLISHER: Kegan Paul, Trench & Company; Kegan Paul, Trench, Trübner & Company, London |url=http://sdrc.lib.uiowa.edu/lucile/publishers/kegan/kegan.htm |website=The Lucile Project |publisher=University of Iowa |access-date=12 December 2016 |archive-date=6 November 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161106104908/http://sdrc.lib.uiowa.edu/lucile/publishers/kegan/kegan.htm |url-status=live }}

These early 20th-century acquisitions brought with them lists of notable scholarly titles, and from 1912 onward, the company became increasingly concentrated in the academic and scholarly publishing business under the imprint "Kegan Paul Trench Trubner", as well as reference, fiction and mysticism. In 1947, George Routledge and Sons finally merged with Kegan Paul Trench Trubner (the umlaut had been quietly dropped in the First World War) under the name of Routledge & Kegan Paul.{{sfn|Franklin|1986}} Using C. K. Ogden and later Karl Mannheim as advisers the company was soon particularly known for its titles in philosophy, psychology and the social sciences.

In 1985, Routledge & Kegan Paul joined with Associated Book Publishers (ABP),{{sfn|Whipp|1992|p=47}} which was later acquired by International Thomson in 1987. Under Thomson's ownership, Routledge's name and operations were retained, with the additions of backlists from Methuen, Tavistock Publications, Croom Helm and Unwin Hyman.{{Cite journal| issn = 0000-0019| volume = 243| issue = 20| pages = 16–17| last = Richardson| first = Jean| title = U.K. venture firm to buy Routledge| journal = Publishers Weekly| accessdate = 2022-10-30| date = 1996-05-13| url = http://go.gale.com/ps/i.do?p=LitRC&sw=w&issn=00000019&v=2.1&it=r&id=GALE%7CA18283959&sid=googleScholar&linkaccess=abs| archive-date = 2 June 2024| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20240602204029/https://go.gale.com/ps/i.do?p=LitRC&sw=w&issn=00000019&v=2.1&it=r&id=GALE%7CA18283959&sid=googleScholar&linkaccess=abs&userGroupName=anon%7E4aef6bab&aty=open-web-entry| url-status = live}} In 1996, a management buyout financed by the European private equity firm Cinven saw Routledge operating as an independent company once again. In 1997, Cinven acquired journals publisher Carfax and book publisher Spon.{{Cite journal| doi = 10.1007/s12109-013-9304-9| issn = 1053-8801| volume = 29| issue = 1| pages = 52–72| last = Kernan| first = M. A.| title = Routledge as a global publisher: A case study, 1980-2010| journal = Publishing Research Quarterly| accessdate = 2023-03-23| date = 2013| s2cid = 255517143| url = http://link.springer.com/journal/12109| archive-date = 20 December 2019| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20191220213311/https://link.springer.com/journal/12109| url-status = live}} In 1998, Cinven and Routledge's directors accepted a deal for Routledge's acquisition by Taylor & Francis Group (T&F), with the Routledge name being retained as an imprint and subdivision.{{sfn|Clark|Phillips|2008|p=xvi}}{{sfn|Cope|1998}}

In 2004, T&F became a division within Informa plc after a merger. Routledge continues as a primary publishing unit and imprint within Informa's 'academic publishing' division, publishing academic humanities and social science books, journals, reference works and digital products. Routledge has grown considerably as a result of organic growth and acquisitions of other publishing companies and other publishers' titles by its parent company.{{cite book | last=Munroe | first=Mary Hovas | date=13 March 2007 | chapter=Taylor & Francis | chapter-url=https://ulib.niu.edu/publishers/TaylorFrancis.htm | title=Academic publishing industry: A story of merger and acquisition | publication-place=DeKalb, IL | publisher=Northern Illinois University Libraries | url=https://ulib.niu.edu/publishers/}}Taylor & Francis{{cite web|title= Results for 12 months to 31st December 2015|url= http://www.informa.com/Documents/Investor%20Relations/2016/FY2015/20160210%20FY%20Results%20Statement%20-%20Final.pdf|access-date= 22 December 2016|archive-date= 27 September 2018|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20180927125456/https://informa.com/Documents/Investor%20Relations/2016/FY2015/20160210%20FY%20Results%20Statement%20-%20Final.pdf|url-status= live}} Humanities and social sciences titles acquired by T&F from other publishers are rebranded under the Routledge imprint.

Routledge is a signatory of the SDG Publishers Compact,{{cite web |title=SDG Publishers Compact Members |url=https://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/sdg-publishers-compact-members/ |website=United Nations Sustainable Development |access-date=18 July 2023 |archive-date=26 July 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230726040805/https://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/sdg-publishers-compact-members/ |url-status=live }}{{cite web |title=SDG Publishers Compact |url=https://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/sdg-publishers-compact/ |website=United Nations Sustainable Development |access-date=20 July 2023 |archive-date=21 July 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230721053207/https://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/sdg-publishers-compact/ |url-status=live }} and has taken steps to support the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). These include achieving CarbonNeutral publication certification for their print books and journals, under the Natural Capital Partners' CarbonNeutral Protocol.{{cite web |title=Our Commitment to Sustainable Publishing |url=https://www.routledge.com/our-commitment-to-sustainable-publishing |website=Routledge |access-date=31 August 2023 |archive-date=12 August 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230812233820/https://www.routledge.com/our-commitment-to-sustainable-publishing |url-status=live }}

The English publisher Fredric Warburg was a commissioning editor at Routledge during the early 20th century. Novelist Nina Stibbe, author of Love, Nina, worked at the company as a commissioning editor in the 1990s.{{cite web |title=About Nina Stibbe |url=http://www.ninastibbe.com/about |access-date=22 December 2016 |archive-date=4 February 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230204122431/https://www.ninastibbe.com/about/ |url-status=live }} Cultural studies editor William Germano served as vice-president and publishing director for two decades before becoming dean of the humanities at Cooper Union.{{Cite web |title=William Germano, Editor and Key Figure in Rise of Cultural Studies, Is Ousted by Publishing House |url=https://www.chronicle.com/article/william-germano-editor-and-key-figure-in-rise-of-cultural-studies-is-ousted-by-publishing-house/?emailConfirmed=true&supportSignUp=true&supportForgotPassword=true&email=zf2148@columbia.edu&success=true&code=success&bc_nonce=atbbaolc1ojnm7zlh3acvi&cid=gen_sign_in |access-date=2022-03-08 |website=Chronicle of Higher Education |date=15 September 2005 |archive-date=17 April 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230417152003/https://www.chronicle.com/article/william-germano-editor-and-key-figure-in-rise-of-cultural-studies-is-ousted-by-publishing-house/?emailConfirmed=true&supportSignUp=true&supportForgotPassword=true&email=zf2148@columbia.edu&success=true&code=success&bc_nonce=atbbaolc1ojnm7zlh3acvi&cid=gen_sign_in |url-status=live }}

Routledge has published works from Adorno, Bohm, Butler, Derrida, Einstein, Foucault, Freud, Al Gore, Hayek, Hoppe, Jung, Levi-Strauss, McLuhan, Malinowski, Marcuse, Popper, Johan Rockström, Russell, Sartre, and Wittgenstein. The republished works of some of these authors have appeared as part of the Routledge Classics{{cite web|title=Routledge Classics and Routledge Great Minds|url=https://www.routledge.com/classics|access-date=22 December 2016|archive-date=18 January 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200118020938/https://www.routledge.com/classics|url-status=live}} and Routledge Great Minds series. Competitors to the series are Verso Books' Radical Thinkers, Penguin Classics, and Oxford World's Classics.{{cn|date=November 2023}}

{{Category see also|Routledge books|Routledge academic journals}}

Routledge has been criticised for a pricing structure which "will limit readership to the privileged few", as opposed to options for open access offered by DOAJ, Unpaywall, and DOAB.{{cite magazine | date=October 22, 2019 | access-date=2020-04-25|title=The Writing on the Unpaywall|url=https://www.insidehighered.com/blogs/library-babel-fish/writing-unpaywall|magazine=Inside Higher Ed|first=Barbara |last=Fister|archive-date=8 December 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221208140016/https://www.insidehighered.com/blogs/library-babel-fish/writing-unpaywall|url-status=live}}

Taylor and Francis closed down the Routledge print encyclopaedia division in 2006. Some of its publications were:

• Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy, by Edward Craig (1998), in 10 volumes, but now online.{{cite web |title = Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy |url = https://www.rep.routledge.com/ |access-date = 22 December 2016 |archive-date = 28 October 2019 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20191028234800/https://www.rep.routledge.com/ |url-status = live }}
• Encyclopedia of Ethics, by Lawrence C. Becker and Charlotte B. Becker (2002), in three volumes.

Reference works by Europa Publications, published by Routledge:

• Europa World Year Book{{cite web |title = Europa World Online |url = http://www.europaworld.com/pub/ |access-date = 22 December 2016 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170101225205/http://www.europaworld.com/pub/ |archive-date= Jan 1, 2017 }}
• International Who's Who{{cite web |title = World Who's Who |url = http://www.worldwhoswho.com/public/views/home.html |access-date = 22 December 2016 |archive-date = 19 March 2022 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20220319203916/https://www.worldwhoswho.com/public/views/home.html |url-status = dead }}
• Europa World of Learning{{cite web |title = The Europa World of Learning |url = http://www.worldoflearning.com/ |website=worldoflearning.com |access-date = 18 August 2006 |archive-date = 23 July 2008 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080723172029/http://www.worldoflearning.com/ |url-status = live }}

Many of Routledge's reference works are published in print and electronic formats as Routledge Handbooks and have their own dedicated website: Routledge Handbooks Online.{{cite web |title = Routledge Handbooks Online |url = https://www.routledgehandbooks.com/ |website=routledgehandbooks.com |access-date = 22 December 2016 |archive-date = 30 April 2023 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20230430201405/https://www.routledgehandbooks.com/ |url-status = live }} The company also publishes several online encyclopedias and collections of digital content such as Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy, Routledge Encyclopedia of Modernism,{{cite web |title = Routledge Encyclopedia of Modernism |url = https://www.rem.routledge.com/ |website=rem.routledge.com |access-date = 22 December 2016 |archive-date = 6 April 2023 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20230406121145/https://www.rem.routledge.com/ |url-status = live }} Routledge Performance Archive,{{cite web |title = Routledge Performance Archive |website=routledgeperformancearchive.com |url = https://www.routledgeperformancearchive.com/ |access-date = 22 December 2016 |archive-date = 29 April 2023 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20230429061125/https://www.routledgeperformancearchive.com/ |url-status = live }} and South Asia Archive.{{cite web |title = South Asia Archive |url = http://www.southasiaarchive.com/unauthenticated |website=southasiaarchive.com |access-date = 22 December 2016 |archive-date = 24 May 2022 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20220524131700/http://www.southasiaarchive.com/unauthenticated |url-status = live }}

Routledge Worlds series consisted of 66 books as of July 2023, which the publisher described as "magisterial surveys of key historical epochs".{{Cite web| title = Routledge Worlds - Book Series - Routledge & CRC Press| access-date = July 15, 2023| url = https://www.routledge.com/Routledge-Worlds/book-series/WORLDS| website = Routledge| archive-date = 15 July 2023| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20230715010334/https://www.routledge.com/Routledge-Worlds/book-series/WORLDS| url-status = live}} Included in the series are The Sikh World, The Pentecostal World, published in 2023, The Quaker World, The Ancient Israelite World, and The Sámi World published in 2022.

• The Broadway Travellers (1926–37){{cite web |url = http://www.thebooksinmylife.com/p/broadway-travellers.html |title = Collecting The Broadway Travellers Series |website = The Books In My Life blog |access-date = 10 August 2019 |first = Thomas E. |last = Stone |archive-date = 19 April 2019 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20190419224847/http://www.thebooksinmylife.com/p/broadway-travellers.html |url-status = live }} edited by Eileen Power and Edward Denison Ross.
• Colloquial Series of Multimedia Language Courses{{cite web | url=https://www.routledge.com/Colloquial-Series/book-series/SE0069 | title=Colloquial Series | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230306180834/https://www.routledge.com/Colloquial-Series/book-series/SE0069 | archive-date=6 March 2023 | website=Routledge | access-date=14 January 2018}}
• Essential Grammars (since 1999){{Cite web|title=Routledge Essential Grammars – Book Series |url=https://www.routledge.com/Routledge-Essential-Grammars/book-series/SE0549?pd=published,forthcoming&pg=3&pp=12&so=pub&view=list|access-date=2021-10-18|website=Routledge & CRC Press |archive-date=30 November 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221130050355/https://www.routledge.com/Routledge-Essential-Grammars/book-series/SE0549?pd=published,forthcoming&pg=3&pp=12&so=pub&view=list|url-status=live}}
• Morley's Universal Library (also known as: Routledge's Universal Library) (1883–88){{cite web | url=http://www.publishinghistory.com/morleys-universal-library-routledge.html | title=Morley's Universal Library (George Routledge) - Book Series List | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180624063936/http://www.publishinghistory.com/morleys-universal-library-routledge.html | archive-date=24 June 2018 | website=Publishing History | access-date=24 June 2018}}
• The Muses' Library (1904–1940; 1950–1980)
• : established in 1891 by Lawrence & Bullen as a series of fine editions of poetry until L&B folded in 1900, Routledge revived the series in 1904 with reprints and new titles. Over the years parallel editions were published in the US by Charles Scribner's Sons, E.P. Dutton and Harvard University Press{{cite web |url = https://seriesofseries.owu.edu/the-muses-library/ |title = Muses' Library |publisher = Ohio Wesleyan University |via = WordPress |series = A Series of Series |access-date = 10 August 2019 |last = Krygier |first = John |date = 28 March 2016 |archive-date = 13 April 2019 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20190413055719/https://seriesofseries.owu.edu/the-muses-library/ |url-status = live }}
• The Republic of Letters{{cite web |url = https://seriesofseries.owu.edu/republic-of-letters/ |title = Republic of Letters |publisher = Ohio Wesleyan University |series = A Series of Series |access-date = 10 August 2019 |last = Krygier |first = John |date = December 2017 |archive-date = 13 April 2019 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20190413060826/https://seriesofseries.owu.edu/republic-of-letters/ |url-status = live }}
• Routledge's Railway Library (1848–99)
• : were sold through W. H. Smith's bookstalls on railway platforms; in 50 years 1,277 books were published, most as pictorial hardbacks, with some bestsellers re-released as cheaper paperbacks. Authors included Edward Bulwer Lytton, James Fenimore Cooper, Jane Austen, Benjamin Disraeli, Henry Fielding, Frances Trollope, William Harrison Ainsworth, Alexandre Dumas, and Victor Hugo{{cite web |url = http://www.publishinghistory.com/routledges-railway-library.html |title = Routledge's Railway Library (George Routledge) |publisher = Publishing History |work = Book Series List |access-date = 10 August 2019 |last = Wagner |first = David Paul |archive-date = 19 March 2022 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20220319203915/https://www.publishinghistory.com/routledges-railway-library.html |url-status = live }}

{{Reflist}}

{{refbegin}}

• {{cite magazine |last = Boynton |first = Robert |date = March–April 1995 |title = The Routledge Revolution: Has Academic Publishing Gone Tabloid? |url = http://www.robertboynton.com/articleDisplay.php?article_id=24 |format = online reproduction, by author [n.pag.] |magazine = Lingua Franca: the review of academic life |location = Mamaroneck, NY |publisher = Lingua Franca, Inc. |volume = 5 |issue = 3 |pages = 24–32 |oclc = 61311445 |access-date = 21 August 2009 |archive-date = 1 June 2016 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160601080604/http://www.robertboynton.com/articleDisplay.php?article_id=24 |url-status = dead }}
• {{cite book |last1 = Clark | first1=Giles N. |last2=Phillips | first2=Angus |year=2008 |title = Inside Book Publishing |edition=4th |series=Taylor & Francis-Library collection |location = Abingdon-on-Thames, England; New York, NY |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-0-203-34154-4 |oclc=182573667 }}
• {{cite news |last=Cope |first=Nigel |date=5 November 1998 |title=Books merger yields windfall of £6m |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/books-merger-yields-windfall-of-pounds-6m-1182898.html |format=online edition |newspaper=The Independent |location=London |publisher=Independent News & Media |access-date=21 August 2009 |archive-date=15 April 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190415152255/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/books-merger-yields-windfall-of-pounds-6m-1182898.html |url-status=live }}
• {{cite book | last=Franklin | first=Norman | year=1986 | title=Routledge & Kegan Paul: 150 years of great publishing | publication-place=London | publisher=Routledge & Kegan Paul | oclc=24489168}}
• {{cite book |last = Sutherland |first = John |author-link = John Sutherland (author) |year=2009 |title=The Longman Companion to Victorian Fiction |edition=2nd |location=Abingdon, England; New York, NY |publisher=Routledge |isbn = 978-1408203903 }}
• {{cite book |last=Warburg |first = Fredric |author-link=Fredric Warburg |year=1960 |title=An Occupation for Gentlemen |edition=1st American |location=Boston, MA |publisher=Houghton Mifflin |oclc=1201220 }}
• {{cite book |last = Whipp |first = Richard |year=1992 |chapter = Human Resource Management, Competition and Strategy: Some Productive Tensions |editor1 = Paul Blyton |editor2=Peter Turnbull |title = Reassessing Human Resource Management |location=London |publisher=SAGE Publications |pages=33–55 |isbn = 0-8039-8697-1 |oclc = 28325927 }}

{{refend}}

{{commons category}}

• {{Official website|https://www.routledge.com/}}
• [https://www.routledge.com/corporate/about-us History of Routledge]
• [https://www.routledge.com/Routledge-Revivals/book-series/REVIVALS Routledge Revivals]: Reprints from humanities and social sciences publications, from the backlists of Routledge imprints.
• [https://www.ucl.ac.uk/library/special-collections/a-z/routledge Routledge & Kegan Paul Archives]: Ledgers, authors' agreements, printed catalogues and other papers 1853–1973, University College London.
• [https://collections.reading.ac.uk/special-collections/collections/routledge-kegan-paul-archive/ Records of Routledge & Kegan Paul]: Correspondence files covering the period 1935 to 1990, as well as review files 1950s–1990s, Special Collections, University of Reading Library.
• Archives of George Routledge & Company 1853–1902, Chadwyck-Healey Ltd, 1973. 6 reels of microfilm and printed index. (Available from ProQuest)
• Archives of Kegan Paul, Trench, Trubner and Henry S. King 1858–1912, Chadwyck-Healey Ltd,1973. 27 reels of microfilm with index on microfiche. (Available from Proquest)

{{Informa}}{{Authority control}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2020}}

Category:Academic publishing companies

Category:Book publishing companies of the United Kingdom

Category:Companies based in Oxfordshire

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Category:1998 mergers and acquisitions

Category:1851 establishments in England

Category:Publishing companies established in 1851