Stanley Unwin (publisher)

Sir Stanley Unwin, KCMG (19 December 1884 – 13 October 1968) was a British publisher, founder of the George Allen and Unwin Ltd UK house in 1914. This published serious and sometimes controversial authors like Bertrand Russell and Mahatma Gandhi.

Unwin lived for some years in Handen Road in Lee in south-east London. His niece was the children's writer Ursula Moray Williams.^[1]

In 1936, J. R. R. Tolkien submitted The Hobbit for publication and Unwin paid his ten-year-old son Rayner Unwin a shilling^[2] to write a report on the manuscript. Rayner's favourable response prompted Unwin to publish the book. Once the book became a success, Unwin asked Tolkien for a sequel, which eventually became The Lord of the Rings. Unwin died in 1968 and was honoured with a Blue Plaque at his former home.

Allen and Unwin corporate logo

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  His former home in Handen rd, London

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  Blue Plaque on his former home

References

1. ↑ "Obituaries: Ursula Moray Williams". The Independent. London, UK: INM. 7 November 2006. Retrieved 20 February 2016. 
2. ↑ Plimmer, Charlotte and Denis (21 October 2015). "JRR Tolkien: 'Film my books? Its easier to film the Odyssey'". The Daily Telegraph. London, UK: TMG. Retrieved 20 February 2016. 

• Denniston, Robin (January 2008) [2004]. "Unwin, Sir Stanley (1884–1968)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. Retrieved 11 January 2008. 

External links

• Works by or about Stanley Unwin in libraries (WorldCat catalog)
• New General Catalog of Old Books and Authors