Edinburgh bookseller Thomas Nelson (originally Neilson) founded his publishing empire by publishing religious tracts in 1818. Seeking to provide good, affordable books for the skilled working-class, in his early years of business Nelson aimed for a wide distribution of high print runs, and used direct selling to market his books. He was joined in the company by his sons William and Thomas Jr, in 1835 and 1839 respectively. Nelson was a innovative printer and publisher, who is credited with perfecting the rotary press, which formed the model for newspaper presses well into the twentieth century.
The firm originally published only reprints, but after establishing a printery in 1845 began to publish original 'moral books' for young people. It expanded rapidly, opening a London office in 1844 and by 1853 becoming the largest publishing house in Scotland. In 1854 Thomas Nelson Jr opened a branch office in New York, which became a publishing company in its own right, though owned by the British parent firm.
While general publishing, including fiction and children's books, at various times accounted for a high proportion of the firm's output, Nelson maintained a reputation as a publisher of educational and religious books. Readers and other school materials were found to return the best profit, and after 1945 educational books were dominant. Textbooks formed the basis for expansion into other countries; an Australian firm was established in 1960.
In 1960 Nelson merged with The Thomson Organization, a worldwide publishing and communications firm. The New York firm was sold in 1969 to Royal Publishers Inc of Nashville, who continued it as a general publisher with a strong religious emphasis, still under the name Thomas Nelson and Sons. In 2000 the British Thomas Nelson was purchased by Wolter Kluwer, and merged with Stanley Thornes to form Nelson Thornes, a leading provider of print and non-print teaching and learning resources.
Nelson continued in Australia as Nelson, Thomson, a division of Thomson Learning, one of Australia's leading school publishers.
