William Collins, born near Glasgow in 1789, set up business in 1819, initially publishing religious pamphlets, sermons, and prayer and hymn books. In 1824, he produced his first dictionary and obtained a licence to publish the Bible. His son William introduced modern printing processes, and the quantity and variety of the Collinses' publishing expanded to include low-value classics, travel and scientific books, encyclopedias, and dictionaries. The first Collins atlas was published in 1856, followed by a succession of well-produced school atlases, strengthened in the 1930s by the fruitful association with Longman under the Collins-Longman imprint. At the beginning of the 20th century, Collins began to publish original fiction, including their first Agatha Christie novel (in 1926). This business flourished in the 1950s with the introduction of the low-value paperback.
In 1989, News Corporation became the sole owner of Collins. Collins merged with Harper & Row to form HarperCollins.
Collins continues as an imprint of HarperCollins.
