Herbert Jonathan Cape (1879-1960) was the son of a builder who started as an apprentice in the bookselling trade. By 1919 he was in a position to start his own small publishing firm, Jonathan Page and Company (Page being his mother's maiden name). In 1920 he took on George Wren Howard as junior partner, and the firm of Jonathan Cape was launched in January 1921. In 1969 Jonathan Cape merged with Chatto & Windus. The Bodley Head joined in 1973 and Virago Press in 1982. The four companies retained editorial control. The group was purchased by Random House UK in May 1987.
In 1928 Cape ventured into the USA book market; in order to retain American rights he established a new publishing house. Harcourt Brace's chief editor Harrison Smith invested money and joined Cape in 1929. The Wall Street crash, Smith's lack of business experience and the partners' inability to work "well together" did not bode well ; Smith left in 1931. Literary Editor of the Chicago Daily News Robert Ballou had joined the company and worked in the manufacturing department; he became a partner when Smith left. However, the company was in financial trouble; by the summer of 1932, the company went into receivership. Jonathan Cape and Harrison Smith 1929-1932; Jonathan Cape and Robert Ballou (1932).
