Richard Bentley, a London printer, bought into the publishing firm of Henry Colburn, who owed him money, in London in 1829. The three years that Colburn and Bentley published together from 1829 to 1832 is notable for their introduction of one-volume reprints of then-standard three volume novels, opening the market to a large volume of readers who had previously been unable to afford to buy books. Bentley bought Colburn out of the business, including all books and manuscripts and copyrights, and continued publishing popular fiction, including single-volume reprints in the Standard Novels series. The company also published general non-fiction, including travel, autobiography and history.
In 1837 the firm began publishing the influential literary journal Bentley's Miscellany, initially edited by Charles Dickens. When Richard Bentley died in 1871 and ownership of the firm passed to George Bentley, it was renamed Richard Bentley and Son. The company published two colonial editions series: Bentley's Empire Library, between 1878 and 1881, and Bentley's Colonial Library between 1885 and 1898. In the latter series, books were published for specific colonies. The books published for Australia included a number of novels by Australian writers, such as Marcus Clarke, Catherine Martin, and Mrs Campbell Praed.
Richard Bentley and Son was purchased by Macmillan in 1896.
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