J. M. Dent

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In The Sketch, 16 March 1898

Joseph Malaby Dent (30 August 1849 – 9 May 1926) was a British book publisher who produced the Everyman's Library series.

Early life

Dent was born in Darlington, England, in what is now part of the Grade II listed Britannia Inn.[1] After a short and unsuccessful stint as an apprentice printer, he took up bookbinding. At the age of fifteen, he gave a talk on James Boswell's Life of Johnson, which would be the first book printed in the Everyman's Library.

Career

Title page of a book published by J. M. Dent & Sons

During 1888, he created J. M. Dent and Company[2] Around 1896, Dent began publishing high-quality limited editions of literary classics in the Temple Classics series.[3]

In A Sinking Island, Hugh Kenner wrote: "Destiny beckoned J. M. Dent toward the kingdom of books, and without ever learning to spell he became an influential bookman. He was small, lame, tight-fisted, and apt to weep under pressure, a performance that could disconcert authors and employees. When his temper had risen like a flame he'd scream; the scream, one employee recalled, was what broke men's spirits. His paroxysms were famous; a Swedish specialist thought of prescribing a pail of cold water for Dent to plunge his head into. For editing the Library he paid Ernest Rhys three guineas a volume—what senior office-boys might earn in two weeks. Dent's ungovernable passion was for bringing Books to the People. He remembered when he'd longed to buy books he couldn't afford. Yes, you could make the world better. He even thought cheap books might prevent wars."[4]

Although not a new idea, what set Everyman's apart from earlier series was its scope; Dent planned for no less than one thousand volumes. He was able to build a new factory and offices in Covent Garden with the profits.[5] Despite having an impressive range of literature, Dent prevented classics of dubious morals, such as Moll Flanders, from being printed. The First World War slowed the production of books and Dent did not live to see the one thousand volume mark reached in 1956.

Among the impressive volumes that came from Dent was The Pilgrim's Regress, the spiritual autobiography of C. S. Lewis, published in 1933.

Later years and legacy

J. M. Dent died in 1926.[6] It now forms an imprint of the Orion Publishing Group. The registered companies of J. M. Dent & Sons and Everyman's Library were retained by the Dent family and are now, respectively, an investment company, Malaby Holdings Ltd, and Malaby Martin Ltd, a niche development company. A new sister company Malaby Biogas Ltd was created in 2009 as a pioneering renewable energy and sustainable development business.

References

  1. ^ "The Trail" (PDF). Darlington Town Centre Management. 2011. Archived from the original (PDF) on 20 July 2011.
  2. ^ The Temple Shakespeare (J. M. Dent) - Book Series List, publishinghistory.com. Retrieved 30 March 2017.
  3. ^ "Temple Classics". A Series of Series. Retrieved 9 March 2017.
  4. ^ New York Times Book Review, February 28, 1988.
  5. ^ "Bedford Street and Chandos Place Area: Bedford Street Pages 253-263 Survey of London: Volume 36, Covent Garden". British History Online. LCC 1970. Retrieved 7 April 2023.
  6. ^ J. M. Dent and Sons (Library of the University of North Carolina)

Further reading

  • J. M. and Hugh R. Dent, The House of Dent 1888-1938: being the memoirs of J. M. Dent with additional chapters covering the last 16 years by Hugh R Dent, London: J. M. Dent, 1938.
  • Ernest Rhys, Everyman Remembers, London: J. M. Dent and Sons Limited, 1931; New York: Cosmopolitan Book Corporation, 1931.
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