John Murray is a Scottish publisher, known for the authors it has published in its long history including Jane Austen, Arthur Conan Doyle, Lord Byron, Charles Lyell, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Herman Melville, Edward Whymper, Thomas Robert Malthus, David Ricardo, and Charles Darwin. Since 2004, it has been owned by conglomerate Lagardère under the Hachette UK brand.
History
The business was founded in London, England, in 1768 by John Murray (1737–1793), an Edinburgh-born Royal Marines officer, who built up a list of authors including Isaac D'Israeli and published the English Review.
John Murray the elder was one of the founding sponsors of the London evening newspaper The Star in 1788.
He was succeeded by his son John Murray II, who made the publishing house important and influential. He was a friend of many leading writers of the day and launched the Quarterly Review in 1809. He was the publisher of Jane Austen, Sir Walter Scott, Washington Irving, George Crabbe, Mary Somerville and many others. Murray's home and office at 50 Albemarle Street in Mayfair was the centre of a literary circle, fostered by Murray's tradition of "four o'clock friends", afternoon tea with his writers.
Murray's most notable author was Lord Byron, who became a close friend and correspondent of his. Murray published many of his major works, paying him over £20,000 in rights. On 10 March 1812, Murray published Byron's second book, Childe Harold's Pilgrimage, which sold out in five days, leading to Byron's observation: "I awoke one morning and found myself famous".
On 17 May 1824, Murray participated in one of the most notorious acts in the annals of literature. Byron had given him the manuscript of his personal memoirs to publish later on. Together with five of Byron's friends and executors, he decided to destroy Byron's manuscripts because he thought the scandalous details would damage Byron's reputation. With only Thomas Moore objecting, the two volumes of memoirs were dismembered and burnt in the fireplace at Murray's office.Eisler, Benita. Byron: Child of Passion, Fool of Fame, page 3. It remains unknown what they contained.
John Murray III (1808–1892) continued the business and published Charles Eastlake's first English translation of Goethe's Theory of Colours (1840), David Livingstone's Missionary Travels (1857), and Charles Darwin's Origin of Species (1859). Murray III contracted with Herman Melville to publish Melville's first two books, Typee (1846) and Omoo (1847) in England; both books were presented as nonfiction travel narratives in Murray's Home and Colonial Library series, alongside such works as the 1845 second edition of Darwin's Journal of Researches from his travels on .Hershel Parker, Herman Melville: A Biography; Volume 1, 1819–1851, (Baltimore and London: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1996), 392, 482–84, 508–10. John Murray III also started the Murray Handbooks in 1836, a series of travel guides from which modern-day guides are directly descended. The rights to these guides were sold around 1900 and subsequently acquired in 1915 by the Blue Guides.
His successor Sir John Murray IV (1851–1928) was publisher to Queen Victoria. Among other works, he published Murray's Magazine from 1887 until 1891. From 1904, he published the Wisdom of the East book series.Wisdom of the East Series, seriesofseries.com. Retrieved 10 June 2018. Competitor Smith, Elder & Co. was acquired in 1917.
His son Sir John Murray V (1884–1967), grandson John Murray VI (John Arnaud Robin Grey Murray, known as Jock Murray; 1909–1993) and great-grandson John Murray VII (John Richmond Grey Murray; 1941–) continued the business until it was taken over.
In 2002, John Murray was acquired by Hodder Headline, which was itself acquired in 2004 by the French conglomerate Lagardère Group. Since then, it has been an imprint under Lagardère brand Hachette UK.
In 2015, business publisher Nicholas Brealey became an imprint of John Murray.
John Murray archive The John Murray Archive was offered for sale to the nation by John Murray VII for £31 million and the National Library of Scotland acquired it, including the manuscript of Charles Darwin's Origin of Species. In January 2005, the National Library received £17.7m from the Heritage Lottery Fund as part of the £31.2m bid by John Murray on the condition the Library digitise the materials and make them available. The Scottish Government agreed to contribute £8.3m, with the Library setting a £6.5m fundraising target for the remainder.
John Murray timeline
1768 – John MacMurray, a former lieutenant of the Marines, buys a bookselling business at 32 Fleet Street. He changes his name to Murray and uses his naval contacts to build up a thriving business. 1806 – The first bestseller, A New System of Domestic Cookery, by Maria Rundell, is published, with a second edition two years later. (Persephone Books information page) 1809 – The influential periodical Quarterly Review is published 1811 – Childe Harold's Pilgrimage by Lord Byron 1812 – John Murray moves to 50 Albemarle Street, its home for the next 191 years 1815 – Jane Austen decides she would like to move to Murray with Emma, published in 1815 1816 – Coleridge moves to John Murray for Christabel and Other Poems, which included Kubla Khan 1830 – First part of the three-volume Principles of Geology by Charles Lyell () 1836 – The first guide books, Murray's Handbooks, were published by John Murray III 1849 – A groundbreaking observational study on the Sikh people is published. This comprehensive account arguably foreshadowed the British Empire's first large-scale attempt at using the scientific method to civilise populations; this methodological approach later became known as Eugenics. 1857 – David Livingstone's Missionary Travels – one of the many great 19th-century publications of exploration from John Murray 1859 – On the Origin of Species by Charles Darwin 1859 – First self-help book Samuel Smiles's Self Help 1863 – Henry Walter Bates's The Naturalist on the River Amazons 1865 – Narrative of an Expedition to the Zambesi and its Tributaries; and of the Discovery of the Lakes Shirwa and Nyassa. 1858–1864 by David and Charles LivingstoneNarrative of an Expedition to the Zambesi and its Tributaries; and of the Discovery of the Lakes Shirwa and Nyassa. 1858–1864 (PDF) 1871 – Edward Whymper, Scrambles Amongst the Alps in the Years 1860–69, the first ascent of the Matterhorn in 1865 1891 – Edward Whymper, Travels Amongst the Great Andes of the Equator, two volumes recording ascents in the Ecuadorian Andes of Chimborazo, Cotopaxi, Cayambe, and other Andean Peaks 1900 - Lavengro: The Scholar-The Gypsy-The Priest, by George Borrow; a new edition appeared in March 1900, which was reprinted in July 1902 and reprinted in May 1904. 1912 – Behind The Night Light by Nancy Price was published in June, which was reprinted in June 1912, September 1912 and January 1913. 1921 – An Etymological Dictionary of Modern English by Ernest Weekley 1934 – Alpine Pilgrimage by Julius Kugy (1st edition (English), 1934), Klugy's literary masterpiece on the Julian Alps of Slovenia as translated by H. E. G. Tyndale (Henry Edmund Guise Tyndale) 1938 – Daniele Varè's biography The Laughing Diplomat 1958 – John Betjeman's Collected Poems is published and has sold over two million copies to date 1967 – Last issue of the Quarterly Review is published 1969 – The first TV tie-in, Kenneth Clark's Civilisation, is published 1975 – Ruth Prawer Jhabvala's Heat and Dust wins the Booker Prize 1977 – The "greatest travel book of the twentieth century", A Time of Gifts by Patrick Leigh Fermor, is published 2002 – John Murray leaves family hands after seven generations 2002 – Peacemakers by Margaret MacMillan wins the Samuel Johnson Prize, the Duff Cooper Prize and the Hessell-Tiltman Prize 2003 – The first new acquisition since the company became part of Hodder Headline (now Hachette), A Million Little Pieces by James Frey, becomes a perennial and controversial bestseller 2004 – Rebirth of the John Murray fiction list with Neil Jordan's Shade 2005 – Beasts of No Nation by Uzodinma Iweala wins John Llewellyn Rhys Prize 2007 – Mister Pip by Lloyd Jones becomes a global bestseller, wins the Commonwealth Writers' Prize and is shortlisted for the Booker Prize 2008 – Amitav Ghosh launches his epic Ibis trilogy with Sea of Poppies, shortlisted for the Booker Prize 2008 – Down River by John Hart wins Edgar Award for Best Novel 2008 – The Secret Life of Words by Henry Hitchings wins the John Llewellyn Rhys Prize 2009 – The Last Child by John Hart wins CWA Ian Fleming Steel Dagger/ITV Thriller of the Year Award, and the Edgar Award for Best Novel 2009 – Martyr by Rory Clements, special mention in CWA Ellis Peters Historical Fiction Award 2010 – Revenger by Rory Clements wins CWA Ellis Peters Historical Fiction Award 2010 – Wait For Me! by Deborah Devonshire is shortlisted for the British Book Awards Biography of the Year 2011 – Mistaken by Neil Jordan wins Irish Book of the Year Award 2012 – Icelight by Aly Monroe wins CWA Ellis Peters Historical Fiction Award 2016 – The Glorious Heresies by Lisa McInerney wins the Women's Prize for Fiction 2022 – The crime fiction and thriller imprint Baskerville is launched 2024 – John Murray publishes its first classics list of 10 titles, including works by Jane Austen and David Attenborough
Book series Albemarle LibraryAlbemarle Library, seriesofseries.com. Retrieved 4 July 2025. Albemarle Library For Schools The Changing Shape of Thingsse:Changing shape of things, worldcat.org. Retrieved 5 July 2025. Home and Colonial LibraryHome and Colonial Library (John Murray) - Book Series List, publishinghistory.com. Retrieved 5 July 2025. Journeys and AdventuresJourneys and Adventures, seriesofseries.com. Retrieved 4 July 2025. The Life and Works of Charlotte Bronte and Her Sisters["Life and Works of Charlotte Bronte and Her Sisters" + Murray "Life and Works of Charlotte Bronte and Her Sisters" + Murray], worldcat.org. Retrieved 5 July 2025. - titles in this series also published by Murray's Family LibraryMurray's Family Library (John Murray) - Book Series List, publishinghistory.com. Retrieved 4 July 2025. Murray's Fiction LibraryMurray's Fiction Library, seriesofseries.com. Retrieved 5 July 2025. Murray's Handbooks for TravellersMurray's Handbooks for Travellers (John Murray) - Book Series List, publishinghistory.com. Retrieved 4 July 2025. Murray's LibraryMurray's Library, seriesofseries.com. Retrieved 5 July 2025. Murray's Reading for the Rail (John Murray)Murray's Reading for the Rail - Book Series List for the Rail, publishinghistory.com. Retrieved 4 July 2025. Murray's Shilling LibraryMurray's Shilling Library, seriesofseries.com. Retrieved 5 July 2025. Murray's 2/- net Novels Progressive Science SeriesProgressive Science Series (John Murray) - Book Series List, publishinghistory.com. Retrieved 5 July 2025. Science for All - General Science Series[search.worldcat.org/title/842979275 "Science for All" Series (General Science Series). (General editor: G.H.J. Adlam.)], worldcat.org. Retrieved 5 July 2025. University Extension Manualsse:University extension manuals, worldcat.org. Retrieved 5 July 2025. The Wisdom of the EastWisdom of the East (John Murray) - Book Series List, publishinghistory.com. Retrieved 5 July 2025.Wisdom of the East Series, seriesofseries.com. Retrieved 5 July 2025.
Film adaptations of John Murray titles Up in the Air (2009) – based on the novel by Walter Kirn, starring George Clooney and Anna Kendrick Sarah's Key (2010) – based on the novel by Tatiana de Rosnay, starring Kristin Scott Thomas Mr. Pip (2012) – based on the novel by Lloyd Jones, starring Hugh Laurie Beasts of No Nation (2015) - based on the novel by Uzodinma Iweala, starring Idris Elba