William Collins (publisher)

William Collins (12 October 1789 – 2 January 1853) was a Scottish schoolmaster, editor and publisher who founded William Collins, Sons, now part of HarperCollins.[1][2]

This article is about a Scottish publisher. For other uses, see William Collins (disambiguation).

Life

Collins was born at Pollokshaws in Glasgow on 12 October 1789. He was a millworker who established a company in 1819 for printing and publishing. The business eventually published pamphlets, sermons, hymn books and prayer books as well as a wide range of office products.[3] By 1824 he had produced the company's first dictionary, the Greek and English Lexicon. He also obtained a licence to publish the Bible in the 1840s. In 1856, the first Collins atlas was published.[2]

He was promoter of Scotland's first temperance movement. He founded the Glasgow Church Building Society which created 20 new churches.[4]

He died on 2 January 1853 at Rothesay, Buteshire.[1]

Family

His son Sir William Collins served as Lord Provost of Glasgow.

Artistic Recognition

He was portrayed by William Wallace.[5]

References
  1. "Collins family". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/54685. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
  2. History HarperCollins, 2010.
  3. http://www.collinsdebden.co.uk/TheHistoryofCollins/
  4. Illustrated Catalogue of the Exhibition of Portraits in the New Galleries of Art in Corporation Buildings
  5. Illustrated Catalogue of the Exhibition of Portraits in the New Galleries of Art in Corporation Buildings


This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.