George Bentley (publisher)

George Bentley
Born7 June 1828
Dorset Square, London, England
Died29 May 1895
The Mere, Upton Park, Slough, England
Occupation(s)Publisher
Writer
SpouseAnne Williams/Bentley (1826-1898)
ChildrenRichard Bentley (1854-1936)
Parent(s)Richard Bentley (1794-1871)
Charlotte Botten/Bell (1800–1871)

George Bentley (7 June 1828 – 29 May 1895) was a 19th-century English publisher based in London.[1]

Born into a family of publishers and printers, Bentley entered into partnership with his father around 1845, at a time when the firm's fortunes were in decline. Relations between father and son were sometimes difficult, and on at least one occasion George removed himself from the business. After 1857, he became more confident of his position in the firm, increasingly steering its progress. An early "find" was Wilkie Collins. During the 1860s George Bentley identified and published a number of other authors who later achieved notability. He became increasingly influential and knowledgeable as a publisher of fiction, formally taking control of the business after his father's death in 1871.[2]

Bentley also diversified successfully into magazine publishing, exploiting the synergies available from simultaneously publishing novels serialized in monthly servings and thereafter in book form.[2]

  1. ^ Rae, William Fraser (1901). "Bentley, George" . In Lee, Sidney (ed.). Dictionary of National Biography (1st supplement). London: Smith, Elder & Co.
  2. ^ a b Patten, Robert L. "Bentley, George (1828–1895)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/2165. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)