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The Publishing Activities of Thomas C. Lothian
thesis
posted on 2019-02-01, 04:51 authored by CECILY CLOSEThis thesis examines a Melbourne publishing business which commenced with the public.s:tion, by a young publishers' representative, Thomas Lothian, of a small booklet of verse in December 1905. The invest~gation ends at 1945, after which Thomas Lothian prepared to withdraw from active management of the business to make way for his sons.
During this period the publishing business passed through phases of expansion and contraction. At a time when little publishing was being done in Australia, Thomas Lothian's entry into the field quickly made him the focus of many authors' hopes. The period from 1906, and especially from 1907, until the end of 1908, was one of growth so rapid as to overstretch his powers to control it.
From 1909 he exercised great caution, concentrating on books the costs of which were covered in advance by author's subsidy, subscription, or other means. In 1913, he planned to extend his educational publishing and to produce art books. Both projects were interrupted by the war which, in throwing his business of representing British publishers into disarray, and restricting his access to credit from those on whom he relied, led to the formation of the Lothian Book Publishing Co. Pty. Ltd. to assist in financing current works and to make it possible to expand production at a time of reduced competition from abroad. An unsuccessful attempt was made before the war, and more strenuously during the war, to introduce his publications into Britain. [...]
During this period the publishing business passed through phases of expansion and contraction. At a time when little publishing was being done in Australia, Thomas Lothian's entry into the field quickly made him the focus of many authors' hopes. The period from 1906, and especially from 1907, until the end of 1908, was one of growth so rapid as to overstretch his powers to control it.
From 1909 he exercised great caution, concentrating on books the costs of which were covered in advance by author's subsidy, subscription, or other means. In 1913, he planned to extend his educational publishing and to produce art books. Both projects were interrupted by the war which, in throwing his business of representing British publishers into disarray, and restricting his access to credit from those on whom he relied, led to the formation of the Lothian Book Publishing Co. Pty. Ltd. to assist in financing current works and to make it possible to expand production at a time of reduced competition from abroad. An unsuccessful attempt was made before the war, and more strenuously during the war, to introduce his publications into Britain. [...]
