1 Trinity Street, site of Bowes & Bowes, now Cambridge University Press

Bowes & Bowes was a bookselling and publishing company based in Cambridge, England.

History

The firm was established by Robert Bowes (1835–1919), a nephew of Daniel Macmillan (1813–1857) — the founder, with his brother Alexander, in 1843, of a firm which by 1850 was a thriving bookshop with the official name ‘Macmillan & Co.’[1] The same bookshop was eventually owned by Alexander Macmillan in partnership with Robert Bowes. The company became known as ‘Bowes & Bowes’ only in 1907, George Brimley Bowes (1874-1946, Robert Bowes’ son) having become a partner in the business in 1899.[2] The firm continued as a family business until 1953 when it was acquired by W H Smith, who continued to operate it under the original name until 1986. In that year the business’s name was changed to Sherratt & Hughes.

The Bowes & Bowes site at 1, Trinity Street, Cambridge has a claim to be the oldest bookshop in the country, books having been sold there since 1581.[3] Since the closure of Sherratt & Hughes in 1992, the site has been the home of the Cambridge University Press bookshop.

The firm’s backlist included titles by Erich Heller, who was also the general editor of a series of books published by Bowes & Bowes (Studies in Modern European Literature and Thought, some of which were printed in the Netherlands).

Sherratt & Hughes

In 1898 John Sherratt and Joseph David Hughes opened a bookshop in Manchester. Sherratt was in charge of the printing and publishing, whilst Hughes was in charge of selling books.[4] In 1905 Sherratt & Hughes owned a bookshop at 27 St. Ann Street in Manchester and another shop at 65 Long Acre in London.[5] Before 1913 Sherratt & Hughes did printing and distribution for the University of Manchester and the Publications Committee of the University. Sherratt & Hughes was taken over by W H Smith in 1946; in April 1992 the subsidiary Sherratt & Hughes ceased to operate.[4]

See also

References

  1. ↑ The Macmillan brothers started their firm in 1843 as a bookshop in London. After a few months they moved their firm to a bookshop at 17 Trinity Street in Cambridge. After three years, they relocated to 1 Trinity Street. "Macmillan & Co. Ltd. Archive". Special Collections, University of Reading.
  2. ↑ "George Edmund Brimley Bowes (7 February 1874 – 7 December 1946)". Mill Road Cemetery. Parochial Burial Grounds Management Committee, Mill Road Cemetery, Cambridge. Retrieved 4 March 2021.
  3. ↑ "History [of the Bookshop]". Cambridge University Press. Retrieved 4 March 2021.
  4. 1 2 The shop in Manchester owned by Sherratt & Hughes from 1905 to 1992 was sold in 1992 to Waterstones and then closed in 1996. "Sherratt & Hughes Collection". Archives Hub (archiveshub.jisc.ac.uk).
    Ball, Graham (3 August 1996). "Bombed bookshop staff loses their jobs". The Independent.
  5. ↑ Hayes, Louis M. (1905). Reminiscences of Manchester and Some of its Local Surrounding from the Year 1840. Sherratt & Hughes.
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